HHDs are unmounted on transferring a large number of files

Googlebot

1/30/24, 5:40 PM

I am transferring a large number of files (10-100 million) between two external HDDs (connected via USB 3.0), but the external disks are unmounted during the transfer. All HDDs connected via USB (including those on a different port/dock) will be unmounted, not just the HDDs in use.

This problem never happens when transferring a smaller batch of files (e.g., 4 X 5 hours, instead of copying for 20 hours). The problem only occurs when copying takes longer than 10 hours.

There is nothing wrong with the HDDs or files. I frequently checked the disks, and this problem has happened for more than ten different HDDs (all EXOS Enterprise 18TB).

I tried GUI cut/paste, cp, rsync.

How can I diagnose the problem to resolve it? Any hit would be sufficient; I do not expect a full solution.

Hardware: Taichi X399 Motherboard with Threadripper 1950X CPU. The filesystem is ext4.

There are, of course, many I/O errors in syslog, but I believe they are a result of the unmounted device rather than the cause. The first pertinent errors are:

Jan 30 12:54:07 ubuntu1 kernel: [22033.966192] xhci_hcd 0000:0c:00.3: xHCI host not responding to stop endpoint command.
Jan 30 12:54:07 ubuntu1 kernel: [22033.966203] xhci_hcd 0000:0c:00.3: USBSTS: 0x00000000
Jan 30 12:54:07 ubuntu1 kernel: [22033.983466] xhci_hcd 0000:0c:00.3: xHCI host controller not responding, assume dead
Jan 30 12:54:07 ubuntu1 kernel: [22033.983493] xhci_hcd 0000:0c:00.3: HC died; cleaning up
Jan 30 12:54:07 ubuntu1 kernel: [22033.983581] usb 4-1: USB disconnect, device number 2

0 + 7

usb

disk

hard-drive

external-hdd

20.04

Rinzwind

1/30/24, 6:20 PM

This is likely hardware related. You need to do some checks: does it happen when you change ports, when you do this on another machine. And do this using another USB cable.

Doug Smythies

1/30/24, 7:36 PM

what is the file format of the disks? Does the unmount occur at the same point of the file copying process each time or different spots?

Googlebot

1/30/24, 11:36 PM

@Rinzwind I tried everything except another machine. If it is hardware, it should be the motherboard USB controller, not the disks.

Googlebot

1/30/24, 11:40 PM

@DougSmythies no, it is not reproducible. When it is unmounted, if I restart the system, I can continue copying. The problem occurs when the copying takes a long time (e.g., 10-20 hours). It looks like overheating the USB controller or something. Instead of copying for 20 hours, if I copy the files in 4 X 5 hours, everything would be fine.

Soren A

1/31/24, 1:52 AM

Are there anything in the log-files in /var/log, specially dmesg and syslog, auround the time of the chrash ?

Googlebot

1/31/24, 5:06 AM

@SorenA I added the error log to the question. I should have done it before.

Rinzwind

1/31/24, 9:23 AM

"USBSTS: 0x00000000" is the key part. Other errors messages all show a text with an error code there (if it shows error -110 that is a disconnect). You might have found a problem that is not handled correctly so I would suggest to file a bugreport against the usb xhci linux driver.

Elon Musk

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EN: HHDs are unmounted on transferring a large number of files

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