eid Middleware fails on Ubuntu when Vasco-cardreader is present @ boot

[Bernard Decock]

I have a Vasco-card-reader (digipass 905) which works well with eID Middleware, except when the reader is present at powering up/restarting the computer.

At powering up, the green led of the reader is on, but goes out when ubuntu is loading (I assume that when the middleware is loaded). The reader is
well seen by the kernel as lsusb shows the reader : Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1a44:0001 VASCO Data Security International Digipass 905 SmartCard Reader

The installed software is latest one, as the eid-middleware-updates are installed together with the regular os-updates (great job!).

After powering-up, the green led is out, and by consequence the reader can't function properly. pcsc_scan doesn't find any reader. However if you
unplug the reader, a system-crash happens.

pcsc_scan
PC/SC device scanner
V 1.4.22 (c) 2001-2011, Ludovic Rousseau <ludovic....@free.fr>
Compiled with PC/SC lite version: 1.8.10
Using reader plug'n play mechanism
Scanning present readers...
Waiting for the first reader...SCardGetStatusChange: RPC transport error.  <=== AT unplugging the device
bernard@Sable:~$ pcsc_scan
PC/SC device scanner
V 1.4.22 (c) 2001-2011, Ludovic Rousseau <ludovic....@free.fr>
Compiled with PC/SC lite version: 1.8.10
SCardEstablishContext: Service not available.

Aug 30 10:24:04 Sable kernel: [  309.262883] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/all, error -32
Aug 30 10:19:26 Sable whoopsie[1070]: online
Aug 30 10:24:31 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Parsing /var/crash/_usr_sbin_pcscd.0.crash.
Aug 30 10:24:31 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Uploading /var/crash/_usr_sbin_pcscd.0.crash.
Aug 30 10:24:32 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Sent; server replied with: No error
Aug 30 10:24:32 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Response code: 200
Aug 30 10:24:32 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Reported OOPS ID 1142b670-301f-11e4-9100-fa163e707a72
Aug 30 10:24:41 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Sent; server replied with: No error
Aug 30 10:24:41 Sable whoopsie[1070]: Response code: 200

This problem isn't related to a specifc build and architecture, as I encounter the same problem on 32-bit computers as wel (running either xubuntu, ubuntu).

Due to this bug, one can't use the card-reader any longer. Only after rebooting the computer without the card-reader, one can use the reader again. What can I
do to help to fix this problem?

[Verhelst Wouter]

Hi,

We've been trying to reproduce this, but so far without luck. Rather than taking a screenshot of the apport window, could you maybe copy and paste the info that's shown into an email? (You might want to do so outside of this mailinglist, so as to not annoy people...)

That would allow us to help you debug this.

Thanks,

--
Wouter Verhelst
________________________________________
Van: eid...@googlegroups.com [eid...@googlegroups.com] namens Bernard Decock [decock...@skynet.be]
Verzonden: zaterdag 30 augustus 2014 11:00
Aan: eid...@googlegroups.com
Onderwerp: eid Middleware fails on Ubuntu when Vasco-cardreader is present @ boot

[https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rLtsI0rPqHY/VAGSnaHGVaI/AAAAAAAAKJY/bp1HofAUMoI/s320/pcscd_crash.jpg]<https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rLtsI0rPqHY/VAGSnaHGVaI/AAAAAAAAKJY/bp1HofAUMoI/s1600/pcscd_crash.jpg>

--
Je hebt dit bericht ontvangen omdat je bent geabonneerd op de groep "eID Middleware" van Google Discussiegroepen.
Als je je wilt afmelden bij deze groep en geen e-mails van de groep meer wilt ontvangen, stuur je een e-mail naar eid-mw+un...@googlegroups.com<mailto:eid-mw+un...@googlegroups.com>.
Als je een bericht in deze groep wilt plaatsen, stuur je een e-mail naar eid...@googlegroups.com<mailto:eid...@googlegroups.com>.
Bezoek deze groep op http://groups.google.com/group/eid-mw.
Ga naar https://groups.google.com/d/optout voor meer opties.

[Verhelst Wouter]

So, it looks like I was actually using the wrong version of the DP905. There's a 1.1 and a 2.0; my tests were with the 2.0, but you're using a 1.1.

It looks like this is a combination of a hardware issue with the cardreader in question and a software bug in pcscd. I'll spare you the boring details, but the short story is that if you have the cardreader plugged in at boot time, pcscd can't talk to it, which corrupts its internal state, which causes the segfault you've witnessed.

The workaround is to make sure you don't have the card reader plugged in when booting; if you forgot that, when the crash happens you can run

sudo service pcscd start

in a terminal, and this will then cause things to work again. Note: you should do this when the card reader is *not* connected to your computer, otherwise the problem will re-occur.

Regards,

--
Wouter Verhelst
________________________________________
Van: eid...@googlegroups.com [eid...@googlegroups.com] namens Verhelst Wouter
Verzonden: woensdag 3 september 2014 17:25
Aan: eid...@googlegroups.com
Onderwerp: RE: eid Middleware fails on Ubuntu when Vasco-cardreader is present @ boot

Je hebt dit bericht ontvangen, omdat je je hebt aangemeld bij de groep 'eID Middleware' van Google Discussiegroepen.
Als je je wilt afmelden bij deze groep en geen e-mails van de groep meer wilt ontvangen, stuur je een e-mail naar eid-mw+un...@googlegroups.com.
Als je een bericht in deze groep wilt plaatsen, stuur je een e-mail naar eid...@googlegroups.com.

Bezoek deze groep op http://groups.google.com/group/eid-mw.

Bezoek voor meer opties https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Bernard Decock]

Thanks a lot for pinpointing the problem. I tried the procedure, after the crash, I removed the card-reader and issued the specified command. After plugging in the reader, as was
working fine then. It looks as I can avoid the crash by issuing the command just after starting-up, but then you need to unplug the card-reader, issue the command again and
plug the reader back in. By the way have you filled a bug for pcscd?

[Verhelst Wouter]

Actually, you can just boot the computer with the cardreader disconnected, and then pcscd will be running correctly.

I haven't filed a bug yet, because while was able to figure out what triggers the bug, I haven't yet found the root cause of the problem. Once I do, I will do so.

--
Wouter Verhelst
________________________________________
Van: eid...@googlegroups.com [eid...@googlegroups.com] namens Bernard Decock [decock...@skynet.be]

Verzonden: vrijdag 5 september 2014 19:51
Aan: eid...@googlegroups.com
Onderwerp: Re: eid Middleware fails on Ubuntu when Vasco-cardreader is present @ boot

Thanks a lot for pinpointing the problem. I tried the procedure, after the crash, I removed the card-reader and issued the specified command. After plugging in the reader, as was
working fine then. It looks as I can avoid the crash by issuing the command just after starting-up, but then you need to unplug the card-reader, issue the command again and
plug the reader back in. By the way have you filled a bug for pcscd?