Can someone recommend a working USB3 PCI or PCIe card? [Was Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?]

[Rick Thomas]

On Aug 30, 2015, at 10:17 PM, CaT  wrote:

> Three possibilities IMO:
> 
> 1) cable too dodgy for USB3 but not dodgy enough for USB2 to fail :)
> 2) card is dodgy (do you know that it actually does work?)
> 3) drivers are dodgy (can happen - is there a newer kernel you can try?)

Since I get the same symptoms with a WD external disk (with manufacturer 
supplied USB3 cable), a USB3 FLASH thumb-drive (no cable) and a USB2 FLASH 
thumb-drive (again, no cable), I’m going with either #2 or #3 here.

To eliminate #2, I guess I’ll need a different USB3 interface card.  Can 
someone recommend a good one?  This machine has free PCI-X and PCIe slots that 
I could use.  PCI-X slots are (according to wikipedia) compatible with PCI 
cards.  The PCIe slot is “x1”.

To investigate #3, I’ve started a different thread on the subject of “What USB3 
chipsets are supported by the Jessie kernels?”

Thanks!
Rick

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Rick Thomas]

On Aug 30, 2015, at 10:42 PM, Glenn English  wrote:

> Yet another possible possibility:
> 
> * Is the disk backward compatible with USB2? If so, does it work with a USB2 
> card? Might get rid of some variables.

Yes, that’s the first thing I tried.  The disk (and all the USB2 and USB3 thumb 
drives I’ve tried as well) work just fine with a USB2 card — but at USB2 speeds.

Aren’t computers fun!?

Rick

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[rlharris]

On Sun, August 30, 2015 10:21 pm, Rick Thomas wrote:
 I recently added a USB3 PCI card to my Dell Poweredge 1430 server box.
...
 Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
 Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
 Am I missing something important?

Have you installed gnome-disk-utility?

RLH

Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Rick Thomas]

I recently added a USB3 PCI card to my Dell Poweredge 1430 server box.

I've tried plugging in various USB3 and USB2 devices (FLASH sticks, a WD 
MyBook 3TB external drive, etc) but they are not recognized by Debian as 
disks.


When I plug these devices into a USB2 card also on the same server, they 
are recognized, but I'm limited to USB2 data speeds on the USB3 devices.


Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
Am I missing something important?

Thanks for any help you can provide!
Rick

With the disk plugged into the USB2 card, I get the following


rbthomas@monk:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID :0013 MacAlly
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0557:8021 ATEN International Co., Ltd CS1764A 
[CubiQ DVI KVMP Switch]

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0409:005a NEC Corp. HighSpeed Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 1058:1230 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. My 
Book (WDBFJK0030HBK)

Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 010 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
rbthomas@monk:~$ lspci | grep -i usb
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #1 (rev 09)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #2 (rev 09)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #3 (rev 09)
00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #4 (rev 09)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
EHCI USB2 Controller (rev 09)
07:05.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 62)
07:05.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 62)

07:05.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 65)
08:00.0 USB controller: Renesas Technology Corp. uPD720201 USB 3.0 
Host Controller (rev 03)

But if I plug the same disk into the USB3 card, I get the following

rbthomas@monk:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID :0013 MacAlly
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0557:8021 ATEN International Co., Ltd CS1764A 
[CubiQ DVI KVMP Switch]

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0409:005a NEC Corp. HighSpeed Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 010 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
rbthomas@monk:~$ lspci | grep -i usb
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #1 (rev 09)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #2 (rev 09)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #3 (rev 09)
00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
UHCI USB Controller #4 (rev 09)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset 
EHCI USB2 Controller (rev 09)
07:05.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 62)
07:05.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 
1.1 Controller (rev 62)

07:05.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 65)
08:00.0 USB controller: Renesas Technology Corp. uPD720201 USB 3.0 
Host Controller (rev 03)

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Rick Thomas]

On 08/30/15 21:34, Rick Thomas wrote:

I’ll plug in a disk and test it next chance I get, if you think it will help.
Plugging the disk in after reboot shows nothing happening with the USB3 
card.


