Ubuntu 14.04 AMD64 MSI 970 Gaming USB3.0 does not work

[Omega]

Hello there,

Issue:
  > USB 3.0 does not work at all. (For USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 drives)

Build:
  > Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
  > AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor × 8
  > Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming

The following steps / troubleshooting has been performed:
  > Disabled EHCI hand off in BIOS
  > Disabled Legacy USB Support in BIOS
  > Disabled MSI "Overclocking Genie" feature
  > Verified that most recent version of BIOS is loaded (22.2)
  > Attempted to search for implementation of "Additional drivers" for chipset / USB3.0 controller, but nothing shows up

Thanks in advance for your support,

Best Regards

---
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.10
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: downing 2567 F.... pulseaudio
                      downing 3461 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: downing 2567 F.... pulseaudio
                      downing 3461 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-04-21 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20150218.1)
IwConfig:
 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 lo no wireless extensions.
MachineType: MSI MS-7693
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 radeondrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.16.0-34-generic.efi.signed root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-34.47~14.04.1-generic 3.16.7-ckt8
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.16.0-34-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.16.0-34-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.11
RfKill:

Tags: trusty
Uname: Linux 3.16.0-34-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo wireshark
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 12/16/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V22.2
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: 970 GAMING (MS-7693)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 4.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 4.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV22.2:bd12/16/2014:svnMSI:pnMS-7693:pvr4.0:rvnMSI:rn970GAMING(MS-7693):rvr4.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr4.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7693
dmi.product.version: 4.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1447267/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[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 1447267

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.

[Omega (jrd513)]

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[Omega (jrd513)]

Any support or additional troubleshooting steps for me to try would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

[Omega (jrd513)]

I am not the first and only to experience this bug.
Many other users of this motherboard who choose to use Ubuntu as their primary operating system encounter this bug- however, I appear to be the first to go through the effort of initiating a ticket.
Please help.
Thank you.

[Omega (jrd513)]

Bueller?

[Tommy_CZ (t-kijas)]

In Ubuntu 15.10 the bug is still present.
I found a workaround: http://askubuntu.com/questions/602791/msi-970-gaming-usb-3-0-drivers

"I had the same problem. Resolved it by adding in /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="iommu=soft"
Then sudo update-grub, reboot and voilà!"

... I do not know what iommu is and if it can disable something important, may be someone can tell us about it?

[Omega (jrd513)]

Hello Tommy_CZ,

The workaround you provided was a success.
I was able to mount a USB 3.0 device and validated approximately 2x the data transmission speed.
So USB 3.0 is now working for me.

Thank you for your support as I had nearly accepted the fate of using USB 2.0 on this machine, and this is great.

I have no idea why: [GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="iommu=soft"] solves the problem- or what 'iommu=soft' represents either.
I would like to know more about it or find a more permanent solution.

Thanks again--

[Frank (fbiega)]

Works for me but pretty sure I am still at USB 2.0 speeds.

[Omega (jrd513)]

I am not sure how to help in your scenario. When I made the setting adjustment I was not only able to use the existing USB 3.0 port, I was able to get the USB 3.0 speeds. Did you validate zero transfer speed difference between a USB 2.0 versus a USB 3.0 device? Is there anything else you need to enable or configure on your machine to enable USB 3.0 specifically?

Regards,

[Ricardo Rebelo (precogster)]

For those of you wondering what iommu=soft is:

https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/x86/x86_64/boot-options.txt

AMD64 specific boot options

IOMMU (input/output memory management unit)

 General iommu options:
    off Don't initialize and use any kind of IOMMU.
    noforce Don't force hardware IOMMU usage when it is not needed.
                       (default).
    force Force the use of the hardware IOMMU even when it is
                       not actually needed (e.g. because < 3 GB memory).
    soft Use software bounce buffering (SWIOTLB) (default for
                       Intel machines). This can be used to prevent the usage
                       of an available hardware IOMMU.

I used the workaround above and it worked.

[Tommy_CZ (t-kijas)]

And of course in Ubuntu 16.04.1 the bug is still here, plus from now my internal USB3 connection (to SD card reader) stopped to work.

Sometimes it seems whole Ubuntu is falling apart without reason.

[Nathan Adams (nadams)]

This bug affects my system:

Build:
  > Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (fresh install on 3-Sep-2016)
  > AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor × 8
  > Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming

Config:
  > Disabled XHCI hand off in BIOS
  > Disabled EHCI hand off in BIOS
  > Disabled Legacy USB Support in BIOS

[Nathan Adams (nadams)]

The "iommu=soft" workaround above also solved this issue for me.

[Mark Preston (emarkpreston)]

The "iommu=soft" workaround does NOT solve this issue for me. Mine is CPU AMD FX-6300. USB 2.0 ports working.

[James Cain (ronnoc)]

Hello. The proposed fix mentioned in the report DID solve the issue before. However, it is no longer working. This bug is 3+ years old...

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Kernel 4.15.1-041501-generic

AMD FX-8370
MSI 970 Gaming Mobo

[m4v (m4v)]

Enabling "IOMMU Mode" in the bios "Overclocking/CPU Features" setion fixed it for me.