usb device not detected

English Hardware
#1

I’m not sure if anyone can help but I’ll try, also I’m a complete newcomer to Linux so please bare with me.

I’ve just finished building a TuxGraphics AVR USB500 programmer for programming Atmel microchips.
tuxgraphics.org: 07052, AvrUsb500v2 – an open source Atmel AVR Programmer, stk500 V2 compatible, with USB interface
I’m certain the soldering and construction is fine.

To check the hardware the instructions say to plug it into a usb socket and type in the line- more /proc/bus/usb/devices .
Some text should be returned indicating the FT232 usb chip is working.
Unfortunately mine doesn’t seem to work. OSuse does not see the device, and the folder proc/bus/usb is empty, there is no “devices” file.

The funny thing is if I plug it into a usb socket on a computer running windows, it sees the device ok and tries to load drivers for the new hardware found.

I assume by this the programmer is working and the problem is between it and Linux but I don’t know enough about the software to get any further forward.

Any ideas ??

Ralph

#2

Use *lsusb *to see what USB devices are there (and have a read from *man lsusb *to let you play with the options).

#3

I don’t have a definite answer for you, but these commands (with device plugged in) may be helpful to start with:

lsusb

lsusb -v

AFAIU, the usb drivers create entries in /sys/bus/usb/ tree instead. Plug in the device and have a look what gets created there.

Anyone else have ideas on this?

#4

Additional comment:

Use lsusb because lsusb is the real user interface wherever the kernel you have might put this inside /proc/ or /sys/. These places and their contents may change from kernel level to kernel level. But the lsusb belongiing to that kernel level (when correct this is of course the lsusb you got with the distribution) knows what to do in every level.

#5

Thanks Guys,

I tried lsusb and it returned the following:

ralph@linux-poqo:~> lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

You can see the device is there - Bus 3 Device 4 (FT232)

I think the problem is that I still don’t know the operating system well enough to look for these things.
When I plug in a memory stick a device notifier pops up in the panel to tell me, likewise when I insert a CD. I expected the same to happen when I plugged in this programmer but it didn’t.

Still the computer knows it’s there ok.

Thanks for your help with the commands.

Ralph

#6

Then I will give you another hint on how to proceed now.

Use the USB-ID, which is “0403:6001” as a search term for a search engine of your choice.

#7

The problem started will the ill advice given you by the instructions. They should have mentioned lsusb to you instead of a kernel level dependent place to look.

And yes, when the whole bunch of software (kernel - udev - HAL - Desktop) can make en intelligent guess about what the end user would want with the device just plugged in all goes automagicaly. But when you attach something rare and special, what should be done with it? When you venture into these type of things, a study on how to let udev make a device special file for it and maybe HAL working with Policykit to start a particular program to work with it must be your next goal :wink: