"PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Hi my name is Jon, and I'm a long time lurker. I know most of you fairly well (I know who to PM [pester magnificently] for Nokia release dates, or just simply to talk... :-) ), don't feel shy to say hi. (I know it's sort of selfish to register just cause I have a problem, but I'm usually the quiet type anyways. So, sorry :P)

My problem:

Whenever I insert the stock SD card in my N800, I am unable to read it as it says "PC Connection active". This issue I believe goes way back, it started when I was trying to do a data transfer via USB for some files, the transfer failed for some unknown reason, and from then on the USB Cable is connected icon has always been there. Consequently, I was unable to connect via USB to any computer afterwards (worked fine before).

I decided to ignore the issue for the time being, reasoning that eventually (2 months later or so lol) a new firmware would come out, I would back stuff up, flash, and the issue would be gone. I never removed my SD card, used it for local music.

Finally upgrade day came (Good timing too! I had bought 2 8GB sdhc cards the week before), loaded as much junk as I could onto the SD card, took it out, and backed up the rest via rsyn on ssh.

Guess what? The problem is still there >_< . I thought it might have been a software issue, cause I really work my N800 out, installing all sorts of software (beta's and alpha's), tinkering in xterm as root.... I figured some random sys file got corrupted..... (though I'm usually careful and know for the most part what I'm doing).

Now I'm leaning towards a hardware issue, which would majorly suck (I've owned my precious N800 for months... would Nokia take it back and replace it if the issue was hardware after all this time? :-( ). Whenever I stick my sd card in the external slot, as soon as I CLOSE the little door thing, it says PC Connection active. If I put it in the internal, it sometimes says PC Connection active, sometimes it .....does nothing.

What's up? I tried searching the forums, couldn't find much, though I thought I remember reading someone with the same issue a long time ago....?


So I basically have a new tablet (essentially with the flash) that can't read my SD card. The SDHC cards haven't arrived yet though do to some issues with shipping. Long story >_>


Help?

Thanks for reading this :-)

--Jon

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

It's been 12 hours with no replies, and this thing has got me stumped. Just a kind bump :-)

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

This might work.....

First get the "gconf-editor" from here:

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/gconf-editor/

then click on "system", then "osso", then "af".

There is a check box to indicate if the USB cable is connected to a PC. You might need to clear the check box.

If you don't want to download the gconf-editor, you can
edit the XML file directly.

/var/lib/gconf/system/osso/af/%gconf.xml

you will find a bunch of settings, like if the camera is out,
if the mmc cover is open, if mmc is attached via usb, etc.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Thanks for the reply!

This is odd:

mmc-device-present
mmc-used-over-usb
-usb-cable-attached

are all checked.

I'm leaving only mmc-device present checked...

doesn't seem to do it...

reinserting card (external slot)...

Connected via USB message pops up >_<

Checking Gconf......

only the first two options are checked, usb-cable-attached is NOT checked. Progress :)

unchecking mmc-used-over-usb and rebooting...

All three checkmarks are back :-/

Interesting note: When I leaved them checked, it tells me that I can't access the card when I click on it, due to usb cable. Once I uncheck just the usb options that I aforementioned, it tells me that there is NO card in, even though mmc-device-present is there... or am i missing something?


What I don't understand is how it could be a configuration issue, as the device was wiped when I flashed the latest firmware.... :-/

I appreciate the help cmideiros. Any more suggestions? :-/

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Interesting...

I open the external door, and I find a lot of mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timout (CMD8) in dmesg.

mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: cover is now open
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timeout (CMD8)
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: card status error (CMD13)
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timeout (CMD8)
.... lots of the last one.

stick the card in...

nothing updated in the dmesg. Just lots of EAC mode messages. Are they relevant?

close door...

more command time out paired with card status error:
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timeout (CMD8)
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timeout (CMD8)
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: card status error (CMD55)

this treo is in there a couple separate times, sometimes sepparated by menalaus: Setting voltage "VDCDC3" to all sorts of different voltages. 0, 2800 mV, 3300 mV ... not sure if relevant

continuing:
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timeout (CMD8)
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: command timeout (CMD8)
mmci-omap mmci-omap.1: card status error (CMD55)
mmcblk0: mmc1:e624 SD128 123008KiB
mmcblk0: p1
2 more EAC mode messages.


