Bump... Can nobody out there run USBView for me and post their response?

I'm sure there are USBView equivalents for Linux & MacOS out there as well.

Anyone?

It would be very helpful to me that one or more people simply attempt to run USBView on their Windows systems  and post how their device responds immediately after power-up/connection.

For a link to this helpful tool, see this FTDI site.

I just spoke with my contact @ GlobalScale that graciously offered to overnight/exchange-ship a replacement, but it would be good to cross-verify my current device is actually unusual :-)

Windows Vista Device Manager doesn't understand the device at all.  As USBView shows, the device(s) isn't enumerating.  Kind of hard to install a driver when it can't attach to any device.

I have an email into GlobalScale asking them to address the problem or exchange my failed device - no response for 48 hours unfortunately.

The drivers, btw, are also available for download from both Marvell's and GlobalScale's sites.

'dd' comes to mind.  This will allow you to test the raw bandwidth of the interface and
streaming performance of the drive (by writing directly to the block device).

I'd then install a file system on the drive (using the aforementioned 64KB cluster size
if your chosen file system supports it), create a file, and do 'dd' to that file.

Finally, I question the "write-only" concern.  As I mentioned, you'd probably want to
be able to (simultaneously, in fact) stream a pre-recorded program "from" the drive
at the same time you are writing "to" it as you record live programs.

Ah, here we go again... more 'b' versus 'B' confusion.

USB 2.0 Hi-Speed is rated as 480 mega BITS per second.  ATSC (here in the U.S.) specifies a maximum stream rate of 19.2 mega BITS per second.

With the original poster's HDHomeRun streaming up to two such programs, that's only 2 * 19.2Mb/s or 38.4Mb/s.  Add in a third stream a "media extender" will often be "watching", and you are up to 3 * 19.2Mb/s or 57.6Mb/s (though that last stream is traveling in the opposite direction of course).

Just make sure what ever file system you install on that "drive" is friendly to streams.  I'd suggest a "cluster size" of 64KB.  This will keep even these three streams able to utilize the highest throughput of that "drive" (i.e. random I/O rate using 64KB-consecutive blocks is nearly the sequential/maximum I/O rate of most hard disks).

I'm trying to install the FTDI Virtual COM Port ("VCP") drivers on my Vista PC as per the XP instructions to no avail.  No matter what I do, Vista just insists it cannot "start" any driver I attach to the device.

Google-ing around, I've certainly tracked down several versions of the FTCI VCP driver set... all with different installation instructions.

But each document I found referred to OEM variances in the VendorID/ProductID settings reported and suggested I check to see what the SheevaPlug happens to be sending.  FTDI has conveniently hosted the "USBView" tool from Microsoft that can be used to report what your Windows PC is seeing on its various USB bus/ports.

Much to my surprise, USBView reports the following for my SheevaPlug:

  In the Navigation Panel on the left, it says:

    "[!] [Port6] DeviceFailedEnumeration : Unknown Device"

  Clicking on this item in the Navigation Panel causes the Detail Panel on the right to report:

    Device Descriptor:
    bcdUSB:             0x0000
    bDeviceClass:         0x00
    bDeviceSubClass:      0x00
    bDeviceProtocol:      0x00
    bMaxPacketSize0:      0x00 (0)
    idVendor:           0x0000
    idProduct:          0x0000
    bcdDevice:          0x0000
    iManufacturer:        0x00
    iProduct:             0x00
    iSerialNumber:        0x00
    bNumConfigurations:   0x00

    ConnectionStatus: DeviceFailedEnumeration
    Current Config Value: 0x00
    Device Bus Speed:     Low
    Device Address:       0x00
    Open Pipes:              0

I was expecting, maybe, the idVendor/idProduct to not match the values in the FTDI-supplied .inf file values (0x0403 & 0x60?? respectively).  What I didn't expect to see was an obviously non-responding USB device :-(.

I should also comment that - as far as lights go - only the green one closest to the power plug end of the SheevaPlug is ever lighted now.  When I first plugged in the SheevaPlug, I could have sworn the other light came on brightly as well (and, indeed, may have been flashing), but I had to leave for dinner at that very moment.  Upon my return, only the lone green light nearest the power plug end ever lights no matter what I do.

Suggestions?  Similar experiences?