Howto: Get Your External Syquest Drive Working In Ubuntu

[Bungo Pony]

This is my first howto! Give me a round of applause =D>

Before I go on, I'd just like to say that Google is really your friend, and there's two sources that I got information from. I will share them here:

http://cyberelk.net/tim/parport/parport.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=77900

From these two sources and some tinkering, you should be able to get almost any external parallel drive working in Ubuntu!

Also, this Howto is made for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. So let's get started!

================================================== ========

First, you need to write a script to get the parallel drivers loaded up. This should work with all Syquest drives.

Open up gedit (either type in gedit in a terminal, or click Applications -> Accessories -> Text Editor)

copy and paste the following into the text file:

# Start here...

# modprobe parport # Already maybe loaded
# modprobe parport_pc # Already maybe loaded

modprobe paride

#
# The following 2 steps are not necessary on Breezy...
# mkdir /lib/modules/$(LINUX_VERSION)/misc
# cp /lib/modules/$(LINUX_VERSION)/kernel/drivers/block/paride/epat.o /lib/modules/2.4.20-20.8/misc/epat.o

echo "Inserting the necessary modules..."
modprobe epat # Sparq Protocol
modprobe pd # Sparq Driver

dmesg | grep paride
# Look for: "paride: epat registered as protocol 0"

# modprobe pd drive0=0x378,1 drive1=0x3bc,1 # Example syntax
# To support such a wide range of devices PARIDE, the parallel port IDE subsystem, is actually structured in three parts.
# There is a base paride module which provides a registry and some common methods for accessing the parallel ports.
# The second component is a set of high-level drivers for each of the different type of supported device:
# pd IDE disk
# pcd ATAPI CD-ROM
# pf ATAPI disk
# pt ATAPI tape
# pg ATAPI generic devices

# The pg driver exists mainly to support parallel port ATAPI CD-R and CD-RW devices.

#
# Run the commands below from a script
# ================================================== ==================
echo "Running commandsmou..."
test `whoami` = 'root' || echo "You must be root to execute the commands."
cdrecord -scanbus > /dev/null
if ! (pidof kerneld || test -f "/proc/sys/kernel/modprobe"); then
echo "Neither kerneld nor kmod are running to automatically load modules".
fi
report_no_autoload() {
echo "Ensure the module $1 is loaded automatically next time."
}
if test ! -f "/proc/scsi/scsi"; then
report_no_autoload scsi_mod && modprobe scsi_mod
fi
if ! grep "^........ sg_" /proc/ksyms > /dev/null; then
report_no_autoload sg && modprobe sg
fi
if ! grep "^........ sr_" /proc/ksyms > /dev/null; then
report_no_autoload sr_mod && modprobe sr_mod
fi
if ! grep "^........ loop_" /proc/ksyms > /dev/null; then
report_no_autoload loop && insmod loop
fi
if ! grep iso9660 /proc/filesystems > /dev/null; then
report_no_autoload iso9660 && modprobe iso9660
fi
echo "The following is only needed for IDE/ATAPI CD-writers."
if ! grep ide-scsi /proc/ide/drivers > /dev/null; then
report_no_autoload ide-scsi && modprobe ide-scsi
fi
# ================================================== ==============

# Now check if it is recognized:
# cdrecord -scanbus

# Mount to an appropriate location after placing a CD in the drive
mkdir /media/Sparq
mount -t vfat /dev/pda1 /media/Sparq
ls -al /media/Sparq # Works !


Save it under a name you like. I personally chose the name "Paride" (which is the name of the parallel port IDE subsystem)

Next, you need to make the file executable. Open up a terminal and type (or copy + paste) the following:


chmod +x paride

Now, you can run the script by typing in the following in a terminal


sudo ./paride

and you should see the directory of your Syquest drive!

*Note: you only need to run the script once per session. You can alternately mount and unmount the drive my typing the following:

Mount:

sudo mount /dev/pda1

Unmount:

sudo umount /dev/pda1


If you see something in my Howto that could use improvement, please share!

Good luck, and have fun with your Syquest drive!

[lfmiller]

Hi, Thanks worked great, but I personally got a lot of error messages when the script ran, but the drive mounted and worked. - On a side note, in your orignal post you said it works under 8.04 - It also works under 8.10 - that is what I am running. Thanks again, LeRoy, KD8BXP

[DocEsq]

This did not work for me.

When I attempted to run the script sudo ./paride I got the message "Loading Modules". This message never changed and I my system froze causing me to use the reset button.

I also noticed that there did not appear to be any Syquest directory and that there was no /pda1 in /dev

Doc

[afrodeity]

FATAL: Module ide_scsi

I am running 12.04, apparently ubuntu linux no longer has this module, any ideas?

[ColfaxLinix]

April 2013

Since google "ubuntu syquest" gets you here, I thought I'd post what worked for me. Under Ubuntu 12.04 LTS my computer also locks up as described by others. Something goes very wrong when try to install kernel module pd.ko.

The following is not a fix for Ubuntu. This is a work-around to get files off the parallel drive ezflyer disks and saved elsewhere.

Computer: Dell Dimension 2400 w Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.53GHz (32 bit)

Procedure:

- Create a live CD of Ubuntu 8.04.4 (from 2008, the year of the above HOWTO). I used ubuntu-8.04.4-desktop-i386.iso.

- Attach the ezflyer to the parallel port, power it up, and insert a disk.

- Boot the Ubuntu live CD.

- When Ubunbu has fully loaded open a Terminal window.

- Become 'root' and create a mounting point for the ezflyer:
> sudo su
> mkdir /media/ez (<- any directory name will do)

- Install the kernel modules necessary to handle the ezflyer:
> modprobe paride
> modprobe epat
> modprobe pd

- mount the ezflyer:
> mount /dev/pda1 /media/ez

- The ezflyer should now be 'good to go'. Verify with:
> echo I am Here > /media/ez/test.txt; cat /media/ez/test.txt

Note: This scheme occasionally freezes in the same way as under 12.04 LTS. In this case I suspect I have flaky drive since it doesn't always eject properly.

Good luck!