Good evening !
Some new (real weird) findings i like to report.
I have tried a third usb2ide adapter cable of different brand. Had that around at work....
Apparently , it uses exactly the same jmicron chipset as one of the other ones which fail - but this one - surprise - WORKS ! The output of "usb info" is exactly the same. Where the former one fails with "usb part" , this one works with "usb part" and gives proper info and i can boot without a problem. Loading kernel & initrd is slow, but it works, even with cold boot.
So, i`m wondering who`s to blame - the cable or the sofware, or both :)
Since both cables work with linux, maybe there is some slight differenc in pcb/cable design and thus some slight timing difference which causing this problem.
Maybe i will go to find some more convertor cables, just for curiousity and to see how they behave. Does someone know a website listing usb convertor cables and compare their "quality" ? I did not find such....
Anyway, so my problem is not that serious anymore, as i know the hardware is part of the problem and which can be replaced.....
regards roland
Marvell>> usb info usb info 1: Hub, USB Revision 2.0 - u-boot EHCI Host Controller - Class: Hub - PacketSize: 64 Configurations: 1 - Vendor: 0x0000 Product 0x0000 Version 1.0 Configuration: 1 - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered 0mA Interface: 0 - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1 - Class Hub - Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 8 Interval 255ms
2: Hub, USB Revision 2.0 - USB2.0 Hub - Class: Hub - PacketSize: 64 Configurations: 1 - Vendor: 0x05e3 Product 0x0608 Version 6.3 Configuration: 1 - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered Remote Wakeup 100mA Interface: 0 - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 1 - Class Hub - Endpoint 1 In Interrupt MaxPacket 1 Interval 12ms
3: Mass Storage, USB Revision 2.0 - JMicron USB to ATA/ATAPI Bridge 222222126873 - Class: (from Interface) Mass Storage - PacketSize: 64 Configurations: 1 - Vendor: 0x152d Product 0x2338 Version 1.0 Configuration: 1 - Interfaces: 1 Self Powered 2mA - String: "USB Mass Storage" Interface: 0 - Alternate Setting 0, Endpoints: 2 - Class Mass Storage, Transp. SCSI, Bulk only - String: "MSC Bulk-Only Transfer" - Endpoint 1 In Bulk MaxPacket 512 - Endpoint 2 Out Bulk MaxPacket 512
Marvell>> usb storage usb storage Device 0: Vendor: HITACHI_ Rev: A0A5 Prod: DK14FA-20 Type: Hard Disk Capacity: 19077.1 MB = 18.6 GB (39070080 x 512)
usb part
Partition Map for USB device 0 -- Partition Type: DOS
Partition Start Sector Num Sectors Type 1 63 4016187 83 2 4016250 514080 82
-------------------------------------------------- From: "Detlev Zundel" dzu@denx.de Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 11:24 AM To: devzero@web.de Cc: "Wolfgang Denk" wd@denx.de; u-boot@lists.denx.de Subject: Re: [U-Boot] [PATCH] usb: fix usb start problem with SMSC USB hub and Toshiba USB stick
Hi Roland,
[...]
Anyway, just to tell about the background: I`m trying to replace my home server with a Dockstar. As this runs 24/7 i want something energy-efficient for that. I got some Dockstars for so cheap and they are asbolute fantastic and just perfect fit to be run with debian. I plan buying a solid state sata disk with sata2usb one day, but seeing two ordinary disks with 2 different ide2usb fail does not encourage me to spend bucks on something new. I want a robust system where i can use more than "some" drives which are just compatible by chance. From what i have tested, the debian install on dockstar runs pretty well, stable and fast.
In my personal experience, "robust" and "usb" do not mix well in one sentence. Maybe I'm somewhat conservative, but just in another product I have seen spurious USB dis- and reconnects after days and weeks of otherwise solid functioning. Of course they _did_ mess up the software and crash the system. So be sure that your software stack can cope with something like that.
In effect, currently I would not try to design a "robust system" (ready to be sold as a product) with its primary rootfilesystem on a USB storage device. For IDE/ATA/SATA all the problems in a running system that I have seen have had their cause in the device, not in the interconnect method. This is not something I can say about USB.
Cheers Detlev
-- error compiling committee.c: too many arguments to function -- DENX Software Engineering GmbH, MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-40 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: dzu@denx.de