Beyond Linux® From Scratch - Version 2012-01-16

Chapter 11. System Utilities

usbutils-004

Introduction to usbutils

The usbutils package contains a utility used to display information about USB buses in the system and the devices connected to them.

This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS-7.0 platform.

Package Information

usbutils Dependencies

Required

libusb-1.0.8 and pkg-config-0.26

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/usbutils

Installation of usbutils

Install usbutils by running the following commands: 

./configure --prefix=/usr --disable-zlib &&
make

This package does not come with a test suite.

Now, as the root user: 

make install &&
mv -v /usr/sbin/update-usbids.sh /usr/sbin/update-usbids

Command Explanations

--disable-zlib: This stops usbutils from installing a compressed usb.ids alongside the uncompressed one.

Configuring usbutils

The usb.ids data file is constantly being updated. To get a current version of this file, run update-usbids as the root user. This program requires the which-2.20 script or program to find Wget-1.13.4 or Lynx-2.8.7rel.2 which are used to download the most current file, and replace the existing file in /usr/share.

You may wish to add an entry to root's (or any other user who has write privilege to /usr/share) crontab to automatically update the usb.ids file periodically.

Contents

Installed Programs: lsusb, update-usbids, and usb-devices
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directories: None

Short Descriptions

lsusb

is a utility for displaying information about all USB buses in the system and all devices connected to them.

update-usbids

downloads the current version of the USB ID list. Requires Wget-1.13.4 or Lynx-2.8.7rel.2.

usb-devices

is a shell script that displays details of USB buses and devices connected to them. It is designed to be used if /proc/bus/usb/devices is not available on your system.

Last updated on 2012-01-10 21:25:24 +0000