8 Port USB Hub - Linux -

General
1

Hello Everyone,

I have a The ICUSB2328I Industrial 8-Port USB to Serial Hub connected to a server via USB cable. It works fine if the Host is already up, but I am not able to boot the server if the serial hub is already connected. I am sure that there is a Bios configuration that is causing this problem. Maybe related to legacy USB support.. not sure. Can you please let me know what I am missing. Many thanks

2

Hello @cgiura,

Thank you for taking the time to ask your question here on the StarTech.com Community.

Boot issues with the ICUSB2328I Serial Adapter Hub are not something I recall seeing before, but I will be happy to review with you. Ordinarily, I would not expect this device to cause the boot process to stop at any point.

Depending on the server hardware, BIOS, operating system, or other factors there may certainly be a few different things. I will outline a few basic points based on these possibilities.

  • Hardware
    • If the server has different sets of USB ports, consider trying a different USB port. For example if it is connected to a USB 2.0 port try it on a USB 3.x port, if available.
    • Is the ICUSB2328I connected directly to the computer or is it connected via another device like a hub or another intermediate device?
      • You can try swapping between a direct connection or a hub connection to see if that affects performance
    • Try a different USB A to B cable if available too
  • UEFI/BIOS[1]
    • Review the startup options in the BIOS management of your server for primary and optional boot. Try demoting the USB boot options to see if the boot up performance changes
    • As you have mentioned, consider reviewing and testing the USB specific settings and compatibility options like legacy USB.
  • Operating System
    • If you are working with Linux some earlier kernels may require some additional parameters in GRUB to boot a serial device like the ICUSB2328I with more than 4 ports, but I wouldn’t normally expect this to cause boot issue, unless there were other related settings.

If none of these suggestions for review yield a solution, we could investigate further with you once we know some more about your devices and what you wish to accomplish.

  1. At what point in the boot up process does the server stop when the ICUSB2328I is connected?
  2. Are there any messages on screen, or in logs after the system is booted successfully, you can share that might be related?
  3. Can you share more about the server hardware and operating system? Model information for the server may help, and the specific version and type of the operating system or if you are running Linux the distribution and kernel version.
  4. Are there any serial devices connected to the ICUSB2328I during boot time? Can you share more about these devices? Also, are the serial devices active at boot time?

Do these suggestions or questions help you find a solution? You are welcome to post more details and we can review further if it is still not booting well for you.

Sincerely,

@DavidF

  1. Please be cautious when making changes to UEFI/BIOS. Consult the manufacturer’s documentation if you have questions about particular settings. The best practice for testing settings is to make only one change at a time and revert each as you go until you find the right settings ↩︎