[Rpi4] - Recent updates broke USB support

[slackline]

Last week I did my usual update on my Raspberry Pi4

[code]
pacman -Syu
[/code]

...and thought nothing of it. A few days later I rebooted and whilst the device booted my external USB drive was not detected, nothing in [b]dmesg[/b] no devices shown by [b]lsblk[/b] no [b]/dev/sda*[/b] present and nothing under [b]/dev/disk/by-label[/b] (my USB device has a label).

Initially thought it was a hardware problem so some trouble shooting...

[list]
[*] Checked the USB device worked on a another computer, detected and mounted fine, no filesystem errors.
[*] Plugged a Yubikey into Raspberry Pi4, it flashed so was getting power, but kept on flashing which is unusual. Nothing showing in [b]dmesg[/b]
[*] Plugged the USB device into the Raspberry PI4 and checked [b]dmesg[/b] nothing showing it was detected.
[/list]


I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a fresh install so grabbed [b]ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz[/b] dated [b]2025-11-03[/b] (filesize is 689Mb).

[code]
# sha256sum ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz
3d138d541ab40d3fec6877fb3bffde6c38f45d5679d1eac95f92515b64867e27 ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-20251103.tar.gz
[/code]

Switched microSD cards, it booted fine and I could mount the external USB device as well as the old microSD in a USB adapter. [b]dmesg[/b] output filtered for [b]usb[/b]...

[code]
[root@alarmpi alarm]# dmesg | grep -i usb
[ 1.602053] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 1.602084] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 1.602114] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 2.293631] usbcore: registered new interface driver lan78xx
[ 2.293662] usbcore: registered new interface driver smsc95xx
[ 2.403239] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[ 2.405681] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[ 2.405696] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: Host supports USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
[ 2.405831] usb usb1: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0002, bcdDevice= 6.12
[ 2.405846] usb usb1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1
[ 2.405857] usb usb1: Product: xHCI Host Controller
[ 2.405866] usb usb1: Manufacturer: Linux 6.12.56-1-rpi xhci-hcd
[ 2.405874] usb usb1: SerialNumber: 0000:01:00.0
[ 2.406153] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 2.406439] usb usb2: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0003, bcdDevice= 6.12
[ 2.406454] usb usb2: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1
[ 2.406465] usb usb2: Product: xHCI Host Controller
[ 2.406474] usb usb2: Manufacturer: Linux 6.12.56-1-rpi xhci-hcd
[ 2.406482] usb usb2: SerialNumber: 0000:01:00.0
[ 2.406698] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 2.407465] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[ 2.407505] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[ 2.409442] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[ 2.409451] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[ 2.673172] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[ 2.828450] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=2109, idProduct=3431, bcdDevice= 4.21
[ 2.828477] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[ 2.828488] usb 1-1: Product: USB2.0 Hub
[ 2.830051] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
[ 9.650413] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac
[ 655.228576] usb 2-2: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[ 655.249575] usb 2-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bc2, idProduct=ac26, bcdDevice= 1.00
[ 655.249616] usb 2-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
[ 655.249641] usb 2-2: Product: BUP Portable
[ 655.249661] usb 2-2: Manufacturer: Seagate
[ 655.249678] usb 2-2: SerialNumber: 00000000NAB9NNMR
[ 665.018579] usb 2-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[ 665.039747] usb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=2537, idProduct=1081, bcdDevice= 1.00
[ 665.039783] usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 665.039808] usb 2-1: Product: NS1081
[ 665.039827] usb 2-1: Manufacturer: Norelsys
[ 665.039845] usb 2-1: SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDE
[ 665.325242] usb-storage 2-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 665.391763] scsi host1: usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[ 694.509497] usb 2-2: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[/code]

I then updated the system
[code]
[root@alarmpi alarm]# pacman -Syu
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core is up to date
extra is up to date
alarm is up to date
aur is up to date
:: Starting full system upgrade...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (48) archlinux-keyring-20251116-1 bash-5.3.8-1 binutils-2.45.1-1 ca-certificates-mozilla-3.119-1 coreutils-9.9-1 curl-8.17.0-2 device-mapper-2.03.37-1 dhcpcd-10.3.0-1 e2fsprogs-1.47.3-2 gcc-libs-15.2.1+r301+gf24307422d1d-1 glib2-2.86.2-1 glibc-2.42+r33+gde1fe81f4714-1 gnutls-3.8.11-2
hwdata-0.401-1 iana-etc-20251114-1 icu-78.1-1 iproute2-6.18.0-1 libarchive-3.8.4-1 libbpf-1.6.2-1 libelf-0.194-1.1 libnftnl-1.3.1-1 libnghttp3-1.13.1-1 libnl-3.12.0-1 libsysprof-capture-49.0-1.1 libxcrypt-4.5.2-1 libxml2-2.15.1-4 linux-api-headers-6.17-1 linux-firmware-20251125-2
linux-firmware-amdgpu-20251125-2 linux-firmware-atheros-20251125-2 linux-firmware-broadcom-20251125-2 linux-firmware-cirrus-20251125-2 linux-firmware-intel-20251125-2 linux-firmware-mediatek-20251125-2 linux-firmware-nvidia-20251125-2 linux-firmware-other-20251125-2
linux-firmware-radeon-20251125-2 linux-firmware-realtek-20251125-2 linux-firmware-whence-20251125-2 linux-rpi-6.12.60-1 mkinitcpio-40-2 nano-8.7-1 raspberrypi-bootloader-20251202-1 sqlite-3.51.1-1 systemd-258.2-2 systemd-libs-258.2-2 systemd-resolvconf-258.2-2 systemd-sysvcompat-258.2-2

Total Installed Size: 1353.60 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 25.27 MiB

[/code]

And rebooted. Unfortunately I was back where I started, USB devices (external USB drive and Yubikey) not detected nor in the case of the drive not mountable.

