The Linux Kernel In 2018 Finally Deems USB 3.0 Ubiquitous Rather Than An Oddity

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Linux Kernel In 2018 Finally Deems USB 3.0 Ubiquitous Rather Than An Oddity

The latest news in the "it's about darn time" section is the Linux kernel's default i386/x86_64 kernel configurations will finally ship with USB 3.0 support enabled, a.k.a. CONFIG_USB_XHCI_HCD...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-Default-USB-3.0-XHCI

[Chewi]

You say that but I still only have one USB 3 device, a hard drive that is connected to an ARM board with only USB 2.

[uid313]

Is there anything that needs to be enabled for USB 3.1, 3.2, and Type-C?

[Spazturtle]

Is there anything that needs to be enabled for USB 3.1, 3.2, and Type-C?

No, 3.1 and 3.2 will also now be enabled. USB-C has always been enabled since it was added, USB-C has nothing to do with USB versions.

[jpg44]

Eh, what, you've got to be kidding. Linux is just getting around now to turn on USB 3.0 by default? USB 3.0 stuff has been on the market for YEARS, probably i've been seeing USB 3 hard drives for about 4 years now. And they are JUST NOW getting around to enabling it? Absolutely pathetic. Furthermore, USB2 is way too slow for todays 4 TB hard drives, it would take far too long to copy a lot of data to or from such a drive. USB 3 is a must have feature and has been for years. Get with the times, Linux.

[Weasel]

Eh, what, you've got to be kidding. Linux is just getting around now to turn on USB 3.0 by default? USB 3.0 stuff has been on the market for YEARS, probably i've been seeing USB 3 hard drives for about 4 years now. And they are JUST NOW getting around to enabling it? Absolutely pathetic. Furthermore, USB2 is way too slow for todays 4 TB hard drives, it would take far too long to copy a lot of data to or from such a drive. USB 3 is a must have feature and has been for years. Get with the times, Linux.

It's only half as slow at worst, since the bottleneck on USB3 HDDs is the hard drive itself. But most external HDDs aren't so fast to begin with. Get with the facts.

[Brisse]

About time. My main desktop has ZERO USB < 3.0 since about one and a half year back.

[Shaman666]

This only affects you if you make your own kernels. Most people do not. Not only that, if you are making your own kernel, you're almost certain to be knowledgable enough to turn on USB 3.x features. I agree that it should have been default for some time now, but this is really, really a non-issue.

[schmidtbag]

I'm confused... do most popular distros enable XHCI by default? Because for several years, I've never had issues using USB 3.x controllers with the increase in bandwidth.

Also just as a side note, I think it'd be great if Phoronix had a monthly "it's about darn time" section, which are basically major milestones throughout Linux (or just open-source) history consisting of things people have been wanting for years.

[[email protected]]

It's only half as slow at worst, since the bottleneck on USB3 HDDs is the hard drive itself. But most external HDDs aren't so fast to begin with. Get with the facts.

Well, my slowest USB3 HDD do ~90MB/s, the fastest 170MB/s. In a USB2 port the best I can rope is ~45MB/s.

So is painful to do transfers on USB2 when you get accustomed to USB3. In fact, I had chosen a used T430 over a T420 just because of the dual USB3 ports, even when they were stupidly recessed on the chassis.