[SOLVED] What is "usb-storage" process?

[Deleted member 143446]

I saw that there are processes called usb-storage programs running in task manager. Does anybody know what is it, what it does? Does killing it affects usb devices which is currently active? Such as swap devices?

 

[SlowCoder]

I saw that there are processes called usb-storage programs running in task manager. Does anybody know what is it, what it does? Does killing it affects usb devices which is currently active? Such as swap devices?

I'm using Mint, and I do not see that process. What distro are you using? Have you tried looking up usb-storage in your package manager for a description?

 

[KGIII]

I think it only pops up when you have a "USB mass storage" device and that it's the driver for that - but don't quote me on any of this. Certain hubs may also appear that way to the system, as well.

 

[bob466]

Maybe you're thinking of USB software...USB Image Writer and USB Stick Formatter which is in Linux Mint.

 

[lofus]

Okay so, I am not getting full information on this so i am just guessing.

You may have a USB device plugged in such as a USB stick, or you could have mounted some storage device partition to your system, try restarting your computer and have a look if its still active, if yes then it tunrs on after boot making it safe to kill it if anything happens to your computer restart it again and it should be active again.

I think that's the only way to find out what it is becuase i don't see that process on my system, sorry I could not help more

 

[Condobloke]

OP has been 'absent' since Saturday last

Input would be good.

Comments are pointless without the information asked for

 

[wizardfromoz]

OP is using Debian 11 'Bullseye', from another thread of his.

He edited his #1 here today.

Wiz

 

[Condobloke]

So he logged in today at 6.06am and didnt bother providing the info asked for

 

[Brickwizard]

This is a short list of inbuilt components that may be connected via the USB bus, it is not conclusive as manufacturers over the years have used the USB Bus as an easy option for lower level transfer of dater for many components.
Keyboard, touchpad, touch screen
audio components, optical drives, card readers, fingerprint readers, webcams,
some older solid state drives [Zif etc]
internal wi-fi cards

 

[wizardfromoz]

Brian, on external connectors, where would a USB modem stand?

Ta

Wiz

 

[Brickwizard]

on external connectors, where would a USB modem stand?

My list was to advise that other components also may be using the USB bus
peripheral components will normally be visible in INXI [this is mine as it stands at the moment]
wizard@Deep-Thought-42:~$ inxi --usb
USB:
Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel ports: 4 rev: 2.0
Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel ports: 6 rev: 2.0
Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 10 rev: 2.0
Device-1: 3-1:2 info: Aveo USB2.0 Camera type: Video,Audio rev: 2.0
Device-2: 3-2:3 info: Silicon Labs USB OPTICAL MOUSE type: Mouse rev: 2.0
Device-3: 3-5:6 info: Realtek RTL8191SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter type: Network
rev: 2.0
Device-4: 3-7:4 info: C-Media Audio Adapter (Unitek Y-247A)
type: Audio,HID rev: 1.1
Device-5: 3-8:5 info: Logitech Keyboard K120 type: Keyboard,HID rev: 1.1
Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.0

Brian

 

[Deleted member 143446]

Sorry for being late, I am back, I post message yesterday night, now I can back due to time diffence btw countries. I am using Debian 11 Bullseye as

wizardfromoz noticed.​

I have dedicated swap partition on usb device connected on usb hub. When I searched from synaptic package manager it shows usb_modeswitch only. How can I learn more details about the processes? I used

$ ps -eaux |grep usb
USER   PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root         143  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    12:57   0:00 [usb-storage]
root         146  0.5  0.0      0     0 ?        S    12:57   0:06 [usb-storage]
root         163  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    12:57   0:00 [usb-storage]
root        2013  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    13:01   0:00 [usb-storage]

nothing more.

I tried to write usb-storage on terminal but nothing found as it.
$ usb-storage
bash: usb-storage: komut yok ( i.e no command).
[Edited, I added ps's titles]
My modem was also USB mobile modem, which was acting abnormal nowadays. Maybe this program is the cause?

 

[Deleted member 143446]

I think I found what is [usb-storage] process in usb_modeswitch man page. It says :

On Linux, in most cases the drivers are available as kernel modules, such as "usbserial" or "option". However, the device shows up as "usb-storage" by default.

usb_modeswitch came as installed with Debian. I used usb_modeswitch only to reset my usb modem device after reading @Lord Boltar 's comment in one of my other post, I did not use it then.

@Brickwizard , I installed inxi and got :

$ inxi --usb
USB:       Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 
           Device-1: 1-1:2 info: SanDisk Ultra Flair type: Mass Storage rev: 2.1 
           Device-1: 4-2.4:7 info: Huawei WCDMA MSM type: Ethernet Network,CDC-Data,Mass Storage rev: 2.0

@SlowCoder ,@lofus says that, they could not see such a process, why do I have it? Does that mean you did not have usb_modeswitch, in other words why do I see it? Do I have to uninstall usb_modeswitch?

 

[Brickwizard]

Code:

$ inxi --usb
USB:       Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0
           Device-1: 1-1:2 info: SanDisk Ultra Flair type: Mass Storage rev: 2.1
           Device-1: 4-2.4:7 info: Huawei WCDMA MSM type: Ethernet Network,CDC-Data,Mass Storage rev: 2.0

You are only showing 2 devices connected, the first being your SanDisk SSD main drive and the second is your Huawie mobile LTE 4 mobile [which also will show as a mass storage device, as it has on board storage for its own use]

 

[SlowCoder]

Did a short test:
No USB devices:

~ $ ps aux | grep usb
geoff     240961  0.0  0.0   6180   712 pts/1    S+   08:36   0:00 grep --color=auto usb

After I installed USB drive:

~ $ ps aux | grep usb
root      241043  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    08:37   0:00 [usb-storage]
geoff     241139  0.0  0.0   6180   712 pts/1    S+   08:37   0:00 grep --color=auto usb

 

[Deleted member 143446]

@Brickwizard there were 2 usbs that temporarily connected but not anymore. So I did checked with another USB connected, I saw there are there process. So number of [usb-storage] processes shows the number of usb connected.
And @SlowCoder, thanks for reply, so having a [usb-storage] is not abnormal ! I feared that my abnormal behaviour of usbmodem is due to that. Thanks. I can marked the thread as solved.

 

[Brickwizard]

So number of [usb-storage] processes shows the number of usb connected.

if you look at my inxi, it shows everything that is connected via the USB bus [hubs], mine doesn't show any mass storage as I have a standard HD and no mobile connections with inbuilt storage, and yes if you whack in a USB pen-drive, or connect a USB optical drive or even an external HD connected via a USB connection adaptor they will show as mass storage.
Sorry I am rambling a bit, but I hope this makes thing's a little clearer.