HB-RF-USB2 together with SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 Module makes the USB stack go nuts

[luzifer84]

Hello Alex,
I have a Linux system with Kernel 5.15.0-051500rc7-generic x86_64 up and running where I have OpenHab 3.2 running in a VirtualBox, Homematic - to be more precise debmatic - in another one with a HB-RF-USB2 connected to it. This has been running for quite a while now (okay, Kernel got an update recently). And according to the rule - never change a running system - I decided to get rid of all the Zigbee control units as I did with the Homematic CCU and bought this USB devices (https://www.ebay.de/itm/384875702899?var=652772510813) as suggested to be the best in several forums. Now the trouble began.
When I plugged it in everything at first seemed to work fine. But when I did a reboot all USB devices except the USB hubs vanished from lsusb. dmesg showed up some random disconnects every second for the HB-RF-USB2 device. So I decided to unplug it. All other devices came back to lsbusb. Then I plugged it in again. Everything worked fine. I did this again inluding the reboot. Same behaviour.
When I unplug the SONOFF during the boot - everything is fine.

When everything is plugged in after the boot has finished it looks like this:
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 05e3:0612 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0b95:1790 ASIX Electronics Corp. AX88179 Gigabit Ethernet
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 8087:0029 Intel Corp. AX200 Bluetooth
Bus 003 Device 006: ID 10c4:ea60 Silicon Labs CP210x UART Bridge --> the SONOFF
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0403:6f70 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd HB-RF-USB
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 0001:0000 Fry's Electronics MEC0003
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I neither do have any experience whether this configurations works stable over time nor do I have any clue how to get rid of this boot problem. Do you have any suggestions how I could solve this?

Thanks for your time and help in advance.

Greetings,
Torben

[luzifer84]

Hi,
I just wanted to add some additional pieces of information.
Having both devices plugged in at the same time, devices stop working after a few minutes. I receive the following messages in the host:

Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.321071] usb 3-5-port2: disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.321467] usb 3-5.2: USB disconnect, device number 5
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.545497] usb 3-5.2: new full-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.653805] usb 3-5.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6f70, bcdDevice= 6.00
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.653827] usb 3-5.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.653837] usb 3-5.2: Product: HB-RF-USB
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.653843] usb 3-5.2: Manufacturer: Alexander Reinert
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.653850] usb 3-5.2: SerialNumber: A94YTFKB
Jan 9 05:03:58 firetux-nuc kernel: [21317.969837] usb 3-5.2: reset full-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
Jan 9 05:03:59 firetux-nuc kernel: [21318.285897] usb 3-5.2: reset full-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
Jan 9 05:09:34 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.217259] usb 3-5-port1: disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...
Jan 9 05:09:34 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.217705] usb 3-5.1: USB disconnect, device number 4
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.452226] usb 3-5.1: new low-speed USB device number 8 using xhci_hcd
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.557363] usb 3-5.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0001, idProduct=0000, bcdDevice= 1.00
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.557370] usb 3-5.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.557373] usb 3-5.1: Product: MEC0003
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.557374] usb 3-5.1: Manufacturer: MEC
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.579145] hid-generic 0003:0001:0000.0002: hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.00 Device [MEC MEC0003] on usb-0000:00:14.0-5.1/input0
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.580077] usb 3-5-port2: disabled by hub (EMI?), re-enabling...
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.580602] usb 3-5.2: USB disconnect, device number 7
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.804380] usb 3-5.2: new full-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.912697] usb 3-5.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6f70, bcdDevice= 6.00
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.912721] usb 3-5.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.912730] usb 3-5.2: Product: HB-RF-USB
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.912737] usb 3-5.2: Manufacturer: Alexander Reinert
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21654.912744] usb 3-5.2: SerialNumber: A94YTFKB
Jan 9 05:09:35 firetux-nuc kernel: [21655.236797] usb 3-5.2: reset full-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd
Jan 9 05:09:36 firetux-nuc kernel: [21655.548702] usb 3-5.2: reset full-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd

Plus these mesages I saw multiple times:
module: x86/modules: Skipping invalid relocation target, existing value is nonzero for type 1, log 8e0437ee, val ffffffffc145fade

[alexreinert]

Both devices are on the same internal USB Controller (Bus 3). Try on different USB Controllers. Could be an issue with to high power consumption if both sticks are used on a single controller.

[luzifer84]

I tried but no different result. In fact the last configuration with both devices at the same controller is a configuration where I put both even on an external USB HUB with external 5V 1A power supply. Did not make any difference.