Plugging it into the USB2 card gets the expected

[  372.956020] usb 8-3: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
[  373.097430] usb 8-3: New USB device found, idVendor=05dc, 
idProduct=a838
[  373.097434] usb 8-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, 
SerialNumber=3

[  373.097437] usb 8-3: Product: USB Flash Drive
[  373.097439] usb 8-3: Manufacturer: Lexar
[  373.097442] usb 8-3: SerialNumber: AALBOCEKDL6LQK8A
[  373.129075] usb-storage 8-3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[  373.129229] scsi host5: usb-storage 8-3:1.0
[  373.129364] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[  373.143513] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[  374.434275] scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access LexarUSB Flash 
Drive  1100 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6

[  374.434685] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[  374.436135] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] 62517248 512-byte logical blocks: 
(32.0 GB/29.8 GiB)

[  374.436998] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[  374.437002] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 00
[  374.437878] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: enabled, read cache: 
enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA

[  374.453902]  sdc: sdc1 sdc2
[  374.458001] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[CaT]

On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 09:34:41PM -0700, Rick Thomas wrote:
 On Aug 30, 2015, at 9:12 PM, CaT c...@zip.com.au wrote:
 
  On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 08:21:26PM -0700, Rick Thomas wrote:
  Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
  Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
  Am I missing something important?
  
  Does 'dmesg' show that the drive is seen and a /dev device is allocated
  to it when you plug it into the USB3 card?
 
 There is no /dev allocated to the disk drive when plugged into the USB3 board.

Three possibilities IMO:

* cable too dodgy for USB3 but not dodgy enough for USB2 to fail :)
* card is dodgy (do you know that it actually does work?)
* drivers are dodgy (can happen - is there a newer kernel you can try?)

-- 
  A search of his car uncovered pornography, a homemade sex aid, women's 
  stockings and a Jack Russell terrier.
- 
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/wacky/indeed/story-e6frev20-118083480

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Rick Thomas]

On Aug 30, 2015, at 8:35 PM, rlhar...@oplink.net wrote:

 On Sun, August 30, 2015 10:21 pm, Rick Thomas wrote:
 I recently added a USB3 PCI card to my Dell Poweredge 1430 server box.
 ...
 Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
 Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
 Am I missing something important?
 
 Have you installed gnome-disk-utility?
 
 RLH

That package is installed, though it was installed automatically, not manually.

Why do you ask?
Rick

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[CaT]

On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 08:21:26PM -0700, Rick Thomas wrote:
 Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
 Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
 Am I missing something important?

Does 'dmesg' show that the drive is seen and a /dev device is allocated
to it when you plug it into the USB3 card?

 rbthomas@monk:~$ lspci | grep -i usb

try 'lspci -v | less' and find your card in there. See if there's a
driver allocated to it.

-- 
  A search of his car uncovered pornography, a homemade sex aid, women's 
  stockings and a Jack Russell terrier.
- 
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/wacky/indeed/story-e6frev20-118083480

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Rick Thomas]

On Aug 30, 2015, at 9:12 PM, CaT c...@zip.com.au wrote:

 On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 08:21:26PM -0700, Rick Thomas wrote:
 Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
 Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
 Am I missing something important?
 
 Does 'dmesg' show that the drive is seen and a /dev device is allocated
 to it when you plug it into the USB3 card?

There is no /dev allocated to the disk drive when plugged into the USB3 board.