Checking the kernel messages...

[code]
[root@alarmpi alarm]# dmesg | grep usb -i
[ 1.602076] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 1.602104] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 1.602130] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 2.363677] usbcore: registered new interface driver lan78xx
[ 2.363709] usbcore: registered new interface driver smsc95xx
[ 2.472639] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[ 19.497567] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: USB bus 1 deregistered
[ 19.498067] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[ 19.498098] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[ 19.500023] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[ 19.500033] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[ 30.477898] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac
[/code]

Only one USB bus gets registered and its then deregistered (previously two were registered, USB 3.0 support was recognised and a hub was detected.

I tried the more recent [b]ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz[/b] which came out over the weekend dated 2025-12-07 (700Mb)...

[code]
# sha256sum ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz
e71bd76d29c06ead014442a37596e87838b0531d368703d54734fa504aeb82b8 ArchLinuxARM-rpi-armv7-latest.tar.gz
[/code]

...and it too suffers from a lack of USB device support.

Any ideas or advice on what might be required to get this back up and running would be very much appreciated (its the core of my MPD/Snapcast streaming system and I'm missing music!).

Happy to provide more information if required.

[slackline]

I noticed a recent update to the kernel and bootloader so updated them

[code]
[root@alarmpi alarm]# pacman -Syu
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core
extra
alarm
aur is up to date
:: Starting full system upgrade...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (4) hwdata-0.402-1 libidn2-2.3.8-1 linux-rpi-6.12.61-1 raspberrypi-bootloader-20251208-2

Total Download Size: 34.37 MiB
Total Installed Size: 61.72 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: -0.04 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
[/code]

No dice, still fails to detect USB.


The failure point seems to be xhcdi_hcd failing...

[code]
[ 2.343865] usbcore: registered new interface driver lan78xx
[ 2.343896] usbcore: registered new interface driver smsc95xx
[ 2.452794] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: xHCI Host Controller
[ 2.452814] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[ 19.477352] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: can't setup: -110
[ 19.477406] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: USB bus 1 deregistered
[ 19.477431] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: init 0000:01:00.0 fail, -110
[ 19.477442] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: probe with driver xhci_hcd failed with error -110
[ 19.477644] dwc_otg: version 3.00a 10-AUG-2012 (platform bus)
[/code]



Did some more searching and found [url=https://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=14734&start=50]this thread about similar issues under aarch64[/url]

So despite not using [b]aarch64[/b] (at least as far as I'm aware, its the linux-rpi package that is being installed and updated )

I tried adding the following to [b]/etc/mkinitcpio.conf[/b] and regenerating [b]initramfs[/b]

[code]
MODULES=(usbhid xhci_hcd pcie_brcmstd)
[/code]

Device still boots but same error.

<aside>
I'm confused as to whether I'm posting in the right sub-forum, the above thread is ARMv8 but uname -a shows armv7l

Apologies if I've got put this thread in the wrong place
<aside>

[zetxx]

I had similar problem on both of my rpi4, after lot of fiddling and poking around i noticed that when i ran rpi-eeprom-update shows zeros for latest and current version, so with raspberry pi imager i created eeprom recovery and flashed latest firmware, and that fixed both of them. I ddint find what was broke the firmware itself with the update.

[graysky]

Is USB working properly under the latest kernel?

[slackline]

[quote]
Is USB working properly under the latest kernel?
[/quote]

I haven't tried in the last few days. I managed to recover my system using the image I downloaded 2025-11-03 and opted to mask the linux-rpi packages and other firmware.

[code]
IgnorePkg = linux-rpi linux-api-headers linux-firmware linux-firmware-amdgpu linux-firmware-atheros linux-firmware-broadcom linux-firmware-cirrus linux-firmware-intel linux-firmware-mediatek linux-firmware-nvidia linux-firmware-cirrus linux-firmware-other linux-firmware-radeon linux-firmware-realtek linux-firmware-whence raspberrypi-bootloader
[/code]

I did this on a new microSD and have kept the old one which I have mounted on a chroot-environment in the hope I can revive the system. I noticed the other day when upgrading this older system (under chroot) the following message...

[code]
(48/90) upgrading linux-rpi [#####################################] 100%
>>> WARNING: Kernel 6.18 breaks RPi4 armv7h. Downgrade, back up, switch to aarch64!
[/code]

Which may be related to this issue.

I'll try and find time over the coming days to reboot using this and see if USB is still broken or not and report back.

[slackline]

Tried out the [b]linux-rpi-6.18.4-2[b] kernel today and no dice, USB still not working.

[graysky]

Mainline Linux (linux-armv7h) has never supported VL805 USB on 32‑bit Pi 4 so no USB there. You can use linux-rpi but only the 6.12.y branch will boot on armv7h. Newer kernels have ARM LPAE deprecated which is unrelated but means that RPi4 cannot boot with this kernel branch.

Your options for RPi4 with USB:
1. run linux-rpi with an older 6.12 kernel. We which we no longer ship these but you can find an older package or build your own.
2. switch to aarch64

[graysky]

If you want to build an updated kernel from the 6.12.y tree, I restored the build files in my PKGBUILDs fork. You can update it as RPi Foundation pushes updates until they EOL it:
make_clickable_callback(MAGIC_URL_FULL, '
', 'https://github.com/graysky2/PKGBUILDs/tree/6.12.y-legacy/core/linux-rpi', '', ' class="postlink"')