[iyonix-support] Re: Pen Drives
- From: dave higton <davehigton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: iyonix-support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:50:55 +0000
Quoting Alan Adams <alan.adams@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> I've just had occasion to try using my collection of pen drives on my
> Iyonix (RO 5.11).
>
> The one supplied by Castle when I bought a monitor works (no surprise
> there then). The other two locked the machine up - only control-break
> did anything.
>
> They are a V-tec 256M and an Integral 1GB.
>
> I also have a Sandisk 2GB, which I haven't risked trying.
>
> On the RPC they show up on the Unipod without crashing (only the Vtec
> is configured, and that can be used).
>
> Removing the stuff usbdevices shows with no pen drives (as I have a
> USB kvm in use, there's rather a lot) I get the attached data. Is
> there any way to get these to work, or at least to test them without
> locking up the Iyonix?
Sorry, I'm not going to answer your question, and I'm going to widen
the issue somewhat.
I have borrowed a USB drive from someone who was having different
problems. The Iyonix couldn't read the drive, either with its
"built in" software or with !ROFS. A proprietary variant of FAT
was suspected as the culprit. In fact the low level USB operations
don't even read a block from the device. I tried it on a Risc PC
at work with a USB analyser hooked on, and the Risc PC (when given
appropriate options in MassFS's OtherDevs file) tried to read it,
but eventually the device simply stopped ACKing the input operations.
I have no idea why. The malfunction was consistent, though.
Needless to say, the drive was read by Windows OK.
I've been subscribed to the Linux USB developers mailing list for a
long time now. It never ceases to amaze me how many rubbish USB
products there are out there - I mean stuff that simply doesn't
conform to the USB specifications. I wish the USB organisation
had teeth like the Bluetooth one, and refused certification for
non-conformant devices. Alas, it isn't and it doesn't.
There was a patch posted to the list a few days ago to add a
"quirk" for a remarkably similar device - different vendor ID
number, but same vendor name, and same product ID. The product
ID wasn't a low number, so it's impossible to believe that it's
coincidence. I tried the device on Linux and it works OK, which
did somewhat surprise me.
Linux clearly has a long list of devices that need special
treatment. There's a smallish number of bugs that crop up in
many devices, so the kernel drivers have handlers for these
bugs built in, and simply need to know which devices to apply
them to. Then there's a whole raft of special drivers for
stuff with worse quirks or special protocols.
Getting back to the case in point: lots of mass storage devices
have various bugs that require special handling. Maybe I'll
spend some time later checking whether I can find known bugs
or quirks for yours, since you have provided the IDs to
enable us to do that.
I'm not aware of any method for the Iyonix to handle quirky
devices. It would be useful, particularly if quirks could
be added programmatically at boot time rather than by
patching the kernel. MassFS is partway there, in that its
OtherDevs file provides a similar mechanism.
Dave
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