lsusb segfaults, some USB ports and audio jack stop working

[Joe Harrington]

I am on a Lenovo Thinkpad W510 with integrated nVidia graphics (machine type 4391-V4V), running updated 11.10 with the proprietary nVidia driver. Occasionally, after working fine for a week or often more, my headphone/microphone socket stops working (it's a single socket for both functions). Some days or a week after then, certain, but not all, USB ports stop working and also lsusb -v segfaults whenever it is run. The USB ports that fail include all of those on the docking station and the single USB2.0 port on the back of the machine. The USB 3.0 ports on the left side and the shared eSata/USB port continue to work. There is power to the rear USB port. I am not certain whether the sound failure is related to the USB failure or not.

This crash happens every few weeks or month or so; basically it's the only reason I ever reboot, other than kernel updates. I do not know what triggers the problem, but once triggered, I have not found a way of fixing it other than rebooting. I suspect some driver has crashed but I can't identify which.

When the crash occurs, an indicator light on the laptop lid comes on. The light has three dots shaped in a triangle inside of a rectangle. It comes on during resume from a suspend-to-RAM and does not go out (other than when suspended) until rebooted. So, I suspect some driver related to it goes through some action upon resume, turns the light on, and crashes before it would have turned the light off. However, after a reboot I generally suspend and revive my laptop numerous times before the problem shows up. The crash is always associated with a resume; it never happens at other times.

Output of programs that may be relevant is attached.

--jh--

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: usbutils 1:001-1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-26.43-generic 3.0.43
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-26-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Nov 15 14:12:18 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: usbutils
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Joe Harrington (joeharr)]

I can add more output of files or stuff from logs, just tell me what to do.

Thanks,

--jh--

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Joe Harrington, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. However, your crash report is missing. Please follow these instructions to have apport report a new bug about your crash that can be dealt with by the automatic retracer. First, execute at a terminal:
cd /var/crash && sudo rm * ; sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade && sudo service apport start force_start=1

If you are running the Ubuntu Stable Release you might need to enable apport in /etc/default/apport and restart.

Now reproduce the crash, then open your file manager, navigate to your /var/crash directory and open the crash report you wish to submit.
If this fails you will have to open a terminal and file your report with 'ubuntu-bug /var/crash/_my_crash_report.crash' where _my_crash_report.crash is the crash you would like to report. If you get an error that you aren't allowed to access this report you will have to file it with 'sudo ubuntu-bug /var/crash/_my_crash_report.crash'. If you run the command against the crash report and it does nothing, you may be affected by https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apport/+bug/994921 . In order to WORKAROUND this, one would need to open the following file via a command line:
gksudo gedit /etc/apport/crashdb.conf

and comment out the line:
'problem_types': ['Bug', 'Package'],

Save, close, and try to file the crash report again via:
ubuntu-bug /var/crash/_my_crash_report.crash

I'm closing this bug report since the process outlined above will automatically open a new bug report which can then dealt with more efficiently.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs