Bugzilla – Bug 11436
USB compatibility: Prolific PL2303 serial adapter
Last modified: 2009-09-08 09:13:44 UTC
At firmware r4712, this serial port adapter is not recognized. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156003 My Ubuntu box with kernel 2.6.24 uses drivers/usb/serial/pl2303.c for this DB9 adapter.
We need to be careful that our supported hardware list doesn't explode to the point where we are overloaded. I'm not troubled by this particular request, but I want to make sure we're not spending a ton of time adding in kernel modules that have limited value and may reduce stability, etc. Not to mention distracting Felix (et. al.) So, peter, how popular/important is this to you?
Is there a list of supported serial adapters? IIRC, you were using Keyspans in the first JHB batch, but I was in the second wave of JHB users and didn't get a serial adapter. That Sabrent model costs about 1/4 what current Keyspans go for, and Newegg commenters said Linux supported it, so I was hopeful... I'm not sure how important this is for me, really. It would be nice if I could attach an X10 or Insteon controller directly to a fab4 and use a Lua applet for home automation tasks without any SqueezeCenter dependence, but, honestly, I don't know how soon I'll get around to making a 100% SqueezeOS version of PowerCenter. Personally I'm much more likely to continue using my SC7 host for day-to-day home automation control. I don't know if other parties would be more interested (there's some European HA vendor with a Controller-based offering, but for all I know they use USB-based controllers). I haven't done much with this PL2303 to see if it's any good, but it would be nice if fab4 supported one or two adapters like it in the $10 range. Thanks.
understood. two types are supported now, keyspan and ftdi-based. From google, it appears that the ftdi ones are less expensive in general than the keyspan. the prolific based ones also appear cheaper, and maybe even more common. Looking at the other linux drivers, these seem to be the most common base classes, so I'll say we should give it a shot. I'll order a few of the prolific-based cables, and will send to you felix. when you have a chance, could you enable the driver in the cable?
That obviously works for me! Another thought: you could release zip files including a complete set of kernel/drivers/usb .ko modules for the fab4 kernel. Folks could then copy what they need to the overlay filesystem on fab4. I don't know how helpful that would be -- good for folks who only need drivers (use a more obscure USB audio device with ALSA tools already on fab4), but not so helpful for folks who need to cross-compile other apps anyway (e.g., the "shark" tool needed to tune the RadioShark AM/FM tuner).
Enabled Profilic USB serial dongles in r5615.