UPDATE: 

Here is an update about what is written below. Most recent Minolta
digital camera now use USB Mass Storage device protocol for USB
connectivity. That means that they can be mounted as a disk device
within the OS without additional support (Linux 2.4.x, *BSD,
etc.). This is a great step forward to having these camera universally
supported without requiring complex and non-standard device driver
support.

This list includes Dimage 5, Dimage 7, Dimage X and probably many
other. I recommend to consult
<http://www.teaser.fr/~hfiguiere/linux/digicam.html> for an up to date
compatibility chart.

The bottom line, the text below is probably now really obsolete.

-- Hubert Figuiere <hfiguiere@teaser.fr> - June 19th 2002


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Below is a message from Minolta regarding the dim possibility of them
releasing the protocols for their newer cameras. In short, the official line
is to buy a flash reader when not using a supported system.




Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 15:42:42 "GMT"
From: MinoltaUSA <dphotoinfo@minolta.com>
To: Customer Service <hartmann@cs.wisc.edu>
Subject: FAQs

Dear Customer, 

The FAQ you submitted on 12/28/00 has been resolved.

Question: 
        Hello,

        Approximately eighteen months ago, I contacted Minolta for
information regarding the serial transfer protocol for the Dimage V,
with the intent of writing a program that would work under Linux and
other Unix variants. Minolta was kind enough to provide this to me,
after I had signed an NDA, but was told that I could &#34;share this
information freely with the Linux community&#34;. Since then, I have written
more than one program to access the camera, and my code has since been
included in a very popular Linux program called gphoto, which aims to
support cameras from many different vendors. More information on gphoto
is available at http://www.gphoto.org/ .

        As I am the only developer currently supporting a Minolta driver
for gphoto, I am often contacted regarding the newer Minolta cameras.
The most common question I receive is if the same serial driver will
work on the newer models as on the Dimage V. I don not believe this to
be the case, but would be interested in finding out an official answer.
        Additionally, would Minolta be willing to release the serial and
USB image transfer specifications for any of the other camera models,
with the same caveats and conditions as before?

        Thanks,
        Gus

Answer: 
We recommend the use of Compact Flash Card Readers for acquiring images from
all of our newer digital cameras on incompatible systems.
