A possible solution to get USB 3.0 devices to work

[gabrielh]

Hi,

First sorry for any English mistake as I am French.

I use Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) amd64.

I had some problems to get my USB 3.0 external hard drive to work on my USB 3.0 express card (a Trendnet TU3-H2EC). Before, it mounted randomly, say one time on ten. If it didn't mounted after I boot, then I had no other choice than to reboot again and again until it is finally mounted.

I was a little exasperated by this behavior and searched some solutions on the web. None of them worked for me.
Firstly, here is my output of lsmod | grep xhci[ :

xhci                   33444  0 
usbcore               122386  6 usb_storage,usbhid,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd,xhci

Among the proposed solutions, here is what I tried :

• added an option to the kernel line. I tried to edit the file /etc/default/grub and added the following in the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX parameter : xhci_hcd.enable=1, then xhci-hcd.enable=1, with no luck. Also tried xhci.enable=1 (sounded more logical to me as I think I don't have any xhci_hcd module) but I then got the error "xhci : unknown parameter enable" and xhci was then disabled. I guessed that this could be the path to the resolution of the problem, but I don't know which parameter this module is accepting. I didn't forget to do a update-grub after I edited this file of course.
• created a file /etc/modprobe.d/xhci with content "options xhci enable=1" or /etc/modprobe.d/xhci_hcd with content "options xhci_hcd enable=1" but no luck with that.
• created a file /etc/pm/config.d/unload_module or /etc/pm/config.d/xhci_hcd or /etc/pm/config.d/xhci with content "SUSPEND_MODULES=xhci_hcd" or "SUSPEND_MODULES=xhci" but still no luck except that now the "hibernate" command is shutting down my computer (not hibernate, a real shutdown).

So nothing worked so far.

I felt that xhci was loaded too late and so failed to work properly most of the time. We have to find a way to load it before the other modules.

Here is what I then tried after having restored all the files I modified :

• append "xhci" to /etc/modules" so that it now contains the following :
  

  firewire-sbp2
  loop
  xhci

  This should have for effect to load the module at boot time.
• added a line "softdep ehci-hcd pre: xhci-hcd" to /etc/modprobe.d/aliases.conf before the last two lines to ensure that xhci is loaded first ; here is the last three lines of this file :
  

  softdep ehci-hcd pre: xhci-hcd
  softdep uhci-hcd pre: ehci-hcd
  softdep ohci-hcd pre: ehci-hcd

Then rebooted. It worked ! Then rebooted again. Worked again ! Then rebooted (to ensure that is worked). Worked again ! My hard drive is now mounting properly !

So if you got the same problem, you can try my solution. It worth a try !

Hoping to help someone someday !

Regards

[Rubberman]

Great description of the problem and solution! I'm sure this will help a lot of people with these very new devices. USB 3.0 is what we, in the US call "bleeding edge", as in what happens when you fall on your knife! Thanks, and welcome to the forums.

[MikeTbob]

I haven't even seen USB 3.0 yet. So yeah, it's cutting edge alright.

Thanks for posting your solution, gabrielh.

[Rubberman]

Hey Ozar,

Why did you remove my little bleep in French? It was just a compliment on his English, and mentioning the fact that the forums are English only...

-Rubberman

[MikeTbob]

^^
Forum rules, all posts must be in English.

[Rubberman]

^^
Forum rules, all posts must be in English.

I understand that Ozar, but there is such a thing as going "overboard"... Especially with tools like Google Translate.

[devils casper]

I understand that Ozar, but there is such a thing as going "overboard"... Especially with tools like Google Translate.

You are suggesting that we should allow multi-languages and use Google Translate to understand posts? Don't you think it will be time consuming for everyone?

[gabrielh]

Great description of the problem and solution! I'm sure this will help a lot of people with these very new devices. USB 3.0 is what we, in the US call "bleeding edge", as in what happens when you fall on your knife! Thanks, and welcome to the forums.

Thank you for your reply, and concerning your little French essay, I had time to read it before your post being edited

[Rubberman]

You are suggesting that we should allow multi-languages and use Google Translate to understand posts? Don't you think it will be time consuming for everyone?

Generally, I would agree. An entire post in another language would be a problem. However, a short snippet like I posted, when the major and relevant part of the post is English, should not be edited out. Just MHO. Anyway, we are off-topic here. We can use PM if we want to continue the discussion.

[oz]

Generally, I would agree. An entire post in another language would be a problem. However, a short snippet like I posted, when the major and relevant part of the post is English, should not be edited out. Just MHO. Anyway, we are off-topic here. We can use PM if we want to continue the discussion.

Hello, gabrielh... welcome to the forums, and thanks for the HowTo!

Rubberman, you should know by now that we administer these forums according to the forum rules, not your opinion, so please abide by them, or find another place to post. You've taken gabrielh's thread far off topic with your rant so I plan to lock it if any other such posts appear in it.

Thank you.