identify problem

If something does not work first look at logs :
cat /var/log/syslog
dmesg

But there are not only these logs (see /var/log folder).

For hardware identify what was determined :
lsusb
lspci
lshal
lshw

There you easily find vendor or identification for hardware.

For software (run by command) try:
strace command


or use verbose output of command, often by:
command --verbose



For open files, see:
lsof

Mentioned utilities have many options, so try arguments. Use keywords from previous outputs to feed goog..