USB 2.0 Features
This Solaris release includes the following USB 2.0 features:
Better performance -
Increased data throughput for devices connected to USB 2.0 controllers, up
to 40 times faster than USB 1.1 devices.
You will be able to take advantage of the high-speed USB protocol when
accessing high-speed mass storage devices, such as DVDs and hard drives.
Compatibility - Backward
compatibility with 1.0 and 1.1 devices and drivers so that you can use the
same cables, connectors, and software interfaces.
For a description of USB devices and terminology, see Overview of USB Devices.
USB 2.0 Devices Features and Compatibility Issues
USB 2.0 devices are defined as high-speed devices that follow the USB
2.0 specification. You can refer to the USB 2.0 specification at http://www.usb.org.
Some of the USB device that are supported on SPARC based and x86 based
systems in this Solaris release are as follows:
Mass storage devices - CD-RWs, hard disks, DVD, digital
cameras, Zip, diskettes, and tape drives
Keyboard, mouse devices, speakers and microphones
Audio devices
For a full listing of USB devices that have been verified on the Solaris
release, go to:
http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/USB.html
Additional storage devices might work by modifying the scsa2usb.conf file. For more information, see the scsa2usb(7D)
man page.
Solaris USB 2.0 device support includes the following features:
Increased USB bus speed from 12 Mbps to 480 Mbps. This increase
means devices that support the USB 2.0 specification can run significantly
faster than their USB 1.1 counterparts, when they are connected to a USB 2.0
port.
A USB 2.0 port is defined on SPARC and x86 systems as follows:
A port on a USB 2.0 PCI card
A port on a USB 2.0 hub that is connected to USB 2.0 port
x86 only - A system USB
port, assuming that it has a USB 2.0 port on the motherboard
USB 2.0 is Solaris Ready on all PCI-based platforms. A USB
2.0 PCI card is needed to provide USB 2.0 ports. For a list of USB 2.0 PCI
cards that have been verified for the Solaris release, go to http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/USB.html.
USB 1.1 devices work as they have in the past, even if you
have both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices on the same system, except as noted
below.
Note - USB 1.1 devices will not operate when connected to a USB 2.0 hub
that is connected to a USB 2.0 port.
While USB 2.0 devices operate on a USB 1.x port, their performance
is significantly better when connected to a USB 2.0 port.
Most USB 2.0 host controllers have one high-speed Enhanced
Host Controller (EHCI) and one or more low- or full-speed OpenHCI Host Controller
(OHCI) embedded controllers. Devices connected to a USB 2.0 port are dynamically
assigned to either an EHCI or OHCI controller, depending on whether or not
they support USB 2.0.
Some USB 2.0 host controllers have one EHCI and one or more
low- or full-speed Universal Host Controller (UHCI) embedded controllers.
Low- and full-speed devices may be used with ports on these host controllers
without issues. While high-speed devices connected to these ports might work
as such, use of such devices on these ports is not recommended.
Note - USB 2.0 storage devices connected to a port on a USB 2.0 PCI card,
and that were used with a prior Solaris release in the same hardware configuration,
can change device names after upgrading to this release. This change occurs
because these devices are now seen as USB 2.0 devices and are taken over by
the EHCI controller. The controller number, w in /dev/[r]dsk/cwtxdysz,
is changed for these devices.
For more information on USB 2.0 device support, see the ehci(7D) and usba(7D) man pages.
USB 2.0 Cables
Bus-Powered Devices
Bus-powered hubs use power from the USB bus to which they are connected,
to power devices connected to them. Special care must be taken to not overload
these hubs, since the power these hubs offer to their downstream devices is
limited.
Do not cascade bus-powered hubs. For example, do not connect
one bus-powered hub to another bus-powered hub.
Avoid connecting bus-powered devices to bus-powered hubs,
except for low-speed, low-power devices, such as keyboards or mice. Connecting
high-powered devices such as disks, speakers, or microphones to a bus-powered
hub could cause power-shortages for all devices connected to that hub. This
scenario could cause these devices to behave unpredictably.
USB Mass Storage Devices
All USB storage devices in this Solaris release are now accessed as
removable media devices. This change has the following advantages:
USB storage devices with standard MS-DOS or Windows (FAT)
file systems are now supported.
You can use the user-friendly rmformat
command instead of the format command to format and partition
all USB storage devices. If the functionality of the format
command is needed, use the format -e command.
You can use the fdisk command if you need
to do fdisk-style partitioning.
Non-root users can now access USB storage devices, since the
root-privileged mount command is no longer needed. The
device is automatically mounted by vold and is available
under the /rmdisk directory. If a new device is connected
while the system is down, do a reconfiguration boot with the boot
-r command so that vold recognizes the device.
If a new device is connected while the system is up, restart vold. For more information, refer to the vold(1M)
and scsa2usb(7D) man pages.
Disks with FAT file systems can be mounted and accessed. For
example:
mount -F pcfs /dev/dsk/c2t0d0s0:c /mnt
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All USB storage devices are now power managed, except for
those that support LOG SENSE pages. Devices with LOG SENSE pages are usually SCSI drives connected through a USB-to-SCSI
bridge device. In previous Solaris releases, some USB storage devices were
not power managed because they were not seen as removable media.
Applications might work differently with USB mass storage
devices. Keep the following issues in mind when using applications with USB
storage devices:
Applications might make incorrect assumptions about the size
of the media since only smaller devices like diskettes and Zip drives were
removable previously.
Requests by applications to eject media on devices where this
would be inapplicable, such as a hard drive, will succeed and do nothing.
If you prefer the behavior in previous Solaris releases where
not all USB mass storage were treated as removable media devices, then you
can force the old behavior by updating the /kernel/drv/scsa2usb.conf file.
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