The UDEV Problem

So another ongoing problem I'm having is the issue of UDEV not starting properly. When I boot, the process will hang at "Starting UDEV...." and sit there for about 4 minutes, until it times out.

The boot process will continue at this point, until it gets to "Loading HAL", at which point it will hang again for another 2 minutes.

At one point, the problem seemed to go away automagically, and the computer booted about as fast as a moderately bloated Windows boot -- which for Linux, is lightning. But then I made the mistake of running the system update. In addition to breaking a bunch of other things, it also blew up my UDEV groove, and the computer was back to aking around 10 minutes to reach a usable desktop.

It would be nice if there was some way to track what UDEV is doing during the boot process, but there isn't.

Problem: UDEV hangs at "Starting UDEV", waits for timeout, stalls again at "Starting HAL daemon"

Reproducable: always
How to Reproduce: Boot the computer
Workaround: Sit there and wait

Steps to troubleshoot:

1. Read piles of man pages and comb through forums, Write a few questions into forums, which were ignored. Read more man pages. Google progressively, trying new searches every time I learned a new word.

2. Downloaded and learned to use a program called "bootchart" (http://www.bootchart.org/). After wrangling with it for several hours, I learned from it that there was a long delay while UDEV "waited for devices to settle".

There was not much information available about what this means, or how to tamper with this process. Most of the info obtained by googling "waiting for devices to settle" found the phrase in forum posts by people whop were also exasperated with UDEV for some reason or other.

There are also some tools available for managing UDEV here: http://linux.die.net/man/8/udevadm. But these are all intended to be used after the computer has performed the glacial task of starting up. There are no tools for looking into UDEV during the boot process.

3. Tried to look around the computer for some explanation of what was happening.

There is a good page of how to write UDEV rules here: http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html. The guy who wrote this is apparently the Lao_Tze of UDEV, since most forum posts about problems with UDEV will refer readers to this guide. Too bad it isn't much help for resolving issues with out of the box UDEV problems.

There is a lot of info about how udev works in general. But to the average user, not much of it means anything. And again, the screed assumes that the reader is trying to create new problems for himself, not solve existing ones. There is no identifiable information about what UDEV is doing while it boots.

It did give me the idea of going through /etc/udev/rules.d and renaming the files one by one in the hope of finding the problem rules file. After about 2 hours I had managed to test about 4 files and got bored. I then copied the entire rules.d directory to a usb stick, and deleted everything except the files that were necessary.

Specifically, I was after 60-pcmcia.rules, for one. I read a lot of posts pointing to it as a likely culprit.

More later ...

More:

1. It seems likely that any problem manifested as a UDEV error happened somewhere else first, since UDEV gets things passed on to it from other programs. I read about this is Border's last night and can't remember the details.

More on WLAN Investigation

I tried a few other distros after a Fedora update broke my system. Thing is, Linux Mint had the same ZD1211 problem. *

It turns out that the bootcode error is not an uncommon problem, and as usual, there is no documentation for the driver from the vendor, nor is there anything to be gained from spending hours combing through forums. People who have this problem are just screwed.

I wonder if this is part of my udev issue.

Anyway, I did see in one Debian thread that it's possible several versions of the driver are loading at once and colliding. Of course, there is no information on how to get this to stop happening, but it's a start.

Maybe it says something about how bad getting info is when my efforts to look into this by a Google search have as the first item my own ramblings on how there is no information.




-----------------
*Ubuntu is a dud. I give up on them. I've tried 5 versions and my lappy barfed them all up.

A WLAN Investigation

My onboard wifi has stopped working. It will not conect automatically. For awhile, I could get sporadic manual connections by:

1. Restarting the computer or
2. Restarting Network Manager (-->Services -->network-manager)

If I go into Network Configuration (-->System --> Administration --> Network Device Control), the onboard wifi is shown as "inactive". If I highlight it, the "Activate" button on top grays out (unusable).

Under the hardware tab in this screen, the wifi chip is shown as ASUSTek Wireless WL 159g (this is correct).

Under Device Tab, double clicking the adapter:
--> General: Conttrolled by network manager ticked, Activate device when computer starts ticked. Nickname is wlan0. Automatically obtain ip address with DHCP selected. Nothing else is ticked.

--> Harware: MAC Address is 00:13:d4:18:74:b8
--> Wireless settings mode = Master


The adapter is detected in lsusb:

lsusb -v :

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0b05:170c ASUSTek Computer, Inc. WL-159g
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bDeviceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bDeviceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x0b05 ASUSTek Computer, Inc.
idProduct 0x170c WL-159g
bcdDevice 48.02
iManufacturer 16 ASUS
iProduct 32 USB2.0 WLAN
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 46
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 500mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 4
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x01 EP 1 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x82 EP 2 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 1
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x04 EP 4 OUT
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
bLength 10
bDescriptorType 6
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bDeviceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bDeviceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
bMaxPacketSize0 64
bNumConfigurations 1
Device Status: 0x0000
(Bus Powered)

