Notes for Linux users

[a12ctic]

Originally Posted by ed_d

Ok, here is an odd one. I attach my e260 up to my Kubuntu box (6.06-1) and it connects just fine. I can move music and video back and forth. The only Issue I have is that if I try to use the "safely remove" it dosent. It will stay at "writing" forever. I have to actually "sudo umount" it in order to safely remove. Anyone else run into this? I have everything on it too when its done, so its not being stopped in the middle of a write.

yeah does that for me in SUSE 10.2 too. Not a major problem though.

[FrankZabbath]

I think this would be better discussed in a separate thread. Not sure what you mean by "safely remove" and how you know it's actually still writing when you want to unmount.

Reasons for not being able to eject or unmount the device can be read or write access to some file on the device or a process having the current directory set on the device. For example, when I'm in a terminal and had cd'ed to some path on the Sansa or having a Nautilus window with such a path open, my system would refuse to eject/unmount the device.

You can use the fuser and lsof command as root to gather information on which process is accessing the device.
AFAIK sudo unmount would refuse to work too, if you had a file accessed and you would have to force unmount with an extra parameter. So maybe the problem is related to "current path".

On my distro (Fedora Core 5) the Sansa is automatically mounted through autofs service and I think mount commands are not allowed by regular users (mount option "user"). But using eject via the device icon on the gnome desktop does work.

hth

[ed_d]

As an admin, I know all about the fact that when in a directory et el about not being able to unmount. I just didn't know if it has something to do with HAL under certain flavors of linux. I can live with the command line mounts and umounts if I have to. Not a real issue.

I really like how this thing works though. Everything I read about it before mentioning that I wanted one, made getting one that much better.

[SZF]

Holy crap I screwed up. Hard.

You see I unplugged my Sansa accidently before realizing I didn't unmount it.

Now I have it plugged back in and it's "read only". Is there a way to change these permissions (I tried through Properties, but I can't there, I'd like a terminal command so I can use my sudo powers), or format a Sansa without going on a Windowz box?

[ed_d]

make sure its mounted, check using the 'df' command. run ls -al on the mount point to see the permissions. what you can do to change the music directory or any other is to do:
sudo chown -R /'directory name'
(change ownership)
change permissions:
sudo chmod -R 775 /'directory name'

the -R will do ther recursive, or down the directory tree under that directory.

then just umount and remount should be good to go....in theroy.

[Zwack]

Originally Posted by ed_d

then just umount and remount should be good to go....in theroy.

Unless... The "drive" is write protected. I'm not sure what would do that, but perhaps it's worth checking the hold switch position.

If you're using any ubuntu derivative it might also be worth opening a terminal and typing "eject /dev/sg0" before unplugging. That seems to be needed on mine to get it to switch to "disconnected" Unmounting syncs the file systems but doesn't change the sansa to saying "disconnected".

Z.

[Zwack]

Originally Posted by Chammi

But it's been rough going. For the curious, here are some specs that my system gave me about the sample media:

[COLOR="Blue"]PHOTOS : 72 dpi (tho I think this is just the default for my image software, GIMP)
176 x 224 pixels
RGB (16 bpp) color depth
Bitfields compression
.BMP extension

Aha! Gimp is not doing any compression. Will see what I can do about that.

Bitfields compression actually just means that the compression field in the bitmap header is set to bitfields. GIMP can create 24BPP Bitmaps but not 16BPP. Bitfields just tells the viewer how the data is carved up... 5-6-5, 8-8-8, 5-5-5,... The other "compression" options are RLE4 and RLE8 if I remember correctly.

I think, but I'm not sure yet, that the important thing is to reduce the colour depth to 16BPP. I'll hack a crappy converter together, see if it works and then if it does I'll write a nicer version.

Actually, for test purposes it might be easier to manually write a 10x10 BMP file by hand, where's my binary editor...

The thing that stumped me earlier was that photos have to be placed in sub directories. You can't just place them in PHOTOS. The thumbnails are probably generated in advance by the SMC to save the amount of processing (and therefore battery life) on the player.

Z.

[Zwack]

Originally Posted by ed_d

Ok, here is an odd one. I attach my e260 up to my Kubuntu box (6.06-1) and it connects just fine. I can move music and video back and forth. The only Issue I have is that if I try to use the "safely remove" it dosent. It will stay at "writing" forever. I have to actually "sudo umount" it in order to safely remove. Anyone else run into this? I have everything on it too when its done, so its not being stopped in the middle of a write.

Try opening a window and typing sync. See if that changes it.

On my system (Ubuntu with an e250r) the "unmount" option unmounts the drive, but doesn't eject it. That leaves it in a "Connected" mode. I (being the paranoid person that I am) go into a terminal and type "sudo eject /dev/sg1" and it changes to "Disconnected" at that point I unplug it.

I hope that this helps,

Z.

[SZF]

Before reading the post, I went on my friends Windows box and formatted it there. I'll give it a try the next time I do that.

[ed_d]

Originally Posted by Zwack

Try opening a window and typing sync. See if that changes it.

