[Cialug] OT: USB Issues

[Jared Brees]

A multimeter and a scope would be my recommendations. If you bring it to a CIALUG meeting I can bring my scope! it's nothing fancy but should capture what we're looking for if there's an issue

[Sent via Pixel 3a]
________________________________
From: Cialug <cialug-bounces at cialug.org> on behalf of Scott Yates <Scott at yatesframe.com>
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2021 12:48:50 PM
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group <cialug at cialug.org>
Subject: Re: [Cialug] OT: USB Issues

Just a quick note:  Usually power supply issues are not caught by most
software diagnostics.  They can cause VERY odd issues, and can seem very
subtle.
I try to keep a high quality 850w PS around just to test things like this.


On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 12:47 PM Tim Wilson <tim_linux at wilson-home.com>
wrote:

> It’s a little over 2 years old. So not old enough to cut my losses.
>
> I dug out my 550 watt PSU. I’m not sure if it is powerful enough, but
> hopefully it will at least be enough to determine if it is the PSU.
>
> I didn’t smell any magic smoke. This is the second time it’s happened. The
> first time fried the surge protector. I guess it did it’s job. This surge
> protector is older, so it may have been hit and degraded the protection.
>
> I don’t have a scope. I could probably hook up a multimeter. I’d have to
> research what pins and voltages.
>
> I’ll run some diagnostics. I thought I had already, but I would’ve thought
> that the USB/power issue would’ve been flagged.
>
> Or I might bite the bullet and take it somewhere for them to look at.  Any
> suggestions?
>
> On Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 11:49 PM Andrew Denner <linux-list at upeke.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The first question I always look at is how old is the computer and how
> easy
> > is it to work on? If it is a pain and older, at some point cutting your
> > losses may be the best option. I agree with Shane, I would first look at
> > the output of the power supply. Depending on what tools you have, is the
> > voltage close to what you expect, are there any visible scorch marks or
> > parts that don't look right, does anything smell like the magic smoke is
> > leaking, how clean of a signal is coming out on the oscilloscope?
> >
> > Also as another aside, if lightning did nibble on the power supply, and
> you
> > can replace it, what else did it stress beyond specs that are waiting to
> > fail? What does running a full diagnostic on the disk's SMART, memory
> > tests, etc say?
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 12, 2021 at 1:02 PM Shane Nehring <shane at ntoast.com> wrote:
> >
> > > My first instinct would actually be to suspect some damage to the PSU
> > > (maybe just the 5v supply) or perhaps the MB (assuming the usb is
> onboard
> > > the motherboard). It could be the PSU is only slightly damaged and is
> > just
> > > making a bunch of noise on the 5v lines and that's only adversely
> > impacting
> > > sensitive usb devices. Failing PSUs can cause all sorts of difficult to
> > > track down weirdness.
> > >
> > > On Fri, Nov 12, 2021 at 12:40 PM Tim Wilson <tim_linux at wilson-home.com
> >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi all, this is OT from Linux, but hopefully someone can help.  This
> is
> > > > probably TL;DR, but I think details are important.
> > > >
> > > > A couple of months ago, an overnight lightning storm struck close to
> > our
> > > > house.  When I started working the next morning, I could hear a noise
> > > that
> > > > sounded like a fan was going out on my gaming PC.  I shut down the
> PC,
> > > and
> > > > the noise went away.  After further investigation, I discovered that
> > the
> > > > noise was coming from my USB powered speakers.  They get power from a
> > USB
> > > > port on my PC, but are connected to a monitor so it will get audio
> from
> > > > whichever input is selected (home or work).  I plugged the speakers
> > into
> > > a
> > > > charge pack, and the noise went away.  This made me think I had
> larger
> > > > issues.
> > > >
> > > > I had a WD external drive and a USB capture device hooked up.  The
> > drive
> > > > has issues, I tried plugging it into my laptop and it wasn't
> > > recognized.  I
> > > > still need to try the capture device.  It does not work on the gaming
> > PC.
> > > > Both the mouse and keyboard work.  But plugging an optical drive in,
> > does
> > > > not seem to work.  The optical drive does work on my laptop, so I'm
> > sure
> > > > it's fine.
> > > >
> > > > This sounds like some part of USB is fried.  No USB-C, but it has USB
> > 3.1
> > > > ports.  The external drive and capture device were plugged into the
> top
> > > USB
> > > > ports.  I've disconnected those, hoping the others would start
> working.
> > > > Are there any tools you would recommend, or any suggestions?
> > > >
> > > > TIA!
> > > > --
> > > > Tim
> > > > Required reading: http://bccplease.com/
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> --
> Tim
> Required reading: http://bccplease.com/
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