==================================

But dmsg had this to say about it:


hub 3-0:1.0: 3 ports detected
usb 1-5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usb 1-5: New USB device found, idVendor=0b05, idProduct=170c
usb 1-5: New USB device strings: Mfr=16, Product=32, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-5: Product: USB2.0 WLAN
usb 1-5: Manufacturer: ASUS


Then:
zd1211rw 1-5:1.0: phy0

Then:

firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ub
usb 1-5: firmware version 0x4330 and device bootcode version 0x4802 differ
firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ur
usb 1-5: USB control request for firmware upload failed. Error number -32
zd1211rw 1-5:1.0: couldn't load firmware. Error number -32
firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ub
usb 1-5: firmware version 0x4330 and device bootcode version 0x4802 differ
firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ur
usb 1-5: USB control request for firmware upload failed. Error number -32
zd1211rw 1-5:1.0: couldn't load firmware. Error number -32

===================

The wifi would not connect. More, the device was not shown when clicking the nm panel applet. My network was also ot listed.

When I tried to set up "connect to other network," choosing my own network alreay listed under "Auto", the "Disconected" flag came up immediately.

=============================

But another USB plug-in adapter worked fine:

dmesg [snip]

usb 1-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
usb 1-6: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usb 1-6: New USB device found, idVendor=050d, idProduct=905b
usb 1-6: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-6: Manufacturer: Belkin
phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'pid'
Registered led device: rt73usb-phy1:radio
Registered led device: rt73usb-phy1:assoc
Registered led device: rt73usb-phy1:quality
usbcore: registered new interface driver rt73usb
firmware: requesting rt73.bin
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan1: link is not ready
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=1)
wlan1: associated
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan1: link becomes ready
wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
wlan1: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=1)
wlan1: associated
wlan1: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: RX ReassocResp from 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=1)
wlan1: associated
wlan1: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=1)
wlan1: associated
wlan1: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with AP 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5
wlan1: RX ReassocResp from 00:17:3f:62:1d:c5 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=1)
wlan1: associated

========================

Right now, under lsmod, both rt73 (the Belkin USB external) are loaded:

lsmod:

rt73usb 31232 0
rt2x00usb 17792 1 rt73usb
rt2x00lib 43776 2 rt73usb,rt2x00usb
rfkill 17316 1 rt2x00lib


Then:

zd1211rw 54280 0

=================================

But zd1211 has no info in the "used by" column.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is important:

firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ub
usb 1-5: firmware version 0x4330 and device bootcode version 0x4802 differ
firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ur
usb 1-5: USB control request for firmware upload failed. Error number -32
zd1211rw 1-5:1.0: couldn't load firmware. Error number -32
firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ub
usb 1-5: firmware version 0x4330 and device bootcode version 0x4802 differ
firmware: requesting zd1211/zd1211_ur
usb 1-5: USB control request for firmware upload failed. Error number -32
zd1211rw 1-5:1.0: couldn't load firmware. Error number -32


Searching forums yields no information other than that this error and problems with ZD1211 are common: a lot of people ask, no one answers.


=================================

Here is additional information about the ASUSTEk WLAN, from

http://www.modem-help.co.uk/ASUSTeK/WL-159g-USB-2-0-Wireless-Network-Adapter.html


http://www.modem-help.co.uk/search.php?id=USB\VID_0B05%26PID_170C#results

http://www.modem-help.co.uk/search.php?id=USB\VID_0B05%26PID_170C#results

http://www.modem-help.co.uk/ZyDAS/chipset.types/802-11-WLAN-Controllerless.html

1. There are files in /lib/firmware for zd1211, but I can't look at them in gedit.
2. Yum shows zd1211-firmware is installed. The "Info" tab in Yumex and the dates of the /lib files match and show the driver version number is 1.4

Get Rid Of Desktop Icons Using Configuration Editor (gconf-editor)

I like a relatively blank desktop. In Fedora linux, You can add or remove items on the desktop like Computer or mounted drives using the Configuration Editor, but the Gconf editor is not installed by default.

So before you can change or remove items from your Desktop in Fedora, you need to install the Configuration Editor. From a terminal. login as root and:

yum install gconf-editor

There! That's it. Now:

Applications -> System Tools -> Configuration Editor. In this screen, click apps, then Nautilus, then Desktop. Check boxes for things you want, uncheck them for things you don't.

You should not remove system-installed desktop icons by dragging them to the trash.

You can create icons for any other program either on the panels or the desktop without using the editor. To add a launcher to the desktop, right click and select "Create Launcher." To add on to a panel, right click the panel you want to add to and select "add to panel."

Desktop launchers created this way can be trashed with no ill effect. Panel launchers can be removed by right clicking the launcher and selecting "Remove from panel."

Getting Flash 10 To Cooperate in Fedora 9

Flash 10 is out, and all Linux users should make sure their pharmacist has his pager turned on.

It seems the new flash has some new resource needs, but doesn't actually come with them. You can go get them yourself. But when you first install it, you may find the Flash will not work in Firefox, or that you can't install Flash, or you can't configure Flash, or that Flash causes Firefox to crash or that there is no sound when you watch youtube videos or other Flash videos.

