USB Devices under Linux

Introduction

This page gives advice on how to install and use certain USB devices under Debian Linux. Theses advices are followed at your own risk. The steps I describe worked for my hardware, but they may very well not work or do damage to your hardware.

Contents

USB Mouse
USB Joystick
External USB Drive

USB Mouse

Recompile the kernel with the following options:
Input core support --> Input core support Y
Input core support --> Mouse support Y
USB support --> Support for USB UHCI (NEW) Y
USB support --> USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support Y
USB support --> HID input layer support Y
USB support --> /dev/hiddev raw HID device support Y

Then, you shoud edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 and add the following section:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "off"
Option "Buttons" "5"
EndSection

Click here for an example XF86Config-4 file.

USB Joystick

There are a few games under linux that are fun and that are easier to play with a gamepad, like koules or the NeoGeo-emulator gngeo. This is why I decided to get my Microsoft SidWinder GamePad to work under Linux. Actually, it's very easy. Just recompile your kernel with the options:
Input Core support --> Joystick support Y
USB support --> USB Humen Interface Device (full HID) support Y

This will create new devices /dev/input/js0 to .../js3. For some games, e.g., koules, you need to make symbolic links:
ln -s /dev/input/js0 /dev/js0
ln -s /dev/input/js1 /dev/js1
ln -s /dev/input/js2 /dev/js2
ln -s /dev/input/js3 /dev/js3

External USB Drives

I only have USB1 on my laptop. So, what's the point in having an external drive on USB1? The point is that a lot of devices are recognized as external harddisks. For instance my Casio Exilim digital camera, and my Creative MuVo MP3 player. Here's what needs to be done:
Recompile your kernel with the following options:
USB support --> USB Mass Storage support Y
File systems --> VFAT Y
Unplug the USB device. As root, type
tail -f /var/log/messages
Now plug the device into your USB port and observe the tail-output. It should say something about new mass storage device and should end up telling you about a new SCSI harddisc, normally /dev/sda0, /dev/sdb0 or similar.
Add the following line to /etc/fstab:

/dev/sdb1 /usb_drive vfat ro,noauto,user 0 0

where you should replace /dev/sdb1 by the name of the device and /usb_drive by the name of a directory that you will create. Now, any user can mount the USB device by typing mount /usb_drive. Some people write that they observed a kernel panic when unplugging a mounted USB device, so make sure you always umount it before unplugging. However, I unplugged a mounted device several times without problems.

Attention: Not all USB devices will work with Linux. First, they have to be recognized as external harddrives. (It should say on the box: "no drivers needed for WinXP".) But even then, it's not sure that the device will actually work. Check out Google to look for success reports by other Linux users before buying new hardware. You might also want to look at this list of supported Linux devices. If you don't find it there, don't give up. The list is not complete.