How can I get my SD card reader working - Kubuntu 14.04

[URDRWHO]

Just for kicks and giggles I would like to have my SD card reader working in Kubuntu 14.04.

With the SD card inserted I get ---

dmesg | grep pc

[13245.297434] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: card ejected from slot 1
[13250.268046] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 1
[13250.284780] pcmcia 1.0: pcmcia: registering new device pcmcia1.0 (IRQ: 19)
[13250.380248] scsi8 : pata_pcmcia
[13288.778773] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: card ejected from slot 1
[20626.656063] pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket1: pccard: PCMCIA card inserted into slot 1
[20626.673781] pcmcia 1.0: pcmcia: registering new device pcmcia1.0 (IRQ: 19)
[20626.779664] scsi9 : pata_pcmcia



Nothing shows up in Dolphin.

Any ideas how to mouth the SD card? I've tried a 4 gig and it crashed the system so I found an old 32 mb to play with. I get nothing to read.

 

[ryanvade]

When an SD card is insterted you should see a popup by the KDE Device Notifier. At least that is what happens for me. Can you find the make/model of the sd card reader? The chipset? (lspci should display it) For example:

08:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)

With the SD card insterted can you see it in the KDE Device Viewer?

 

[URDRWHO]

I do not get a pop-up.

I know the card is ok because when I plug an external multi-card combo box into the USB port, I get a pop-up and choose to read the card with file manager. Using the previous method I can read the small 32 MB card and a 4 gig card.

Below I removed the first part that was all NVIDIA graphics stuff and I am guessing that it is a Texas Instruments PCI1620 PC Card Controller.

lspci

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation NV17M [GeForce4 440 Go 64M] (rev a3)
02:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter (rev 10)
02:02.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 03)
02:04.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1620 PC Card Controller (rev 01)
02:04.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1620 PC Card Controller (rev 01)
02:04.2 System peripheral: Texas Instruments PCI1620 Firmware Loading Function (rev 01)

When an SD card is insterted you should see a popup by the KDE Device Notifier. At least that is what happens for me. Can you find the make/model of the sd card reader? The chipset? (lspci should display it) For example:

08:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)

With the SD card insterted can you see it in the KDE Device Viewer?

 

[ryanvade]

That card got kernel support with v 2.6.27 so it should be in the current kernels.

 

[URDRWHO]

How do I get it to work in the kernel? Do I need to go to the package manager and install something?

That card got kernel support with v 2.6.27 so it should be in the current kernels.

 

[ryanvade]

It seems this particular card reader has been deemed buggy and isn't a primary concern for the Ubuntu kernel developers. A bug was reported in 2008 and was deemed "Will not fix" in 2011. I am not sure if the current Ubuntu kernel supports this chipset. Technically any Linux kernel >=2.6.25 should have full support but there is no guarantees. In the Ubuntu 14.04 Kernel configuration both ATA_ACPI and FW_LOADER are enabled so it is technically in the Kernel.

All I can recommend is to file a bug report on launchpad.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux

 

[URDRWHO]

Thanks for the info / help.

I do remember reading a post about it being a bug.

Now a "will not fix" shows why alternative OS platforms will never, ever be prime time. I;m cool with it but imagine if MS said -- "hey there are millions and millions of a certain chipset being used but we deem it to be a situation that we won't try to fix. All the businesses all the individuals that have the chipset, well too bad for you.

The computer in question is a laptop - HP pavillion ZV5000 and back in the day it was the HP flag ship for business laptops, how many millions were sold is unknown but there are still probably millions in working service.

Unlike the desktop I built last year, the laptop is an old boat but it works very well. So having the SD card reader is not a deal breaker on this unit. I just find it weird that almost 7 years ago it was decided that there won't be a fix coming out to have the card reader work.

I'll just have to deem this a non-fixable for this version of Linux.

It seems this particular card reader has been deemed buggy and isn't a primary concern for the Ubuntu kernel developers. A bug was reported in 2008 and was deemed "Will not fix" in 2011. I am not sure if the current Ubuntu kernel supports this chipset. Technically any Linux kernel >=2.6.25 should have full support but there is no guarantees. In the Ubuntu 14.04 Kernel configuration both ATA_ACPI and FW_LOADER are enabled so it is technically in the Kernel.

All I can recommend is to file a bug report on launchpad.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/ source/linux

 

[ryanvade]

Thanks for the info / help.

I do remember reading a post about it being a bug.

Now a "will not fix" shows why alternative OS platforms will never, ever be prime time. I;m cool with it but imagine if MS said -- "hey there are millions and millions of a certain chipset being used but we deem it to be a situation that we won't try to fix. All the businesses all the individuals that have the chipset, well too bad for you.

The computer in question is a laptop - HP pavillion ZV5000 and back in the day it was the HP flag ship for business laptops, how many millions were sold is unknown but there are still probably millions in working service.

Unlike the desktop I built last year, the laptop is an old boat but it works very well. So having the SD card reader is not a deal breaker on this unit. I just find it weird that almost 7 years ago it was decided that there won't be a fix coming out to have the card reader work.

I'll just have to deem this a non-fixable for this version of Linux.

Microsoft actually does this all the time. In particular look at all the Windows XP hardware that is no longer supported by Windows 7/8/8.1. For the most part Linux has better support then any Windows version.

And when the Kernel Developers said "Will not fix" they meant "Will not fix for the 2.6.25 kernel". The current 3.13.X kernel is not in this category and any bugs should still be reported. That laptop is old and even if it was a flagship for its time it is not now. That is why companies like MS and Apple do not write software to support them. Linux still has a lot of drivers available for these old devices. Much more then the proprietary competitors. do not make a claim that Open Source Platforms will not become "prime time" because of one bug. Especially one that does not directly apply to your problem. It is similar and helps to identify what is actually going on. The driver for the chipset is still in the Kernel and the real problem lies with the chipset manufactures, TI, for not providing technical documents that could have been used to write a proper driver.

 

[URDRWHO]

My son and his friends are all (for lack of better word) Linux geeks. I was mimicking what I've heard them say when they discuss why Linux isn't more mainstream.

Yes MS does do it all the time and it makes millions of people unhappy.

I did complete a bug report and people have responded. I completed one terminal command that ported a lot of info to

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1359694

The only reason I made the remark flagship was to support my belief that there are probably many of these computers still in use today. Yes it is old but it still works very well.

Yep.....some companies that produce products / drivers are tied hard and fast to MS. Sometimes I wonder if they aren't paid to do so????

Microsoft actually does this all the time. In particular look at all the Windows XP hardware that is no longer supported by Windows 7/8/8.1. For the most part Linux has better support then any Windows version.

And when the Kernel Developers said "Will not fix" they meant "Will not fix for the 2.6.25 kernel". The current 3.13.X kernel is not in this category and any bugs should still be reported. That laptop is old and even if it was a flagship for its time it is not now. That is why companies like MS and Apple do not write software to support them. Linux still has a lot of drivers available for these old devices. Much more then the proprietary competitors. do not make a claim that Open Source Platforms will not become "prime time" because of one bug. Especially one that does not directly apply to your problem. It is similar and helps to identify what is actually going on. The driver for the chipset is still in the Kernel and the real problem lies with the chipset manufactures, TI, for not providing technical documents that could have been used to write a proper driver.