12.29. Universal Serial Bus - USB

12.29.1. Linux Compatibility Check

You should get information about the USB controller with cat /proc/pci and about USB devices with cat /proc/bus/usb/devices.

12.29.2. Miscellaneous

Newer laptops come equipped with the Universal Serial Bus - USB. The following USB devices are available, not all of them are fully supported by Linux yet: keyboard, mouse, printer, tablet, camera, cpia, webcam, MP3 player, modem, wireless LAN, audio, jukebox, scanner, storage (hard drive, memory stick), floppydrive, ZIP, Super Disk - LS 120, compact flash reader, CD, BlueTooth, ethernet, serial, joystick, USB Host-to-Host Cable, hub .

Visit the USB Linux home page. Also I have set up a page collecting information about laptops and mobile devices using USB at the TuxMobil - Mobile Hardware Survey .

Please note, I have got a report that the power by a laptop via USB is not enough for some kind of devices, e.g. Web Cams or hard disks. But it seems to depend on the laptop and the specific device. With desktop Linux machines these USB devices work flawlessly, but with mobile devices not.