On my system (Ubuntu with an e250r) the "unmount" option unmounts the drive, but doesn't eject it. That leaves it in a "Connected" mode. I (being the paranoid person that I am) go into a terminal and type "sudo eject /dev/sg1" and it changes to "Disconnected" at that point I unplug it.

I hope that this helps,

Z.

Nope, no Joy on eject.

[Zwack]

I realise that I said eject /dev/sg1 I assume that you used the appropriate device. Depending on your other devices it might be any /dev/sg device. You can check the end of the log after you connected it with dmesg.

I hope that this helps,

Z.

[ed_d]

device is /dev/sdd1.

I tried:
'sudo eject /dev/sdd1' while still mounted, nothing happened. just said connected. Waited nothing. I umounted /dev/sdd1, stys at connected with moving arrows. re-tried the eject /dev/sdd1, and got what I expected, "no device at /dev/sdd1. So, ill just umount and remove, seems fine so far. Thanks for the assistance.

[Zwack]

ed_d you need to unmount the generic scsi devices (/dev/sg0 or /dev/sg1 or...) not the sdd devices.

You will have them...

[17394745.964000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17394750.964000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17394750.964000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e250R Rev:
[17394750.964000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17394750.964000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e250R Rev:
[17394750.964000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17394750.968000] SCSI device sda: 3885056 512-byte hdwr sectors (1989 MB)
[17394750.968000] sda: Write Protect is off
[17394750.968000] sda: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17394750.968000] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[17394750.972000] SCSI device sda: 3885056 512-byte hdwr sectors (1989 MB)
[17394750.972000] sda: Write Protect is off
[17394750.972000] sda: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17394750.972000] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[17394750.972000] sda: sda1
[17394750.976000] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sda
[17394750.976000] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[17394750.980000] sd 2:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sdb
[17394750.980000] sd 2:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[17394753.888000] FAT: utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!

This is from dmesg after plugging my e250R in... note the scsi generic lines...

If I eject /dev/sg0 the player goes to "Disconnected"

I hope that this helps,

Z.

[nymusicman]

Well I guess I'll try messing with gimp to see if I can do this picture thing but I'm still learning the software so bear with me.

[ed_d]

