[gentoo-user] USB mass storage device slow in Gentoo, fast in Windows...?

[Paul Hartman]

Hi,

I got a Nokia N900 linux internet tablet/phone a few days ago, and
when I connect it in USB Mass Storage mode to a Windows Vista computer
I can write at 17MB/sec, but when I connect it to my Gentoo box my
writes are really slow, between 500-900kb/sec depending on if I mount
in "sync" mode or not. As far as I know it should be just a totally
standard/generic mass storage device. (there were no drivers or
software install needed in windows, it just worked)

Other USB devices plugged into the same port go full speed, and AFAIK
everything appears as if it should be high speed USB 2.0. Has anyone
seen something like this before? I'm not sure what the deal is. It
takes 20 minutes to copy 1 gigabyte from Linux and takes just under 1
minute to do the same in Windows.

I'm not sure about debugging USB or what the options are. Everything
I've used previously has worked without any hassle.

lsusb -vv output for this device:

Bus 001 Device 031: ID 0421:01c7 Nokia Mobile Phones
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         0
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0421 Nokia Mobile Phones
  idProduct          0x01c7
  bcdDevice            3.16
  iManufacturer           1 Nokia
  iProduct                2 N900 (Storage Mode)
  iSerial                 3 (censored)
  bNumConfigurations      2
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           32
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          4 Max power
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         8 Mass Storage
      bInterfaceSubClass      6 SCSI
      bInterfaceProtocol     80 Bulk (Zip)
      iInterface              6 Mass Storage
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           32
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     2
    iConfiguration          5 Self-powered
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         8 Mass Storage
      bInterfaceSubClass      6 SCSI
      bInterfaceProtocol     80 Bulk (Zip)
      iInterface              6 Mass Storage
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         0
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      2
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)



dmesg output when it is plugged in:

[2920730.031010] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and
address 31
[2920730.146451] usb 1-4: New USB device found, idVendor=0421, idProduct=01c7
[2920730.146455] usb 1-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
SerialNumber=3
[2920730.146458] usb 1-4: Product: N900 (Storage Mode)
[2920730.146460] usb 1-4: Manufacturer: Nokia
[2920730.146462] usb 1-4: SerialNumber: (censored)
[2920730.146540] usb 1-4: configuration #1 chosen from 2 choices
[2920730.148268] scsi27 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[2920730.148342] usb-storage: device found at 31
[2920730.148345] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[2920735.150436] scsi 27:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Nokia    N900
      031 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[2920735.150567] sd 27:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg7 type 0
[2920735.155882] sd 27:0:0:0: [sdg] Attached SCSI removable disk
[2920735.156449] usb-storage: device scan complete
[2920741.306353] sd 27:0:0:0: [sdg] 56631296 512-byte logical blocks:
(28.9 GB/27.0 GiB)
[2920741.306721] sd 27:0:0:0: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
[2920741.307970] sd 27:0:0:0: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
[2920741.307972]  sdg:


And I mounted with these options:
/dev/sdg        /mnt/usb        vfat
user,sync,umask=1000,rw,noauto,check=relaxed    0       0


thanks
paul