Plugging USB camera creates icon on the desktop, but refuses to open.

[squashpup]

I'm in the process of migrating from Mepis (hate it that they went back to Debian). Anywho, in Mepis, when I plugged my camera (a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8), it was automatically recognized as a USB mass storage device. A thumb drive icon appeared on my desktop, and when I clicked it, I could browse my files on the camera and copy them to the computer.

You could also right click and have the option to mount the drive without opening the file manager.

Now, when I plug it in Kubuntu, I get a camera icon on the desktop. When I click it, Dolphin opens and I get a progress bar that says "Loading Directory", but remains on zero. then, it says, "Unspecified Error - Please send a full bug report...etc." When I right click it, there's no option to mount the drive. And for some reason, I can't get Kwik Disk from the repositories.

So, I decided to go the Digikam route. I opened Digikam and had it autodetect my camera, which it did. Then, I tried to download the pictures from it, and got the same result...it gave me a progress bar that didn't move, and eventually, an error message.

Anyone else have this problem, or have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[squashpup]

Dumb that this doesn't work, and I'm not spending all day fighting an unfamiliar distro. Is this 2007? Thought Linux was largely past the days of having to edit config files and all that.

How come other distros correctly recognize this as a mass USB storage device, and mount it properly?

More importantly, why is this even an issue at this point? The fact that Kubuntu developers let 7.10 out the door with this glaring defect tells me that maybe I don't want to trust this system for my day to day computing. Doesn't seem like a good way to win over new users.

[dibl]

USB devices of one kind or other can be problematical. My digital camera happens to use a removable SD card, and my little SD card reader works fine, as does my Logitech webcam and my PNY thumb drive.

But, only 2 versions ago, Edgy was not so kind -- I had to compile a gsbca driver for USB on the same hardware that I'm using today.

Can you open the console and run
lsusb and let us see what it shows?

[squashpup]

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 04da:2372 Panasonic #&%$a) Lumix DMC-FZ10 Camera
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04f3:0210 Elan Microelectronics Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

[don't know why it put in the symbols...that word was originally supposed to be m a t s u s h i t a ...oh, now I see why]

I have two things plugged into my USB ports now...my mouse and my Panasonic camera. BTW, the camera is not an FZ10, as listed, but an FZ8. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.

I just booted into Mepis a while ago from a live CD and it mounted my camera perfectly and I was able to browse files without problem.

Not only that, I plugged a card reader in with my camera's card in it and was able to browse the photos. I don't understand why it refuses to recognize my camera as a mass storage drive when Mepis does it without issue.

[squashpup]

I don't think this is going to be resolved on this thread. Lots of people are having the problem with Ubuntu and Kubuntu 7.10.

Seems like certain USB devices are broken in 7.10

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=588590&highlight=camera
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=587660&highlight=camera
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=587324&highlight=camera

Still amazes me that this was released this way. Pretty serious flaw. I'll be patient however and use my card reader until they come up with a fix.

[dibl]

Yes, it does look like some digital cameras are having problems. I haven't tried mine lately -- it may not work either. Doesn't matter, I normally use the SD card.

[gehentogo]

I found a related thread on the Ubuntu forums that solved a similar problem for a Nikon. The answer was to update the firmware from the Nikon homepage. My problem is I have the exact same problems as described earlier, but I am using a Panasonic DMC-FX55. Anyone know the answer to this one?