[SLE] Garmin GPS Kernel Module Stability Problems?
Hi, I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes. I'm not actually accessing the device from Linux, but rather from Windows software running under Windows XP Pro via VMware. But every time I attach the device, the garmin_gps kernel module is apparently loaded automatically and the device claimed by it. When I connect it to VMware, it asks me to confirm deactivating Linux access to the device before allowing Windows to see it. But in both cases, the device was not even attached to the system at the time of the crash, but had been and Windows / VMware was still running after accessing the device and downloading its track logs. I cannot find any log file entries in /var/log that seem to pertain to the crash, just the reboot activities afterward. The first time the crash happened, I was not around. Today it happened and I was in the same room as the computer, though not using it. One of the CD trays happened to be out and when it retracted it caught my attention. It seems the system may have reset itself, as if I'd pressed the hardware reset button on the front panel. Until these past few days, this system has been extremely reliable and stable, so something appears to have happened, and the addition of this new hardware coincides with the onset of the symptoms. I'm running under SuSE 10.0 with the latest kernel (2.6.13-15.10-smp) on a Pentium 4-based Intel motherboard system. So I'm wondering if anyone else is using a device handled by the "garmin_gps" kernel module and if so, have they encountered any stability problems related to it? Thanks. Randall Schulz -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 21:54 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
I'm not actually accessing the device from Linux, but rather from Windows software running under Windows XP Pro via VMware. But every time I attach the device, the garmin_gps kernel module is apparently loaded automatically and the device claimed by it. When I connect it to VMware, it asks me to confirm deactivating Linux access to the device before allowing Windows to see it.
What does this kernel module do? Isn't the garmin connected via a serial port? I access Trimble GPS devices via the standard serial port driver. But then I am after NMEA message strings. IIRC, Garmin uses its own format. -- Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems AB Ramböll Sverige AB Kapellgränd 7 P.O. Box 4205 SE-102 65 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: Int +46 8-615 60 20 Fax: Int +46 8-31 42 23 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
my garmin etrex venture has an interface menu where you can select a variety of formats. It includes two Garmin formats, 3 or 4 NMEA formats and something else. -----Original Message----- From: Roger Oberholtzer [mailto:roger@opq.se] Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 12:50 AM To: suse-linux-e@suse.com Subject: Re: [SLE] Garmin GPS Kernel Module Stability Problems? On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 21:54 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
I'm not actually accessing the device from Linux, but rather from Windows software running under Windows XP Pro via VMware. But every time I attach the device, the garmin_gps kernel module is apparently loaded automatically and the device claimed by it. When I connect it to VMware, it asks me to confirm deactivating Linux access to the device before allowing Windows to see it.
What does this kernel module do? Isn't the garmin connected via a serial port? I access Trimble GPS devices via the standard serial port driver. But then I am after NMEA message strings. IIRC, Garmin uses its own format. -- Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems AB Ramböll Sverige AB Kapellgränd 7 P.O. Box 4205 SE-102 65 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: Int +46 8-615 60 20 Fax: Int +46 8-31 42 23 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.4/375 - Release Date: 6/25/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.4/375 - Release Date: 6/25/2006 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
On Mon, 2006-06-26 at 02:26 -0700, Wagner, Steven G wrote:
my garmin etrex venture has an interface menu where you can select a variety of formats. It includes two Garmin formats, 3 or 4 NMEA formats and something else.
It has a USB port? Or a serial port? If it is a serial port, I have used AETN serial->USB cables on Linux. SUSE 9.3 and 10.0 just made them work. I have not tried 10.1 yet.
-----Original Message----- From: Roger Oberholtzer [mailto:roger@opq.se] Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 12:50 AM To: suse-linux-e@suse.com Subject: Re: [SLE] Garmin GPS Kernel Module Stability Problems?
On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 21:54 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
I'm not actually accessing the device from Linux, but rather from Windows software running under Windows XP Pro via VMware. But every time I attach the device, the garmin_gps kernel module is apparently loaded automatically and the device claimed by it. When I connect it to VMware, it asks me to confirm deactivating Linux access to the device before allowing Windows to see it.
What does this kernel module do? Isn't the garmin connected via a serial port? I access Trimble GPS devices via the standard serial port driver. But then I am after NMEA message strings. IIRC, Garmin uses its own format.
