MTP Media Transfer > Windows Explorer "USB device not recognised" with USB3

REPRODUCIBILITY: 100% (on Windows desktop) 0% (on Tumbleweed laptop)
OS VERSION: Win10 64 (10.0.19044) Sailfish (4.4.0.68)
HARDWARE: Xperia 10 iii
UI LANGUAGE: English
REGRESSION: Yes (compared to existing XA2 Plus phone which continues to connect fine)

DESCRIPTION:

Connecting to Win10 desktop via MTP Media Transfer mode generates a generic Windows device connection “ping”, followed by a notification pop-up from Windows Explorer saying “USB device not recognised”
Checking Device Manager the Xperia 10 iii is listed under [Universal Serial Bus Controllers] with a warning sign and “Unknown USB Device (Configuration Descriptor Request Failed)”

When connecting my XA2 Plus (also running 4.4.0.68) via MTP Media Transfer mode it connects with no issues. Same USB port, same USB cable.
Checking Device Manager the Xperia XA2 Plus is listed under [Portable Devices] as an “Xperia XA2 Plus -Dual Sim”

n.b. Using the same cable on a laptop running Opensuse Tumbleweed, both devices will connect fine.
n.b. This same Desktop / Windows / USB port / Cable was able to connect to the phone fine as part of the Sailfish flashing process.

PRECONDITIONS:

This occurs regardless of whether i try with the device as it was originally recognised under Device Manager:
[Universal Serial Bus Controllers] with a warning sign and “Unknown USB Device (Configuration Descriptor Request Failed)”
Or if I reconnect after having chosen to Uninstall that unknown USB device from Device Manager.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:

  1. Attach USB cable
  2. Select “Media Transfer (MTP)” mode

EXPECTED RESULT:

As per my experience with the XA2 Plus over three and a half years and five major SFOS versions:

  1. Attach USB cable
  2. Select “Media Transfer (MTP)” mode
  3. Generic Windows device connection “ping”
  4. Windows explorer window opens on device \root

ACTUAL RESULT:

  1. Attach USB cable
  2. Select “Media Transfer (MTP)” mode
  3. Windows notification informs “USB device not recognised”
  4. Listed in Device Manager as “Unknown USB Device (Configuration Descriptor Request Failed)”

MODIFICATIONS:

Clean install of 4.4.0.68 on a brand new Xperia 10 iii checked as finctional in android before flashing.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Q - might this have something to do with the fastboot driver installed as part of the flashing process?
i.e. It is no longer the device Windows recognised it to be before flashing.

I’ve literally just started to suffer a very similar problem. I spent hours last night using SDK, this morning I fired it up and my Xperia did not wake up, I blamed the phone.

Further investigation reveals it is the USB ports on the left side of my PC. Looking in Task Manager, I notice an exclamation mark in USB which says: "Unknown USB device (Port Reset Failed). A few times I got the “Unrecognised” warning you mention, but after removing and reinstalling the USB hub of my PC, I still have an exclamation mark but my Xperia is now recognised/connected and allowing builds in SDK with success.

My PC is 10 years old now, so I guess it’s about time for hardware failures to arise.

Thank you.

Taking your suggestion - it occurred to me that i was using the case USB ports, so I did try using the same cable via a motherboard USB port instead.

I saw the same behaviour:

Connecting to Win10 desktop via MTP Media Transfer mode generates a generic Windows device connection “ping”, followed by a notification pop-up from Windows Explorer saying “USB device not recognised”

When connecting my XA2 Plus (also running 4.4.0.68) via MTP Media Transfer mode it connects with no issues. Same USB port, same USB cable.

I also tried a USB TypeC port on the back of my motherboard and got slightly different behaviour:

Connecting to Win10 desktop the phone does not present the choice of Media Transfer (MTP) / Charging only, instead i get a little notification at the top of the screen that the device is now charging.

When connecting my XA2 Plus (also running 4.4.0.68) via MTP Media Transfer mode it connects with no issues. Same USB port, same USB cable.

I then tried using the original cable on another Windows PC, and it worked:

When connecting my 10 iii via MTP Media Transfer mode it connects with no issues. We see the expected behaviour in the OP.

When connecting my XA2 Plus (also running 4.4.0.68) via MTP Media Transfer mode it connects with no issues. Same USB port, same USB cable.

So, it’s something about this desktop (hardware/software), with this device (my new 10 iii). Which brings me back to my question:

Q - might this have something to do with the fastboot driver installed as part of the flashing process?
i.e. It is no longer the device Windows recognised it to be before flashing.

To follow up: I have just uninstalled the Host Controller for my USB hub (when I say hub, I actually mean the 4 USB ports on my laptop, not an actual USB hub. The Device Manager calls the USB ports a “Root Hub” under USB controllers). Upon updating it with a “suggested” driver offered from within Windows Update. The exclamation mark has now gone. Perhaps to try uninstalling the Host Controller for your USB system and updating it through Windows Update?

