PL2303 Serial->USB Driver support under stock Sheeva Plug

[tomasz]

Does the unmodified release of the Sheeva Plug (Ubuntu 9.04) support PL2303 devices for serial to usb conversion for the type A USB port? The shipped kernel 2.6.28.11 certainly has support for it in its src but from what i've seen the functionality doesn't seem to be there. My devices show up in lsusb but never do there proper mapping of usb->tty.

This is what should be happening ..

usb 1-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usbserial: USB Serial support registered for pl2303
pl2303 1-1:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
usb 1-1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usbcore: registered new interface driver pl2303
pl2303: Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adaptor driver

But instead it never gets past.

usb 1-1: new full speed USB device using ehci_marvell and address 3
usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

Is my best option to try and compile the module directly on the Sheeva Plug or should I just push toward alpha6 or 1.0 and hope that my problem is solved?

And in general can the type A connector be used for serial->usb conversion or is that something reserved for the mini usb port?

Thanks!

[MarkF]

I don't know anything about that particular USB->serial chipset.  Further, I run a Debian release on my plug (because Ubuntu support of the plug is going away at some point in the future) so I don't have direct knowledge of that Ubuntu release.  Sorry.

Personally, I would build the "Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adapter driver" module; but, I'm a software person by profession so building software is ALWAYS my first answer.   Seriously, installing a new or different release will not guarantee that module will be present so, after a bunch of work, you may end up right back in the same place.

From the documentation, the intended usage of the mini-USB port is "debugging".  It is attached to the JTAG port and serial port 0 on the plug.  It cannot be used to plug in random USB devices as it is a dual port USB->serial device, not a USB host port.  Instead, you can plug the mini USB port into a Windows/Mac/Linux host's USB port and, after the FTDI drivers initialize, use it as a serial console or with a JTAG-based debugger.  I used putty on Windows to talk through the mini-USB port (serial) to install and configure software on my plug.

In general, the USB type A port (USB host) can have any USB "thingy" plugged into it.  The only conditions are:
1) The USB host port needs to provide enough power for the "thingy". (putting a powered USB hub between the plug and the "thingy" solved this problem for me)
2) The currently running Linux needs to support the "thingy" with drivers and other software? (your previous question)

I have not attached a USB->serial converter in the USB host port; but, it should work if the above are met.

[restamp]

I am using several Prolific PL2303 serial USB devices on the 2.6.31 load and they work well.  These did NOT work on the original version of the kernel that came with the Sheeva Plug.  If I recall, that kernel would generate /dev/usbdev?.? entries, but no /dev/ttyUSB? device.

[tomasz]

I opted to upgrade my sheeva plug through the installer to 1.0 . Everything works perfectly now.