El Capitan constantly resets external USB Hub

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Level 1

79 points

El Capitan constantly resets external USB Hub

After updating to El Capitan my late-2013 Mac Pro (4-core 3.7 GHz) appears to reset my external USB hub every second or so. Devices attached to the external hub work, but only in brief bursts between outages. For example, the keyboard drops characters, and the "active" light on the mouse and the external microphone flash on and off repeatedly forever. This renders the external hub effectively unusable with El Capitan.

This exact same hardware setup worked fine under Yosemite. The USB hub also works perfectly connected to an older 2007 Mac Pro. All the peripherals I've tested so far (mouse, keyboard, external drive) work fine if connected directly to the Mac Pro. The external hub is a "Sabrent 7 Port USB 3.0 HUB + 2 Charging Ports with 12V/4A Power Adapter (HB-U930)" (Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Charging-Ports-Adapter-HB-U930/dp/B00SIQIV04).

I have more tests to do, but...did El Capitan change the requirements for external hubs? Does it show its displeasure by rapidly reset-cycling the disliked hub forever?

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 8:15 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

ZNickey

Level 1

12 points

Oct 7, 2015 9:11 AM in response to Tsathul

OS X 10.11 saw some pretty major changes for the USB 3 driver aspect. Some computers are having issues with certain USB devices, including hubs. The end result can be anything from inconsistent performance to a hub causing a kernel panic. Certain USB components seem to have more issues than others. For example, I have an Inatek hub that causes the computer to have kernel panics, but I have a HooToo hub that works reliably (other than the OS believing it is a USB 2 hub when it is in fact USB 3.)

Apple has confirmed that this is an issue and is working on a fix, but based on a conversation last night I do not think this is something that can be fixed rapidly. I believe significant modifications to the driver will be necessary to fix this issue. At least so far, the most effective temporary workarounds are rather complex, and so I have just been using a different hub...this issue seems to be mainly confined to USB 3 hubs and certain USB 3 devices...my USB 2 hubs have not had any issue.

Check your System Profiler to see if your computer is incorrectly identifying USB 3 hubs and devices as being USB 2. Further information may also be incorrectly reported inside the USB tab.

Further info and patch...

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-laptop-support/173616-guide-10-11-usb-chang es-solutions.html

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-desktop-support/172820-osx-el-capitan-usb-i ssues.html

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/306777-guide-usb-fix-el-capitan-1011/

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-desktop-support/174002-osx-el-capitan-tips- fixing-intel-usb.html

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Answer 2

Tsathul Author

Level 1

79 points

Oct 21, 2015 4:12 PM in response to Tsathul

I updated to OS X 10.11.1 today, and the hub reset behavior continues unchanged.

At first I thought it was solved, but that was only because I moved a USB 2 hub with my slow peripherals over from the Mac Pro to the USB 3 hub. That appeared to work OK, but when I plugged the slow peripherals directly into the USB 3 hub, the reset behavior returned. Sigh.

For the record, El Capitan identifies the USB 3 hub simply as "Hub", Product ID 0x0610, Vendor ID 0x05e3 (Genesys Logic, Inc.), Version 92.10. There's nothing about speed category. (Interestingly, the report shows two Genesys Logic USB hubs nested, as if there is a hub within a hub. Don't know what to make of that.)

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Answer 3

gaber77

Level 1

9 points

Jan 5, 2016 2:53 PM in response to ZNickey

Using the info in these links, I found that the issue for me was definitely the number of USB ports. I have a 10 port USB3 hub, but I have the ability to power off sets of 3 ports at a time. So I shut down, moved everything to one port, powered on, and now I am able to see the devices on the first 3 port set just fine. Need to get a fix so that I can use my whole hub, but at least it is a workaround for now.

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Answer 4

gausina

Level 1

0 points

Dec 7, 2015 12:53 AM in response to gaber77

Hi,

I have a 10 racks usb3 drive enclosure and it fails too on El Capitan.Thanks to hardware growler I was able to understand what was happening. It constantly connects and disconnects and the drive do no mount. The enclosure works perfectly when plugged on another machine.

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Answer 5

gausina

Level 1

0 points

Dec 7, 2015 1:23 AM in response to gausina

I've just plugged the rack on my old mac pro 3,1 ( usb2 and OS X 10.11.1 ) and it works like a charm. It is definitely a problem with usb3 drivers on El Capitan.

Hello Apple guys, can we hear your voice about that issue? When do you plan to take care about it?

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Answer 6

gausina

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2015 5:48 AM in response to gausina

I was hoping the latest update would solve that issue but no. OSX 10.11.2 still lacks of usb3 drivers that handle my enclosure.

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Answer 7

Tsathul Author

Level 1

79 points

Jan 5, 2016 3:10 PM in response to Tsathul

I can confirm that the problem still exists in 10.11.2, as reported by gausina on 9 December.

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Answer 8

Jan 6, 2016 2:52 PM in response to Tsathul

I had to go buy a USB 2.0 hub. I hope Apple's shiny new space ship helps them kill bugs faster, because this is inexcusable. You don't test mice and keyboards on USB 3.0 hubs with a new OS release? Shame on your QA team!

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Answer 9

Tsathul Author

Level 1

79 points

Jan 21, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Tsathul

The problem persists in 10.11.3.

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Answer 10

Marianco1

Level 2

243 points

Jan 31, 2016 10:00 PM in response to Tsathul

Yes. This is a USB Driver BUG.

The programmer involved should be fired for incompetance.

It can be solved by hacking the USB Kext files.

But why should a regular user do that?

This bug is still present as of 1/31/2016, OS X 109.11.3.

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Answer 11

Tsathul Author

Level 1

79 points

Apr 22, 2016 6:28 PM in response to Tsathul

As of OS X / El Capitan 10.11.4, the constant-reset problem with my hub has been fixed.

The USB system is still not out of the woods. At least two USB peripherals -- a USB microphone and an iPhone 6 -- are disconnecting and reconnecting over timeframes of some tens of seconds if I connect them through the USB 3.0 hub. Connecting them directly to the computer stops that behavior. Hopefully Apple is continuing to debug and improve the USB system in El Capitan.

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Answer 12

Max Khon

Level 1

8 points

Aug 11, 2016 3:46 AM in response to Tsathul

Can you try this fix? https://github.com/mkhon/USBHubPowerFix

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