I don’t think the fasboot driver is anything to do with the current problem, but that is just a semi-educated guess.

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May have been a USB3 issue.
Tried it again on a USB2 socket (on the 10 iii after a re-flash) and it connects fine.

Update - Marked as “Solution”, but still not delighted that the new 10 iii takes issue with a host of USB ports that my other SFOS and android phones have never had issue with in years of use…

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Cool, glad you got sorted, another mini-mystery cleared up, for now :slight_smile:

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Can confirm, 10 iii v4.4.0.72 does not work with any of the USB3 of Win11, installed hub w/ USB2 port - MTP works on that port. Works on USB3 in developer mode and can transfer files with scp like that. Jolla, please fix. (I haven’t done a bug report, shame on me.)

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I renamed the title to understand faster the problem.

For me, the problem persists since version 4.4.0.68, now I have 4.4.0.72.
Using USB 2 instead of USB 3 didn’t help either. Previously, my MPT connection worked flawlessly.

EDIT:
In Ubuntu 22.04 there is this listing after connecting the device

[ 6080.960894] usb 2-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 20 using xhci_hcd
[ 6080.982304] usb 2-4: New USB device found, idVendor=0fce, idProduct=0afe, bcdDevice= 2.23
[ 6080.982309] usb 2-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 6080.982312] usb 2-4: Product: Xperia 10 III
[ 6080.982314] usb 2-4: Manufacturer: Sony
[ 6080.982315] usb 2-4: SerialNumber: --------------
[ 6080.984552] usb 2-4: Enable of device-initiated U1 failed.
[ 6080.985069] usb 2-4: Enable of device-initiated U2 failed.
[ 6080.985423] usb-storage 2-4:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 6080.985621] scsi host1: usb-storage 2-4:1.0
[ 6081.997644] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Linux    File-Stor Gadget 0419 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 6081.998548] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[ 6081.998726] sd 1:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred
[ 6081.999179] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Media removed, stopped polling
[ 6082.001487] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[ 6084.984510] usb 2-4: USB disconnect, device number 20
[ 6085.296600] usb 2-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 21 using xhci_hcd
[ 6085.318025] usb 2-4: no configurations
[ 6085.318040] usb 2-4: can't read configurations, error -22
[ 6085.520705] usb 2-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 22 using xhci_hcd
[ 6085.541632] usb 2-4: no configurations
[ 6085.541647] usb 2-4: can't read configurations, error -22
[ 6085.548491] usb usb2-port4: attempt power cycle
[ 6086.476610] usb 2-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 23 using xhci_hcd
[ 6086.498198] usb 2-4: no configurations
[ 6086.498212] usb 2-4: can't read configurations, error -22
[ 6086.700894] usb 2-4: new SuperSpeed USB device number 24 using xhci_hcd
[ 6086.722006] usb 2-4: no configurations
[ 6086.722020] usb 2-4: can't read configurations, error -22
[ 6086.728252] usb usb2-port4: unable to enumerate USB device

Thanks for the report @PeegeeTips. I’ve created an internal bug report for this and tagged it as tracked. It would be helpful if you could elaborate a little on what happened here. If I’m understanding correctly:

XA2 <—USB2—> Laptop : works fine
XA2 <—USB3—> Laptop : works fine
10III <—USB2—> Laptop : works fine
10III <—USB3—> Laptop : doesn’t work

Is this correct?

At any rate, I’ve created an internal issue about this and will do my best to come back here with any updates.

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Desktop (MSI X570 Tomahawk Wifi), but yes. This is correct.

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Hi, am also affected by this USB3 problem with my 10III. Quite a disappointment as I used an XA2+ before and it worked like a charm. No USB2 at hand here unfortunately. Is there hope for a solution in the near future? Even a dirty hack would be super useful.

updating he agesa chipset drivers helped in my situation.

i have a fancy high bandwidth USB3 cable that still doesn’t work from a generic case usb3 port, but the same port works fine using a cheap (usb2?) cable…

Thanks @PeegeeTips , I’m using Ubuntu 22.04 and the system is up to date and works like a charm with the XA2+ using the same cables. It is related to the phone but at some point, I’m sure, there will be a solution.

1 Like

Just noticed (I’ve been using scp over USB3) that MTP works now with USB3 without any changes in hardware configuration since my reporting of it working only if I put a USB2 hub in
between. Windows 11 have received, of course multiple updates both from M$ and from the PC manufacturer (Dell). SFOS is now 4.5.0.24 on my Xperia 10 iii. This is must better solution than the “use USB2”, IMO. I do not know what actually fixed it, though…

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To follow up from my previous comments, I decided to remove the drivers for USB and reinstall the original drivers that came with the laptop, since then, I have not seen the “device not recognised” pop-up.

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