USB Card Reader

[trevor4706]

I'm having trouble using my C-Media USB Card Reader with Hardy Kubuntu. When I plug-in the card reader it doesn't auto-mount like a USB memory stick. However, when I run lsusb it shows that the system has recognized the device:

root@Kubuntu:~# lsusb
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0d8c:5000 C-Media Electronics, Inc.
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 046d:c00e Logitech, Inc. M-BJ69 Optical Wheel Mouse
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

The card reader also shows up in Applications/System/KInfoCenter/USB Devices.

How do I mount it so I can use it?

[assettt]

Re: USB Card Reader

I'm not sure it needs to show as mounted but it's obviously recognised and works. However if a plug in an SD card or such , the card is automounted and can be used in the computer. Here's my lsusb.
tom@tom:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 058f:6362 Alcor Micro Corp. Hi-Speed 21-in-1 Flash Card Reader/Writer (Internal/External)
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 15d9:0a41
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

[trevor4706]

Re: USB Card Reader

If it's not mounted, how do you use it? How do you access the data on your SD card after you've connected the card reader and your lssub reads as it does in your example.

[nilsA]

Re: USB Card Reader

If it's not mounted, how do you use it? How do you access the data on your SD card after you've connected the card reader and your lssub reads as it does in your example.

Looks to me like you have to put some new media in after fully loading the OS.

Now I have a card reader connected, with SD card in it. It is not mounted.

So - I take it out - wait a scond and put it back - and there it is.

If I am going to open some file from some Open Office, I also have to open the window showing the files first. After that everything is fine.

[dibl]

Re: USB Card Reader

USB devices connect using udev (or fail to do so). It's not the same process as "mount" with hard disk drives and optical drives, which are listed in /etc/fstab. I'm not an udev engineer, but the idea is that udev is polling the USB bus continually to see what is there, and when you stick in a USB device, then it is "read" and "driven" with appropriate interface routines. Or not. Linux is far better today than it was only 2 or 3 years ago, but the new hardware keeps coming and presenting new challenges.

I have one SD card reader, and one SD/SDHC card reader, and they both "just work" on both Kubuntu and sidux. Usually I insert the card in the reader, and then insert the reader's connector into the USB port. After a minute a window pops up and asks me if I want to open the device in a new window, or "do nothing". It's exactly the same as a USB memory stick.

If you're putting a card in your card reader, and connecting it to your system, and getting nothing (after a minute), then there may be some hardware issue with the card reader. One thing to try is

sudo fdisk -lu

On my system a connected USB storage device (memory stick or SD card) shows up as an additional "drive".

My SD/SDHC reader is a SanDisk "ImageMate 5-in-1", model SDDR-99 v4. It cost about $25 USD.

[nilsA]

Re: USB Card Reader

[quote=dibl ]

Don't you get the icons? At the moment I have one USB stick - looking as a USB stick on my desktoip, one CF card, looking like and named CF CARD, one looking like the SD card it is, and one memory stick, looking like a memory stick. These two last are named xxx M Removable Media.

The two latter are identified as "Camera", while the CF cand the USB stick is "Removable mounted media."

I use a no-name dirt cheap reader connected through an even cheaper four port USB hub. (Web/mail order from Shanghai.)

[dibl]

Re: USB Card Reader

Don't you get the icons?

The desktop icons for USB devices are not terribly reliable, or helpful, IMO. I don't rely on them. My USB memory stick usually gets a nice thumb drive icon. The SD cards are a little less reliable, in that aspect. But they work the same, and are usually found in /media when I need to copy photos or whatever. For fun, I set one up to boot BackTrack 3 in my little Asus Eee PC, which has a built-in SDHC card reader (USB internal interface). I did the ISO image transferring and installing with it connected to my desktop via a card reader, then put it in the notebook to boot and use. It's amazing what you can do with an 8 or 16GB SDHC card. 8)

[trevor4706]

Re: USB Card Reader

Thanks everyone for all your input. I still cannot access my card reader, altho it shows up in lsusb when it is inserted. It does not appear in /media -- as do my USB memory sticks -- or anywhere else that I know of, so I cannot access the data on the cards I insert. I'm going to try one of the "recommended" card readers to see if there is any difference.

[nilsA]

Re: USB Card Reader

The desktop icons for USB devices are not terribly reliable, or helpful, IMO.

For me they work pretty ok i KDE 3, but not in KDE 4.1.1