[ale] USB -> serial cables and such

[Sean Kilpatrick]

On Thursday 26 September 2002 12:20 pm, Pete Hardie wrote:
> So if I have a USB->Serial cable, plugged into a USB port on a Linux box,
> the camera needs to support the USB storage protocol?  I was going under
> the impression that the device would appear as a serial device, just
> happening to use the USB medium.....

Uh, no, not exactly.
Nearly all digital cameras today come with a cable to hook the camera
directly to a USB port -- and a Firewire cable is available for most.
On my box, the standard confusion is between USB & SCSI -- and I don't
begin to understand what the OS is doing.
Now, IF the camera understands the protocol, THEN getting to the data
is relatively* easy. IF, as is more likely the case, the camera does
_not_ support this protocol, THEN you will need a Linux driver (specific
to your camera) to access the camera directly. In that case, you will
be better off getting a memory card reader that _is_ supported with
Linux drivers.  As far as I know, these cameras _only_ understand
USB/Firewire protocols -- the serial interface is alien to them.


Sean


*note: all things are relative. My son found it trivial to create 
a desktop link, which, when "clicked," looks for a USB Mass storage
device, and opens it if found.  It only took him 90 minutes to walk
me through the process. <grin>


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