Adams Bros Blog » Hardware

MMC/SDHC Card Readers and Gentoo Linux

Trenton — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:21:29 +0000

So, I had a need to use my SDHC card in my Dell Studio 17 (1737) notebook. So, I set out to find out why it wasn't working. I ended up finding out that I needed to load mmc_block and sdhci-pci in order to get it to work. Here's what I did.

Kernel Configuration

I happen to be using kernel 2.6.30, so your configuration may vary.

 MMC/SD/SDIO card support  --->
   MMC block device driver
[*]     Use bounce buffer for simple hosts
   SDIO UART/GPS class support
   Secure Digital Host Controller Interface support
     SDHCI support on PCI bus

Gentoo Module Loading

Add the mmc_block and sdhci-pci modules to the configuration at /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6
Then I just loaded them by issuing...

modprobe mmc_block
modprobe sdhci-pci

My System

For those searching on the internet, who might have the same MMC/SD chipsets as me.

tdamac linux # lspci -vvnn | grep Ricoh
09:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
09:01.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22) (prog-if 01)
09:01.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller [1180:0843] (rev 12)
09:01.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 12)
09:01.4 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev ff) (prog-if ff)

Linux Macbook Function Key Mode – fnmode

Trenton — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:15:02 +0000

So, I couldn't figure out how to get my Macbook function keys to default to function keys under Linux, rather than media keys such as brightness, volume control, etc. I searched all over the net for information on this feature, and could only find stuff about pb_fnmode (which doesn't appear in the latest kernels). So, I finally resorted to grepping "fnmode" out of the sources, and found the location that sets this. Then, I noticed that the kernel module that handles Mac key mappings had a parameter that could be changed, called "fnmode". Well, that gave me a clue that it may be in /sys/ somehwere. So, I searched, and sure enough, it was there. The following command will set the function keys to be the default action, rather than media keys.

echo 2 > /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/fnmode

The valid values are (0 = disabled, [1] = fkeyslast, 2 = fkeysfirst)

This effectively reverses the function key/media key mappings.

Kingston Rocks

Trenton — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:30:34 +0000

If you plan on buying memory, it most certainly MUST be Kingston memory. I bought 4G of Kingston memory from CDW Canada, for my Macbook, and it was DOA. I tried it in my Macbook; Linux was freezing up, and Mac OS X was telling me I had to restart my computer.

CDW doesn't do returns, so I called up Kingston. I told them the situation, about how I put the memory in my computer, and my computer quit working, but works with my other RAM. They immediately issued me an RMA number, and told me that they would be emailing me instructions on how to send it back through fedex; the fedex charges would be billed to them. I'm like "WHAT"???? You guys are paying the shipping charges? I was totally expecting to have to pay shipping myself. So, I proceeded to ask if they were paying shipping charges because I had just purchased it, or if this was the case for the life of the product. She told me that it was included with the lifetime warranty.

Now that is what I call a lifetime warranty. So, suffice it to say, I will only buy Kingston memory. KINGSTON ROCKS!!!