External USB3 SSD is not recognized anymore

English Hardware
#1

Hi,

I use this external SSD for synchronizing my two linux machines. Machine 1 runs openSUSE 13.1 (x86_64) and Machine 2 Chakra (also 64 bit). So far (for half a year now) everything worked just fine.

But now (without me being aware of any change) Machine 1 (openSUSE) does not recognize the disk anymore.

Using fdisk -l does not list the disk

However, lsusb gives following output:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 03f0:5607 Hewlett-Packard 
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 059f:1067 LaCie, Ltd 
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 138a:003c Validity Sensors, Inc. VFS471 Fingerprint Reader
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0424:2514 Standard Microsystems Corp. USB 2.0 Hub
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 004 Device 004: ID 04f2:b230 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd Integrated HP HD Webcam
Bus 004 Device 005: ID 03f0:231d Hewlett-Packard 4 GB Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 03f0:0024 Hewlett-Packard KU-0316 Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0bc2:2300 Seagate RSS LLC Expansion Portable

dmesg|tail:

 1042.677890] usb 3-1: USB disconnect, device number 3
 1046.830167] usb 3-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
 1046.846892] usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=059f, idProduct=1067
 1046.846902] usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
 1046.846907] usb 3-1: Product: P9223 Slim
 1046.846911] usb 3-1: Manufacturer: LaCie
 1046.846916] usb 3-1: SerialNumber: 000000002504e90e1082

Note that Machine 2 (Chakra) recognizes the external SSD without problems. fdisk -l:

Disk /dev/sdb: 119.2 GiB, 128035676160 bytes, 250069680 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xa3aaaebb

Device    Boot Start       End    Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdb1       2048 250068991 125033472  83 Linux

I realized a change in dmesg output between Machine 1

 1046.830167] usb 3-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd

and Machine 2

[37435.924978] usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 10 using ehci-pci

Could this be a reason for the malfunction?

Thank you!

#2

I have seen a number of bug reports and forum threads reporting this type of regression due to an issue with the xhci_hcd kernel driver. In some cases, users report that initial mounting is possible, before the device disappears.

Examples (from a quick google):
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=170175
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14743

I’d recommend upgrading to a newer kernel and testing the behaviour again.

#3

My USB-3 external drive usually works. But occasionally it is not recognized. When that happens, I plug it into a USB-2 port and it works.

#4

hi jonne,

after changing the OS from win7-32bit to openSUSE13.1-32bit,
on an old Toshiba (originally pre-installed with winXP),
the usb ports became unreliable (update from openSUSE13.1-LiveCD)

switching off “usb legacy” in the bios cleared the problem

hth