USB_ModeSwitch

waferhead wrote:Just a follow up, as from this thread actual support is unclear, I was about to start d/l and compiling until I plugged in and read what dmesg had to say...

FWIW I picked up an AM10 today, plugged it into my fresh Mageia2 install, and it found the AM10 fine, although dmesg was complaining firmware loading failed.
.
I did have to install the ratech 28XX-seires firmware package, but only due to the AM10 note being plugged in on install, and I used the installer option to remove unneeded firmware and localizations.
Once fw installed, replugged and it works excellent.

It works seamlessly from the Live CD. (USB stick in my case) as the firmware is present by default.

The selfless hard work that went into getting this working (and everything else) is greatly appreciated.
I'd assume most if not all current distros now have support out of the box, so to speak.

Running Linux on the Desktop since 1994.

You're welcome for my part of the work that went into this - and yes, it was hard work! Apparently, the correct driver had been built into Ubuntu and I suspect most Debian systems for a while. It was more a matter of getting modeswitch to happen. For which Josh was totally awesome.

I have to say - and this is proof that apparently anyone has the power to contribute to linux - I didn't understand about half of your message. Huh? Can you explain what you're saying a different way? But anyway, you're welcome.

If you're saying that the driver came with the operating system, then yes - you're right, it took me a while to figure that out. It was very odd. It took someone else just plugging the damn thing in without going through all the crazy steps I had to say "hey my wireless works - I just plug the damn thing in, what on earth have YOU been doing?"

Josh - I want to ask you another question.

I'm still having the problem - I'm pretty sure I mentioned this to you - on bootup, after the BIOS, GRUB loads Linux and then if the AM10 is plugged in, the boot-up freezes. Apparently, Linux thinks it's a boot-storage device. Is there something I need to do to make usb_modeswitch happen during start-up - or something I can do that will make the AM10 stop freezing my system. Perhaps plopping something into udev will help.

I'd love it if you have ideas.

It's not the BIOS - I'm almost 100% sure. I turned off al the USB reading in the BIOS, I set GRUB to beep as it goes off and it's beeping.

ohmysql wrote:Josh - I want to ask you another question.

I'm still having the problem - I'm pretty sure I mentioned this to you - on bootup, after the BIOS, GRUB loads Linux and then if the AM10 is plugged in, the boot-up freezes. Apparently, Linux thinks it's a boot-storage device. Is there something I need to do to make usb_modeswitch happen during start-up - or something I can do that will make the AM10 stop freezing my system. Perhaps plopping something into udev will help.

I'd love it if you have ideas.

It's not the BIOS - I'm almost 100% sure. I turned off al the USB reading in the BIOS, I set GRUB to beep as it goes off and it's beeping.

It's may be a grub issue, the prescence of the USB drive may mess up the drive order.
BUT---You may first want to make certain to set your HD as the first item in the boot order in the BIOS for day-to-day use.

Mine boots whether I'm plugged in at boot or not, and plugging it in after boot brings the network up automagically, should work the same on Ubuntu.

waferhead wrote:

ohmysql wrote:Josh - I want to ask you another question.

I'm still having the problem - I'm pretty sure I mentioned this to you - on bootup, after the BIOS, GRUB loads Linux and then if the AM10 is plugged in, the boot-up freezes. Apparently, Linux thinks it's a boot-storage device. Is there something I need to do to make usb_modeswitch happen during start-up - or something I can do that will make the AM10 stop freezing my system. Perhaps plopping something into udev will help.

I'd love it if you have ideas.

It's not the BIOS - I'm almost 100% sure. I turned off al the USB reading in the BIOS, I set GRUB to beep as it goes off and it's beeping.

It's may be a grub issue, the prescence of the USB drive may mess up the drive order.
BUT---You may first want to make certain to set your HD as the first item in the boot order in the BIOS for day-to-day use.

Mine boots whether I'm plugged in at boot or not, and plugging it in after boot brings the network up automagically, should work the same on Ubuntu.

I'm certain about the drive order in BIOS - hard drive first, CD second. Maybe it thinks the USB is a hard drive? But I even turned off USB storage devices as an option in the BIOS. Pretty sure it's GRUB or after that the error happens. But I'm not sure what to do.

If you wait until Xorg/desktop is up, does it hang, or only while booting?

waferhead wrote:If you wait until Xorg/desktop is up, does it hang, or only while booting?

Only while booting. I can't even confirm that grub finishes because I get no text. And it's only every 6-7 boots that this happens. I can confirm that I the GRUB tone goes off - (because it's set to the inspector gadget theme song )

On one of my machines, with one of my 3G modems, the boot hangs in the BIOS discovery phase if the stick is plugged. It's not even reaching the grub loading.

I know that these sticks are trying to emulate CD-ROMs, and most don't do such a good job with that.

Sorry, I'm no specialist when it comes to boot problems. Maybe the grub disk order is scrambled?

I'd suggest installing grub legacy, but I'd make sure I used partclone first and also backed up the MBR, as grub2 is... delicate.
Due to grub2s.. delicate... nature, I'm not even going to remotely suggest reinstalling it or trying to fix it, as that's a job for grub developers, not normal humans.

