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Sun Ray Software
 

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Applies to:

Purpose

 How to troubleshoot USB Mass Storage with Sun Ray

Troubleshooting Steps

Enter the Main Content

Description
This document gives advice on what to check, if a USB Mass Storage device fails to operate on a Sun Ray ultra-thin client.



Steps to Follow
Checks:

1. Basic checks

It is recommended to go through the basic checks first.

1.1 Sun Ray Server Software(SRS) Checks

1.1.1 Check both the OS and SRS support

The following table shows USB Mass Storage on Sun Ray support matrix.

USB Mass Storage on Sun Ray is ***not supported*** on SRS 1.x or 2.x.
USB Mass Storage was available as an unsupported, unbundled download for SRS 2.x. In SRS 3.x, USB Mass Storage is not supported in CAM mode, but you can use a work-around to enable USB Mass Storage support for your favorite CAM application: http://blogs.sun.com/ThinkThin/entry/cam_mass_storage_workaround

USB Mass Storage on Linux is ***not supported*** on older Linuxes, because the Sun Ray USB mass storage drivers simply do not exist in the current supported Linux releases. This is because of limitations in the 2.4 kernel that those distros (RHAS3, SLES8, JDS2) are based on.

New drivers are available starting with SRS 4.x release for Linux 2.6-based distributions (Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 4.0 u3, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.0 SP 3).

1.1.2 Check if the SRMS packages are installed

On Solaris:

 # /usr/bin/pkginfo SUNWutsto SUNWutstr SUNWutstk
system      SUNWutstk      Sun Ray server mass storage drivers (usr)
system      SUNWutsto      Sun Ray server mass storage software (opt)
system      SUNWutstr      Sun Ray server mass storage configuration (root)

On Linux:

 # /bin/rpm -q SUNWutsto SUNWutstr
SUNWutsto
SUNWutstr
# /sbin/lsmod | grep utdisk
utdisk                 40580  0
utdiskctl              52648  3 utdisk

1.1.3 Check if USB mass storage device access has been enabled

1.1.3.1 SRS 5.x

SRS 5.x, USB mass storage device access can only be either completely enabled, or completely disabled.

 # /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utusbadm
DISABLED

To enable it run

 # /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utusbadm -e
# /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utrestart -c

 # /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utusbadm
ENABLED

1.1.3.2 SRS 5.x

SRS 5.x, the utusbadm command has been deprecated. By default, the USB
services are enabled. Use /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utdevadm command to enable/disable
USB services.

 # /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utdevadm

 Sun Ray Device Service         Status
------------------------------ ------------
internal_serial                enabled
internal_smartcard_reader      enabled
usb                            disabled

To enable it, run

 # /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utdevadm -e -s usb
# /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utrestart -c

 # /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utdevadm

 Sun Ray Device Service         Status
------------------------------ ------------
internal_serial                enabled
internal_smartcard_reader      enabled
usb                            enabled

1.2 Sun Ray DTU Checks

1.2.1 Check Sun Ray DeskTop Unit(DTU) model

 % /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utdesktop -p <mac address> | grep -i model
Model                 = SunRayPx

See also

• Technical Instruction <Document: 1011918.1> "How to find the MAC address of the Sun Ray appliance currently logged into".

1.2.2 Check that the DTU has a firmware from at least SRS 5.x

It may not work with older firmware revisions

 % /opt/SUNWut/sbin/utdesktop -p <mac address> | grep -i firmware
Firmware Revision     = <Revision>

1.3 Connection Checks

1.3.1 General connection checks

Make sure all cables are connected. The USB specification limits the length
of a cable between full speed devices, to 5 meters(16 feet, 4.85 inches).
Make sure the cable is not longer.

For troubleshooting, do not use USB-Repeater or USB-Line-Extender.

1.3.2 USB hubs

USB hubs can be bus powered(they get the power by the USB cable) or self
powered(they get the power by an external power supply unit).

If connected to a self-powered USB hub, ensure the hub is connected correctly, and has power.

Do not use a bus-powered hub between the storage device and the DTU, because a
USB port can offer only max. 500 mA, and there are many USB devices which
require up to 500 mA when fully operational. In the worst case, it can result in
data corruption if a bus-powered hub is used.

