How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

AmagicalFishy · 2021-07-13 15:10:00

I finally got a USB hub after months of needing it.

There is *some* power issue going on though, where a couple of peripherals attached to said hub aren't functioning while the others are. Sometimes I have to unplug the hub from my laptop and replug it back in to get everything working. Sometimes the mouse turns off, sometimes the keyboard turns off.

I suspect the problem here is that the laptop USB port it's being plugged into isn't giving the hub enough power.

How can I troubleshoot this in Arch? Alternatively, how can I force more power through a USB port? (Or deal w/ some power settings).

I'm running KDE Plasma, which doesn't have any obvious options for USB power afaict.

seth · 2021-07-13 15:24:21

Specify "USB".
USB 1 gets you 0.5W, 2 2.5W, 3 4.5W and USB-C gets you 15W up to 100W

Ie. if the hub is attached to a USB1 slot, you've a power budget of 0.5W (in reality it can go up to 1W, but that's non-standard) which can easily be to little for some or a group of devices.
Some hubs provide an external power supply so that you can eg. provide 2.5W out of every slot.

The above limitations cannot be altered in software - at best the BIOS/UEFI might allow the board to deliver more current over USB.

AmagicalFishy · 2021-07-13 16:43:51

Ah! Damn.

If I were to purchase a USB hub w/ a power-adapter, would that fix the problem?

seth · 2021-07-13 16:57:44

We should maybe first establis whether that's the problem?

lsusb -tv

AmagicalFishy · 2021-07-14 20:02:54

Ah, so, I don't think it's a hardware-power issue.

I switched into Windows (to play some games) and everything worked as expected—all the peripherals attached to the USB hub powered and functioned regularly. Then, when moving back to Arch, everything worked as well. There've been a couple of (seemingly related) hardware issues in the past where something doesn't work on Arch, works well when I switch to Windows, then starts functioning properly when I switch back to Arch (almost as if Windows was able to make some hardware-setting alterations that persist via some deeper setting or something).

Either way, here's the result of the command you suggested:

/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/8p, 10000M
    ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
    |__ Port 5: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 5000M
        ID 2109:0817 VIA Labs, Inc. 
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/16p, 480M
    ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
    |__ Port 5: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M
        ID 2109:2817 VIA Labs, Inc. 
        |__ Port 1: Dev 5, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
            ID 045e:082e Microsoft Corp. 
        |__ Port 1: Dev 5, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
            ID 045e:082e Microsoft Corp. 
        |__ Port 4: Dev 7, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
            ID 045e:07f8 Microsoft Corp. Wired Keyboard 600 (model 1576)
        |__ Port 4: Dev 7, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
            ID 045e:07f8 Microsoft Corp. Wired Keyboard 600 (model 1576)
        |__ Port 2: Dev 6, If 1, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
            ID 0d8c:0005 C-Media Electronics, Inc. Blue Snowball
        |__ Port 2: Dev 6, If 2, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
            ID 0d8c:0005 C-Media Electronics, Inc. Blue Snowball
        |__ Port 2: Dev 6, If 0, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
            ID 0d8c:0005 C-Media Electronics, Inc. Blue Snowball
    |__ Port 8: Dev 3, If 1, Class=Video, Driver=, 480M
        ID 5986:112d Acer, Inc 
    |__ Port 8: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Video, Driver=, 480M
        ID 5986:112d Acer, Inc 
    |__ Port 14: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
        ID 8087:0aaa Intel Corp. Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)
    |__ Port 14: Dev 4, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
        ID 8087:0aaa Intel Corp. Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)

Does anything look unusual?

seth · 2021-07-14 20:17:19

It's a usb 2 port and there're only a keyboard, mouse and a microphone attached.
The mic might be "exotic" and a troublemaker but because of

I switched into Windows

See the 3rd link below - it's by far the most likely reason.

AmagicalFishy · 2021-07-19 04:00:45

So Windows Fast Boot was already off.

Also, the keyboard works fine on the GRUB menu (where I can choose whether to boot into Arch or boot into Windows), but stops working once Arch loads up.

I think you're correct w/ the mic., though. When I unplug the mic. and replug the USB hub, everything works as intended. On Windows, all the devices *and* a fourth device work simultaneously w.o. problem, so I'm convinced it's not a power issue. How might I go about troubleshooting the mic. problem? that seems super strange.

Here are the relevant entries from journalctl:

Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina kernel: usb 1-5.2: Product: Blue Snowball 
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina kernel: hid-generic 0003:0D8C:0005.0009: hidraw4: USB HID v1.11 Device [BLUE MICROPHONE Blue Snowball ] on usb-0000:00:14.0-5.2/input2
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3397]: 1-5.2: hwdb modalias key: "usb:v0D8Cp0005:Blue Snowball "
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3397]: 1-5.2: hwdb modalias key: "usb:v0D8Cp0005:Blue Snowball "
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3410]: controlC2: /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-alsa.rules:8 LINK 'snd/by-id/usb-BLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291-00'
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3410]: controlC2: Found 'c116:20' claiming '/run/udev/links/\x2fsnd\x2fby-id\x2fusb-BLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291-00'
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3410]: controlC2: Creating symlink '/dev/snd/by-id/usb-BLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291-00' to '../controlC2'
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3410]: controlC2: Found 'c116:20' claiming '/run/udev/links/\x2fsnd\x2fby-id\x2fusb-BLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291-00'
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd-udevd[3410]: controlC2: Preserve already existing symlink '/dev/snd/by-id/usb-BLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291-00' to '../controlC2'
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd[965]: dev-snd-by\x2did-usb\x2dBLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291\x2d00.device: Changed dead -> plugged
Jul 18 23:58:08 elmina systemd[1]: dev-snd-by\x2did-usb\x2dBLUE_MICROPHONE_Blue_Snowball_SUGA_2019_10_13_48291\x2d00.device: Changed dead -> plugged

I believe the last two lines ("Changed dead -> plugged") are what pop up after I unplug and re-plug the microphone

seth · 2021-07-19 11:33:29

Please post a complete dmesg/system journal covering an incident where you lose access to some hardware (mouse/keyboard).
There's likely some bus error involved and hopefully it's logged.

Arch Linux

#1 2021-07-13 15:10:00

How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#2 2021-07-13 15:24:21

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#3 2021-07-13 16:43:51

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#4 2021-07-13 16:57:44

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#5 2021-07-14 20:02:54

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#6 2021-07-14 20:17:19

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#7 2021-07-19 04:00:45

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

#8 2021-07-19 11:33:29

Re: How might I troubleshoot a USB hub that isn't getting enough power?

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