USB device (keyboard or mouse) shows in `lsusb` but does not work if it is the second USB device to be plugged in

Question

I've been having a strange issue the past couple of months where the second USB device to be plugged into my laptop is unresponsive, despite showing up in lsusb and dmesg seemingly without issue.

This is the case with both my USB mouse and USB keyboard. Whichever device is plugged in first (to either USB port, it does not seem to matter which) will be recognised instantly and work without issues. The second device to be plugged in also shows up in lsusb and dmesg but does not respond to input at all.

Here is the output of lsusb after plugging in my keyboard (working fine) and then my mouse (not responsive):

[mindtree@mindtree ~]$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 04f3:2356 Elan Microelectronics Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1532:0220 Razer USA, Ltd Blade Stealth (2016)
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:579f Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0cf3:e300 Qualcomm Atheros Communications 
Bus 001 Device 016: ID 1a2c:2124 China Resource Semico Co., Ltd         <-- keyboard
Bus 001 Device 018: ID 046d:c05a Logitech, Inc. M90/M100 Optical Mouse  <-- mouse
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

And here is the output of dmesg | tail:

[ 9358.624908] input: SEM USB Keyboard Consumer Control as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.1/0003:1A2C:2124.0018/input/input58
[ 9358.681734] input: SEM USB Keyboard System Control as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.1/0003:1A2C:2124.0018/input/input59
[ 9358.681902] hid-generic 0003:1A2C:2124.0018: input,hidraw6: USB HID v1.10 Device [SEM USB Keyboard] on usb-0000:00:14.0-2/input1
[ 9360.874780] usb 1-1: new low-speed USB device number 22 using xhci_hcd
[ 9361.018780] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c05a, bcdDevice=63.00
[ 9361.018786] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 9361.018790] usb 1-1: Product: USB Optical Mouse
[ 9361.018793] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Logitech
[ 9361.023264] input: Logitech USB Optical Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.0019/input/input60
[ 9361.023673] hid-generic 0003:046D:C05A.0019: input,hidraw7: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Logitech USB Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:14.0-1/input0

I've checked that this bug still occurs when there are no discrepencies between the installed version of the kernel and the one with which the system last booted:

[mindtree@mindtree ~]$ uname -r
4.18.12-arch1-1-ARCH
[mindtree@mindtree ~]$ pacman -Q linux
linux 4.18.12.arch1-1

This happens both when my laptop is plugged into power and when it is not.

Rebooting my machine with both devices plugged in reliably detects them both and they are both responsive once logged into GNOME.

Occasionally this bug does not occur at all, however it occurs more often than not and I can't seem to track down the cause. For instance just now the bug stopped appearing however I haven't done anything to the system other than type into this text box since I last unplugged them and plugged them back in again.

My laptop is a Razer Blade Stealth running Arch Linux and Gnome 3.30.1:

• Memory: 15.6 GiB
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz × 4
• Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 620 (Kaby Lake GT2)
• OS Type: 64-bit
• Disk: 503.0 GB

Edit: I just got to work and the problem occurred again, so this time I checked the more detailed journalctl logs:

Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: usb 1-1: new low-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c05a, bcdDevice=63.00
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: usb 1-1: Product: USB Optical Mouse
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Logitech
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: input: Logitech USB Optical Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.000E/input/input46
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: hid-generic 0003:046D:C05A.000E: input,hidraw7: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Logitech USB Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:14.0-1/input0
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree mtp-probe[7510]: checking bus 1, device 17: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1"
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree mtp-probe[7510]: bus: 1, device: 17 was not an MTP device
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7509]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/c189:16' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7509]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/+usb:1-1:1.0' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7509]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/+hid:0003:046D:C05A.000E' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.000E'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7509]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/+input:input46' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.000E/input/input46'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7524]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/c13:35' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.000E/input/input46/mouse3'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) config/udev: Adding input device Logitech USB Optical Mouse (/dev/input/mouse3)
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7509]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/c13:87' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.000E/input/input46/event23'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) config/udev: Adding input device Logitech USB Optical Mouse (/dev/input/event23)
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (**) Logitech USB Optical Mouse: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'Logitech USB Optical Mouse'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7523]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/+hid:0003:046D:C05A.000E' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/0003:046D:C05A.000E'
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-logind[445]: Failed to save session data /run/systemd/sessions/2: No space left on device
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event23 13:87 fd 58 paused 0
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (**) Logitech USB Optical Mouse: always reports core events
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event23"
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree kernel: rfkill: input handler enabled
Oct 15 10:47:13 mindtree systemd-udevd[7523]: failed to create db file '/run/udev/data/c189:16' for '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1'
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (EE) libinput bug: udev device never initialized (/dev/input/event23)
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (EE) client bug: Invalid path /dev/input/event23
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (EE) libinput: Logitech USB Optical Mouse: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event23
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "Logitech USB Optical Mouse"
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (II) systemd-logind: releasing fd for 13:87
Oct 15 10:47:16 mindtree systemd-logind[445]: Failed to save session data /run/systemd/sessions/2: No space left on device
Oct 15 10:47:18 mindtree nautilus[7452]: invalid (NULL) pointer instance
Oct 15 10:47:18 mindtree nautilus[7452]: g_signal_handlers_disconnect_matched: assertion 'G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE (instance)' failed
Oct 15 10:48:27 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: (EE) event19 - Synaptics TM2438-005: kernel bug: Touch jump detected and discarded.
Oct 15 10:48:27 mindtree /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[721]: See https://wayland.freedesktop.org/libinput/doc/1.12.1/touchpad-jumping-cursors.html for details

This at least gives some more info on the gdm-x-session logs which seem to claim that no input driver specified, ignoring this device. I'll look into this error and report back.

Answer 1

Facepalm

It seems that once upon a time while attempting to setup a backup HDD I accidentally began writing backup data to /run/media/$USER/BackupData while the volume was not actually there... In turn there was a dump of random backup data in the run filesystem clogging it up. After rming this backup data I plugged in my mouse again and it seems to work without issues! I suspect this also fixes another bug I was running into where the permissions on USB storage devices would change mysteriously.