USB Network Interface

[Rockthesmurf]

I ordered one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IZA09SU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 I needed a small USB3 HUB for my PC, and thought the integrated NIC could be interesting to experiment with on my Pandora. I received the device yesterday, plugged it in, booted up, and was surprised that eth0 appeared straight away in ifconfig (all be it with no IP address). I added a few lines into the /etc/network/interfaces file (as guided by random Linux networking tutorials) and now seem to have a stable internet connection (with connection details provided by my router/DHCP). I can unplug the cable, and plug it back in, and it all continues to work. 

I am already pleased, this was easier than I expected (I imagined requiring kernel modules and all sorts of Linux trickery which was beyond my reach).

One thing I have found, if I unplug the NIC (from the USB port) and then plug it back in, it no longer works. If I reboot it works again. This isn't the end of the world, I can most certainly live with it, but I wondered whether this could be fixed? I have a tiny amount of Linux knowledge, but if there is a fix I'm happy to run commands and provide feedback/log messages etc. I don't know whether the issue is on the networking side of the USB side (although my hunch is it is the USB side, as pulling the network cable and replugging it in works fine).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Neelix]

Have you tried disabling and re-enabling USB host via the configbutton rather than rebooting? 

- Neelix

 

[Rockthesmurf]

@Neelix yes tried that and it didn't seem to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if that helps narrow down the real issue?

 

[Willhelm]

Sometimes I notice the same issue with my USB-WIFI dongle.

In dmesg is an error entry that the pandora could not enumerate or initialize the USB device. Analoque to your problem it is fixed after a reboot. As I remember myself correct it happends if I unplug the usb dongle during the pandora sleep.

Due to that i keep the usb dongle connected during sleep.

 

[notaz]

You could check if 'dmesg' output has anything useful when it happens.

The OMAP3 USB hardware locks up if you connect an "empty" hub in some cases. AFAIK nothing can be done about that besides full power cycle, maybe it's something similar here.

Edit: you could also try disabling USB host before disconnecting, maybe it'll prevent the USB crash. You have to disable USB host in either case as otherwise it'll block OMAP's power saving and will drain your battery fast.