Slow transfer rate with USB HDD

[kilou]

Hi,

seems like Elyssa is not recognizing USB drive speeds correctly. I've seen a bug report about Gutsy (and possibly Hardy) as well here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/177235

I have the exact same thing. When I plug the drive it is recognized as USB2.0 at 12Mbps while it should be 480Mbps. The transfer is quite slow.

Is anybody having this issue as well on Elyssa? I can't understand why unloading the ehci_hcd module and reloading it afterwards would solve the problem (didn't try yet) but is there anything specific to Elyssa to solve this issue?

Thanks

[Husse]

Taken from Launcpad

1) plugin in the USB drive
2) mount it if not automounted (sometimes it doesn't)
3) right-click, properties in nautilus, go to drive tab, see speed "12 Mbps"
4) umount it, unplug it
5) sudo rmmod ehci_hcd
6) plugin the USB drive
7) sudo modprobe ehci_hcd
8 ) mount it if not automounted
9) right-click, properties in nautilus, go to drive tab, see speed "480 Mbps"

The rmmod + modprobe forces a new discovery of the unit
It's not fun but this is something you could live with as it seems not to happen every time
I hope this will be solved in updates, either to the kernel or some module ...
If this exists in Hardy and is a more general bug I fear it's inherited by us

[kilou]

When I sudo rmmod ehci_hcd I get

ERROR: Module ehci_hcd does not exist in /proc/modules

and after sudo modprobe ehci_hcd I still have the drive set to USB 2.0 at only 12Mbps

Doesn't work for me.

I've seen there are level 5 updates in mintupdate that concern HAL. Would these solve the issues with USB? Is it OK to apply them or will they break everything?

[Husse]

What does lsmod give?
the ehci_hcd should be there - I checked my system
The problem may be that it does not get loaded...
The hal upgrades can be bad for wireless and possibly some sound - I have applied them, I apply everything to may main computer to test and I have complete backups so I have no problems going back if things go wrong. It does not have wireless and is nforce4
We don't put updates in category 4 or 5 because they will cause problems (some exceptions) but because they could cause problems
We prioritize stability

[kilou]

Here's the output of lsmod:

Code: Select all

kilou@kilou-laptop ~ $ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
nls_iso8859_1           4992  3
nls_cp437               6656  3
vfat                   14464  3
fat                    54556  1 vfat
usb_storage            73664  4
libusual               19108  1 usb_storage
arc4                    2944  2
ecb                     4480  2
blkcipher               8324  1 ecb
ieee80211_crypt_wep     6272  1
af_packet              23812  4
tun                    12672  0
i915                   32512  2
drm                    82580  3 i915
vboxdrv                77504  0
ppdev                  10372  0
cpufreq_userspace       5284  0
cpufreq_ondemand        9740  1
cpufreq_stats           7104  0
cpufreq_conservative     8712  0
cpufreq_powersave       2688  0
container               5632  0
dock                   11280  0
sbs                    15112  0
sbshc                   7680  1 sbs
iptable_filter          3840  0
ip_tables              14820  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               16132  1 ip_tables
acpi_cpufreq           14892  0
freq_table              5536  3 cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats,acpi_cpufreq
msi_laptop              7312  0
sbp2                   24072  0
parport_pc             36260  0
lp                     12324  0
parport                37832  3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
pata_pcmcia            14592  0
joydev                 13120  0
pcmcia                 40876  1 pata_pcmcia
evdev                  13056  7
serio_raw               7940  0
psmouse                40336  0
snd_intel8x0           35356  3
snd_ac97_codec        101028  1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus                3072  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            42144  0
snd_mixer_oss          17920  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                78596  3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
battery                14212  0
pcspkr                  4224  0
ac                      6916  0
snd_seq_dummy           4868  0
iTCO_wdt               13092  0
iTCO_vendor_support     4868  1 iTCO_wdt
video                  19856  0
output                  4736  1 video
ipw2200               146120  0
snd_seq_oss            35584  0
ieee80211              35528  1 ipw2200
ieee80211_crypt         7040  2 ieee80211_crypt_wep,ieee80211
snd_seq_midi            9376  0
yenta_socket           27276  4
rsrc_nonstatic         13696  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            40596  4 pata_pcmcia,pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
snd_rawmidi            25760  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event      8320  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                54224  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              24836  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device          9612  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd                    56996  17 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
button                  9232  0
soundcore               8800  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         11400  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
intel_agp              25492  1
agpgart                34760  3 drm,intel_agp
ext3                  136712  5
jbd                    48404  1 ext3
mbcache                 9600  1 ext3
sg                     36880  0
sr_mod                 17956  0
cdrom                  37408  1 sr_mod
sd_mod                 30720  11
ata_generic             8324  0
usbhid                 31872  0
hid                    38784  1 usbhid
ata_piix               19588  6
8139too                27520  0
pata_acpi               8320  0
libata                159344  4 pata_pcmcia,ata_generic,ata_piix,pata_acpi
ohci1394               33584  0
scsi_mod              151436  6 usb_storage,sbp2,sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata
ieee1394               93752  2 sbp2,ohci1394
8139cp                 24704  0
mii                     6400  2 8139too,8139cp
uhci_hcd               27024  0
usbcore               146028  5 usb_storage,libusual,usbhid,uhci_hcd
thermal                16796  0
processor              36872  3 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan                     5636  0
fuse                   50580  3
vesafb                  8964  1
fbcon                  42912  72
tileblit                3456  1 fbcon
font                    9472  1 fbcon
bitblit                 6784  1 fbcon
softcursor              3072  1 bitblit


So ehci_hcd doesn't appear to be loaded at startup and this is probably why I get an error trying to remove it. However ehci_hcd doesn't seem to be the problem as I can load it via sudo modprobe or put it in the /etc/modules file for automatic startup on boot. Either way it doesn't help USB speed to go from 12Mbps to 480Mbps and the transfer is still very slow with ehci_hcd loaded.

I'm seeing tons of posts like that on ubuntuforums and launchpad with no clear solution for now. Previously I ran Feisty and USB was working correctly. Some people on forums argue that it's a kernel thing but I do not know what to change in the kernel configuration to allow USB to work correctly.

I won't apply level 5 HAL updates for now because my backup system is on my external USB HDD...........and it's soooooo slow to backup the whole system with that speed before trying something. There should be a solution because USB was working previously so a setting must have been changed somewhere.

Anything you would know about around kernel setup??

[Husse]

I'll mark this as unsolved and look for a solution

[kilou]

Nothing in my BIOS is related to USB as well. I don't know why it doesn't work in Hardy while it was working in Feisty. Is ehci_hcd the only module that cares about USB2? Anything else I should activate on top of that since sudo modprobe ehci_hcd alone doesn't make USB work at the correct speed?

Thanks

[Husse]

This is what I find with

Code: Select all

lsmod | grep -i usb

usbhid 31872 0
hid 38784 1 usbhid
usbcore 146028 6 snd_usb_audio,snd_usb_lib,usbhid,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd

Before this I find a lot about usb sound but that's not relevant
(The format is name, size, use count, list of referring modules.)

[Husse]

When you answer a lot....
Missed it here but in another question I wrote that it can be because of a sub standard USB cable to the front of your case. I think I experience that in one of my desktops