Why is the printer not working on any of the USB ports?

Question

I am working on Debian Stable Linux which is otherwise working very well.

The machine/motherboard details are as follows:

Machine:   
Type: Desktop 
Mobo: Intel 
model: DH61BF 
v: AAG81311-102 
BIOS: Intel 
v: BFH6110H.86A.0009.2013.0715.1155 
date: 07/15/2013

The desktop hardware summary via inxi is as follows:

$ inxi 
CPU: Dual Core Intel Core i3-3220 (-MT MCP-) 
speed/min/max: 2035/1600/3300 MHz 
Kernel: 5.10.0-18-amd64 x86_64 
Up: 15m 
Mem: 1489.5/3830.1 MiB (38.9%) 
Storage: 1.82 TiB (2.7% used) 
Procs: 184 
Shell: Bash 
inxi: 3.3.01 

However, the machine's USB ports are working erratically and sometimes the USB flash drive connected to them does not show up.

When I switch on my printer connected to it, it does not connect and I get following output on command sudo dmesg. (It used to connect and work perfectly earlier).

....
....
[  575.791729] usb 1-1.4: new full-speed USB device number 8 using ehci-pci
[  575.875715] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[  576.075717] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[  576.271734] usb 1-1.4: new full-speed USB device number 9 using ehci-pci
[  576.359719] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[  576.555721] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[  576.663769] usb 1-1-port4: attempt power cycle
[  577.271720] usb 1-1.4: new full-speed USB device number 10 using ehci-pci
[  577.687727] usb 1-1.4: device not accepting address 10, error -32
[  577.767724] usb 1-1.4: new full-speed USB device number 11 using ehci-pci
[  578.183741] usb 1-1.4: device not accepting address 11, error -32
[  578.183924] usb 1-1-port4: unable to enumerate USB device

I have tried to attach printer to 3 available USB ports on the desktop and it does not work on any of these.

Is this problem in USB port hardware or software? How can this problem be solved?

Edit:

I opened the PC and saw that there are 4 USB ports at the back attached directly to the motherboard. In addition, there are two USB ports in the front, attached to the motherboard with a cable. All connections seemed tight.

I found that only one USB port is working properly, which is connected to USB mouse of the desktop, while all other 5 are not working. I attached a USB splitter/hub to this working USB port and connected mouse, printer and USB flash drive to it. Now all these are working all right.

It seems there is some problem in motherboard itself and I will need to replace it once this working USB port also stops working!

Answer 1

These messages in general (but not always) indicate some hardware problem. It might be a faulty hub (internal or external), it might be a power shortage on the USB-side (common with USB hubs without external power supply). It might also be a bad contact in a connector.

Sometimes using an external powered USB hub solves the issue. Sometimes contact spray. But if something is broken inside your desktop, more serious repairs may be required.

Answer 2

If your motherboard’s USB ports are non-functional, the best thing you can do right now is to install a PCI expansion board/card that has USB ports on it.

You state this after opening up your desktop PC and checking the USB connections to the motherboard:

“It seems there is some problem in motherboard itself and I will need to replace it once this working USB port also stops working!”

Well, according to Intel’s official specs for the your motherboard, your PC’s motteboard has PCI card expansion slots. If one of them are unused, you can buy a PCI expansion board/card that has USB ports on it and use that instead.

These kinds of PCI expansion cards typically have 2 to 4 USB ports on them and cost from about $10.00 to $19.99 (U.S.).

For that small investment you get 2 to 4 new/working USB ports on this aging machine.