Getting a card reader to work [Solved?]

[Makoto]

BionicPup 64 (v8)

I have a memory card reader that's 'built-in' to the tower I'm using BionicPup on (a Windows OEM tower). It works fine under Windows, but so far has been unresponsive under BionicPup - it doesn't detect when I insert or remove an SD card, and doesn't show up as a mountable drive if I try looking at the list with a card inserted.

It did work - rarely - under previous Puppies... I can't entirely remember whether it was XenialPup, Precise, or both.

HardInfo detects the controller as a USB device, I think?

...and the individual card readers show up under Storage, but that's about it.

Do I need to install a driver, or modprobe something to get it to work?

[Phoenix]

Can you show us what's in dmesg? (If it nothing related doesn't show up you'll need to get it from /var/log/messages then).
Also are the card contacts clean enough? As well as the reader?
I'm fairly certain ATA devices are not SD cards. But I may be wrong.

[Makoto]

What am I looking for with dmesg? I did do a straight textfile dump before and after inserting an SD card, though nothing changed. Nothing stands out on a quick glance through the text, either.

I did take a look through var/log/messages, but I'm not sure if it's actually referring to the memory card reader when it mentions a "USB Mass Storage" device. (note that it's referred to as a "mass storage" device by HardInfo, above...) I did notice this, though it probably isn't much of anything.

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Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.info kernel: usb 4-1: new full-speed USB device number 2 using uhci_hcd
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Generic- Compact Flash    1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: scsi 6:0:0:1: Direct-Access     Generic- SM/xD-Picture    1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: scsi 6:0:0:2: Direct-Access     Generic- SD/MMC           1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: scsi 6:0:0:3: Direct-Access     Generic- MS/MS-Pro        1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: sd 6:0:0:1: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: sd 6:0:0:2: [sdd] Attached SCSI removable disk
Jan 29 23:23:23 puppypc7823 kern.notice kernel: sd 6:0:0:3: [sde] Attached SCSI removable disk

...so I guess it IS assigning drives, but they don't respond or show up as choices in pmount, etc.

[Flash]

Is the SD card an extended (exFAT) filesystem? Until recently, Linux hasn't been able to see those. If it's huge, like, bigger than, say, 32 GB, it's probably exFAT. I've used Gparted to reformat an exFAT SD card to NTFS and it worked fine after that, in both Puppy and Windows.

[Makoto]

No, I'm only working with a 16GB card and a 32GB card at the moment, so probably FAT32 at worst. I forgot to mention that I was using both cards just fine in BionicPup with a standalone USB reader (a small USB stick the same size as most of my flash drives, with a card slot), but that reader just failed, which is why I'm back to trying to get the 'built-in' reader to work.

Edit: @Phoenix
Yes, the cards and their contacts are clean, as is the reader. I try to be careful about that, since we have pets around and their fur can get into anything. :/

[mikewalsh]

@Makoto :-

The built-in card reader on this new HP rig of mine doesn't show up at all. Period. Makes no difference which Puppy, OR which kernel; there's nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

I have a pair of USB individual card-readers; one for SD/SDHC/SDXHC, and another one for micro-SD. Both work fine, so I've never bothered investigating the issue.

(*shrug*)

Mike.

[Makoto]

It's working just enough for the system to see it as an attached mass storage device and assign drive names to it. Beyond that...

I would've been happy to continue using my 'flash drive' card reader, if it hadn't decided to fail. It turned a simple file move operation (to the 16GB card) into a 90+ minute operation. I didn't interrupt it because that was the first time I'd worked with the 15GB card after a long while, and I thought maybe there was a bottleneck somewhere, or the card itself was going bad and would need to be replaced. But now the reader no longer works, and I have to run all my memory card work on my Windows tower downstairs - too lazy to reboot my Puppy tower into Windows.

[bigpup]

What happens if there is a SD card already inserted in the builtin reader, when you boot Bionicpup?

Does the SD card show as a drive icon on the desktop?
If yes.
It could be named anything, not just sd something.

[Makoto]

If I boot with a card inserted, it shows up on the desktop as USB drive "sdd1." However, if I unmount it and refresh, it disappears and the system goes back to pretending it doesn't recognize the reader.

According to the var/log/messages excerpt above, the system appears to be designating the reader's four memory card slots as sdb, sdc, sdd and sde. The order would place the SD slot as sdd, so the system mounting it on the desktop as sdd1 seems about right.