For troubleshooting, we recommend connecting the USB device directly rather than using a USB hub in between.

1.4 Mass Storage Checks

1.4.1 Check if the mass storage is a supported device

Sun Ray Server Software 5.x on Solaris supports the use of Flash Disks (e. g.
Memory Sticks), Memory Card Readers, Zip drives, and Hard Drives on Sun Ray
DTUs. SRS 5.x does not support floppy drives.

Sun Ray Server Software x.0 on Solaris does support CD and DVD drives.

Go to http://http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/sunrayproducts/docs/index.html for a list of mass
storage devices that have been verified by Oracle. Select 'Sun Ray Peripherals List' to get list in pdf format.

1.4.2 Check if your mass storage has a supported file system

Supported file systems are UFS and PCFS.

Note: FAT/FAT32 partitions and UFS slice names have a suffix to them to denote traditional SunOS slices, e.g. disk1s0, disk1s6.
disk1s2 is the backup slice (full disk, similar to c3t0d0s2 in /dev/dsk).

See also:

• http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/sun-ray-193669.html

2. Checks for a Specific Problem

It is recommended to go through the basic checks first, even if there is a specific problem.

2.1 Mount Problems

You plugged in a flash disk at your Sun Ray appliance, and nothing happened.

Here is how to find out what went wrong.

2.1.1 Check, if a mount point has been created under $DTDEVROOT/mnt

 % cd $DTDEVROOT/mnt
% pwd
/tmp/SUNWut/sessions/60/mnt
% ls -d disk*
disk6/
% ls -la disk*
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root   root   28 Jan 14 12:35 disk2 -> /tmp/SUNWut/mnt/guest/noname

2.1.2 Did the mass storage service (utstoraged) create device links in $UTDEVROOT/dev/dsk ?

 % cd $UTDEVROOT/dev/dsk
% pwd
/tmp/SUNWut/sessions/60/unit/dev/dsk
% ls -la
total 48
drwxr-xr-x   2 root     other     181 Jan 14 12:35 .
drwxr-xr-x   4 root     root      238 Jan 14 12:35 ..
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root     other     72 Jan 14 12:35 disk6p0 ->
../../devices/usb@1/hub@1/JetFlash,Mass_Storage_Device@6:8

If device links exist, but the device is not mounted, it is possible that
the disk does not have a Solaris OS recognizable filesystem on it. This could be
because:

• It has a FAT or FAT32 filesystem that Solaris PCFS does not understand
• It has no filesystem. Format the disk, and create new filesystem using mkfs
  in this case

If device links do not exist, it could mean that the disk is running a USB
protocol not recognized by utstoraged. If utstoraged was started up with debug
turned on (utstoraged -D 20 is default beta startup level), look for the
following messages in utstoraged.log.

• USB sub-class 0x.. not supported
• USB protocol 0x.. not supported

You will have to wait for a future release of utstoraged to implement the remaining USB protocols.

2.1.3 Is the mass storage service up and running ?

 # ps -ef | grep utstoraged
root 18473 18471  0 12:34:39 ?        0:00 /opt/SUNWut/lib/utstoraged -r
root 18474 18473  0 12:34:39 ?        0:00 /opt/SUNWut/lib/utstoraged -r
root 18471     1  0 12:34:39 pts/7    0:00 /bin/ksh -p /opt/SUNWut/lib/utlog -o /var/opt/SUNWut/log/utstoraged.log

If the daemons are not running, start up services with:

 # /etc/init.d/utstorage start
starting mounter service
starting storage service

2.1.4 Is the mounter daemon is up and running ?

 # ps -ef | grep utmountd
root 18470 18469  0 12:34:39 pts/7    0:00 /opt/SUNWut/lib/utmountd
root 18469     1  0 12:34:39 pts/7    0:00 /bin/ksh -p /opt/SUNWut/lib/utlog -o /var/opt/SUNWut/log/utmountd.log

If the daemon is not running, start up services with:

 # /etc/init.d/utstorage start

 starting mounter service

2.2 Write Problems

If there are problems writing on the mass storage, check if it has hardware
write protection enabled. Search for a little plastic switch on memory sticks,
for example.

