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Slow USB device(s)

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^Ispex
Posts: 2
Joined: 2017-10-08 05:37

Slow USB device(s)

#1 Post by ^Ispex »

I am a newbie to Debian and this question has probably been asked a million times. But why is USB transfers so slow? And is there a way to speed it up?

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uname -a
gives me the following output...

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Linux schizo 4.9.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.51-1 (2017-09-28) x86_64 GNU/Linux
And I am running Debian as a client machine with GNOME 3 as the DE.

I noticed some postings on the net regarding fixing this for ubuntu. But I don't want to fool around with GRUB unless I have to and I don't know how to approach this under Debian.

Thanking you in advance,
Jonathan.

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debiman
Posts: 3063
Joined: 2013-03-12 07:18

Re: Slow USB device(s)

#2 Post by debiman »

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dmesg -w
enter this command, leave the terminal open, plug in the usb stick and see what lines appear.

also

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lsusb -t

arzgi
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Re: Slow USB device(s)

#3 Post by arzgi »

I would also check the bios settings, that usb hi speed is enabled.

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Thorny
Posts: 542
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Re: Slow USB device(s)

#4 Post by Thorny »

^Ispex wrote: I noticed some postings on the net regarding fixing this for ubuntu. But I don't want to fool around with GRUB unless I have to and I don't know how to approach this under Debian.
Why do you think GRUB (the bootloader) would have any effect on USB transfer speed? What Ubuntu posting are you reading?


How have you determined "slow", slow compared to what? Are you connecting to USB2 or USB3 ports and with thumb drives (sticks) or with hard drives or SSDs in an enclosure? Different quality of stick and/or enclosure can affect transfer speed as well as speed differences of older and newer types of port. Presumably, your system is newer than USB1. Sometimes there are even differences if a enclosure is connected directly or through a hub. Tell as much as you can about your system.

Without knowing under what conditions you observe "slow" is really isn't possible to reasonably speculate on the answers you desire. debiman is trying to help you find information with the "lsusb -t" command, it shows a "tree" of connected USB. The dmesg log will contain other info about what is attached but I am not familiar with -w switch that was mentioned.

[Edit] I am now, I read the man page.
-w, --follow
Wait for new messages. This feature is supported only on systems with a readable /dev/kmsg (since kernel 3.5.0).

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debiman
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Re: Slow USB device(s)

#5 Post by debiman »

^ yes, i was a little too quick.
more basic information is required first.
^Ispex wrote:I am running Debian as a client machine
i wonder what that means.

^Ispex
Posts: 2
Joined: 2017-10-08 05:37

Re: Slow USB device(s)

#6 Post by ^Ispex »

Where do I begin?????

Thank you for your input.

I tried unplugging the USB stick and entering

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dmesg -w
and the following appeared....

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[ 2903.368192] usb-storage 1-1.1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 2903.368543] scsi host5: usb-storage 1-1.1:1.0
[ 2904.387639] scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Verbatim STORE N GO       1.0  PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 2904.388331] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[ 2904.388979] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdd] 31299584 512-byte logical blocks: (16.0 GB/14.9 GiB)
[ 2904.389960] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[ 2904.389964] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
[ 2904.390970] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdd] No Caching mode page found
[ 2904.390975] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 2904.396487]  sdd:
[ 2904.399874] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI removable disk
[ 2926.336020] usb 1-1.1: USB disconnect, device number 4
[ 2926.368251] FAT-fs (sdd): unable to read boot sector to mark fs as dirty
Then

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lsusb -t
with the stick plugged in.........

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/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 5000M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 480M
    |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
    |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/8p, 480M
        |__ Port 7: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=usb-storage, 480M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/6p, 480M
        |__ Port 1: Dev 5, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=usb-storage, 480M
        |__ Port 2: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
Sorry I've taken so long to get back too you, and please remember I am a newbie with Debian. So forgive me if my terminology is lacking.

The bios settings for USB are set to fast, but linux doesn't seem to like my verbatim store and go USB stick or any others for that matter.

The postings I refer to about fixing this problem in ubuntu I'll have to chase up. Startpage.com has plenty of search results for this problem for ubuntu users.

Peace,
Jono.

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debiman
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Re: Slow USB device(s)

#7 Post by debiman »

your output looks ok.

some older machines have usb 1.1 and 2.0 ports.
possible?
(i don't remember how to check which is which programmatically)

i still wonder what "debian as a client" means.

p.H
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Re: Slow USB device(s)

#8 Post by p.H »

This machine has EHCI USB 2 ports and xHCI USB 3 ports.
HID low speed devices (keyboard, mouse) are connected to USB 3 ports and mass storage devices are connected to USB 2 ports. What a waste if they are USB 3 capable.

The USB stick uses USB 2, which allows a maximum useful throughput of ~30 Mo/s. Write speed on USB 2 sticks may be much lower.

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debiman
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Re: Slow USB device(s)

#9 Post by debiman »

^ yes of course, speed is relevant and op never quantified "slow".

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