-- Roger Oberholtzer
OPQ Systems AB Ramböll Sverige AB Kapellgränd 7 P.O. Box 4205 SE-102 65 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: Int +46 8-615 60 20 Fax: Int +46 8-31 42 23
-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
-- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.4/375 - Release Date: 6/25/2006
-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.4/375 - Release Date: 6/25/2006
-- Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems AB Ramböll Sverige AB Kapellgränd 7 P.O. Box 4205 SE-102 65 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: Int +46 8-615 60 20 Fax: Int +46 8-31 42 23 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
Roger, On Monday 26 June 2006 00:50, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 21:54 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
I'm not actually accessing the device from Linux, but rather from Windows software running under Windows XP Pro via VMware. But every time I attach the device, the garmin_gps kernel module is apparently loaded automatically and the device claimed by it. When I connect it to VMware, it asks me to confirm deactivating Linux access to the device before allowing Windows to see it.
What does this kernel module do? Isn't the garmin connected via a serial port? I access Trimble GPS devices via the standard serial port driver. But then I am after NMEA message strings. IIRC, Garmin uses its own format.
Sorry. I should have mentioned that this device communicates via USB. I don't know what data format is used, since so far I've just used the Garmin-supplied, though quite meager, Training Center software. (This device is not navigational, it's meant for athletic training and includes a heart rate monitor in addition to its GPS track recording functions.)
-- Roger Oberholtzer
RRS -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
On Mon, 2006-06-26 at 05:59 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Roger,
On Monday 26 June 2006 00:50, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 21:54 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
I'm not actually accessing the device from Linux, but rather from Windows software running under Windows XP Pro via VMware. But every time I attach the device, the garmin_gps kernel module is apparently loaded automatically and the device claimed by it. When I connect it to VMware, it asks me to confirm deactivating Linux access to the device before allowing Windows to see it.
What does this kernel module do? Isn't the garmin connected via a serial port? I access Trimble GPS devices via the standard serial port driver. But then I am after NMEA message strings. IIRC, Garmin uses its own format.
Sorry. I should have mentioned that this device communicates via USB.
Ahhh. So you have the USB part on the garmin, and the serial DB connector on the Linux PC? That is backwards from what I would have thought. In this case, shouldn't you just connect the garmin direct to your PC's USB connector? That is what I suspect the garmin kernel driver is for. The USB<->serial cables that I have used are for attaching a serial (e.g., RS-232) device to the USB port on your computer. Not the other way around. Because in that case, you would just hook them up direct, USB<->USB. -- Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems AB Ramböll Sverige AB Kapellgränd 7 P.O. Box 4205 SE-102 65 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: Int +46 8-615 60 20 Fax: Int +46 8-31 42 23 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
Roger, On Monday 26 June 2006 06:08, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
On Mon, 2006-06-26 at 05:59 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Roger,
...
What does this kernel module do? Isn't the garmin connected via a serial port? I access Trimble GPS devices via the standard serial port driver. But then I am after NMEA message strings. IIRC, Garmin uses its own format.
Sorry. I should have mentioned that this device communicates via USB.
Ahhh. So you have the USB part on the garmin, and the serial DB connector on the Linux PC?
I'm not using serial at all. Why would I, when SuSE Linux 10.0 ships with a driver and the software I'm actually using to access the device runs under Windows (via VMware)? Anyway, the device seems to function--the Windows software from Garmin always successfully retrieves the device's recorded data after a workout. What I'm interested in is any other users of similar devices who've encountered spontaneous system resets since attaching it. For all I know, some other defect has occurred coincidentally at the time I added this device.
...
-- Roger Oberholtzer
Randall Schulz -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
On Mon, 2006-06-26 at 06:20 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
I'm not using serial at all. Why would I, when SuSE Linux 10.0 ships with a driver and the software I'm actually using to access the device runs under Windows (via VMware)?
My mistake. There is another person in this thread with a garmin problem. Perhaps he was the one with the $40 garmin usb-serial cable that he wanted to use. Or it is a Monday morning problem here... -- Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems AB Ramböll Sverige AB Kapellgränd 7 P.O. Box 4205 SE-102 65 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: Int +46 8-615 60 20 Fax: Int +46 8-31 42 23 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
Roger, On Monday 26 June 2006 06:43, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
On Mon, 2006-06-26 at 06:20 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
I'm not using serial at all. Why would I, when SuSE Linux 10.0 ships with a driver and the software I'm actually using to access the device runs under Windows (via VMware)?
My mistake. There is another person in this thread with a garmin problem. Perhaps he was the one with the $40 garmin usb-serial cable that he wanted to use. Or it is a Monday morning problem here...
Yes. I'm aware of the tangent that arose... Such things happen, but I'm trying to keep my issue and question on the radar.
