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How to use USB 3 PCI Express card in Puppy?

Posted: Thu 17 Jan 2013, 20:38
by Flash
I added a 2-port USB 3 PCI Express card to my computer. Hardinfo sees it but Puppy doesn't see anything I plug into either of the USB 3 ports. How do I use it in Puppy?

Posted: Thu 17 Jan 2013, 20:53
by pemasu
What Puppy. With Lucid Puppy based Puppies I think you will need Tempestuous created xhci driver pet for having support for usb3 drives.

Posted: Thu 17 Jan 2013, 21:06
by 8-bit
Could you provide a link for that driver? Spoke too soon. Found and downloaded by doing a post search for xhci.
Better to get it before it disappears into the background!
Also, do you know if Puppy supports the external hard drives that are connected with a 1394iee cable as in the case of a Toshiba external 1-3gig drive?

Posted: Thu 17 Jan 2013, 21:14
by pemasu
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 853#453853

You need to modprobe xhci for loading it straight away. And this is about Lucid Puppies without that driver. I dont know the status of those improved later Lucid Puppy versions. I havent followed what Playdayz included in them.

Flash might post his used Puppy version. Like we ask from newbies :)

Posted: Thu 17 Jan 2013, 21:14
by RSH
Ooopss, there it is! :lol:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 853#453853

The forums search routine is nice (as I've discovered newly): searched for xhci AND driver on forum member Tempestuous ---> Search found 2 matches

Posted: Fri 18 Jan 2013, 04:14
by Flash
pemasu wrote:...Flash might post his used Puppy version. Like we ask from newbies :)
Oops. It's Wary 5.2.2. :oops:
I downloaded Tempestuous' xhci k 2.6.33.2 .pet and installed it in Wary 5.2.2 multisession DVD (RAM only at this point), then did modprobe xhci and got error message "Fail: no xhci module" or something close to that. So I saved to the DVD and rebooted, but still no luck. :(

Does anyone know if any Puppy derivative comes with USB 3 enabled?

Posted: Fri 18 Jan 2013, 05:04
by 8-bit
After installing the PET, did you do "depmod -a" in a terminal before doing the modprobe?

Posted: Fri 18 Jan 2013, 05:33
by Flash
No. I did download Fatdog64-611 and burn it onto a 210 MB mini-CD that I had lying around. It almost exactly filled the CD. :)
Fatdog64-611 booted from the CD (RAM only) does see the USB 3 ports. I'll try the depmod thing with Wary tomorrow, and thanks.

Posted: Fri 18 Jan 2013, 06:00
by pemasu
Flash. My suggestion was based on possibility that you could use Lucid Puppy. The driver I posted about is kernel module driver and it is kernel version spesific. I dont know the kernel status of Wary, if it has xhci kernel module driver available. Fatdog surely has, as all newer kernel version puppies.

So....You cant try that xhci driver meant for Lucid Puppies in Wary.

So Fatdog should have xhci kernel module driver available. It can be included as kernel modude or compiled in to the kernel. So..it should have been in use. If Fatdog does not show the drive....then the problem probably lies in somewhere else. Your interface has been seen, in Fatdog I presume the xhci is available...so the problem is probably more complicated.

Of course you can try that modprobe xhci to be sure. If you then check lsmod, it could show that xhci has been loaded, but...if it has been compiled in to the kernel, it wont be showed...even that is is in use.

If you use latest Fatdog....you could ask more questions straight from jamesbond.

Posted: Fri 18 Jan 2013, 14:02
by Flash
Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Fatdog64-611 does see the USB 3 ports and whatever I plug into them. The problem is, Fatdog is over 200 MB and so it takes about 5 minutes for it to boot from that mini-CD. :lol:

Now that I know that at least some recent Puppies can use the USB 3 ports, I'll keep trying smaller ones until I find one that works.

However, I do want to install the xhci in a Puppy. If I can't find a Lucid Puppy DVD lying around, I'll download the latest Lucid and make one.

Again, thanks for all your help.