PCMCIA SD card reader in T60p on 2.6.20 (Ubuntu Feisty 7.04)

[Alexander Heß]

I'm having serious problems with my SanDisk 6-in-1 PC Card Adapter. When I insert the adapter with a SD card in it, the following appears in /var/log/syslog:

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[ 9185.492000] pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 0
[ 9185.492000] pcmcia: registering new device pcmcia0.0
[ 9185.532000] ata14: PATA max PIO0 cmd 0x0001a100 ctl 0x0001a10e bmdma 0x00000000 irq 3
[ 9185.532000] scsi16 : pata_pcmcia
[ 9185.708000] ATA: abnormal status 0x58 on port 0x0001a107
[ 9185.708000] ata14.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x2)
[ 9186.388000] ATA: abnormal status 0x58 on port 0x0001a107
[ 9186.388000] ata14.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x2)
[ 9186.388000] ata14.01: limiting speed to UDMA7:PIO5
[ 9187.068000] ATA: abnormal status 0x58 on port 0x0001a107
[ 9187.068000] ata14.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x2)
[ 9217.736000] ata14.00: qc timeout (cmd 0x91)
[ 9217.736000] ata14.00: failed to IDENTIFY (INIT_DEV_PARAMS failed, err_mask=0x4)
[ 9248.404000] ata14.00: qc timeout (cmd 0x91)
[ 9248.404000] ata14.00: failed to IDENTIFY (INIT_DEV_PARAMS failed, err_mask=0x4)
[ 9248.404000] ata14.00: limiting speed to UDMA7:PIO5
[ 9279.072000] ata14.00: qc timeout (cmd 0x91)
[ 9279.072000] ata14.00: failed to IDENTIFY (INIT_DEV_PARAMS failed, err_mask=0x4)
[1187039497.507517] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pcmcia__1__1').

If I'm using the Feisty Live CD, the card is being identified and the inserted SD card is mounted. Here's the Live CD's /var/log/syslog:

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[ 5420.668000] pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 0
[ 5420.668000] pcmcia: registering new device pcmcia0.0
[ 5420.708000] ata8: PATA max PIO0 cmd 0x0001a100 ctl 0x0001a10e bmdma 0x00000000 irq 4
[ 5420.708000] scsi7 : pata_pcmcia
[ 5420.884000] ATA: abnormal status 0x58 on port 0x0001a107
[ 5420.884000] ata8.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x2)
[ 5421.564000] ATA: abnormal status 0x58 on port 0x0001a107
[ 5421.564000] ata8.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x2)
[ 5421.564000] ata8.01: limiting speed to UDMA7:PIO5
[ 5422.244000] ATA: abnormal status 0x58 on port 0x0001a107
[ 5422.244000] ata8.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x2)
[ 5422.920000] ata8.00: CFA: Memory Card Adapter II, S2-V1.14, max PIO2
[ 5422.920000] ata8.00: 1984000 sectors, multi 0: LBA 
[ 5422.928000] ata8.00: configured for PIO0
[ 5422.928000] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      Memory Card Adap S2-V PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 5422.928000] SCSI device sdb: 1984000 512-byte hdwr sectors (1016 MB)
[ 5422.928000] sdb: Write Protect is off
[ 5422.928000] sdb: Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[ 5422.928000] SCSI device sdb: write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 5422.928000] SCSI device sdb: 1984000 512-byte hdwr sectors (1016 MB)
[ 5422.928000] sdb: Write Protect is off
[ 5422.928000] sdb: Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[ 5422.928000] SCSI device sdb: write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 5422.928000]  sdb: sdb1
[ 5422.932000] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdb
[ 5422.932000] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[1187086206.114726] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pcmcia__1__1'). 
[1187086206.146523] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pcmcia__1__1_scsi_host'). 
[1187086206.153517] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pcmcia__1__1_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0'). 
[1187086206.155794] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pcmcia__1__1_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0_scsi_generic'). 
[1187086206.185758] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_1ATA_Memory_Card_Adapter_II'). 
[1187086206.391619] nm_hal_device_added (): New device added (hal udi is '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/volume_uuid_4E32_6475').

It seems the adapter is identified in both cases since the output of pccardctl ident is the same:

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Socket 0:
  product info: "             ", "Memory Card Adapter II", "V1.00", ""
  manfid: 0x0045, 0x0401
  function: 4 (fixed disk)

The only difference between the Live CD and my installed system is the kernel revision (2.6.20-15 and 2.6.20-16). I already tried the older kernel in my installation but it still doesn't work.

I hope someone knows a solution to this, since I don't want to carry any external USB card reader with me.

[syedj]

Silly question but have you tried using that reader in any other machine, or even a Windows machine, just to make sure the media card and the reader are both working properly?

From what I recall, 7.04 shipped with numerous broken components, one of them was auto-mount for removable media - USB devices were also a part of the broken components.

The live CD is broken as well, AFIK.
Have you been updating your HDD installation? On my T42 (running updated Kubuntu 7.04) I can mount USB media without a problem.

[Alexander Heß]

No, I haven't tested the SanDisk reader in any other machine, yet. But since the reader works when using any live CD (I tested Dapper (6.06) and Feisty (7.04)) I highly doubt that the reader is broken.

My installation is as up-to-date as possible. USB and FireWire (using a pcie card in the advanced dock) devices are mounted without any problems. The SD card also is mounted without any problems when using the advanced dock's card reader. But I need a card reader for when I am not at home.

It's not really a mounting issue as far as i can tell. Since no device nodes are being created I can't even mount the media manually.

[smugiri]

I had the same problem with a Nexxtech 7in1card using Ubuntu 7.04 and I am not really certain how I solved it. The errors were the same (ie "failed to identify ... etc etc)

I do know that at some point, I tried to mount the card as root in a terminal with a 1GB SD card inside and I think that this was about the same time that the card started mounting without issues.

It never mounted OK with a high capacity card before that point. Initial mount with a lower capacity card (512MB or 1GB seemed to do the trick but a 2GB card did not ever mount without issues. I am using the 2.6.20-15 kernel.

Anyway, I am not sure if I have much to offer aside from suggesting that you try mounting with a low capacity card while the OS is already up.

[whizkid]

My SanDisk 6-in-1 PCMCIA reader is having issues in Fedora 7 as well. It worked Sunday night, but not last night. There could have been updates, but I didn't think I updated the kernel.

[Alexander Heß]

Anyway, I am not sure if I have much to offer aside from suggesting that you try mounting with a low capacity card while the OS is already up.

I can't mount anything since there is no node for the card in /dev like /dev/hdX or /dev/sdX.

I already tried different cards: 16MB, 128MB, 512MB, 1GB – no difference.