[bigpup]

In Puppy Event Manager->Activate
Is both of these checked?
Activate Puppy Event Manager
Activate desktop hotplug support

[Makoto]

Yes. I have no issues with getting USB flash drives to appear and mount, at any rate.

[rockedge]

@Makoto What kernel are you using? Anything not enabled in the system setup (BIOS, UEFI)?

This sounds like the firmware for the internal card readers is missing.

These card readers will work with Windows or any of the "main stream" Linux distro's?

[Makoto]

It works without issue under Windows (but then, it's a Windows OEM (HP) tower). I haven't tried any other distros with the tower, just Precise (Puppy) and XenialPup.

As far as I know, I should be running the default kernel for BionicPup 64 8.0. uname -r returns "4.19.23".

[bigpup]

Wonder what happens if you insert a SD card.
Restart graphical server or reboot.

[Makoto]

insert card = nothing
insert card after restarting graphical server = nothing
restarting graphical server with card inserted = nothing
rebooting then inserting card = nothing
rebooting with card inserted = same as above (the card reader shows up as sdd1)

I should also note that in the last case, sdd1 does appear in pmount, and if I simply unmount, remove and reinsert the card, the card will still mount and be recognized properly. But if the card's removed and the desktop drive icons are refreshed for any reason, that no longer works.

[bigpup]

Any reason you cannot keep a SD card in the reader when you boot?
Keep a SD card in it at all times?

If you want to use a different SD card.
simply unmount and remove old card, insert a different SD card, mount it, and use that card.

Stop refreshing the desktop drive icons.
Just let them be whatever they want to be when you change SD cards.

Do not get bothered if the drive label changes.
Just accept whatever the new SD card shows as.

[Makoto]

Because it's a kludge, not a solution. And I don't want to leave anything sticking out of the tower - it's almost at floor level, and the pets might get at it if I leave anything inserted... they broke a flash drive halfway at the plug, once.
For this reader, about 75% of the SD card remains sticking out when inserted.

I only refreshed the desktop drive icons to see if it would persist. As far as I know, there are times when the system will do it itself.

Not sure why you think I'm bothered by drive label changes. I didn't mention anything about the drive labels changing.

[bigpup]

What is the exact make and model of the computer?
I want to look at the bios setup and see if there are any settings for the card reader.

[Phoenix]

I'm rather curious as to what happens if you attempt mounting one of these created device nodes. This will mount as read-only in the terminal.

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mount -o ro /dev/device

[bigpup]

This is from a old post talking about the same issue in Bionicpup

I believe you have provided the answer!! This command in a terminal:

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udevadm trigger --action=add --type=devices

seems to be the key.

After a normal boot (without SD card, I can then insert SD or xD card and it detects the card as long as I enter the command on the console.

They did not provide anymore info, on a better fix, than entering a terminal command, after inserting a SD card.

[Makoto]

What is the exact make and model of the computer?
I want to look at the bios setup and see if there are any settings for the card reader.

It's an HP Pavillion a6847c, I think. But if something was set incorrectly in the BIOS, wouldn't that affect its performance under Windows, as well? I've never had a problem with the reader working under Windows. (And just to be sure, I've never changed anything in the BIOS settings for this tower, either.)

I'm rather curious as to what happens if you attempt mounting one of these created device nodes. This will mount as read-only in the terminal.

Code: Select all

mount -o ro /dev/device

That exact command? It just returns this:

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mount-FULL: /dev/device: can't find in /etc/fstab.

I tried it with sdd and sdd1, as well, with the same result.

This is from a old post talking about the same issue in Bionicpup

I believe you have provided the answer!! This command in a terminal:

Code: Select all

udevadm trigger --action=add --type=devices

seems to be the key.

After a normal boot (without SD card, I can then insert SD or xD card and it detects the card as long as I enter the command on the console.

They did not provide anymore info, on a better fix, than entering a terminal command, after inserting a SD card.

I tried the command, but before inserting a card. I entered the command, closed the terminal, then tried inserting a card. Nothing happened (no icon appearing on the desktop, nothing appearing in pmount, etc.)

Although, when I rebooted after all of the above, with the SD card inserted, the system 'froze' on the BIOS logo screen, as if it was expecting to boot from the SD card. It didn't progress until I removed the card, and now, it doesn't have sdd1 appear on the desktop if I have the card inserted when BionicPup loads (or in pmount). The system also seemed a little sluggish, at first.

