Sony DSC-F828

Sony Cybershot DSC-F828 and Linux

I recently acquired a new Sony Cybershot DSC-F828. It's a very sweet digital camera. This model is also very much like the DSC-F505, DSC-F707, DSC-F717 models also by Sony. Since I run Linux only systems on both my laptop and desktop computer, I knew I might have some fun trying to get it to play nicely with my other gadgets.

Links

usb-storage

I first tried to get the camera to work with the usb-storage module. It fails as of kernel 2.4.24. But it looks like it may work soon. It recognized the device started scsi emulation, but failed to give the camera a block device like /dev/sda1.
update: I just tried the USB Storage method again with kernel 2.6.8 and it works fine. An upside to this method is that you can delete files from the device .

Making the F828 work with USB mass storage

  • Under Setup2 on the camera make sure setting is USB Connect: Normal
  • Make sure you have a kernel with usb-storage either as a module or inline. You may need a more recent version than included with your ditrobution. Kernel 2.6.8 works on my laptop, the version I know doesn't work is 2.4.24 and probably earlier versions.
  • Run dmesg and you should see something similar to this 
    bash$ dmesg
ohci_hcd 0001:01:1b.1: wakeup
usb 5-1: new full speed USB device using address 5
scsi1 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
  Vendor: Sony      Model: Sony DSC          Rev: 5.00
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
SCSI device sda: 466944 512-byte hdwr sectors (239 MB)
sda: assuming Write Enabled
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
 /dev/scsi/host1/bus0/target0/lun0: p1
Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi1, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Attached scsi generic sg0 at scsi1, channel 0, id 0, lun 0,  type 0
USB Mass Storage device found at 5
  • The important parts of above are: 
    SCSI device sda: 
...
???
    the sda tells you to refer to /dev/sda and you probably need the partition /dev/sda1. If this can change please send me some info on what happened for you we'll put more in here :-)
  • Changing the device to be appropriate as above you could run the following to mount your camera: 
     bash# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/floppy/
  • You can make this mountable by normal users by editing your /etc/fstab file. A link suggestion on fstab help would be nice :-)

    • gphoto2

    This method of transferring files works well and doesn't force you to install a new kernel. For some reason it doesn't seem possible to remove files i usually use the setup menu to reformat my cf / memorystick cards. For this reason I would recommend the usb-storage connection method .

    Making the F828 work with gphoto2

  • Under Setup2 on the camera change USB Connect: Normal to USB Connect: PTP
  • Make sure you have gphoto2 installed correctly. You may need a more recent version than included with your ditrobution. gphoto 2.1.3 works on my laptop. gphoto2 v2.0 doesn't work on my desktop. For more info on gphoto www.gphoto.org
  • Should see something like this from command line: 
    bash$ gphoto2 --summary
Camera summary:
Model: Sony Digital Still Camera 
  device version: 02.0000
  serial number:  (null)
Vendor extension ID: 0x00000000
Vendor extension description: (null)
  • To list files run 
    gphoto2 --list-files
  • To get files run 
    gphoto2 --get-all-files

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