# Driver for Sony Memory Stick reader ... ? [Solved]

## jlmcp

OK, 

Just got handed a new Sony Vaio SZ460N, which naturally comes with a built-in card reader for the Sony Memory Stick/Memory Stick Duo reader. While it's handy to have a flashcard reader built into the laptop chassis, for the life of me I can't seem to locate a (Gentoo) linux driver for this thing. 

Really hoping someone has 'taken this hill' already and can share their wisdom. If not, I want to dig further and see what I can find. Vista seems to recognize it as a Texas Instruments built device, but not a huge help to me.

Can anyone assist?

Jake

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## mattsteven

Merge pciutils if you haven't already got it and 

```
lspci -vv
```

That will give you lots of googlable data for helping you find out everything there is to know about your hardware.  Post the output here if you need help deciphering anything.

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## danomac

I had an old VAIO with a memory stick controller and I couldn't get it to work. The device apparently uses some sort of encryption and there are no drivers for linux that support it. If "MagicGate" appears in the lspci output that means it uses encryption.

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## jlmcp

... did some further digging today and found many roads pointing to a driver set on this website, which apparently has been very useful in getting many flavors of flash memory cards working:

http://openfacts.berlios.de/index-en.phtml?title=TI_FlashMedia_xx12/xx21_driver

Problem is, the site seems to be off-line right now. I was going to search the Gentoo Package database, but that's off-line at the moment too. Anyone know if there is a mirror for the TIFM driver out there?

UPDATED: 

Link to the driver is now at:

http://developer.berlios.de/projects/tifmxx

Jake

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## danomac

Out of curiosity, what is the lspci output for that card reader?

Edit: My VAIO was memory-stick only and couldn't be used for anything else. Which is why I gave up in the end... it looks like yours actually is useful, unlike mine.

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## jlmcp

Gotta give me a couple of hours on the lspci output ... I am still at my day job using WinXP. :-/ I'll post it here later.

The slot on my Vaio is Memory stick DUO (the smaller, SD-sized card) but says that it is MagicGate compatible. From what I was reading, MagicGate technology is a legay thing that doesn't appear on the new media. (I could be wrong on that.) The media card I am using is certainly not MagicGate. 

Further reading on the TIFM driver set seems to indicate that it only works for some models of flash memory, and that Mem Sick specifically has not been implemented yet. See:

http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com/2007/04/texas-instruments-sdmmc-card-reader.html

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=578022

I guess I can get one of those PCMCIA 5-in-1 card readers and use that for SD cards for the time being.

Jake

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## danomac

 *jlmcp wrote:*   

> I guess I can get one of those PCMCIA 5-in-1 card readers and use that for SD cards for the time being.

 

That's what I wound up doing.

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## jlmcp

Apparently, the card reader technology is a Sony proprietary dealio and there are no linux drivers for it. Windows only. Disappointing, but what can I do. Unless someone has other information, Linux and Sony Memory Sticks are NOT compatible.

:-/

Jake

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## timeBandit

 *jlmcp wrote:*   

> Unless someone has other information, Linux and Sony Memory Sticks are NOT compatible.

 

 :Confused:  Eh? Do you mean the sticks themselves, or built-in readers like the one in your Vaio?

I've used Memory Sticks for years, albeit very infrequently, with two different readers (Sandisk 8-in-1 and an HP PhotoSmart printer). No troubles at all.

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## danomac

 *timeBandit wrote:*   

>   Eh? Do you mean the sticks themselves, or built-in readers like the one in your Vaio?
> 
> I've used Memory Sticks for years, albeit very infrequently, with two different readers (Sandisk 8-in-1 and an HP PhotoSmart printer). No troubles at all.

 

It's a Vaio thing. Proprietary hardware from Sony that doesn't work. I wound up selling my Vaio and getting a laptop which card reader actually worked...

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