Why doesn't my ACR38 SmartCard Reader work?

Question

I've this SmartCard reader:

Bus 002 Device 004: ID 072f:90cc Advanced Card Systems, Ltd ACR38 SmartCard Reader

I've installed the following packages: pcscd, libacr38u, pcsc-tools, and a driver available on this website http://www.bit4id.com/italiano/download/download_file/Linux.zip

the pcscd daemon seems running:

andrea@centurion:~$ ps -e | grep pcsc
 2799 ?        00:00:00 pcscd

when I try to test if the smart card is working, I get no reply:

andrea@centurion:~$ pcsc_scan 
PC/SC device scanner
V 1.4.16 (c) 2001-2009, Ludovic Rousseau <ludovic.rousseau@free.fr>
Compiled with PC/SC lite version: 1.5.3
Scanning present readers...
Waiting for the first reader...

how can I fix this?

Answer 1

It looks like your ACR38 is supported by the CCID driver libccid

http://pcsclite.alioth.debian.org/ccid/supported.html#0x072F0x90CC

Answer 2

If you have Ubuntu 10.04 or later, then judging by the bug reports you shouldn't be experiencing this issue anymore. (Version 1.7.10 of libacr38u).

Seeing as the driver you downloaded is two years old, and there is a package to provide support for this device in the Ubuntu respositories (libacr38u) then I would keep away from the driver.

If you are on Ubuntu 10.04 or later (especially if it doesn't work in 10.10) then please report a bug by pressing Alt+F2 and entering ubuntu-bug libacr38u.