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inspiredindividual

Member

Registered: 2013-09-27

Posts: 12

[SOLVED] USB hub seems broken, how to check it's a hardware issue?

My USB hub seems to be broken, it's completely unresponsive. I surmise it's a hardware issue, since it doesn't work on my work laptop (with Windows) either. Any ideas as to how I can verify this and/or if there are things I could try to fix it?

On a related note, the hub is pretty new so I'm a bit disappointed it's apparently broken already. What's a normal lifetime for a simple USB hub?

Last edited by inspiredindividual (2015-12-01 23:18:40)

teckk

Member

Registered: 2013-02-21

Posts: 519

Re: [SOLVED] USB hub seems broken, how to check it's a hardware issue?

A few thoughts.
Is the device recognized when you plug it in? When you plug a usb drive into it?
dmesg | tail
lsusb
parted -l
fdisk -l
Is the device externally powered? Is the power supply working?
Is the usb cable good? Sometimes the cable ends need cleaned, the usb port seems to be very low current.
What usb hub is it?

What's a normal lifetime for a simple USB hub?

No reason for it to go bad, some devices are better than others. Sometimes hardware fails do to heat, shock.

Slithery

Administrator

From: Norfolk, UK

Registered: 2013-12-01

Posts: 5,776

Re: [SOLVED] USB hub seems broken, how to check it's a hardware issue?

dmesg | tail

Unnecessary.

No need for tail at all, just use...

dmesg -w

You preserve the coloured output this way as well

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No, it didn't "fix" anything. It just shifted the brokeness one space to the right. - jasonwryan
Closing -- for deletion; Banning -- for muppetry. - jasonwryan

aur - dotfiles

inspiredindividual

Member

Registered: 2013-09-27

Posts: 12

Re: [SOLVED] USB hub seems broken, how to check it's a hardware issue?

Thanks for your ideas. Some additional details:

The USB hub is powered by the cable which goes from the hub to the computer, and a tiny light indicates that power is on. So I'd guess that the cable between the hub and the pc is working.  There are 4 slots in the hub and none of them work, so they are probably doing fine as well (otherwise you'd expect only 1 of them to be broken at first).

The device does not seem to be recognised, since all of the suggested code returns exactly the same output whether the hub is connected or not, and whether a device is attached to one of the slots or not.  I got an additional idea to test the hub. Hardware which is plugged into the slots is normally powered through the hub as well. Now however, an optical mouse which is put in either of the four slots is not powered. Power should be fine even if the device is not recognised by the kernel, does anyone know this for sure? If so, it's probably internal wiring which is the culprit.

nomorewindows

Member

Registered: 2010-04-03

Posts: 3,367

Re: [SOLVED] USB hub seems broken, how to check it's a hardware issue?

I tried a USB powered hub before that seemed to fail and possibly zap the USB ports or at least make them function a little funny.  But then there's the external power plug that I'm not sure whether it would clear the problem or not.  My opinion is a little jaded by the fact that USB can fail with a mishappen device.

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I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
Look ma, no mouse.