Typing “dmesg | less” and looking for ‘usb’ shows the following

 [1.022294] xhci_hcd :08:00.0: hcc params 0x014051c7 hci version 0x100 
 quirks 0x0010
 [1.023891] usb usb2: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0002
 [1.023895] usb usb2: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, 
 SerialNumber=1
 [1.023898] usb usb2: Product: xHCI Host Controller
 [1.023900] usb usb2: Manufacturer: Linux 4.1.0-1-amd64 xhci-hcd
 [1.023903] usb usb2: SerialNumber: :08:00.0
 [1.024123] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
 [1.024141] hub 2-0:1.0: 4 ports detected
 [1.024370] xhci_hcd :08:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
 [1.024376] xhci_hcd :08:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus 
 number 7
 [1.025847] usb usb7: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0003
 [1.025850] usb usb7: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, 
 SerialNumber=1
 [1.025853] usb usb7: Product: xHCI Host Controller
 [1.025855] usb usb7: Manufacturer: Linux 4.1.0-1-amd64 xhci-hcd
 [1.025858] usb usb7: SerialNumber: :08:00.0
 [1.026035] hub 7-0:1.0: USB hub found
 [1.026053] hub 7-0:1.0: 4 ports detected

This appears to be happening during a reboot.  There was no disk plugged into 
it at the time.

I’ll plug in a disk and test it next chance I get, if you think it will help.

 
 rbthomas@monk:~$ lspci | grep -i usb
 
 try 'lspci -v | less' and find your card in there. See if there's a
 driver allocated to it.

I get the following

 08:00.0 USB controller: Renesas Technology Corp. uPD720201 USB 3.0 Host 
 Controller (rev 03) (prog-if 30 [XHCI])
 Subsystem: Renesas Technology Corp. uPD720201 USB 3.0 Host Controller
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 24
 Memory at fd9fe000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
 Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
 Capabilities: [70] MSI: Enable- Count=1/8 Maskable- 64bit+
 Capabilities: [90] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=8 Masked-
 Capabilities: [a0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
 Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd

It appears to have a the xhci_hcd driver.  Does that help?

Rick

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[rlharris]

On Sun, August 30, 2015 11:08 pm, Rick Thomas wrote:
 On Aug 30, 2015, at 8:35 PM, rlhar...@oplink.net wrote:
 Have you installed gnome-disk-utility?
 Why do you ask?

When working with external drives, I constantly use gnome-disk-utility to
mount and unmount, and generally to mount partitions of external drives
(including USB sticks) to see what I have stored there.

To me it is a basic tool.  But it was not installed by default in my
Debian Jessie installation; I had to install it.

RLH

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Glenn English]

On Aug 30, 2015, at 11:17 PM, CaT c...@zip.com.au wrote:

 On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 09:34:41PM -0700, Rick Thomas wrote:
 On Aug 30, 2015, at 9:12 PM, CaT c...@zip.com.au wrote:
 
 On Sun, Aug 30, 2015 at 08:21:26PM -0700, Rick Thomas wrote:
 Am I missing a driver for the USB3 card?
 Are some USB3 chipsets not supported?
 Am I missing something important?
 
 Does 'dmesg' show that the drive is seen and a /dev device is allocated
 to it when you plug it into the USB3 card?
 
 There is no /dev allocated to the disk drive when plugged into the USB3 
 board.
 
 Three possibilities IMO:
 
 * cable too dodgy for USB3 but not dodgy enough for USB2 to fail :)
 * card is dodgy (do you know that it actually does work?)
 * drivers are dodgy (can happen - is there a newer kernel you can try?)

Yet another possible possibility:

* Is the disk backward compatible with USB2? If so, does it work with a USB2 
card? Might get rid of some variables.

-- 
Glenn English

Re: Why does Debian not recognize my USB3 disk drive?

[Rick Thomas]

On 08/30/15 21:30, rlhar...@oplink.net wrote:

On Sun, August 30, 2015 11:08 pm, Rick Thomas wrote:

On Aug 30, 2015, at 8:35 PM, rlhar...@oplink.net wrote:

Have you installed gnome-disk-utility?

Why do you ask?

When working with external drives, I constantly use gnome-disk-utility to
mount and unmount, and generally to mount partitions of external drives
(including USB sticks) to see what I have stored there.

To me it is a basic tool.  But it was not installed by default in my
Debian Jessie installation; I had to install it.

RLH
Thanks for the pointer.  I used to use palimpsest for this kind of 
thing when I wanted a GUI disk manager, but I went away in Jessie. This 
may be a suitable substitute.


Unfortunately, it doesn't see the disk either when plugged into the USB3 
card.

Rick