This article will be specific to Flash, Fedora 9, and Firefox 3.0.2. This also is for a 64-bit Fedora install, since the new Flash will not work on 64 bit Fedora without a helper program.

To install flash and use it with Firefox in Fedora 9, you need to do the following things:

1. Install the Adobe repository. The easiest way to do this is to go to a site that uses Flash. When you see the box telling you Flash is not installed, click "install missing plugin" or "get flash". This will take you to the Adobe download site.

Select Linux, select your distro, as as your dowload type, select "YUM for Linux". Yes, you want to open it with Package installer. Now you have the Adobe repo configured.

Next, open a terminal. Applications -> System Tools -> Terminal (if you don't have a panel or desktop launcher for terminal, make one now!)

Login as root. Make sure Firefox is closed. Then:

yum install flash-plugin

yum install nspluginwrapper

yum install alsa-oss-lib.i386

yum install libflashsupport

You need all of these things. The flash plugin will not work in 64 bit Fedora without nspluginwrapper. Installing the alsa program will resolve the issue of Firefox hanging, going gray, or not playing sound. At least it did on my computer.

To make sure the plugin is installed, restart Firefox. In the URL box, type "about:plugins". Flash should be at the top of the last, followed by nspluginwrapper.

One thing that worked when I had an issue with this was to verify the installations in terminal by using "yum install" whatever was missing. If it was installed, YUM would say so, and if it wasn't - or wasn't installed properly - YUM would install it.

Make sure Firefox is closed when installing plugins, or they may not take and the only way to fix it is uninstall the plugin, close Firefox, and start over.

Reboot, With Notes

OK so I had to take a little break and go lie down. After Banshee blew up my computer, I needed to reinstall anyway so I thought I would play around with some other distros.

I liked OpenSUSE at first, and noted that any computers I saw sitting on store shelves with Linux used this flavor. I liked that it tore through Udev, blasted out HAL and went from power on to a usable desktop in about the same amount of time as a really bloated XP boot. Which seems about as good as it gets for me so far!

But that was the live CD. It was like "install me! install me!" and when I did it was like "Hah! Sucker!"

First, the installer and configurator, YaST, is buggier than a damp kitchen cabinet. The installer crashed and burned, requiring a mulligan from the repartition stage - 35 minutes down the drain. After 2 laps around this, I tried downloading the full install DVD from the website and using that.

This is where I learned about the tedious process of checksums. When you download a Linux install, you can look around near the install link for an MD5 checksum. You then install a program that will inspect the file you download, return the checksum, and allow you to compare it to the one listed on the site. The number is about 200,000,000,000,000 digits long.

You can also select "media check" when you boot from the install CD. The trick is, if the checksums don't match, it may indicate errors that will cause problems later. The remedy to checksum errors is to try re-downloading the file, or to burn the ISO image at a lower speed.

The main reason for checksum errors is apparently similar to the reason witchcraft is so complex: a built in "must be ya didn't do it right" so when it doesn't work, someone can cop an attitude without actually knowing why it didn't work.

Checkitout: 2 wasted CDs, burned at a speed usually reserved for calligraphy, same for 2 wasted DVDs, same YaST crash. Then! A manufactured DVD from Linux Pro magazine ($15) had the same issue.

Turns out the reason YaST crashes when you try to install OpenSUSE on your laptop is that Linux No Likee ACPI. Turn it off. Here's how:

When you boot the DVD, you are given a menu with selections, including "Install." At the bottom of the screen, you will see a line that says "Boot:" If you type anything while this screen is up, it will appear on that line. Type "acpi=off" before selecting "install"

If that doesn't work, turn off power management on the BIOS. Use the ACPI=OFF line anyway.

Now the real Open SUSE nightmare begins.

A Word About Banshee

The music player Banshee boasted a host of features that seemed to bring multimedia functionality in Linux up to what the rest of the world merely expected: a winamp clone.

OK: so here goes:

Banshee will not run from the Applications menu until it is run from the command line at least once. Even in Banshee's documentation, this gotcha is not made clear.

Even so, just dropping to console and using "start banshee" "banshee start" or just "banshee" is not good enough.

The way to run banshee from console is to login as root and use the command "banshee-1". It took an hour of combing forums to find this out.

It took Banshee three crashes and 15 minutes to start the first time. The only way to know Banshee had crashed was if you happened to have to console still up so you could see the error messages. Otherwise, you would just sit there and wait, as you have become accustomed to doing.

After getting it to run once, you quit and try the launcher. Banshee stalls, then explodes, like a grenade with a five second fuse. X goes down like a prom queen, ctrl-alt-esc results in scrambled video, and a reboot reveals that your entire partition is trashed -- Fedora reports there is no ext3 partition and dies.

I know I should just report this and ask nicely for help. But what good will that do if clear instructions never existed to begin with? How will I ever know if it was a problem with me, or the program, or both? And that took hours to sort out. Why would I want to subject myself to that? And what good are forums if it takes hours to find the somplest of answers?

I'm ranting now, but this is terrible. Do Not Want!