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In case there's anyone else sitting on the fence like I was, I
thought I'd offer some insight on the new USB stuff that's out there.
At first glance it might appear that USB things would require their own
drivers, like a module to gPhoto to drive a camera, special module to
communicate with joysticks, etc. That's not really the case, I'm happy
to say.
I'm running a garden-variety Redhat 7.0 with Helix/Ximian extras,
never rebuilt the kernel...2.2.16-22. My first requirement of USB was to
drive a camera so I could see and be seen by my kids in Indiana.
There's a USB howto:
http://linuxkb.cheek.com/pages/usb-howto/book1.html
...and there's a database of supported/unsupported devices here:
http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices
The surprise is just how easy this stuff goes together:
USB Mouse: modprobe "input" and "mousedev" then point X to use
/dev/input/mouse and enjoy. All the mice are going this way, and they're
generally of better resolution, too.
USB Keyboard: plug into USB instead of PS/2 keyboard, turn on BIOS
support, and enjoy. (Must not go through a hub- plug in directly)
There's not a lot of reason to do this, really...
USB Joystick: modprobe "joydev" and use /dev/input/js0 instead of
/dev/js0 the usual ways. The resolution is SO much better. Better
support of extra buttons, too.
CompactFlash Memory cards: modprobe "usb-storage" and (as root)
mount =t msdos /dev/sda1 /mnt floppy and start copying.
This last one is important: if you can read the cards, there's no
need to have a driver for each and every camera out there...just copy
the data.
Note: I'm not subscribed here, but if you run into USB trouble, drop
me a line, I should be able to help.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Fahrlander Linux Zealot, Conservative,
Chicago, IL and Stranded Technomad
ICQ 5119262 http://www.kamakiriad.com/aboutme.html
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: Sat Mar 10 2001 - 17:25:16 CST