[nycbug-talk] Soekris/PCEngines-ALIX USB Bug

[George Rosamond]

Isaac Levy wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I've been searching for answers, but info on lists is confusing the  
> heck out of me.
> 
> Essentially, I'm working with Soekris and ALIX boards- attempting to  
> get a straight FreeBSD install done.
> 
> I love these cheap boards, some folks around here know I've been  
> happily deploying PFSense and Monowall on these things all over town  
> for a few years.
> 
> --
> Now, I'm trying to get a full FreeBSD system built on the boxes, I've  
> run into problems with the USB ports.  I'm open to using OpenBSD if  
> everything works, but my use will be remotely deployed systems with no/ 
> limited physical access, and the OpenBSD upgrade cycle isn't that  
> appealing to me, (especially as I'm a long-time FreeBSD user).   
> (Comments/flames/etc. on this are welcomed).
> 
> --
> With that, the USB ports on the boards are the only well-known problem  
> affecting stability, so much that FreeBSD kernels are simply compiled  
> without the USB drivers.
> 
> I would very much like to the USB ports to work on the Soekris/ALIX,  
> (for keyboards, CD-ROM drives, harddrives, etc...).  Here's my  
> questions:
> 
> 1) Has anyone seen *concise* documentation on the problem, (or perhaps  
> a solution), before I sink time into documenting the bugs?
> 
> 2) Can anyone here confirm that USB works properly on ALIX/Soekris  
> using OpenBSD?
> 
> Even the shortest responses or URLS sent would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Best,
> .ike

Errr. . . I think the ultimate solution with FreeBSD and EHCI (usb 2.0) 
and the Alix boards is to build a kernel without EHCI support.

The USB ports work fine. . . AFAIK without it.

I just got to the point where I disabled it in /boot/loader.conf, but 
still bombed out during boot on EHCI. . .

But Ike knows that already, and wondering about other people's input :)

Ike. . . maybe email Pascal at PCEngines.ch. . . she's pretty receptive.

It says this:

FreeBSD (on older versions, may need to disable USB 2.0 in BIOS, or 
disable the EHCI driver)

at:

http://www.pcengines.ch/alix.htm

But I assume you're running 6 or 7 stable. . .

George