xD Picture Card reader not working on 1505n / Ubuntu

Question

I've had my 1505n with ubuntu for about a month now, and I love it. Nearly everything has been very straightforward to get working. I'm still having problems with one particular part though.

I have a couple of xD cards, and they aren't recognized when I insert them into the 5-in-1 card reader that came with my laptop. One is a 256mb and the other is a 512mb card. I believe they are Fuji or Olympus branded. They both work perfectly in a usb xd reader that I can use on the laptop and other computers, so I know the cards are good. The 5-in-1 reader works fine with SD cards. I noticed in the driver manager that there is apparently a driver on my computer for reading xD cards, but I don't know enough about linux to know what (if any) details about that driver would be helpful.

I searched the dell community forums and noticed that some users who have the inspiron and windows OS were having trouble with xD card reading, but I didn't notice any prior posts in the linux forums about this problem.

I can use the cards with my external usb card reader, but it is annoying to have to use that. I'd much rather get the internal card reader working. I've tried the obvious fixes (i.e. make sure it's in all the way) and I've tried mounting the device in a terminal window with the mount command, but I'm not a terminal whiz so maybe i didn't do it right.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has a fix for this. If I need to provide more information, please tell me what to look for and I will post that too.

Thanks,

M.S.

sdrrds · Answer

what's the output of dmesg when you insert it?

schongal · Answer

First of all, thanks for your reply.

Hm, never knew about dmesg. That puts out a lot of info. There is no difference between the output of dmesg before/after inserting an xD card.

For comparison, I also tried inserting/removing my USB external xD card reader, and dmesg reported detection of the device, initializing the usb mass storage device driver, scsi emulation, eventual removal of the device, etc. dmesg reported nothing similar at all when I inserted the xD card into the 5-in-1 reader.

I will get an SD card (which I know works), and try that. More to follow tomorrow. Thanks again, MS

Message Edited by schongal on 07-01-2007 11:14 PM

sdrrds · Answer

well, if the device is created then you're done!
It should be something like /dev/sdX1..
Just make a new directory with:
sudo mkdir /mnt/xdCard

and then mount it with:
sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/xdCard.

Message Edited by sdrrds on 07-02-2007 01:50 AM

schongal · Answer

If only that were the case! I think I was unclear. My old external USB xD card reader works, as it always has. The problem is with my internal 5-in-1 card reader, which came with the inspiron laptop. Plugging in my external USB xD card reader generates the dmesg report. When I insert the xD card into the internal 5-in-1 reader, dmesg gives absolutely no indication that something has changed. Contrast this to when I insert an SD card into the internal 5-in-1 reader, which yields the following dmesg output:

[ 912.104000] mmcblk0: mmc0:0002 SD1GB 997632KiB
[ 912.104000] mmcblk0: p1

the SD card is automatically mounted as mmcblk0p1 on /media/Kingston, and it shows up on the gnome desktop. Additionally, there are now two new objects in /dev, which are mmcblk0 and mmcblk0p1.

Again, inserting the xD card into the internal reader yields no dmesg output. No new items appear in /dev, either.

I watched the HAL device manager on my gnome desktop while inserting the SD card, and it also correlates. When I insert the SD card, the manager shows that it is present at
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:03:01.1

After examining information in the device manager, I infer that the xD card should be at
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:03:01.4
this is the location presented for linux.sysfs_path, linux.sysfs_path_device, and pci.linux.sysfs_path (I have no idea what that refers to)

The moment I insert an SD card, the device manager line for the "MMC/SD Host Adapter" recognizes the kingston SD card was inserted. When I insert an xD card, and watch the "xD-Picture Card Controller" absolutely nothing happens... :(

Most of the device names and other strings that I see are gobbledygook to me, but by seeing what is happening when I insert the SD card, I think I have an idea of what should happen when the xD card is inserted in the same internal reader.

In addition to seeking a solution to this, I would also like to learn more about how linux detects, identifies, and organizes items like SD cards and xD cards when they are inserted. for instance, what does mmcblk0 refer to in /dev? what is going on in the /sys/devices directory? Can anyone recommend a resource for learning about this?

Thanks again to all, and sdrrds particularly, for help!

Message Edited by schongal on 07-02-2007 01:52 PM

sdrrds · Answer

uhm, i guess i didnt read very carefully your messages :)
You're saying that plugging an XD card directly into the laptop doesn't work, but using the card reader does.
But an SD card works fine, either way?
If so, I got absolutely no idea, maybe try another XD card?

Message Edited by sdrrds on 07-02-2007 02:13 PM

schongal · Answer

That is exactly correct. I have tried with two different xD cards so far. same result... could this be a driver problem? I wish I had some MMC or MSPro cards to try, too. M.S.

jppaynesr · Answer

I can confirm your experience. I have a Sandisk SD card from a Nikon Coolpix camera that mounts as soon as it is inserted in the multi card reader slot in the side of the 1505n laptop. My Fujifilm XD card does not read when inserted in the same slot. It will read when inserted into a USB card reader. I noticed the windows guys need a new driver from the download page to fix this issue*, but of course there is no mention of any driver for Linux. I'm assuming it is a hardware bug. * Chip Set: Ricoh R5C832, R5C843, Driver, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Multi Language, Multi System, v.V223, A00

schongal · Answer

I suspected I was not the only one! Unfortunately xD is not a commonly used type, and I hope we don't have to wait too long for a fix on this. I wish I knew how to program this stuff myself.

I will keep checking in on this periodically.

MS

apswartz · Answer

Similar issues with 1420n SD works Memorystick Pro does not work don't have xD to try out Message Edited by apswartz on 08-05-2007 04:15 PM

schongal · Answer

Who else? Has even a single person gotten these cards to work?

blumej · Answer

One year later: I just bought an Insiron 1525 with Ubuntu 8.04.

The internal xD-slot is visibel in lspci and lshal.

But when inserting a xD card there is no output with dmesg.

Did anyone solved the problem?

Evelyn11 · Answer

I seem to have jammed my xD Picture card in my laptop's slot.  Any ideas on how to get it out?  Thanks, E.

Evelyn11 · Answer

I also am having a problem with my xD Picture card, though not the problem you have.  Sorry, E.

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xD Picture Card reader not working on 1505n / Ubuntu

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