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I have a dual boot with Windows XP and Ubuntu 10.10. I connected my Amazon Kindle to an USB interface in XP and in Ubuntu. From XP everything works with no flaw. In Ubuntu the data exchange is perfect, but the device does not charge.
I am pretty sure that there is a trivial Linux configuration of USB power management, and probably this is a newbie question. Any suggestion? Thank you.
Halberdier
Posted 2011-05-31T11:27:55.537
Reputation: 203
7
Try ejecting Kindle drive in Nautilus or in terminal sudo eject /dev/disk/by-label/Kindle
skfd
Posted 2011-05-31T11:27:55.537
Reputation: 1 162
OK, I'll see if something happens. However, in Windows it charges both before and after ejecting, therefore I expect power and data exchange to be independent. – Halberdier – 2011-05-31T14:03:10.390
After ejecting the device, as in Windows, the service message disappears to let the user read the documents, so I cannot say if it is charging or not. But I don't think that anything changes. – Halberdier – 2011-05-31T20:39:39.633
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I was wrong saying that you can eject Kindle in Nautilus. I found multiple postings stating that you can either transfer file or charge the device, not both simultaneously. Please see this one: http://iamyouruser.blogspot.com/2009/03/ubuntu-eject-kindle.html
– skfd – 2011-05-31T20:57:30.403The trick appears to be this: you can't charge in Linux if your system has data access. Thank you for the reference. I hope someone of the Linux team will fix it. If it can be done in Windows, it should also be possible in Linux. – Halberdier – 2011-05-31T21:26:08.810
Documentation says it applies to Windows too. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200375590&#adapter "Using Kindle while Charging via Kindle Micro-USB Cable". Is it not?
– skfd – 2011-06-01T13:13:17.430I don't read it like this. You Amazon link shows a Kindle screen that is displayed when not ejected. It has an additional charging battery symbol if connected with XP and an additional non-charging battery symbol with Ubuntu. If I didn't miss anything important, it is not explicit there. – Halberdier – 2011-06-01T14:41:41.013
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Check your dmesg or kernel logs - sometimes you see something about how the device has requested more power than the system is able/willing to supply. It's rare, especially because XP will charge it, but possible.
Broam
Posted 2011-05-31T11:27:55.537
Reputation: 3 831
I can't see anything related with power in dmesg:
] scsi9 : usb-storage 4-1:1.0 ] scsi 9:0:0:0: Direct-Access Kindle Internal Storage 0100 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 ] sd 9:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0 ] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdc] 6410688 512-byte logical blocks: (3.28 GB/3.05 GiB) ] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off ] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 0f 00 00 00 – Halberdier – 2011-05-31T20:35:34.880
Well that's certainly good - nothing hardware related. Looks like the other answer's the cause. – Broam – 2011-06-01T14:35:27.167
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My problem was that the USB for kindle was connected through a USB hub. Solution from Amazon: I connected the cable directly to a USB on the computer.
IzzieDee
Posted 2011-05-31T11:27:55.537
Reputation: 11
I had issues with the WiFi dongle: it didn't work on the front socket, it works now on the rear, thus I assume the power from the rear USB sockets is higher. But the Kindle was always connected through the rear, with no intermediate hub. Moreover, it works fine under Windows, therefore it should be a software reason. – Halberdier – 2011-10-20T22:23:17.407
My original title was edited to indicate specifically the Amazon Kindle. However, I think that the solution would be applicable more generally to any USB device. – Halberdier – 2011-05-31T13:18:25.620
I did this, you may just change it back, however I think if it's device specific that will attract more views and better search results from Google :) – slhck – 2011-05-31T15:00:42.757
I like it as it is, with your change and my comment :) – Halberdier – 2011-05-31T15:06:57.850