No corresponding device for ASIX AX88772-based USB/Ethernet adaptor

Hello.

I configured a stock 2.6.36 kernel for use on the Beagle Board RevC4
using

$ make omap3_defconfig

For this kernel config, ASIX AX88xxx support is enabled and compiled
into the kernel (that is, not compiled as a module).

I proceed to build the kernel

$ make uImage

followed by all the stuff you do to get the boot loaders, kernel, and
root filesystem onto the SD card.

My immediate goal is to get networking functioning on the BeagleBoard,
for which I'm using a Linksys USB200m ASIX AX88772-based USB/Ethernet
adapter.

When I plug the USB/Ethernet adapter into the EHCI port on the
BeagleBoard, boot the board, and do "ifconfig -a", I see only the
loopback interface, and no "usb0" or "eth0" as I expected.

I'm new at this BeagleBoard stuff, and there are countless things I
might be missing. (very) Slowly, that count is decreasing. But can
someone comment on why might the ethernet device is not showing up in
the output of ifconfig?

Thank you.

In addition to knowing how to talk to the device (through the driver), the kernel also has to be instructed to do so. Try adding this to your bootargs:

ip=dhcp

Thank you for the feedback.

While I didn't explicitly know that, it turns out that I am in fact
passing this parameter to the kernel:

setenv bootargs console=ttyS2,115200n8 vram=12M omapfb.mode=dvi:
1024x768MR-16@60 omapfb.debug=y omapdss.def_disp=dvi root=/dev/
mmcblk0p2 rw rootfstype=ext3 rootwait ip=dhcp init=/bin/sh

Hmm - which version of Angstrom are you using? If this is the demo image, it should Just Work. What do the boot messages tell you? You can type dmesg to see them after you boot & log in.

I've retrenched a bit and have installed this Angstrom distribution on
the board

Angstrom-Beagleboard-demo-image-glibc-ipk-2010.3-
beagleboard.rootfs.tar.bz2

My immediate goal is still to get networking working, toward which I
do:

ifconfig usb0 192.168.0.120 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast
192.168.0.255

which yields

root@beagleboard:~# ifconfig usb0
usb0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr D6:09:58:D1:A8:B3
          inet addr:192.168.0.120 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:
255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

But I still can't ping the router on this same network at
192.168.0.1. Nor do any of the three LEDs on the USB dongle light up,
not that that really proves anything, but they light up when I plug
the dongle into my host workstation.

The USB/Ethernet adapter is a Linksys USB200m, which uses an ASIX
AX88772 chip. The dongle works fine if I plug it into my Ubuntu host
workstation, and provides the following output in lsusb on my host
workstation

Bus 001 Device 088: ID 13b1:0018 Linksys USB200M 10/100 Ethernet
Adapter

But this same device produces no such output on the BeagleBoard for
the same command.

I'm beginning to wonder if the USB port on the BeagleBoard is
defective. Of course, I would say that.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

I replaced the Linksys USB200m dongle with a Trendnet TU2-ET100
dongle. Same result: the board cannot see the device on usb0 or in
the output of lsusb.

What do the boot messages say? Somewhere in “dmesg” will be the point where the kernel tries to configure the hardware and obtain an IP address using DHCP, if you have “ip=dhcp” specified in your bootargs. The lights staying dark indicates that the kernel is not initializing it, which means that either it can’t see it or the driver is not functioning correctly.

With the board running, try plugging in the device and then “dmesg | tail -40” to see what the kernel says about it.

Also, is this device plugged into the OTG (mini-A) port or the EHCI (standard A) port? EHCI is broken in many kernels. To plug the hub into the mini-A port, you’ll need a converter cable, as described here:

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-beagle-board/index.html

I suggest you to test the USB port first. It is because I have one BB board that has the USB port failed. I have the second BB that the USB port has contact problem. If your BB's USB port works, you should see the LEDs of the TU2-ET100 turned on when the Ethernet cable is connected.

-Eric

Appended to this message is the boot sequence appearing on the
console.

The adapter is plugged into the EHCI port on the board. I will read
your article on the use of the OTG port - thanks.

When you say EHCI is broken in many kernels, do you mean kernels
configured for embedded use, or kernels in general? I guess I can
google for this, but how broken is broken?

Console output:

Script started on Fri 10 Dec 2010 01:42:35 PM PST
eroot@ubuntu: ~aroot@ubuntu:~# kermit

Executing /root/.mykermrc...

C-Kermit 8.0.211, 10 Apr 2004, for Linux

Copyright (C) 1985, 2004,

  Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.

Type ? or HELP for help.

k conn

Connecting to /dev/ttyUSB0, speed 115200

Escape character: Ctrl-\ (ASCII 28, FS): enabled

Type the escape character followed by C to get back,

or followed by ? to see other options.

Here is the console log, which apparently didn't make it into the last post:

Script started on Fri 10 Dec 2010 01:42:35 PM PST
eroot@ubuntu: ~aroot@ubuntu:~# kermit

Executing /root/.mykermrc...

C-Kermit 8.0.211, 10 Apr 2004, for Linux

Copyright (C) 1985, 2004,

  Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.

Type ? or HELP for help.

k conn

Connecting to /dev/ttyUSB0, speed 115200

Escape character: Ctrl-\ (ASCII 28, FS): enabled

Type the escape character followed by C to get back,

or followed by ? to see other options.