-- Roger Oberholtzer
Randall Schulz -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
Hello again, On Sunday 25 June 2006 21:54, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
...
I've resolved this issue and wanted to close the loop on this posting. Shortly after my latest posting two days ago I had another crash that occurred when the Garmin device was not connected, had not been connected since the most recent reboot and VMware / Windows XP had not been run since then either, so I started looking for problems elsewhere. I was running Memtest86 off the 10.0 boot / installation DVD and about three quarters of the way through the second full pass, the system reset again. This made me think that perhaps there was some temperature dependency (testing RAM runs the CPU pretty hard, of course), so I figured I'd turn up the cabinet fans to maximum to see if it would run longer. I reached over to the front panel to turn up the fan controls and when I touched the front panel, the system reset again! Now, this cabinet has a couple of front-panel USB ports that are situated right next to the fan control knobs and there was a cable (with nothing attached at the other end) in one of the sockets. So now I'm thinking there's a mechanical aspect to this, and sure enough, I can make the system reset simply by tweaking the USB connector that's plugged in to the front-panel port. Then I discovered that I can get it to happen even without the cable plugged in by simply pushing and warping the front panel, so presumably the problem is in the socket itself. My best guess is that the connector transiently shorts the USB power lead to ground and that causes the system reset. For the time being, I've disconnected the front-panel USB sockets at the motherboard riser. Now I'm short on USB connections... Randall Schulz -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 07:20 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Now, this cabinet has a couple of front-panel USB ports that are situated right next to the fan control knobs and there was a cable (with nothing attached at the other end) in one of the sockets. So now I'm thinking there's a mechanical aspect to this, and sure enough, I can make the system reset simply by tweaking the USB connector that's plugged in to the front-panel port. Then I discovered that I can get it to happen even without the cable plugged in by simply pushing and warping the front panel, so presumably the problem is in the socket itself. My best guess is that the connector transiently shorts the USB power lead to ground and that causes the system reset. For the time being, I've disconnected the front-panel USB sockets at the motherboard riser. Now I'm short on USB connections...
I'm sure you've already check this, but have you considered it might not be the USB ports themselves? Maybe the front panel/case front, which typically has the power and reset connectors among various LEDs. The power/reset buttons might be "resting" against the panel in a way that might get "pushed" when any force is applied to the front panel/case front (such as when plugging in a USB port). Or there might be an exposed LED wire that gets shorted when any force is applied in the same manner. A simple way to check would be to try applying the same force to the USB ports when they are unplugged and see if it happens again. If so, then it wasn't the USB ports. Again, you've probably already checked this, but I just wanted to point it out in case you haven't. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------------- The existence of Linux has far more to do with the breakup of AT&T's monopoly than anything Microsoft has ever done. -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 07:20 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hello again,
On Sunday 25 June 2006 21:54, Randall R Schulz wrote:
Hi,
I recently bought a Garmin GPS device (Forerunner 301) and since then I've had two system crashes.
...
I've resolved this issue and wanted to close the loop on this posting.
Shortly after my latest posting two days ago I had another crash that occurred when the Garmin device was not connected, had not been connected since the most recent reboot and VMware / Windows XP had not been run since then either, so I started looking for problems elsewhere.
I was running Memtest86 off the 10.0 boot / installation DVD and about three quarters of the way through the second full pass, the system reset again. This made me think that perhaps there was some temperature dependency (testing RAM runs the CPU pretty hard, of course), so I figured I'd turn up the cabinet fans to maximum to see if it would run longer. I reached over to the front panel to turn up the fan controls and when I touched the front panel, the system reset again!
Now, this cabinet has a couple of front-panel USB ports that are situated right next to the fan control knobs and there was a cable (with nothing attached at the other end) in one of the sockets. So now I'm thinking there's a mechanical aspect to this, and sure enough, I can make the system reset simply by tweaking the USB connector that's plugged in to the front-panel port. Then I discovered that I can get it to happen even without the cable plugged in by simply pushing and warping the front panel, so presumably the problem is in the socket itself. My best guess is that the connector transiently shorts the USB power lead to ground and that causes the system reset.
For the time being, I've disconnected the front-panel USB sockets at the motherboard riser. Now I'm short on USB connections...
Randall Schulz
You can always use a USB hub but if you do make sure it is a powered hub as you will have far fewer problems when using a powered hub vs. a non-powered type. -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998 -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com
participants (5)
-
Bryan J. Smith -
Ken Schneider -
Randall R Schulz -
Roger Oberholtzer -
Wagner, Steven G