Re: USB devices on Dell TB16 dock stop working after resuming

[Paul Menzel]

Dear Mario, dear Mathias,


Am 18.01.20 um 10:15 schrieb Paul Menzel:

> Am 17.01.20 um 19:33 schrieb Mario.Limonciello@xxxxxxxx:
> > > > I was able to reproduce the issue with an external HS hub as well, 
> > > > so this issue
> > > > appears to be more related to ASMedia host than the built in HS hub 
> > > > in TB16
> > >
> > > I contacted the (German) Dell support, and they asked me to update 
> > > the laptop
> > > firmware to 1.9.1 claiming that these issues might be fixed there 
> > > (despite the
> > > change-log not containing that). Anyway, after the update, the user 
> > > is still
> > > able to reproduce the issue.
> > >
> > > Mario, what can I do, so the issue is escalated to your team, so you 
> > > can work
> > > with ASMedia to solve this?
>
> > From this thread it does sound to me like an ASMedia firmware problem,
> > not a Linux kernel problem.
> >
> > I do know there is an updated ASMedia firmware binary available.  
> > Right now
> > however there is unfortunately not a way to update ASMedia hub 
> > firmware using
> > free software. 
>
> The fwupd issue *Dell TB16: ASMedia USB controller can't be updated* [1] 
> was closed by the âstale robotâ.
>
> > If possible, I would recommend that you try to update the
> > firmware using a Windows machine and see if it helps the problem.
>
> Thank you. Iâll try to do that on Monday.
>
> > I'm sorry and I don't intend to "pass the buck" but if that doesn't 
> > help this needs
> > to be prioritized and escalated with Dell support.
> >
> > They will then work with the appropriate engineering team who owns the 
> > relationship to ASMedia to resolve it.
>
> Thatâs how it should work theoretically, but have you ever dealt with 
> Dellâs first level support? They have little experience with Ubuntu, and 
> if you are unlucky, they say that Ubuntu support is not done by Dell but 
> âby the Linux communityâ. If you are lucky to not get this answer, they 
> do (Google) searches, telling you, your problem is solved by referencing 
> only similar sounding problems from the Ubuntu *user* forums. If the 
> firmware has a bug (in the UI!), they ask you to install Microsoft 
> Windows to see if that solves the issue. If you tell them, the Linux 
> developers analyzed the problem, and they say the following solution 
> have to be found, they do not know what that means. Itâs very annoying 
> and time consuming often for naught.

As reported in [1], updating the Dell TB16 firmware using a *Dell* 
laptop (with updated firmware and Thunderbolt drivers) and Dellâs 
Microsoft Windows update utility, the firmware parts below were updated, 
everything seems to work now.

MST1                 3.10.002    3.12.002
MST2                 3.10.002    3.12.002
ASM USB 3.0 Cntlr    10.11.23    10.11.A9
Dock NVM             00.00.16    00.00.27

Mathias, can you please confirm, and maybe also approach ASMedia from 
Intel to ask them to improve the situation?

Can the Linux kernel (or some user space) carry a list of non-working 
firmware versions, and output a warning, that a firmware update is needed?


Kind regards,

Paul


> [1]: https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/issues/1351