Not sure if either the EAC or menalaus messages are relevant.

This is all dealing with the external slot of course. I decided to check out the dmesg cause I thought i could try to manually mount the card. of course i got an error (all it said is mounting dev on location failed).

Looks to me as if the card is read (it recognized SD128, with how big the drive is ~120 in MB ) but mmci-omap mmci-omap.1 is misbehaving :(

Suggestions?

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Strange issues.. Regarding the internal card. I believe there is a magnetic switch or something which disables access to the internal card or sets a ready to eject flag while the back cover is off. Don't know if that tidbit helps at all.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

I knew there was some sort of switch, didn't think it was magnetic though. Couldn't it damage the card in that case?

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

An emf field would only do damage if it was strong enough to induce a current disruptive to the existing current and above the capacity of the circuits tolerance to current variance. and only while the magnet is in motion relative to the circuit. But yes, without knowing what the threshold for SDRam is, I have concerns about generating bit errors in the circuit. Apparently it isn't an issue though.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

The card doesn't use magnetism for storage, so no, that won't damage the card. But if the cover is not on then it won't mount (the card is automatically mounted when the cover goes on, and dismounted when off. Likewise for that little flap over the external card. This is important, particularly for the unmount because as part of the automatic unmount the system will need to flush non-written data to the card. By ripping out the card too fast you could end up with inconsistencies (just as when you unplug a USB stick from a Windows PC without going through the 'safe to remove USB device' sequence thingy)).

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Ok I see. I agree with you both. TA, even though it doesn't use magnetism, a magnet can still do bad things to electricity. Point in fact: Wave a magnet in front of your monitor :P

I don't think that the magnetic field could have screwed up my internet tablet though :P

I need a linux hardware guru :P (I think)

I was hoping there would be more files in /var/log. There's only some font config file though :(

Anyone know Nokia's stance on replacing units, or perhaps where I can find such info? I'm still hoping this is recoverable without soldering.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Just another friendly bump as the issue is still not solved and I'm clueless as to why it's happening in the first place. :-/

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

I was able to read the contents of the SD card today by hooking my n800 up to my computer (Slackware) via USB.

However, when I sync, unmount, and disconnect the USB cable, the USB icon REMAINS on the N800, and as such I am of course unable to access the card from the N800 itself.

ideas?

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

A (CRT) monitor uses electromagnetism to steer an electron beam, so yes waving a magnet in front of one will definitely have an effect.. even permanently - there's a metal plate with holes (or slits for trinitrons) for the beam, and it can get permanently magnetised if you're too abusive with the magnet. That doesn't mean that _everything_ with electrons can get damaged by a magnet.. :)

On-topic: I'm totally baffled by the problem, as I just don't see it when I do exactly as described in the previous posting. As soon as I remove the cable the usb icon goes away and everything is back to normal.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

I got a little progress last night.

I stuck the SD card in the external slot, but DID NOT shut the door to prevent the auto mounting.

I mounted it myself using (xterm of course) first to /mnt/mmc1. I was able to browse (via ls) the card. Nothing in filemanager. I then umounted the card and remounted it to /media/mmc1. Semi sucess. The card showed up in the filemanager, but all the files seemed to be DOSified: "somefi~1". I copied the biggest music file from the card to the Audio directory (the SD card was read only for some reason, the file stayed on the sd card: ie i copied the file instead of moving it), it worked. Played it from there as well.

UKTube wasn't launching previously (complained about not being able to write to the SD card, in xterm again). Now it launches, but can't do much since my CD card is 100% full.


So I can basically manually mount the SD card when I need to, but it doesn't make sense that whenever I want to use my SD card I gotta pop the term on my portable device.... As soon as I shut the external door the USB connection warning pops up. Should I send my N800 back to Nokia?


I know TA, physics is pretty cool uh? :D

I'm almost convinced that it's a hard ware issue.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

To get long file name support use mount -t vfat ...

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

my bad for assuming that it should have been done automatically?

