Problem with USB on my laptop

Dethredic · 2011-07-14 22:15:20

So I will preface this with I don't use my laptop a whole lot, so this problem could have been going for much longer and I just didn't notice it.

A month ago I plugged a USB drive into my laptop and the light on the USB drive didn't blink as per usual. I ran a "fdisk -l" and it didn't display the USB drive. I got another USB drive and I had the same problem with that. Both of these USB drives are working with several other computers. I realized I hadn't updated my laptop in 1-2 months so I did that. After the update I rebooted and my USB drive worked fine.

Fast forward a month. I barely touched my laptop over the month, maybe watched a video or two. Anyways, I try to use my USB stick again and I get the same problem as before: the light doesn't blink when I plug it in and my comp doesn't recognize it. The USB drive is still good. I updated my computer again (1 month worth of updates) and rebooted and it "just worked" again.

That was yesterday. I am once again trying to use my USB drive, but again the light is not turning on when I plug it in and nothing with fdisk. Unfortunately the 2 new updates didn't fix it this time

I am not sure how to proceed from here, but I can guarantee that the USB drive is working with other computers, and other USB drives don't work in my laptop. I have tried the drive in all the ports etc, and it is weird how it works after an update for a little bit, then next time I use my computer it stops working.

EDIT:

[phil@pwned ~]$ sudo dmesg | grep USB
[ 7.628256] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[ 7.822289] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.7: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[ 7.853350] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1a.7: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[ 7.853513] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.853705] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[ 7.880025] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[ 7.880162] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.927253] uhci_hcd: USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver
[ 7.927347] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1a.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
[ 7.936916] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.937016] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1a.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
[ 7.950254] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.950357] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1a.2: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 5
[ 7.960208] hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.960307] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 6
[ 7.973588] hub 6-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.973775] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 7
[ 7.986900] hub 7-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 7.987006] uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.2: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 8
[ 8.000287] hub 8-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 8.270025] usb 1-6: new high speed USB device number 3 using ehci_hcd
[ 8.703346] usb 5-1: new full speed USB device number 2 using uhci_hcd
[ 9.356309] USB Video Class driver (v1.0.0)

[phil@pwned ~]$ dmesg | grep usb
[ 7.830081] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 7.830261] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 7.830336] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 8.606709] usb 1-6: new high speed USB device number 3 using ehci_hcd
[ 9.036692] usb 5-1: new full speed USB device number 2 using uhci_hcd
[ 9.211222] usb 5-1: config 0 descriptor??
[ 9.358890] input: Integrated_Webcam_2M as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.7/usb1/1-6/1-6:1.0/input/input14
[ 9.358943] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo

[phil@pwned ~]$ lsmod | grep usb
usbcore 136208 4 uvcvideo,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd

Not sure if that is helpful (was run with no USB drive in)

Last edited by Dethredic (2011-07-14 22:27:52)

lilsirecho · 2011-07-14 22:25:31

Perhaps there is a connection between the computer hdwe time and your selected time mode which reflects on the USB performance in your laptop.

Just an observation based on your post description.

Dethredic · 2011-07-14 22:28:25

lilsirecho wrote:

Perhaps there is a connection between the computer hdwe time and your selected time mode which reflects on the USB performance in your laptop.
Just an observation based on your post description.

How would I go about checking if this is the case?

lilsirecho · 2011-07-14 22:35:56

Observe the time displayed....check BIOS hdwe time..date.....possible problem with daylight savings time. and check the details in /etc/rc.conf for time zone and UTC/LOCAL time.
This observation is the only one possible with data from your post.

Dethredic · 2011-07-14 23:10:21

lilsirecho wrote:

Observe the time displayed....check BIOS hdwe time..date.....possible problem with daylight savings time. and check the details in /etc/rc.conf for time zone and UTC/LOCAL time.
This observation is the only one possible with data from your post.

The time set in my BIOS was 4 hours ahead of the time my laptop displayed, where my laptop was displaying the correct time.

I corrected the time in the BIOS and booted and my laptop was now 4 hours behind. I switched to ntpd, which corrected the time. I rebooted and the BIOS was still set to the correct time but linux showed the time 4 hours behind again (ntpd fixed that after like 15-30 seconds). I plugged in my USB drive and it worked!

I will reboot and make sure it works again. Any reason why the USB ports depends on the clock / time?

EDIT:

Rebooted and the USB drive still work.

My clock is now acting funny though. Whenever I boot up the clock is 4 hours behind. ntpd does correct this after ~30 seconds, but this won't happen if I am not connected to the internet.

EDIT2: If I set my hwclock with "hwclock --set --date "MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss"" then when I reboot, my BIOS time is 4 hours in the future.

Last edited by Dethredic (2011-07-14 23:31:50)

lilsirecho · 2011-07-14 23:41:04

I realize the time problem is vexing and can only suggest reading the arch news about time-setting.

Advice given during arch install mentions strange things happening if UTC time is not utilized but no specifics. Therefore it seems a likely thing to cause the USB problem given that only a time-lapse occurred between your boots. The time changes have occured recently in archlinux while recommending UTC for stability.

Dethredic · 2011-07-14 23:48:17

lilsirecho wrote:

I realize the time problem is vexing and can only suggest reading the arch news about time-setting.
Advice given during arch install mentions strange things happening if UTC time is not utilized but no specifics. Therefore it seems a likely thing to cause the USB problem given that only a time-lapse occurred between your boots. The time changes have occured recently in archlinux while recommending UTC for stability.

I had HARDWARECLOCK="UTC" in my rc.conf the whole time. My USB drive seems to be working for good now so I will start a new thread about my clock if I am still having problems after doing some research.

lilsirecho · 2011-07-14 23:52:58

Good luck...................

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-14 22:15:20

Problem with USB on my laptop

#2 2011-07-14 22:25:31

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

#3 2011-07-14 22:28:25

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

#4 2011-07-14 22:35:56

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

#5 2011-07-14 23:10:21

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

#6 2011-07-14 23:41:04

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

#7 2011-07-14 23:48:17

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

#8 2011-07-14 23:52:58

Re: Problem with USB on my laptop

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