drivershardwareusb
I could not seem to find the question here but I was wondering what experience if any users have had with USB 3.0?
My asus p5x58d has usb 3 on it but I have yet to try it out and also do not know much in terms of support.
I feel this is best as a community wiki where we can share experience on USB 3.0.
This article discussed briefly linux and usb 3.
Let the comments flow…
It might be that the driver for the chip that's running the USB 3.0 ports isn't compiled into kernel. You can check the chipset information using lspci command:
$ /usr/sbin/lspci |grep -i usb
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
Then check kernel configuration whether the USB 3.0 driver is indeed enabled...
If you look at the specs for that particular device it doesn't support Linux.
FeaturesSystem RequirementsSupport Windows XP,Vista, Winodws 7,Windows 8, windows 8.1, Mac OS up to 10.9.4 (**Does NOT support XP 64bit and Windows Server**)Does NOT support XP 64bit and Windows Server/Linux
In general USB to (HDMI,DVI,VGA) devices either work or don't. But there are devices that are known to work under Linux, such as this one: UltraVideo® USB 2.0 to DVI-I or VGA Video Adapter
As well as this one: DisplayLink.
Does it work with Linux?An open source driver is available, for DL-1x5 devices which is now built into the Linux kernel. Linux support for DL-3x00 or DL-41xx is not currently available.
Digging further with respect to the DisplayLink technology had this to say on the Wikipedia page:
Option #3The Linux kernel 3.4 also contains a DisplayLink driver, but current generation USB3 chips are not supported as of Sep 2014. It looks like no current DisplayLink-chip will ever work under Linux [17] due to intended encryption.
Here's another option: Plugable UGA-2K-A USB to VGA/DVI/HDMI Adapter for Multiple Monitors up to 2048×1152.
- Windows 8/7/XP drivers installed automatically via Windows Update (Internet connection required)
- Mac is not supported due to significant limitations in the operating system. -Linux configuration for advanced users only
The Pluggable website even has a page devoted to Linux, titled: DisplayLink USB 2.0 Graphics Adapters on Linux – 2014 Edition. The article had this to say on the issue:
ExcerptThe short story
Multi-monitor on Linux, especially with multiple graphics cards and USB graphics adapters, remains problematic. You can find many distros and configurations where it just won’t work. We’d recommend staying away unless you’re an advanced Linux user who is willing to play with different distros, install optional components and do hand configuration. Unfortunately, it’s just not plug and play yet today, as it is on Windows
The long story
That said, it is possible to get things working in limited scenarios for USB 2.0 generation DisplayLink-based adapters. We used all Plugable products in the tests for this post. Our test systems included Intel, Nvidia, and AMD primary graphics adapters. For Nvidia and AMD, we tested both the open-source and proprietary drivers.
Intel is the most compatible, providing decent results under all configurations. Nvidia graphics cards, when running the open source nouveau driver, only work in Multi-Seat mode. Attempting multi-monitor setup with a DisplayLink adapter and an Nvidia graphics card results in garbage graphics being displayed on your DisplayLink-attached monitor. The Nvidia proprietary drivers do not work under any scenario.
The AMD open-source drivers work under both multi-seat and multi-monitor setups, but the performance, at least in our tests, is significantly worse than with the Intel drivers.
The AMD proprietary drivers are unavailable in any easy to install package under Fedora 20, but we installed them in Ubuntu, and were unable to get any results, they simply do not work with DisplayLink graphics..
As I've shown, it isn't a simple answer, it's very hit or miss, which devices will work with which particular distros of Linux. If it were me, I'd likely go with option #3, but your mileage will vary. Also, prepare yourself for spending a fare amount of time messing with options to get things working, or potentially having to switch to a different distro.
ExcerptWe don’t recommend or support USB graphics on Linux yet, because of the problems above — but if you do have questions, please feel free to comment below. We want to get as much information out as possible about what works and doesn’t, so things can improve here. There’s no reason Linux can’t have the same or better multi-monitor support as any other platform in time!
Best Answer
Do an
lspcifrom a root prompt. Do you see anything about "USB 3.0" host adapter in that list? If so, you should enjoy the same support from USB 3.0 devices that Linux provides for USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, which ranges from "Works great!" to "I had to do a bunch of crazy stuff inudevto get this to do what I want" to "There's only Windows drivers for this!".