USB and cd writing is new to me all the way around (haven't even done it in Windows yet), so this is preliminary information. I have sucessfully mounted the drive (read-only) in Linux and can access files on it.
Manufacturer link: http://www.vsttech.com/
Drive ID (lsusb): 07ab:fc01 Memorex BBQ Series 100 CD-R/RW
Tested system: Sony PCG-F450 notebook, 500 MHz PIII, 192 MB,
9 GB hard drive
Linux version: SuSE 7.1 workstation with included kernel 2.4.0-4GB
and user compiled 2.4.0
Drive Features:
The box says "Works with all USB equipped computers."
CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-R/W slim gray portable drive
Rechargeable battery and charger/AC adaper
4X 4X 8X USB (up to 20X read with optional Firewire/IEEE 1394 adapter)
There is also a 4X 4X 20X Firewire powered version
Output from lsusb:
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 07ab:fc01 Memorex BBQ Series 100 CD-R/RW
Device Descriptor:
bLength
18
bDescriptorType
1
bcdUSB
1.00
bDeviceClass
255 Vendor Specific Class
bDeviceSubClass
0
bDeviceProtocol
0
bMaxPacketSize0
64
idVendor
0x07ab Memorex
idProduct
0xfc01 BBQ Series 100 CD-R/RW
bcdDevice
9.21
iManufacturer
0
iProduct
0
iSerial
0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength
9
bDescriptorType
2
wTotalLength
32
bNumInterfaces
1
bConfigurationValue
1
iConfiguration
0
bmAttributes
0x40
Self Powered
MaxPower
2mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength
9
bDescriptorType
4
bInterfaceNumber
0
bAlternateSetting
0
bNumEndpoints
2
bInterfaceClass
0 Interface
bInterfaceSubClass
0
bInterfaceProtocol
0
iInterface
0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength
7
bDescriptorType
5
bEndpointAddress
0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes
2
Transfer
Type
Bulk
Synch Type
none
wMaxPacketSize
64
bInterval
0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength
7
bDescriptorType
5
bEndpointAddress
0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes
2
Transfer
Type
Bulk
Synch Type
none
wMaxPacketSize
64
bInterval
0
Language IDs: none (invalid string descriptor 42 42)
Contents of /proc/scsi/scsi:
Attached devices:
Host: scsi1 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
Vendor:
Model: CD-R/RW RW8040A Rev: 1.13
Type: CD-ROM
ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Contents of /proc/scsi/usb-storage-0/0 when connected:
Host scsi0: usb-storage
Vendor: Freecom
Product: USB-IDE
Serial Number: None
Protocol: QIC-157
Transport: Freecom
GUID: 07abfc010000000000000000
Instructions for mounting (before plugging in the drive):
Make sure that you have USB support when you boot. You should see some messages about it in dmesg or /var/log/messages.
Add following to /etc/fstab if not there:
none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs
defaults 0 0
SCSI support is required. This was included in the SuSE distributed kernel, but if you compile it as modules you need to insmod scsi_mod (CONFIG_SCSI) and sr_mod (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SR) modules.
Load the usb-storage module:
insmod usb-storage
Power up the drive and connect the USB cable. If all goes well, you should see something like this in /var/log/messages:
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: hub.c: USB new device connect
on bus1/2, assigned device number 2
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop usbmgr[304]: vendor:0x7ab product:0xfc01
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop usbmgr[304]: USB device isn't matched
the configuration
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: scsi0 : SCSI emulation for
USB Mass Storage devices
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: Vendor:
Model: CD-R/RW RW8040A Rev: 1.13
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: Type:
CD-ROM
ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: Detected scsi CD-ROM sr0 at
scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: sr-1070301184: scsi-1 drive
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: WARNING: USB Mass Storage data
integrity not assured
Mar 6 03:48:23 laptop kernel: USB Mass Storage device found
at 2
Mar 6 03:49:24 laptop kernel: VFS: Disk change detected on
device sr(11,0)
This tells you that it is on /dev/sr0 (hard linked to /dev/scd0) and
data CD can be mounted to an existing directory:
mount -t iso9660 /dev/scd0 /mnt/usbcdrom
At this point you should be able to read files from the drive.
For easier mounting you can add this to /etc/fstab:
/dev/scd0 /mnt/usbcdrom
iso9660 ro,noauto,user 0 0
I have not attempted to write to the drive yet. I did load the sg module for the generic scsi device needed for CD writing, and various info about the drive shows up in /proc/scsi/sg.