[Phoenix]

No no, device as in device node! Linux itself has to provide an interface somewhere, so the system can access and interact with things! For storage devices as you seen, they are often given an 'sd' prefix along with a, b, c, etc. and a number to indicate which partition. Although sda by itself means the entire storage device (the first one it sees). Just note that some storage devices have special conventions such as mmc, or nvme.
So look in dmesg for sdb1 etc. Then type in

Code: Select all

mount -o ro /dev/<devicename> /mnt/flash

I forgot to specify the directory it will be mounted at though, which I fixed.

[Makoto]

I thought that was the case, and I did originally try it with sdd and sdd1 in place of device, but it didn't work - probably because it didn't specify the directory to mount to?

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mount -o ro /dev/sdd1 /mnt/flash

Issuing that command worked after inserting a card (though only sdd is referenced in dmesg, not sdd1...), but the same problem with booting with the card inserted happens here, too - if I remove the card and refresh the drive icons, the icon disappears and I can no longer mount or view the card by any apparent means.

[Phoenix]

Seems like a bug with the frontend that puppy uses to generate icons on the go for partitions.

[bigpup]

This is from a old post talking about the same issue in Bionicpup

I believe you have provided the answer!! This command in a terminal:

Code: Select all

udevadm trigger --action=add --type=devices

seems to be the key.

After a normal boot (without SD card, I can then insert SD or xD card and it detects the card as long as I enter the command on the console.

They did not provide anymore info, on a better fix, than entering a terminal command, after inserting a SD card.

I tried the command, but before inserting a card. I entered the command, closed the terminal, then tried inserting a card. Nothing happened (no icon appearing on the desktop, nothing appearing in pmount, etc.)

Although, when I rebooted after all of the above, with the SD card inserted, the system 'froze' on the BIOS logo screen, as if it was expecting to boot from the SD card. It didn't progress until I removed the card, and now, it doesn't have sdd1 appear on the desktop if I have the card inserted when BionicPup loads (or in pmount). The system also seemed a little sluggish, at first.

You have to do this correctly as it says.
Do a normal boot with no SD card in the reader.
Run the command after you insert a SD card.

Do a complete power off shutdown. Wait 1 minute.
Do not have a SD card in reader.
Do a normal power on boot.
Does it boot correctly now?

[Makoto]

I think it was a one-time thing - although I haven't tried booting again with an SD card inserted in the reader. The system hasn't acted up again given time and the few reboots I've done since then.

You have to do this correctly as it says.
Do a normal boot with no SD card in the reader.
Run the command after you insert a SD card.

That works, but almost the same as most of the other attempts before... I'd removed the card and unmounted it, but after reinserting the card while the sdd1 drive icon was still on the desktop and left-clicking the icon, the icon disappeared and the system would no longer recognize the drive/card.

It sounds like I'd have to issue the command every time I want to reinsert and re-mount the card? I don't know about that...

[bigpup]

When you un-mount and remove the SD card.
You are un-mounting it before you remove it?
You need to wait for the desktop drive icon to go away.

Then you can insert a SD card.

For right now.
Using the command I posted is what you will have to do.

If this seems to work OK.

Could make a script file to run this command.
Put this on the desktop.
Click on it to run the command.

Puppy Linux is not the only operating system having this issue with this specific card reader.
This does seem to be a hardware specific issue.
Probably something with the driver being used to run the SD card reader.
Could also be something in the kernel config not correct for this specific hardware.

We can give you ideas on what to try, but you have the hardware, only you can see what happens.

[Makoto]

The icon doesn't go away. That's why at one point (when I'd booted with the card inserted?) I could click on the icon and get it to recognize the card again even though I'd unmounted and removed the SD card. The icon only goes away if the drive icons are refreshed, or (apparently, now) if I click on it after unmount and removal.

What this and the other behavior implies, is that the system isn't treating it like a hot-removable USB drive and polling it on a regular basis to see if its status changes.

[bigpup]

You want to try something?

Changing the kernel being used?

I have seen a kernel bug report about this and it being fixed in a newer kernel release.
The drivers for most hardware are in the Linux kernel.

Here is how to change the kernel:
viewtopic.php?p=1497#p1497

Try a kernel newer than v 5.10.
You need to use the ones that are for Ubuntu derivatives.

You may be correct about the hot plug process.

Probably not.
Any options in the computers bios setup for this card reader?

[Makoto]

Doesn't changing the kernel run the risk of breaking something, though? I recall reading something a while back that said it risked breaking a few things, like anything compiled against the kernel, and probably shouldn't be done unless it was necessary.

Would it hurt to go with one of the most recent kernel versions in the non-Puppy-specific kernals subforum, like 5.15.18 - or is that not advisable, since I'm not using a more recent version of Puppy?