[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
Neil Winchurst wrote: > I blamed Mandriva. > > A while ago I bought a digital camera (Canon Powershot A610). Once I > had some photos ready I decided to transfer them to the computer. So, > while Mandriva was running, I linked that camera to a USB port using the > supplied cable and powered up the camera in view mode. > > CRASH. Wow, that was spectacular. The whole computer just crashed > before my eyes. The power was still on but the screen was blank and the > computer simply sat there. I had no choice but to switch off the > electricity, wait a while and then start over. I have never seen such > a crash on Linux before or since. > > I soon found that the only way to get the job done was to follow this > routine. > > 1 While the computer is off completely, no power at all, link the > camera to a USB port. > > 2 Switch the camera on in view mode. > > 3 Power up the computer. > > 4 Once Mandriva is up and running transfer the photos to the computer > using Digikam. > > 5 Switch off the camera and unplug the cable from the USB port. > > I would have expected the computer to see the camera as simply another > mass storage device like a CD or a DVD. So I was completely baffled. > > As I said, I blamed Mandriva. > > Recently I installed kubuntu Edgy. I soon had some more photos ready to > transfer to the computer. So I tried linking the camera to the USB port > while kubuntu was running and then I powered it up in view mode. > > Well this time there was not exactly a crash, but it amounted to the > same thing. The computer just froze solid. Nothing worked. The screen > still showed the same picture but the keyboard and the mouse might just > as well have not existed. > > Again I had no choice but to switch off the power and try again after > a pause. I have since found that using the same routine as above does > work so I have been able to transfer the photos. > > This suggests that it is not the distro that is the problem, but what? > Does anyone have any suggestions please? I am really puzzled. It's probably something to do with X. I get that all the time when changing my settings after a suspend. The system is still running, but the keyboard and mouse do nothing and the screen is blank. To test if the system really has crashed, start an ssh server and open a connection to it from another machine. Then plug the camera in. Probably your ssh shell will be fine, but the X session will be frozen. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html