null Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 When figuring out what to put on my new linux box, I decided I don't want to install a floppy drive, but to put a card reader in its place. One of those things that read compact flash cards, smart media, or whatever. My canon PowerShot uses compact flash, so I guess I don't have a need for the other cards. Anyway, I was wondering if these things work ok in linux, either out of the box, or maybe with a little screwing around. Maybe I don't really need one of the card readers anyway. My canon camera plugs into a usb port to d/l pics on my win2k machine. I suppose it would work that way also on a linux box. Since you can plug digital cameras into a f/w or usb port, what do people use the card readers for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeDubb Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 I can answer both questions. Do they work? Yes. Mandrake 10.0 works perfectly with them right out of the box. earlier versions as far back as mandrake 8 can use them if you compile the kernel with PROBE_ALL_SCSI_LUNS=yes Anything older and you'll actualy need a newer kernel. What do people use them for? Even in windows, connecting a digital camera directly to your computer usualy sucks. They tend to be slow and buggy at best. Usualy only a fraction of the speed you can get with a good card reader. On top of that, you usualy need a special program to access the pictures, even in linux. With a card reader you simply put the card in the reader and plug the reader in. It's automaticaly mounted and you open it up like a hard drive partition. If it's a USB2.0 card reader it's lightening fast, and 1.1 is nothing to scoff at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeDubb Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 Oh, and I also use my card reader to transfer larger files to the cards i use in my PDA, as the connection to the PDA over USB is lowspeed, something on the order of serial. Plenty fast enough for sync functions, but a real dog for trasfering 200MB of ogg's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 I use my SD card (they rock) for my mp3 player, file transfer, and im going to get a SD camera sometime.... when i damn get a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted May 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 (edited) you simply put the card in the reader and plug the reader in veedub - that sounds like some kind of usb card reader that you can plug in to the front of your machine. I wouldn't mind that, but I was referring to actual 3.5 inch drives that have various slots for different type cards, and that you permanently install inside your case where a floppy drive would go, and connect to an internal usb port. Yes, my canon camera came with various s/w. When I plug in the camera to my win2k machine, Canon ZoomBrowser starts up automatically and I can d/l the pics, and work with them. Obviously, that s/w won't be used with linux, but I'm sure gnome/kde has progs that do about the same thing. As long as I can d/l the pics on my canon powershot digital camera on a linux box, I'll be happy. I just didn't know if it was better to plug in the usb cable from the camera to the computer, or better to get one of those card readers. Edited May 24, 2004 by null Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalee Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 Hi, I have agree with VeeDub, a card reader is way better than trying to get your pictures direct from the camera. I always have trouble direct connecting a camera to my 9.0. But a card reader always works perfectly. dalee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeDubb Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 The 3.5inch bay ones are the exact same thing. You just connect them to a spare set of usb pins on your motherboard instead of a USB slot and your on your way. You just dump cards in the slot and they should be mounted. Occasionaly, with the internal ones, you have to do a litle futzing around with the fstab and mtab to get them to work perfectly, but it's not hard. Some of them work perfectly out of the box. Just depends on how it's designed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted May 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 I'm looking to get one of those 3.5" drives that have a floppy slot, and slots for various cards. I don't really care about the floppy drive part of it, but the ones that I have found that I like the looks of (black faces) have a floppy slot. If I can't get it working right, I'll just come here... :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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