Linux Lite Forums

Hardware - Support => Hard Drives and SSDs => Topic started by: Tyrannocaster on April 18, 2019, 09:38:44 AM

Title: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 18, 2019, 09:38:44 AM
I've been using Linux Lite [4.0] for several months now with mostly no problems. However, there is one dealbreaker which I have been putting up with that has just gone too far. I didn't really understand the problem until yesterday, when I figured it out - although I only figured out the symptom, not the cause. I thought the USB performance was just erratic - sometimes I could copy files to a USB drive, sometimes I couldn't. Yesterday I figured out that when I can't copy to the USB drive, I have to reboot and it will work...until I remove the USB drive. From that moment, no matter what drive I stick in the USB port, the system won't let me copy anything to it.

Is there some way of re-initializing the USB port to avoid this? Obviously, this is not sustainable in a workflow context.

The machine is a HP Pavilion p6110f, if that helps.

Thanks,

Ty
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: minesheep on April 18, 2019, 10:32:43 AM
I have no problems on linux lite 4.4. Upgrading within series is simple via lite upgrade.
And if not working install updates with "install updates" before upgrading.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 18, 2019, 12:36:15 PM
Well, I had this problem all along and apparently nobody else did with 4.0 because I posted about it several times - I just didn't know I had to reboot. The 4.0 has been upgraded every week so it's as current as it can be. I'm not willing to go to 4.4 unless I have a good reason, and so far I don't see why the upgrade would fix it for me when nobody else had the problem before. It's very frustrating.

Maybe I should try booting off the 4.4 install ISO and see if I still have the problem.

I was hoping there is some sort of command line thing that would let me re-initialize the USB port. It seems really peculiar that the USB port works on bootup but stops letting me copy to it after I take a drive out. It reads fine from the re-inserted flash drive, though.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 18, 2019, 10:48:48 PM
So nobody else has had this issue at all. That makes me feel special.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: trinidad on April 19, 2019, 10:42:57 AM
Are you running Linux Lite as a VM in Qemu or OracleVB?

TC
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 19, 2019, 11:39:35 AM
LOL, I wouldn't even know how to do that! No, it's just a plain installation on a SSD. I just booted from a Bodhi Linux USB and tried using the flash drives and they all worked fine after removal and reinstallation. I haven't tried with a Linux Lite USB because I have to burn one and for some reason I seem to be short on drives at the moment. I need to try that, because maybe the Linux Lite USB disk will work fine too - that would be a real drag if it's just something that happens on an installed version.

But at least I had to reboot to get out of the Bodhi live disk, so I have one use of my USB disk left before I have to reboot. :-)
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: bitsnpcs on April 19, 2019, 05:03:09 PM
So nobody else has had this issue at all. That makes me feel special.

Hello Tyrannocaster,
you can reset the USB sub system these ways without rebooting - https://askubuntu.com/questions/645/how-do-you-reset-a-usb-device-from-the-command-line (https://askubuntu.com/questions/645/how-do-you-reset-a-usb-device-from-the-command-line) 

PS I gave you +1 for your comment, now you is special.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 19, 2019, 07:11:26 PM
Thanks for the +1, LOL!

Wow, that thread has a lot of stuff in it. I did try one but got an error message ("sh: 1: cannot create /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-4.6/authorized: Directory nonexistent") so I will need to go through the whole thread, but it looks encouraging. Thanks a bunch!
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 20, 2019, 12:05:06 PM
I've gone over the thread and it's just over my head. This is one of those times where it really is true that "Linux is free if your time isn't worth anything", I'm afraid.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Jerry on April 20, 2019, 02:33:06 PM
Freedom isn't free.

Sent from my Mobile phone using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: minesheep on April 20, 2019, 02:42:22 PM
I'm not willing to go to 4.4 unless I have a good reason
Isn't it a good reason to your fix usb problem, you don't need to reinstall just use lite upgrade and it upgrades in about 2-60 minutes and should keep your own files untouched, but because anything can fail anytime it is recommended to make backup before. I have used lite upgrade for about 15 times and never had any problems with it
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Searchernow on April 20, 2019, 04:18:59 PM
I'm not sure I understand what the problem is, but here goes:

I'm running LL 4.4 and when I log in with a usb flash drive already inserted it remains Unmounted, so I have 2 options -

1)  I right-click on the usb flash drive Icon on the desktop and select Mount

or

2) I withdraw the usb flash drive and re-insert it and it is Mounted by the system in a couple of seconds

I never thought this was a fault, just a feature of Linux with regard to mounting drives.

