6e05aee30e
* Clarify that uhubctl will automatically handle USB3 duality. * Bump copyright year. * Mention more Linux distributions where uhubctl was tested to work.
uhubctl
uhubctl is utility to control USB power per-port on smart USB hubs. Smart hub is defined as one that implements per-port power switching.
Original idea for this code was inspired by hub-ctrl.c by Niibe Yutaka: http://www.gniibe.org/development/ac-power-control-by-USB-hub
Compatible USB hubs
Note that very few hubs actually support per-port power switching. Some of them are no longer manufactured and can be hard to find.
This is list of known compatible USB hubs:
| Manufacturer | Product | VID:PID | Release | EOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AmazonBasics | HU3641V1, 4 Port USB3 Hub (see USB3 note below) | 2109:2811 |
2013 | |
| AmazonBasics | HU3770V1, 7 Port USB3 Hub (see USB3 note below) | 2109:2811 |
2013 | |
| Apple | Thunderbolt Display 27" (internal USB hub) | 2011 | 2016 | |
| Apple | USB Keyboard With Numeric Pad (internal USB hub) | 2011 | ||
| Asus | Z87-PLUS Motherboard (onboard USB hubs) | 2013 | 2016 | |
| B&B Electronics | UHR204 | 2013 | ||
| Belkin | F5U701-BLK | 2008 | 2012 | |
| Circuitco | Beagleboard-xM (internal USB hub) | 0424:9514 |
2010 | |
| CyberPower | CP-H420P | 0409:0059 |
2004 | |
| Cypress | CY4608 HX2VL development kit | 04b4:6570 |
2012 | |
| D-Link | DUB-H4 rev D1 (black edition, old silver not working) | 05E3:0608 |
2012 | |
| D-Link | DUB-H7 (silver edition only, new black not working) | 2001:F103 |
2005 | 2010 |
| Elecom | U2H-G4S | 2006 | 2011 | |
| Hawking Technology | UH214 | 2003 | 2008 | |
| Lenovo | ThinkPad EU Ultra Dockingstation (40A20090EU) | 17EF:100F |
2015 | |
| Lenovo | ThinkPad X200 Ultrabase 42X4963 | 17EF:1005 |
2008 | 2011 |
| Linksys | USB2HUB4 | 2004 | 2010 | |
| Maplin | A08CQ | 0409:0059 |
2008 | 2011 |
| Microchip | EVB-USB2517 | 2008 | ||
| Plugable | USB3-HUB7BC (see USB3 note below) | 2109:0813 |
2015 | |
| Plugable | USB3-HUB7-81X (see USB3 note below) | 2109:0813 |
2012 | |
| Plugable | USB2-HUB10S | 2010 | ||
| Raspberry Pi | Model B+, Model 2 B, Model 3 B (port 2 only) | 2011 | ||
| Rosewill | RHUB-210 | 0409:005A |
2011 | 2014 |
| Sanwa Supply | USB-HUB14GPH | 2001 | 2003 | |
| Sunix | SHB4200MA | 0409:0058 |
2006 | 2009 |
| Targus | PAUH212U | 2004 | 2009 |
This table is by no means complete. If your hub works with uhubctl, but is not listed above, please report it by opening new issue at https://github.com/mvp/uhubctl/issues, so we can add it to supported table. In your report, please provide exact product model and add output from uhubctl.
Note that quite a few modern motherboards have built-in root hubs that do support this feature - you may not even need to buy any external hub. WARNING: turning off built-in USB ports may cut off your keyboard or mouse, so be careful what ports you are turning off!
USB 3.0 duality note
If you have compatible USB 3.0 hub connected to USB3 upstream port,
it will be detected as 2 independent virtual hubs: USB2 and USB3, and your USB devices will be
connected to USB2 or USB3 virtual hub depending on their capabilities and connection speed.
To control power for such hubs, it is necessary to turn off/on power on both USB2 and USB3
virtual hubs for power off/on changes to take effect. uhubctl will try to do this automatically
(unless you disable this behavior with option -e).
Unfortunately, while most hubs will cut off data USB connection, some may still not cut off VBUS to port, which means connected phone may still continue to charge from port that is powered off by uhubctl.
Compiling
This utility was tested to compile and work on Linux (Ubuntu/Debian, Redhat/Fedora/CentOS, Arch Linux, Gentoo, OpenSUSE, Buildroot), FreeBSD and Mac OS X.
While uhubctl compiles on Windows, USB power switching does not work on Windows because libusb
is using winusb.sys driver, which according to Microsoft does not support
necessary USB control requests.
This may be fixed if libusb starts supporting different driver on Windows.
First, you need to install library libusb-1.0 (version 1.0.12 or later):
- Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev - Redhat:
sudo yum install libusb1-devel - MacOSX:
brew install libusb, orsudo port install libusb-develNote that Mac OS Sierra may be affected by issue https://github.com/libusb/libusb/issues/303. Until libusb 1.0.22 is released, usebrew install --HEAD libusbas a workaround. - FreeBSD: libusb is included by default
- Windows: TBD?
To compile, simply run make - this will generate uhubctl binary.
Also, for Mac OS X you can install uhubctl with Homebrew custom tap:
brew tap mvp/uhubctl https://github.com/mvp/uhubctl
brew install --HEAD uhubctl
Usage
You can control the power on a USB port(s) like this:
uhubctl -a off -p 235
This means operate on default smart hub and turn power off (-a off, or -a 0)
on ports 2,3,5 (-p 235). Supported actions are off/on/cycle (or 0/1/2).
cycle means turn power off, wait some delay (configurable with -d) and turn it back on.
On Linux, you may need to run it with sudo, or to configure udev USB permissions.
If you have more than one smart USB hub connected, you should choose
specific hub to control using -l (location) parameter.
To find hub locations, simply run uhubctl without any parameters.
Copyright
Copyright (C) 2009-2018 Vadim Mikhailov
This file can be distributed under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License version 2.