# connecting an mp3 player

## asterix404

I just bought a Nomad zen 40 gig mp3 player and I am wondering how to mount it. It's on a USB and I think that it can be treated just like any other device... I beleave it can be anyway. I was told by the people who sold it to me that it is just a removable storage device. I read someplace that there is a vfat partition on it? How does someone mount a usb device? Thanks a bunch

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## evilben

First of all, make sure you are loading the modules usbcore, ehci-hcd, and usb-storage at boot. At that point, you should just be able to plug it in, and it will show up as /dev/sdX, the X depending on if you have SATA drives or other usb stuff plugged in.

From there, just mount it with "mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb."

That works for me--you may also need hotplug to be installed (?), and do "rc-update add hotplug default."

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## asterix404

AWSOME thank you so much

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## Urigeller23

I'm having  a similar problem, found this thread using the search

I want to mount a mp3-player too, my kernel configuration looks like this:

<*>   SCSI disk support

<*>   SCSI generic support

[*]   USB device filesystem

<*> EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) support

[*]   Full speed ISO transactions (EXPERIMENTAL)

[*]   Root Hub Transaction Translators (EXPERIMENTAL)

<*> OHCI HCD support

<*> UHCI HCD (most Intel and VIA) support

<*> USB Mass Storage support

dmesg says..

```
bash-2.05b$ dmesg | grep usb

usbcore: registered new driver usbfs

usbcore: registered new driver hub

usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage

usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2

usb 3-1: device not accepting address 2, error -32

```

if I try to mount my player with

```
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb
```

it returns

```
mount: special device /dev/sda1 does not exist
```

help needed  :Crying or Very sad: 

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## johntramp

 *evilben wrote:*   

> First of all, make sure you are loading the modules usbcore, ehci-hcd, and usb-storage at boot. At that point, you should just be able to plug it in, and it will show up as /dev/sdX, the X depending on if you have SATA drives or other usb stuff plugged in.
> 
> From there, just mount it with "mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb."
> 
> That works for me--you may also need hotplug to be installed (?), and do "rc-update add hotplug default."

 are you sure this works with the nomad players tho?  I have read in a number of places that it is not possible to mount these players as an external harddrive.

I should try it later and see if I have any success  :Smile: 

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## edudlive

You can't mount a Zen to transfer music to it, the database it uses requires you to use something else to add the database entries.  Libnjb does this, there are several frontends for this:

gnomad2

Kioslave

Neuritino

KZenExplorer (ebuild in bugs.gentoo.org)

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## trevormtb

Newer kernels (2.6.11) have an option called "Low Performance USB Block Driver" in the Device Drivers -> Block Devices

With udev, it will create a /dev/uba, /dev/uba1, etc in /dev, in a very similair way to how harddrives work in linux.

I was fooling around with the USB Mass Storage stuff for a long time, and this new option has saved me from that mess.

Try it out on your next kernel rebuild, it worked perfectly on:

USB digital camera

SD/MMC card reader

If I still had my USB flash keychain, I'd use it, but it must've got sparked in my pocket. (Warning to anybody out there)

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## johntramp

 *trevormtb wrote:*   

> Newer kernels (2.6.11) have an option called "Low Performance USB Block Driver" in the Device Drivers -> Block Devices
> 
> With udev, it will create a /dev/uba, /dev/uba1, etc in /dev, in a very similair way to how harddrives work in linux.
> 
> I was fooling around with the USB Mass Storage stuff for a long time, and this new option has saved me from that mess.
> ...

 Hey I have added Low Performance USB Block Driver to my kernel but I can not find what you are talking about. Is there anything I should look for in dmesg or is there any more info you can give me on this. I am really interested in this.

Thanks

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## Martux

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> I read someplace that there is a vfat partition on it?
> 
> 

 

Is there?? Was anyone able to mount the data partition as normal usb device??

I also have a zen touch 40g and would really love that  :Wink: 

My kernel is allright, no probs with usb-sticks, etc.

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## trevormtb

Unfortunately, there isn't much info i can give on the Low Performance USB Block Driver. I just happened to see it once during a kernel rebuild, checked it (not a module), and the next time i plugged in my flash reader away it went.

If it helps I use udev and the latest 2.6.11 gentoo-sources, patched for Reiser4. https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-295168-highlight-reiser4+kernels.html

Here is some output from dmesg:

```

hub 1-1:1.0: state 5 ports 4 chg 0000 evt 0008

hub 1-1:1.0: port 3, status 0101, change 0001, 12 Mb/s

hub 1-1:1.0: debounce: port 3: total 100ms stable 100ms status 0x101

hub 1-1:1.0: port 3 not reset yet, waiting 10ms

usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3

hub 1-1:1.0: port 3 not reset yet, waiting 10ms

usb 1-1.3: new device strings: Mfr=0, Product=3, SerialNumber=4

usb 1-1.3: default language 0x0409

usb 1-1.3: Product: Flash Reader

usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: 001390

usb 1-1.3: hotplug

usb 1-1.3: adding 1-1.3:1.0 (config #1, interface 0)

usb 1-1.3:1.0: hotplug

ub 1-1.3:1.0: usb_probe_interface

ub 1-1.3:1.0: usb_probe_interface - got id

uba: device 3 capacity nsec 498176 bsize 512

uba: device 3 capacity nsec 498176 bsize 512

 uba: uba1

hub 1-1:1.0: state 5 ports 4 chg 0000 evt 0008

hub 1-1:1.0: port 3, status 0100, change 0001, 12 Mb/s

usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, address 3

usb 1-1.3: usb_disable_device nuking all URBs

usb 1-1.3: unregistering interface 1-1.3:1.0

usb 1-1.3:1.0: hotplug

usb 1-1.3: unregistering device

usb 1-1.3: hotplug

hub 1-1:1.0: debounce: port 3: total 100ms stable 100ms status 0x100

```

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## Martux

Hi folks.

I made a request to the official support at creative.

They said it is NOT possible to mount the Zen Touch as a removable device.

So i guess, there are no hacks for it so we have to forget about it.

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## DaveQB

 *trevormtb wrote:*   

> Newer kernels (2.6.11) have an option called "Low Performance USB Block Driver" in the Device Drivers -> Block Devices
> 
> With udev, it will create a /dev/uba, /dev/uba1, etc in /dev, in a very similair way to how harddrives work in linux.
> 
> I was fooling around with the USB Mass Storage stuff for a long time, and this new option has saved me from that mess.
> ...

 

Trying to get my Digital Camera [Kodak]

Looking at compiling a kernel with this Low Performance option but it says this 

"Warning: Enabling this cripples the usb-storage driver."

So might give it a shot; desperate for a solution, only my Mandrake install can read the camera and then KDE pops up a message about it being plugged in.

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