Calibre 1.2 no longer connecting to reader

[depontius]

So tonight I plugged in my Kobo to push July's Linux Journal onto it.

I'm not getting the device recognized. In /var/log/messages I get:
Jul 1 20:29:56 buckeye kernel: usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 7 using ehci-pci
Jul 1 20:29:56 buckeye kernel: usb-storage 1-4:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
Jul 1 20:29:56 buckeye kernel: scsi4 : usb-storage 1-4:1.0
Jul 1 20:29:56 buckeye mtp-probe: checking bus 1, device 7: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-4"
Jul 1 20:29:56 buckeye mtp-probe: bus: 1, device: 7 was not an MTP device
Jul 1 20:29:57 buckeye kernel: scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access Kobo eReader-2.3.1 0110 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
Jul 1 20:29:57 buckeye kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
Jul 1 20:29:57 buckeye kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 2794494 512-byte logical blocks: (1.43 GB/1.33 GiB)
Jul 1 20:29:57 buckeye kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Jul 1 20:29:57 buckeye kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 0f 00 00 00
Jul 1 20:29:57 buckeye kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
Jul 1 20:29:58 buckeye kernel: sdc:
Jul 1 20:29:58 buckeye kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk
So the hardware is getting recognized by the kernel. I would expect that this is some sort of udev problem, but I don't see that Calibre has installed any sort of udev rules. I know I talked to the Kobo before on this machine, just not recently. I might suspect udev/permissions, but it has worked before. Can anyone suggest where I start debugging?
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.sigs waste space and bandwidth

[Hu]

Start by explaining why you think the device is not recognized. According to the kernel output you posted, the kernel recognizes it. What specifically is not recognizing it?

[depontius]

I agree that the Kobo is being recognized by the kernel - that's the point of the messages. I don't know if the problem is in Calibre, but that's where it appears to be.

Normally I can start Calibre, then connect the Kobo. Shortly after the kernel recognizes it, an extra item, "Device", appears on the ribbon(?) in Calibre, which I can use to manage files on the Kobo. I can also use the "Device" in Calibre to eject (umount) the Kobo, after which I can disconnect the cable and the "Device" icon goes away. I'm not sure what mechanism Calibre uses to receive notificiations of plug/unplug, whether it's polling, etc. I checked and it does not appear to have installed any udev rules.

On that system, where this has all worked a month or so ago, the "Device" icon no longer appears on the ribbon, even though the kernel has obviously recognized when I've attached the Kobo.

Interestingly, on the other deskside machine in our house, the console is normally logged in for my wife, and I normally have a su'ed xterm there. Last night I started Calibre there, then plugged in the Kobo. The xterm where I started Calibre spewed some messages, at which point I realized that I wasn't the "console user", so Calibre likely wouldn't have proper authority to talk to the Kobo. That's when I took it downstairs, and found the posted results. If it helps, I can reconnect upstairs and post the spewed messages. Now that I think, downstairs I started from the icewm taskbar, not an xterm. So I have no idea if there were messages there. Another thing to find out...

Obviously I can log my wife off upstairs, logon myself, and this will all work. I'd like to have it working properly on the downstairs computer, too.
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.sigs waste space and bandwidth