2.3 Performance Problems

2.3.1 Slow-, Full- and High-speed USB devices

Sun Ray 2FS has three USB 2.0 ports supporting only USB 1.1.
All Sun Ray 3 appliances support USB 2.0 with a design data rate of 480Mbit/s.
Note. Improved performance obtained with SRS 5.3 enhanced EHCI usb driver.
The new USB 3.0 is not currently supported.

2.3.2 Accessing Large File Systems

Sun Ray Mass Storage is intended for low data rate and low duty cycle uses.
For example, personal storage of small files, file transfer to/from disconnected
computers, archival storage/retrieval of modest amounts of data would be
appropriate uses. Attempting to use USB mass storage on a Sun Ray to mount a
huge general use file system or a sizeable production database is not appropriate.

2.3.3 Latency

The Sun Ray USB protocol is tuned for low latency and does not perform well
in other environments.

2.3.4 Low bandwidth environments

Using USB mass storage devices in a Sun Ray low bandwidth environment works
over non-NAT connections, and is fine for limited use, within the limitations
imposed by the low available network bandwidth. At 300-1000 Kbit/s, it would
take a long time to write a sizeable amount of data, which could also impact
graphics performance of all user sessions sharing the same connection or line to
the Sun Ray server.

2.3.5 Other potential hardware issues

Do not use USB hubs unless externally powered. See also 1.3.2.

2.4 Unmount Problems

2.4.1 Device is busy

 % /opt/SUNWut/bin/utdiskadm -r disk1
utdomount: /tmp/SUNWut/mnt/guest/unamed: Device busy
utdiskadm: unmount /tmp/SUNWut/mnt/guest/unnamed failed

 % pwd
/tmp/SUNWut/mnt/guest/unnamed

Place the working directory outside the mounted directory to fix the problem
above.

 % cd /
% /opt/SUNWut/bin/utdiskadm -r disk1
disk1 is ready for unplugging

2.5 Sync Problems

If your Palm won't sync with the Sun Ray, do the following:

  # cd /usr/sfw/lib/libusb_plugins
# ln -s /opt/SUNWut/lib/libusbut.so.1 libusbut.so

3. Log Files

3.1 Check the logs for errors

Have a look in the log files. Sometimes there is useful information which can
narrow down the problem.

• utstoraged dumps messages to /var/opt/SUNWut/log/utstoraged.log
• utmountd dumps messages to /var/opt/SUNWut/log/utmountd.log
• The kernel modules dump messages to /var/adm/messages
• Run /opt/SUNWut/bin/utdiskadm -s as root to see a list of stale mount points

3.2 Set debug levels

• utstoraged debug level can be set by editing /etc/init.d/utstorage and setting the value for -D
• utmountd debug level can be set by editing /etc/init.d/utstorage and setting the value for -D
• Kernel module debug level can be set by changing the value of the utdebug property in /usr/kernel/drv/utdiskctl.conf and
  reloading the module as follows
  o /etc/init.d/utstorage stop
  o /usr/sbin/modinfo | grep utdisk (to find module ID)
  o /usr/sbin/modunload -i <utdisk_module_id>
  o /usr/sbin/update_drv utdiskctl
  o /usr/sbin/update_drv utdisk
  o /etc/init.d/utstorage start

Appendix

References:
o http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/sunrayproducts/docs/index.html
o http://www.usb.org
o So you actually wanted to use your iPod with Solaris 10?!

Abbreviations:
o DTU Desktop Unit
o GA General Availability
o NAT Network Address Translation
o OS Operating System
o PCFS Personal Computer File System
o SRMS Sun Ray Mass Storage
o SRSS Sun Ray Server Software
o USB Universal Serial Bus

Product
Sun Ray Server 5.x
Sun Ray Server Software (SRS) 5.x
Sun Ray 2FS Virtual Display Client
Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client
Sun Ray 2 Virtual Display Client

Sun Ray 3 Virtual Display Client
Sun Ray 3i Virtual Display Client
Sun Ray 3+ Virtual Display Client

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