VIA VL805 USB3 controller does not recognize external USB3 drive

[Prophet6]

Issue: External USB3 drive (Seagate GoFlex 3TB) fails to mount, but is initially recognized by the kernel. See attached CurrentDmesg.txt for error. External drive formatted as ext4. Same unit works as expected on USB2 ports.

Expected behaviour: I expect my external USB3 drive to be recognized by the OS when plugged into a USB3 port, AND I expect it to operate at USB3 speeds.

Additional details: USB3 flash drives appear to work in USB3 ports at USB3 speeds. Affected Seagate drive works in USB3 ports of another Linux-based distribution (OpenElec) at USB3 speeds. NTFS formatted WD 1TB external USB3 drive (unpowered) does work in the USB3 ports, but only at ~50/MBs.

OS details:
Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Description: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Release: 17

Motherboard details:
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard
-rev. 4.0
-BIOS version F2 (latest at time of writing)
-USB controller - VIA VL805 "Support various Linux kernels":
http://www.via-labs.com/en/products/vl805/index.jsp

UEFI/BIOS set to enable legacy USB support and both XHCI and EHCI handoff to OS (enabling or disabling these has no effect). IOMMU enabled or disabled has no effect. Hardware IOMMU enabled (I think) with kernel boot parameters "iommu=pt iommu=1" modified in "/etc/default/grub".

Same/similar bugs for Linux Mint reported here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/1332722
https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/1348669 (Duplicate of this bug report, but kept for reference)

Same/similar bugs for Ubuntu (various releases) reported here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1242321
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/966248
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/util-linux/+bug/843764
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/775543

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1353050

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Prophet6 (prophet6)]

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[Prophet6 (prophet6)]

Potential kernel regression as noted here:

https://www.mail-archive.com/linux-usb%40vger.kernel.org/msg43326.html

[Prophet6 (prophet6)]

Another similar report here:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=72761

[Prophet6 (prophet6)]

Things just got murkier: I borrowed a friend's WD 1TB USB3 passport and it works fine, although transfer speeds are only around 50MB/s (about half of what I would expect). There's no power adapter on this unit, and the drive is formatted NTFS, so that could account for the slow transfer speed, but it works.

For reference, the original drive in question (Seagate GoFlex) operates fine when plugged into the USB3 ports of another computer running a linux-based system (OpenElec). Not only does the drive function as expected in the latter case, but transfer speeds are a healthy 100MB/s. It's formatted as ext3.

Still, why would one drive work and not another on the same troubled USB3 port? Is it external drives fault? It doesn't seem to be since it runs on the other linux-based distro as expected. The plot thickens....

[Prophet6 (prophet6)]

Updating to Linux Mint kernel 3.13.0-35 (via the Update Manager) did not resolve the issue. In fact, there is now no kernel panic when plugged into a USB3 port. The external drive is not recognized at all by the kernel (i.e., no error).

This issue appears to be related to a kernel regression discussed here:
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=76991

I can't figure out if this was patched, and if so, how to install this patch to my kernel. Any help here would be appreciated.

USB3 ports remain non-functional.

[laforey (laforey)]

Same motherboard Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3. USB 3.0 ports detected in Linux Mint 17 x32, but NOT in Mint 17 x64. What is missing in the x64 kernel?

[Prophet6 (prophet6)]

Something is definitely missing. I just booted up a Live CD of Debian Wheezy on the same system and the same external HD works fine. I get a reasonably fast 135MB/s on real-world transfers too! The ol' Debian stable with the 3.2 kernel seems like the way to go...time for some backporting!

[laforey (laforey)]

Finally!!! found a solution here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2111223&page=4

Must edit the GRUB file then reboot and disable the "IOMMU" setting in BIOS for the VIA VL805 to work with
64b Kernel

"Quote"
Here is my updated fix

First enable iommu in the uefi by restarting your computer and pressing delete to enter the uefi

plug your usb mouse, keyboard and thumbdrive in usb 2 ports.

save and exit the uefi

Then In Ubuntu:

press Ctrl+Alt+T to open up a terminal

run the following command: sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Edit the empty quotes in this line to read: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="iommu=soft"

save changes to grub and exit gedit and the terminal

Open up a new terminal with ctrl+alt+t

run the following command: sudo update-grub

then exit the terminal using this command: exit

Restart your computer press delete to get back into the uefi

Disable iommu in bios, load optimized defaults and restart.

usb, 2.0 usb 3.0 and networking all work now in Ubuntu, and disabling iommu in bios helps prevent windows freezes that was occurring if you are running a dual boot environment.

If the above post helps anyone I am happy.
Last edited by ozcyto; May 29th, 2014 at 12:25 AM.

[guwrt (royguertin)]

Same issue for me. Motherboard Gigabyte GA-78lmt usb3 (vers. 6.0) with a case Antec NSK4100 (for the front USB 3.0 port)

I have tried Linux mint 17 and 17.1 32 bits, 64 bits mate and cinnamon and nothing to do. Same thing for Ubuntu 14.10 64 bits cinnamon.

But when I plug my external HDD seagate Goflex 500 Go in the front port of the case, the content of the drive appear for a moment and disappear after that. The light of the hdd is blinking until turning off.

If I plug the hdd directly to the usb 3.0 port of the mobo, the content of the drive appear on the screen like as usual. I can do usual things with the files. But If I want to unmount the drive, it will unmount but as soon the hdd is unmount, it mount again automatically. The hdd cannot stay unmounted. But at least, I can do something with the HDD

Here a attachment when I plug the HDD to the front panel (usb 3.0 port)

Everything going fine if I plug the hdd to the usb 2.0 port.

[guwrt (royguertin)]

Just tried Linux mint 13 (maya) 64 bits Mate. When I plug in the hdd in the front panel, the light on the hdd blink many times and turn off and turn on again after almost a minute, and I can access the content of the Hdd. It's not stable however.

When I plug the hdd directly to the mobo on the usb 3.0 port, everything is working normally including the unmount sequence.

[guwrt (royguertin)]

USB 3.0 on the mobo and on the front USB 3.0 port are working correctly when I use a USB 3.0 key (kingston data traveller 100 G3 32 Gb)