Note most distros have avoided grub2 to date.
This is not an accident.

You may be able to get some idea what's going on using the livecd and installing grub to a usb stick or something.

Ah, I have news!

I found out that actually my USB has problems not in GRUB but in the boot-up of Linux!

I know because when I ask linux to boot in text mode, I see a bunch of kernel messages and then my computer freezes about 1/6 times I boot up.

As a reminder, when I have the Cisco AM10 plugged in, the system sometimes freezes. But when it's not plugged in, ubuntu never freezes on start-up.

Here's the message I receive when it hangs (and I was able to find this in the /var/log/syslog):

[ 0.545977] ACPI: Using IOAPIC for interrupt routing

So this is a linux problem. And I bet it's related to the system believing that the AM10 is a storage device. Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help thus far!

ohhh myy SQL!

It's most likely distribution dependant, and probably should be filed as a bug against Ubuntu.
(Ubuntu uses grub 2 by default, and the startup is tuned more towards making that nightmare mostly functional)

Does your system have similar issues if you have a random non-bootable USB stick plugged in?
If so, it's not the AM10 that has a problem.

I have yet to see an issue booting with the AM10 plugged in with recent Mandriva or Mageia versions that support it at all.
...even Mandriva 2010.2 has no issues with it., but it only sees it as non-bootable storage.

Mandriva/Mageia use grub 1x. grub 2 is optional and works about as well as it does on Ubuntu...
Hopefully logic and reason will prevail and it will stay that way until a universal EFI loader comes along.

waferhead wrote:It's most likely distribution dependant, and probably should be filed as a bug against Ubuntu.
(Ubuntu uses grub 2 by default, and the startup is tuned more towards making that nightmare mostly functional)

Does your system have similar issues if you have a random non-bootable USB stick plugged in?
If so, it's not the AM10 that has a problem.

I have yet to see an issue booting with the AM10 plugged in with recent Mandriva or Mageia versions that support it at all.
...even Mandriva 2010.2 has no issues with it., but it only sees it as non-bootable storage.

Mandriva/Mageia use grub 1x. grub 2 is optional and works about as well as it does on Ubuntu...
Hopefully logic and reason will prevail and it will stay that way until a universal EFI loader comes along.

For the past few weeks I've been plugging in another USB drive, but it's been no problems so far. The system seems to read it fine. I'll keep trying - like I said, it seems to bug one out of every six times or so.

Personally... I don't care if it's the AM10 or some other device, I just want it to work... but I'm wondering if USB_modeswitch should be operating during the Linux start-up phase.

You really dislike GRUB 2 eh?

Please do let me know if any ideas come to you. But am I correct that USB_modeswitch shouldn't have been loaded by that point? It's pretty early in the boot process.

Oh MySQL!

I'll venture a WAG and suggest that the drive order (sda/sdb etc) is getting jacked up due to some bug.
When it doesn't boot, does it drop you to a rescue shell or does it just say "bite me"? (so to speak)

If the former you may be able to at least see what the drive order is when it jacks up.
(the logs may reveal something, but if the drive order is messed up probably not)

I had 12.04 installed for awhile when this thread started, and did not see the issue you are having with the AM10, so it may be hardware dependant in other ways.

//begin rant
I usually try the latest Ubuntu when it comes out for at least a few hours...
The longest lasting was 12.04, until I got pissed at something and wiped it after about 4 days.
It actually worked OK if your only basis for comparison is Windows.
Some stuff works great., packaging works well (of course) and you can at least turn on the wifi now w/o having to hit the shell.
Not a Unity fan at ALL now. I still have no idea what they were thinking.

Historically, it usually doesn't make it through the install on a complex mutiboot setup, usually grub2 related.

That circus has been going on since the beginning.
4 days was an absolute record.
I ran Debian (real Debian) for years and never saw the sort of braindamage like when I tried Ubuntu.

Yep, I'm old and crotchety, and have little patience for borked.

There are several far better options out there...Even Debian proper.

Set your machine up sometime with a spare partition and try other distros out...
...Ones without more and bigger bugs than Starship Troopers.

It takes <20 minutes to install a modern live CD based distro on modern hardware, and if you are set up properly,
/home is on it's own partition (and backed up), it can easily be migrated losing no data or even settings.

(If you were unsure, yes, I really loathe grub2 and don't really care for Ubuntu to date, but I greatly respect what they are trying to do---
I tried Gnome for years too back when I still ran Redhat... Finally gave up and moved on)
//end rant

Good to know it may not be the AM10!

And yes, it just says "bite me."

I PMed you about your rant, I'd be curious to hear more.

I have an installation of Ubuntu which I keep current, mainly for (usb_modeswitch) testing reasons.

Were it not for that, I would have removed the installation as soon as one update reverted my customized desktop to the annoyance called Unity. So I could well join in with ranting ...

I have a multi-boot set-up (three Windows versions, four Linux flavours) on that machine, and I let Grub 1 (from Mageia) handle these. Of course I have to enter kernel updates on Ubuntu manually to the grub menu configuration, but that is pretty straightforward.

lol! I'm open to recommendations on a new distro.