usbnet drivers

[RVDowning]

I've been trying to move a usb webcam up to 25 feet away from the computer. (Gonna be a Critter Cam if I can ever get it there) I can't get either repeater usb cables to work, or a cat5 extension.

 

I understand that at least the cat5 extension would need a driver. In one particular case I'm trying to use an AirLink 101 USB 2.0 Ethernet Adapter that uses (for Windows) a driver AX88772. My understanding is that this driver is supported by the Linux usbnet.c driver. I did a modeprobe usbnet, but is there anything else I need to do to reference the driver upon plugging in a webcam or something? I don't understand how it ties together.

 

Likewise, is there some kind of driver issue that would keep me from being able to use usb repeater cables. One should be able to daisy several of them together. I can't get a cam to come up if I use just one.

 

I'm running Mandriva 2006, 2.6.12-22mdk kernel.

 

I'm over my head here.

Edited August 1, 2006 by RVDowning

[ianw1974]

You could try the latest kernel of 2.6.12.24mdk and see if it helps any. Just an idea in case it's got some additional hardware support. Will also need the kernel-source as well if you've installed the kernel source for your existing kernel as well.

 

I would have thought that repeaters would be completely seamless to the computer recognising the webcam, providing that, at the end of it all it can actually see the camera. Unless for some reason the repeaters aren't working as they should be.

 

Have you run HardDrake to see if it recognises your webcam correctly?

[RVDowning]

I'll upgrade to 2.6.12.24 today. urpmi actions must have changed. I used to see the kernel source getting updated, which alerted me that I had a new kernel to install. Now I don't notice any more when a new kernel is available. (I have the source installed because of Nvidia.)

 

I also thought that repeaters would be seemless. The light on the cam comes on, showing that it is getting power, but no cam app seems to see it. I'll take a look with harddrake. The cam doesn't have a separate power source -- just the usb connection.

 

Cam works fine without these atttempts at extending the distance.

 

Anything else I can try with the usbnet driver?

Edited August 2, 2006 by RVDowning

[ianw1974]

They've done it differently now. The problem was that when a new kernel-source was available and updated, it forced you to upgrade your kernel, which really, can be a bad thing especially if the new kernel doesn't work for you.

 

So now, the kernel and kernel-source are separate, and don't update each other, so it's a manual update for each, which is really nice now.

 

Unfortunately, not sure what to suggest for your usb issue. Seems a little odd that the apps can't see it unless it's directly connected without the repeaters. See what happens with usbnet after the upgrade. Hopefully it does something good!

[RVDowning]

Installing 2.6.12.24mdk caused me to lose all camera capability. Had to go get and install the webcam driver again. Maybe I won't bother updating the kernel as much any more.

 

Needless to say, it makes no difference. By the way, even with two cams plugged in directly (no extensions) and with them working correctly, I don't see much about them in harddrake (assuming that you mean MCC). Typing any variation of the word HardDrake in a terminal window does nothing. The device stuff must all be in code. I'm assuming I should be looking under USB Ports, but I don't see anything identifiable.

 

At least dmesg sees and correctly identifies both cams.

 

I did a modprobe of usbnet again, but I don't see it running anywhere. Dmesg shows "usbcore: registered new driver usbnet" Is this something I have to key in after each reboot? Does "registered" mean it is doing whatever it is supposed to do? How can I tell? If it is "running" why don't I see it anywhere?

 

Plugging in a cam with the cat5 and AirLink adaptors as indicated above shows the following in dmesg:

usb 3-2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 8

eth0: register usbnet at usb-0000:00:02.2-2, ASIX AX88772 USB 2.0 Ethernet, 00:50:5b:04:ab:4d

 

However, the cam still doesn't seem to exist according to various cam applications. Not sure if there is any way to access it.

 

I also see that GqCam and Camorama no longer work after the upgrade. I'll try uninstalling and reinstalling them again later. Camstream continues to work fine.

 

Sorry for being so long winded.

[ianw1974]

They should work perfectly fine, but you can just use the previous 2.6.12.22 kernel instead and when booted into this, remove the new one you installed if it's not doing what it should.

 

You can add usbnet to /etc/modprobe.preload so that it's just loaded each time you boot. You only need to put "usbnet" without the quotes at the end of the file, nothing else.

[RVDowning]

New kernel should be fine. Just odd that I may have to reinstall those two apps. It would also be nice if one didn't have to reinstall drivers, but it is no big deal. I just have to get a uniform place to keep those apps and drivers that have to be reinstalled after a kernel upgrade.

 

I'll move the usbnet statement per your suggestion. I was looking for what file it was supposed to go in. Thanks much!

[ianw1974]

Normally apps aren't dependent of the kernel, so no idea why they're requiring an install. Unless of course, they were dependent on something in there.

[RVDowning]

It turns out to have been a driver issue. I didn't have to reinstall the apps. It seems I had two versions of the driver installed. I removed older one and that worked.

 

As best I can tell, there doesn't seem to be any way to extend the distance for a USB 2.0 webcam. Repeater cables just seem not to work. :( Guess I'll have to go to an ethernet cam. (Sigh.... all for the sake of a few feet.)