2.6 Kernel and USB

[Anton Markov]

William O'Higgins wrote:
> I've been trying for a while to get a 2.6 kernel installed on my
> desktop, without total success.  I get large swathes of things right,
> but being able to mount my USB key has never happened.  I tried again
> last week, got the same non-result, and started poking around.  It seems
> that, during the boot process, there are a bunch of modules that throw
> FATAL errors, but I can't seem to find a log of that part of the boot
> process.  

The FATAL errors are probably comming from your module loading scripts 
and not the modules themselves.

*I think some of the USB module names have changed in 2.6 kernels, which 
may be responsible for you errors.*

I've also had them as a result of compiling stuff directly into the 
kernel. When the scripts can't find the module, they think it's an 
error. If you've compiled your own kernel, this could  be the case.

Try looking at /var/log/messages (less /var/log/messages) and look for 
the messages from the time the computer was booting up. It should be the 
most complete log.

Which distro are you running?

> Once the machine is up and running, all I need to do is:
> sudo modprobe ehci_hcd
> sudo modprobe uhci_hcd
> and then I can mount my USB key just fine.

You shouldn't need both of those modules, because they are both USB 
hub/controller drivers for different types of chipsets. uhci_hcd is for 
newer USB 2.0 controllers from Intel,VIA,etc. and the ehci_hcd is for 
older controllers (IIRC).

> 
> I could just add those lines (do I need both?) to my rc.local, but that
> seems stupid - something isn't going right in the module loading
> process and it should be fixable, no?

Since you are not loading the usb-storage and sd-mod drivers manually, 
it seems like hotplug is working properly. Hotplug is the system that 
should load most modules under 2.6 kernels. Perhaps without the 
controller modules loaded, hotplug doesn't even know that the USB key 
was pluged in (no hotplug event is generated).

If you don't have hotplug, get it! While you are at it, take a look at udev.

I know that some module names, including those of USB modules have 
changed in 2.6, so whatever scripts where loading the USB controller 
drivers before, no longer load the right ones (and could be responsible 
for your FATAL errors). On Debian you use 'modconf' to set up which 
modules load on startup, but each distro probably has it's own way.

You may as well manually add the modprobe lines. After all, that's 
what's great about Linux :)


-- 
Anton Markov <("anton" + "@" + "truxtar" + "." + "com")>

GnuPG Key fingerprint =
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*** LINUX - MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU! ***
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