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

[Isaac Levy]

Hi All,

Let me re-iterate- I *am* wanting to get USB working properly on the  
ALIX/Soekris boards, using FreeBSD 7.x (REL).

On Aug 6, 2008, at 2:37 PM, George Rosamond wrote:

> 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'm confused by what you wrote here- does the USB work properly or not?

I'm attempting to get *everything* running properly on the boards, and  
am especially interested in USB information.

> 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 :)

Actually, I don't quite understand what you mean here- perhaps you and  
I could discuss this off-list?

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

Cool!

>
>
> It says this:

(what 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. . .


Yes, FreeBSD 7 stable is the current release, which I'm trying to use.

Thanks for the info!

Rocket-
.ike