ok, here is my dmesg:
[17268355.000000] scsi2 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[17268355.000000] usb-storage: device found at 5
[17268355.000000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17268360.008000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17268360.008000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17268360.020000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17268360.028000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17268360.028000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17268360.028000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17268360.044000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17268360.052000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17268360.052000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17268360.052000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17268360.052000] sdd: sdd1 sdd2
[17268360.068000] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdd
[17268360.068000] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[17268360.072000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17268360.072000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17268360.108000] sd 2:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sde
[17268360.108000] sd 2:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[17268360.124000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17272540.272000] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, address 5
[17345865.340000] usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 6
[17345866.212000] usb 1-1.3: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
[17345866.544000] scsi3 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[17345866.544000] usb-storage: device found at 6
[17345866.544000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17345871.556000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17345871.556000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17345871.564000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17345871.572000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17345871.572000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17345871.572000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17345871.592000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17345871.600000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17345871.600000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17345871.600000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17345871.600000] sdd: sdd1 sdd2
[17345871.616000] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdd
[17345871.616000] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[17345871.620000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17345871.620000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17345871.656000] sd 3:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sde
[17345871.656000] sd 3:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[17345871.664000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17346197.780000] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, address 6
[17346197.780000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] sde : READ CAPACITY failed.
[17346197.784000] sde : status=0, message=00, host=1, driver=00
[17346197.784000] sde : sense not available.
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] sde: Write Protect is off
[17346197.784000] sde: Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[17346197.784000] sde: assuming drive cache: write through
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] sde : READ CAPACITY failed.
[17346197.784000] sde : status=0, message=00, host=1, driver=00
[17346197.784000] sde : sense not available.
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] sde: Write Protect is off
[17346197.784000] sde: Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[17346197.784000] sde: assuming drive cache: write through
[17346197.784000] sde:<3> 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] Buffer I/O error on device sde, logical block 0
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17346197.784000] Buffer I/O error on device sde, logical block 0
[17346197.784000] unable to read partition table
[17346197.784000] 3:0:0:1: rejecting I/O to dead device
[17358679.356000] hda: irq timeout: status=0xd0 { Busy }
[17358679.356000] ide: failed opcode was: unknown
[17358679.356000] hda: DMA disabled
[17358679.404000] hda: ATAPI reset complete
[17359336.380000] hda: irq timeout: status=0xd0 { Busy }
[17359336.380000] ide: failed opcode was: unknown
[17359336.428000] hda: ATAPI reset complete
[17373993.412000] ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
[17373993.412000] ISOFS: changing to secondary root
[17399744.204000] ibm_acpi: ec object not found
[17407739.488000] hda: irq timeout: status=0xd0 { Busy }
[17407739.488000] ide: failed opcode was: unknown
[17407739.536000] hda: ATAPI reset complete
[17408927.764000] usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 7
[17408928.656000] usb 1-1.3: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
[17408929.080000] scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[17408929.080000] usb-storage: device found at 7
[17408929.080000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17408934.088000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17408934.088000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17408934.100000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17408934.108000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17408934.108000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17408934.108000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17408934.124000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17408934.132000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17408934.132000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17408934.132000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17408934.132000] sdd: sdd1 sdd2
[17408934.148000] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdd
[17408934.148000] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[17408934.152000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17408934.152000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17408934.188000] sd 4:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sde
[17408934.188000] sd 4:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[17408934.188000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17420741.504000] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, address 7
[17437414.744000] usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 8
[17437415.584000] usb 1-1.3: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
[17437415.632000] scsi5 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[17437415.632000] usb-storage: device found at 8
[17437415.632000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17437420.640000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17437420.640000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17437420.652000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17437420.660000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17437420.660000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17437420.660000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17437420.676000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17437420.684000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17437420.684000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17437420.684000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17437420.684000] sdd: sdd1 sdd2
[17437420.700000] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdd
[17437420.700000] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[17437420.708000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17437420.708000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17437420.740000] sd 5:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sde
[17437420.740000] sd 5:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[17437420.752000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17437543.800000] Buffer I/O error on device sdd1, logical block 1
[17437543.800000] lost page write due to I/O error on sdd1
[17437689.848000] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, address 8
[17437711.072000] usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 9
[17437711.928000] usb 1-1.3: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
[17437711.968000] scsi6 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[17437711.968000] usb-storage: device found at 9
[17437711.968000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17437716.976000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17437716.976000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17437716.988000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17437716.992000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17437716.992000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17437716.992000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17437717.012000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17437717.020000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17437717.020000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17437717.020000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17437717.020000] sdd: sdd1 sdd2
[17437717.044000] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdd
[17437717.044000] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[17437717.052000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17437717.052000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17437717.084000] sd 6:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sde
[17437717.084000] sd 6:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[17437717.088000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[17437797.796000] Buffer I/O error on device sdd1, logical block 1
[17437797.796000] lost page write due to I/O error on sdd1
[17437822.384000] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, address 9
[17437841.632000] usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 10
[17437842.476000] usb 1-1.3: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
[17437842.520000] scsi7 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[17437842.520000] usb-storage: device found at 10
[17437842.520000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[17437847.528000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17437847.528000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17437847.540000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17437847.548000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17437847.548000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17437847.548000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17437847.564000] SCSI device sdd: 7854080 512-byte hdwr sectors (4021 MB)
[17437847.572000] sdd: Write Protect is off
[17437847.572000] sdd: Mode Sense: 45 00 00 00
[17437847.572000] sdd: assuming drive cache: write through
[17437847.572000] sdd: sdd1 sdd2
[17437847.592000] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdd
[17437847.592000] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[17437847.600000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:
[17437847.600000] Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[17437847.632000] sd 7:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sde
[17437847.632000] sd 7:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[17437847.648000] usb-storage: device scan complete
ed@Tyr:~$

Did as you suggested, but never goes to "disconnected" But thanks for the insight.

[Zwack]

Originally Posted by ed_d

ok, here is my dmesg:
[17437847.600000] Vendor: SanDisk Model: Sansa e260 Rev:

Did as you suggested, but never goes to "disconnected" But thanks for the insight.

I guess it must be a difference between the e2x0 and the e2x0R.

Live and learn...

Z.

[grant]

I've gotten video encoding working using mencoder. Because of 422p/420p issues, it currently only encodes in black and white, but it's better than nothing. The details are here:

http://www.visi.com/~grante/sansa/

If you have any questions or suggestions on how to get 420p encoding working send me an e-mail or (preferably) post to the mencoder mailing list. I hate web-forums and won't see any replies posted here.

--
Grant Edwards
grante@visi.com

[HankB]

Yet Anoter Playlist Generator

I've modified FAPG (Fast Audio Playlist Generator) to output a format that works with my Sansa e280 running 01.02.07A firmware. It can be found at http://royale.zerezo.com/fapg/ and eventually, it will work itself into the standard Linux distros.

There is more discussion of it (and a utility to convert .m3u lists to .pla) in the thread http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ead.php?t=7398

thanks,
hank

[MandrakeThePenguin]

If I can play the encoded videos on linux in VLC or Kaffeine, why can't I create them?

[Zwack]

Originally Posted by MandrakeThePenguin

If I can play the encoded videos on linux in VLC or Kaffeine, why can't I create them?

Because there are two parts to every codec, an encoder and a decoder. The decoder part is complete and functional, but the encoder is not. It's easier to grab a file and get a parial decoder working by ignoring the bits that you don't understand (and may not need) but to encode the file then you need to understand those bits. Also, in some cases the encoding is a lot more complicated than the decoding because if you can shift some of the work onto the encoder instead than the decoder can be simpler, and therefore will be faster. And you decode media files much more often than you encode them.

Z.