Regardless, it doesn't bother me too much, I know that there is a way to do it commandline wise. I just don't want to do it every time I insert a card, neither do I want to write a shell script for it. It should just WORK :P

Thanks though TA-t3. I really appreciate the responses. Any more ideas? It seems like you're the only person really interested in helping me, and I appreciate it. Cmideiros and DryLand 404, both your inputs have been useful as well. I've learned quite a bit of the internet tablet that I wasn't aware before (automounting via some sort of magnetic switch, gconf...).

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

I may try to dig in a bit more tomorrow, but I've got only 5 minutes more today before the alarm is enabled where I'm located. What I'll try to look at is what kind of daemon process or whatever is running and stopping when the cable is plugged in/removed. There could be some problem where it's not stopping. It might be a hardware problem (with the usb system), as you suggest.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Can no one help me? TA, were you able to figure anything out?

I came here figuring that someone smarter than me would be able to help me or at least point me in the right direction, cause I've exhausted a lot of work and effort on my own trying to fix this.

A little update, I reflashed my tablet to get the SIP updates and MicroB, but nothing else is different as per the SD card issue goes. Still the same annoying issue.

I don't have my papers with me, but for how long is the warranty for the n800? 1 year I assume? I bought it in the US over the Internet, but am in Canada right now. Would I have to send it back to the online store that I got it from? Or can I just take it in to some Nokia Canada repair center? Or would I have to ship it to Finland to Mr. Idestam?


Ooooo lots of questions :) Feel free to answer as many as you like, don't be shy ;)

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

With the new firmware, I'm having the exact same issue.

My solution has been to use an external card reader.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

External card reader? Like... hooked up to the usb port acting as host? or like using your computer's bay?


See, I used to store lots of music on my SD card (got plans to store much MUCH more, games and apps too), which now isn't happening. The music is on, but I can't read it from within my N800 without manually mounting it. Also, the issue goes back to two firmwares ago (I never upgraded to the previous firmware).

External card reader is no solution :(

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

I haven't had time to look more into it, sorry. I'm snowed over with stuff, and when that's finished there's a 3-day festival coming up (no N800 there..). There's a possible window in 18 hours though.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Another friendly bump

:)

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

When I (on my working OK N800) plug the USB cable in dmesg says:

musb_stage2_irq 628: SUSPEND, devctl 99
musb_stage2_irq 530: BUS RESET
musb_stage0_irq 530: BUS RESET
musb_hdrc periph: enabled ep1in for bulk IN, dma, maxpacket 64
musb_hdrc periph: enabled ep1out for bulk OUT, dma, maxpacket 64
g_file_storage gadget: full speed config #1

When I remove the USB cable I get:

musb_stage2_irq 628: SUSPEND, devctl 91
musb_stage2_irq 609: DISCONNECT aas PERIPHERAL, devctl 80

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Hi my name is Dan,

I've got the same problem since yesterday. Did you find an issue?
What can I do?

Thank you for your help.

Dan.

Re: "PC Connection Active" with no USB cable connected prevents me from using SD Card
 

Not much? :(

I eventually gave up. I have a semi solution though. There is a program in one of the repositories called "USBnet/MMC Changer". I think the purpose of the program is to let you use the USB port to connect to your PC and surf the web via USB.

By going into the control panel and switching from MMC to USBNet, and then opening the SD card door (the external one, internal is lost to me :( ) and then closing it, the SD card is magically detected! it's a bit of a hack, but it seems to work. It has to be done on every boot. Oh and if you miss it when you close the SD card slot (you do it too slow or too fast) then you have to reboot your tablet. After switching it from MMC to USBNet, if you switch it BACK to MMC, the Tablet will Freeze and completely wipe out (an ugly reset) within 5 seconds. Not pretty.

Again, it's an ugly hack, but it at least allows me to use my SD card until I try to return it, cause in my opinion there some hardware defect.

Oh and disclaimer: I am in *NO* way responsible if the above method bricks your tablet, starts WWIII, or causes annoying headaches. It seems to work, but I don't exactly know *how* it works or what could be the negative down sides. And I'm not even going to waste time worrying about it. I've been using it for approximately the last 2 months, so...

Hope this helps Dan,

Oh and TA-t3 if you read this, I want to thank you for all your help. I really appreciate your strong support. This bug has driven me nuts and I have full intentions of returning my N800 on grounds of hardware defects. When I get a chance. Someday. Yeah.

Again TA, thanks :)

--Jon