Issue with mini-SaS to eSATA to USB 3.0 setup

Sarah Sharp
2013-02-21T19:26:46Z

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Cc-ing the SCSI and USB storage list.

Folks, does the attached picture look like a sane setup? I've never
used mini-SaS to eSATA adapter before, let alone with four eSATA to USB
3.0 adapters.

On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 12:56:02PM -0200, Fabio David wrote:
> Hi Sarah,
>
> My name is Fabio David and I am from Brazil. I've seen your posts on
> several forums and read articles about you. I really admire your work.
>
> Maybe you can help me. I'm trying to connect a PC running Centos 6.3
> to a CRU dataport 4-bay storage device. This device only has a miniSaS
> port.
>
> Here is my scenario:
>
> - DataCRU device with 4 hot-swapables bays.
> http://www.cru-inc.com/slideshow.php?dir=//Digital-Cinema//&sel=5
> - MiniSaS cable connects to the DataCRU device and on the other side
> there are 4 eSata connectors
> http://www.elpeus.com/sas-mini-sas/external-mini-sas-cables/sff-8088-to-4-esata/3m-mini-sas-sff-8088-to-4-esata-cable/
> - 4 eSata<->USB3.0 adaptors connected to each eSata connector
> - Adaptors connected to a USB3.0 HUB
> - USB3.0 hub connected to PC
>
> Everything works ok, I can mount/read the HDs, but sometimes the
> system does not detect when a hard drive is inserted/removed from a
> DataCru bay. No events are generated, nothing appears in
> /proc/partitions nor udev
> is called to apply my rules.

Do you lose only hard drive insertion events, or do you lose remove
events as well?

For example, what happens when you do this:

1. Unplug the eSATA to USB adapters from the USB 3.0 hub.
2. Insert a hard drive into the bay.
3. Connect the eSATA to USB adapter to the USB 3.0 hub.
4. Wait for hard drive detection, then hot-remove the drive from the
bay.

> However, everything works fine when connected directly to PC's USB
> port. Please look at the attached picture.

It looks like you're only attaching one eSATA to USB adapter to the
roothub. Do you only have one USB 3.0 port on the host, or can you try
plugging in multiple eSATA to USB adapters into the roothub?

Does the setup work when only one eSATA to USB adapter is plugged into
the USB 3.0 hub?

> Do you have any suggestions?

A couple possible root causes come to mind:

1. Perhaps the USB 3.0 hub is interfering with communication to your
eSATA to USB 3.0 adapters.

2. Maybe USB device suspend is to blame. Do you have USB device suspend
enabled for the eSATA to USB adapters?

3. Perhaps the SATA adapters aren't responding with a Medium Changed
status when the USB storage device is plugged in.

Can you send me dmesg, starting from just before you insert a hard drive
into the drive bays? I need dmesg for both when the SATA adapter is
connected directly to the roothub, and when it's connected to the USB
3.0 hub.

A usbmon trace might also be useful for the USB storage developers.
Documentation on how to take that trace is here:

http://lxr.linux.no/#linux/Documentation/usb/usbmon.txt

Sarah Sharp

> ===================================================================
>
> lsusb returns
>
> Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
> Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 001 Device 002: ID 13d3:3323 IMC Networks
> Bus 001 Device 009: ID 2109:3431 <---------------------------- HUB 3.0
> Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
> Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
> Bus 007 Device 040: ID 2109:0810 <---------------------------- HUB 3.0
> Bus 007 Device 041: ID 1234:5678 Brain Actuated Technologies
> Bus 007 Device 042: ID 1234:5678 Brain Actuated Technologies
> Bus 007 Device 043: ID 1234:5678 Brain Actuated Technologies
> Bus 007 Device 044: ID 1234:5678 Brain Actuated Technologies
>
> /var/log/messages
> ....
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: usb 7-1: New USB device found,
> idVendor=2109, idProduct=0810
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: usb 7-1: New USB device strings:
> Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: usb 7-1: Product: 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: usb 7-1: Manufacturer: VIA Labs, Inc.
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: usb 7-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: hub 7-1:1.0: USB hub found
> Jan 27 18:00:28 localhost kernel: hub 7-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
> ....
> Jan 28 21:32:02 localhost kernel: usb 7-1.1: new SuperSpeed USB device
> number 9 using xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A ->
> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus
> registered, assigned bus number 6
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: irq 16, io
> mem 0xdfe00000
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb usb6: Manufacturer: Linux
> 2.6.32-279.19.1.el6.i686 xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus
> registered, assigned bus number 7
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb usb7: Manufacturer: Linux
> 2.6.32-279.19.1.el6.i686 xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb 7-1: new SuperSpeed USB device
> number 2 using xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb 7-1.1: new SuperSpeed USB device
> number 3 using xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb 7-1.2: new SuperSpeed USB device
> number 4 using xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb 7-1.3: new SuperSpeed USB device
> number 5 using xhci_hcd
> Jan 28 21:32:56 localhost kernel: usb 7-1.4: new SuperSpeed USB device
> number 6 using xhci_hcd

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