[SOLVED] SDHC Support for USB Card Reader

chr0mag · 2017-05-16 17:05:42

I have a 4GB SDHC card that is recognized, and mounts as expected when inserted into the SD card slot of my laptop but not when inserted into a USB multi-card reader. Further, regular SD cards are recognized, and mount as expected when inserted into the USB card reader. I'm trying to get this working for a laptop that doesn't have a built-in SD card slot hence the need for the USB card reader.

SDHC card in USB multi-card reader
lsusb

Bus 002 Device 008: ID 05e3:070e Genesys Logic, Inc. USB 2.0 Card Reader
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04f2:b293 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

dmesg

[22436.692690] usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[22436.697072] scsi host6: usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0
[22437.714797] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Generic  STORAGE DEVICE   9321 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[22439.342000] scsi 6:0:0:1: Direct-Access     Generic  STORAGE DEVICE   9321 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[22440.969242] scsi 6:0:0:2: Direct-Access     Generic  STORAGE DEVICE   9321 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[22442.596459] scsi 6:0:0:3: Direct-Access     Generic  STORAGE DEVICE   9321 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[22442.599904] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[22442.600804] sd 6:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[22442.601044] sd 6:0:0:2: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[22442.601257] sd 6:0:0:3: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
[22442.602910] sd 6:0:0:1: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk
[22442.605484] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[22442.610835] sd 6:0:0:2: [sdd] Attached SCSI removable disk
[22442.611526] sd 6:0:0:3: [sde] Attached SCSI removable disk

fdisk --list

Disk /dev/sda: 298.1 GiB, 320072933376 bytes, 625142448 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x026e15f6

Device     Boot    Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1           2048  41945087  41943040    20G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       41945088  42993663   1048576   512M 83 Linux
/dev/sda3       42993664  51382271   8388608     4G 83 Linux
/dev/sda4       51382272 625142447 573760176 273.6G 83 Linux

lsblk

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 298.1G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0    20G  0 part /
├─sda2   8:2    0   512M  0 part /boot
├─sda3   8:3    0     4G  0 part [SWAP]
└─sda4   8:4    0 273.6G  0 part /home
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom

Attempting to mount any of /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc, /dev/sdd or /dev/sde results in the "no medium found" error.

SDHC card inserted directly into laptop SD slot.
dmesg

[23558.695394] mmc0: new high speed SDHC card at address aaaa
[23558.698817] mmcblk0: mmc0:aaaa SD04G 3.69 GiB 
[23558.700527]  mmcblk0: p1

fdisk --list

Disk /dev/sda: 298.1 GiB, 320072933376 bytes, 625142448 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x026e15f6

Device     Boot    Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1           2048  41945087  41943040    20G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       41945088  42993663   1048576   512M 83 Linux
/dev/sda3       42993664  51382271   8388608     4G 83 Linux
/dev/sda4       51382272 625142447 573760176 273.6G 83 Linux

Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 3.7 GiB, 3965190144 bytes, 7744512 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device         Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1       8192 7744511 7736320  3.7G  b W95 FAT32

lsblk

NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda           8:0    0 298.1G  0 disk 
├─sda1        8:1    0    20G  0 part /
├─sda2        8:2    0   512M  0 part /boot
├─sda3        8:3    0     4G  0 part [SWAP]
└─sda4        8:4    0 273.6G  0 part /home
sr0          11:0    1  1024M  0 rom  
mmcblk0     179:0    0   3.7G  0 disk 
└─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0   3.7G  0 part

It seems the USB card reader (Transcend) doesn't recognize the SDHC card, only SD cards. Is there a driver update/change I can make to get this working or do I have to resort to a different card reader that supports SDHC?

A similar, but unresolved issue was raised here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=194572 .

Last edited by chr0mag (2017-05-17 19:52:12)

x33a · 2017-05-16 18:33:23

What's the exact model of the card reader? Though, if its specifications don't mention SDHC support, I doubt there's any way to force it to read one.

seth · 2017-05-16 18:45:51

Google the device and see whether it advertises sdhc (sd 2.0) caps.
If not, there's nothing you can do - the intelligence is in the reader and cannot be "imitated" by software in the host.

chr0mag · 2017-05-17 19:51:19

x33a wrote:

What's the exact model of the card reader?

Transcend TS-RD13B

seth wrote:

Google the device and see whether it advertises sdhc (sd 2.0) caps.

I ended up having to email the manufacturer as the device was EOL'd long ago and no longer appeared on the website. They responded saying the device does support SDHC but once I had the model number I searched around and found the manual which doesn't explicitly say anything about SDHC (or SDXC or newer) support. I suspect the device just doesn't support SDHC.

seth wrote:

If not, there's nothing you can do - the intelligence is in the reader and cannot be "imitated" by software in the host.

Yep. Understood.

Thanks for the timely responses folks. A new card reader it is.

seth · 2017-05-17 20:58:18

ftr, google has 2 results from 2005, one from 2004 and even one from 2003 mentioning this device, ie. it predates the announcement SDHC (January 2006)
You'd at least need a firmware update for the particular device (if such exists and is possible)

Arch Linux

#1 2017-05-16 17:05:42

[SOLVED] SDHC Support for USB Card Reader

#2 2017-05-16 18:33:23

Re: [SOLVED] SDHC Support for USB Card Reader

#3 2017-05-16 18:45:51

Re: [SOLVED] SDHC Support for USB Card Reader

#4 2017-05-17 19:51:19

Re: [SOLVED] SDHC Support for USB Card Reader

#5 2017-05-17 20:58:18

Re: [SOLVED] SDHC Support for USB Card Reader

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