But maybe this is not the problem you are dealing with ....?
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 20, 2019, 05:41:34 PM
It mounts fine; I just can't copy anything to it once I remove it and then reinsert it (or any other USB drive).

About upgrading to 4.4: Since apparently nobody else has ever had this problem with 4.0 I think there's a good chance I might upgrade to 4.4 and still have the issue. Upgrades make me nervous, especially when it comes to Linux. I would rather get another SSD and install the new one on it and keep this one; or I might just switch distros. So far, Bodhi seems to work with multiple USB disks.

Also, isn't 4.0 a long term release?
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: minesheep on April 21, 2019, 05:24:03 AM
What filesystem are you using and how did you format it?. ext filesystems need permissions to read and write. Try to right click the drive window where you see copy and paste and select "Open as administrator" enter your password and then you should be able to copy/move/delete files.

If you can access the drive with root account in thunar right click it again and select "Properties..." and allow write and read permissions from "Permissions" tab. Now it should work until you format it again.

Linux lite series 4 is based on ubuntu 18.04LTS. Series 4 means every version of linux lite 4.x. Linux lite 4.4 is based on ubuntu 18.04LTS because it's one version of series 4
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 21, 2019, 09:52:41 AM
The flash drives are all formatted as FAT32, I believe.

But, BUT - I just tried using your recommended method of "Open as administrator" and this time it worked, so that is really great.
Like, REALLY GREAT. :-) However, when I try to remove the drive after copying a small file to it, it tells me there is data being copied and the drive is busy; that never went away even after waiting quite a while and I finally just told it to eject it anyway. Then I plugged it back in and checked the files, which were there. I copied another file to the flash drive using the Administrator window and again, it copied correctly but the system did not want to let me eject it ("Target is busy") and it didn't give me the "eject anyway" option. I finally just pulled it out of the port without ejecting it first, which I don't like to do. And then the next time I plugged it back in I was able to copy files to it without the Admin window! It seems like every time I start to get a handle on the problem it throws up something unexpected, which everybody hates.

But it brings up the question of why can I copy files to the flash drive okay when the system has been rebooted without having to use the Administrator window?

But thanks so much for that suggestion!
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 21, 2019, 12:57:43 PM
It does appear that as long as I keep that Admin window open I can copy files to the drive, even if I can't copy them via a non-admin window. So for me, that seems like a workable solution.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: minesheep on April 21, 2019, 02:38:55 PM
It does appear that as long as I keep that Admin window open I can copy files to the drive, even if I can't copy them via a non-admin window. So for me, that seems like a workable solution.

Thanks!
Why to not fix it permanently via the administrator window
If you can access the drive with root account in thunar right click it again and select "Properties..." and allow write and read permissions from "Permissions" tab. Now it should work until you format it again.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on April 21, 2019, 04:06:01 PM
Yes, that seems to work, although it requires an admin window, and it seems just as easy to just keep the admin window open (I have four virtual desktops, so it's not in the way). But it's an easy thing to do. What I wonder is why do the permissions get changed each time I unplug the USB drive? Should that happen?
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: bitsnpcs on April 23, 2019, 04:12:08 PM
Freedom isn't free.
+1 very deep, and wise words  8)
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on May 20, 2019, 05:04:19 PM
Because that isn't a permanent fix; it will only last until I reboot. I've tried it.


Why to not fix it permanently via the administrator window
If you can access the drive with root account in thunar right click it again and select "Properties..." and allow write and read permissions from "Permissions" tab. Now it should work until you format it again.
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: torreydale on May 22, 2019, 10:47:05 AM
@Tyrannocaster ,


When you remove the USB, are you right clicking on the USB's icon via the file manager (Thunar) and selecting Unmount or Safely Remove/Eject?
Title: Re: Why do I have to reboot to use the USB ports?
Post by: Tyrannocaster on May 22, 2019, 11:10:56 AM
Yes. (To Safely Remove/Eject, I mean.) That is, when it lets me. It doesn't always let me, and sometimes when that happens, it NEVER tells me it's been released. I also try using the eject triangle next to the drive's name, which I assume does the same thing. I like Lite a lot but honestly, the problems I've had with using USB drives have been pretty much constant.
@Tyrannocaster ,


When you remove the USB, are you right clicking on the USB's icon via the file manager (Thunar) and selecting Unmount or Safely Remove/Eject?

EDIT: I've been searching and reading and it really seems like this is a Linux issue and not a Linux Lite issue - there are so many people who have problems with USB drives and Linux. The Ubuntu forums have lots of threads but it goes beyond Ubuntu based distros, too.  :-[

For those of you who don't have these problems, consider yourself lucky!