In order to get a Acan CCD Barcode Reader (Type: FG-8100) to work with Ubuntu linux (8.10), I had to blacklist the usbhid module (in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf) and instead use usbkbd.
The Ubuntu Barcode Readers page offers helpful advice.
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I have a variety of USB HID devices so I couldn’t use that solution. As a result, I ended up finding a better solution.
The following udev config line let me force the usbkbd driver on just the scanner.
KERNEL==”event[0-9]*”, SYSFS{idVendor}==”04b4″, SYSFS{idProduct}==”bca1″, ACTION==”add”, RUN+=”/lib/udev/check_driver usbkbd $devpath $env{ID_BUS}”
I’m on Gentoo, but the check_driver script is a Debian creation, so Ubuntu should just have it.
Hi Stephan,
That sounds like a good solution, but I found 2 problems when trying it out under Ubuntu:
The example rule above doesn’t quite work with Ubuntu 9.04 due to differences in names, etc. I was able to modify the rule so that it would fire correctly and actually call the check_driver script.
New rule for Ubuntu:
SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTRS{idVendor}==”04b4″, ATTRS{idProduct}==”bca1″, ACTION==”add”, RUN+=”/lib/udev/check_driver usbkbd $devpath $env{ID_BUS}”
NOTE: $env{ID_BUS} may not work, and may need to be manually changed to the correct value which I think is “usb”.
However, the check_driver script doesn’t seem to be working anymore. When I looked into it, it appears to be trying directories and commands that don’t quite match up to what is in my (Ubuntu 9.04) system.
So, I gave up at that point. The check_driver script is provided by a wacomm driver ubuntu package. As it’s not a “mainline” package or script, so I don’t think it will be fixed for a while.
I’ve mailed the maintainer of the linux HID module to suggest a patch. It’s now in the kernel patch queue and should enter the linux kernel soon. From then on, the Acan FG-8100 with 0x04b4/0xbca1 ID should work out of the box with the normal usbhid module. Patch tested and works!
Stijn,
I’m glad to hear that. Perhaps in a distribution upgrade or two I won’t need this workaround…
Jay
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