Ubuntu 16 and a Mediasonic ProBox HDL-SU3

I've been fighting with constant disconnects and random behavior of a Mediasonic ProBox HDL-SU3 external USB hard drive enclosure on Ubuntu 16. Switching to a later kernel seemed to make the problem less frequent, but it still exists. At least the kernel didn't hang anymore. I eventually noticed and tracked down the problem to USB UAS support. This is the culprit.

Create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-uas.conf and add the following line to blacklist the Mediasonic ProBox HDL-SU3.

options usb-storage quirks=2109:0711:u

Update the initramfs and reboot.

sudo update-initramfs -u

This should stop problems like the following.

[31135.658211] usb 1-4: USB disconnect, device number 11
[31135.658778] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev sdd, sector 0
[31135.663116] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdd] Synchronizing SCSI cache
[31135.738745] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev sdd, sector 0
[31135.742719] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev sdd, sector 3905159168
[31135.742727] Buffer I/O error on dev sdd1, logical block 488144896, lost sync page write
[31135.742748] JBD2: Error -5 detected when updating journal superblock for sdd1-8.
[31135.742755] Aborting journal on device sdd1-8.
[31135.742777] JBD2: Error -5 detected when updating journal superblock for sdd1-8.
[31135.766709] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdd] Synchronize Cache(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[31136.078659] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 12 using ehci-pci
[31136.216556] usb 1-4: New USB device found, idVendor=2109, idProduct=0711
[31136.216565] usb 1-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[31136.216569] usb 1-4: Product: USB3.0 SATA Bridge
[31136.216571] usb 1-4: Manufacturer: VIA Labs,Inc.
[31136.216574] usb 1-4: SerialNumber: 000000000024
[31136.219469] scsi host9: uas
[31136.222329] scsi 9:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ST4000DM 000-1F2168       CC54 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[31136.224874] usb 1-4: USB disconnect, device number 12
[31136.225174] sd 9:0:0:0: tag#0 uas_zap_pending 0 uas-tag 1 inflight: CMD 
[31136.225181] sd 9:0:0:0: tag#0 CDB: Test Unit Ready 00 00 00 00 00 00
[31136.226701] sd 9:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[31136.342680] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Read Capacity(16) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[31136.342687] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense not available.
[31136.462657] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[31136.462665] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense not available.
[31136.546661] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[31136.546670] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[31136.586695] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed
[31136.586703] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[31136.814632] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Read Capacity(16) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[31136.814639] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense not available.
[31136.934640] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[31136.934647] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense not available.
[31137.134603] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk
[31137.418594] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[31137.557942] usb 1-4: New USB device found, idVendor=2109, idProduct=0711
[31137.557947] usb 1-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[31137.557949] usb 1-4: Product: USB3.0 SATA Bridge
[31137.557951] usb 1-4: Manufacturer: VIA Labs,Inc.
[31137.557952] usb 1-4: SerialNumber: 000000000024
[31137.559177] scsi host10: uas
[31158.665817] scsi 10:0:0:0: tag#0 uas_eh_abort_handler 0 uas-tag 1 inflight: CMD 
[31158.665825] scsi 10:0:0:0: tag#0 CDB: Inquiry 12 00 00 00 24 00
[31158.665840] scsi host10: uas_eh_bus_reset_handler start
[31158.777452] usb 1-4: reset high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-p
[31163.889097] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31179.104217] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31179.320220] usb 1-4: reset high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[31184.431903] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31199.647083] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31199.863184] usb 1-4: reset high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[31210.270468] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 13, error -110
[31210.382493] usb 1-4: reset high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[31220.789891] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 13, error -110
[31220.789964] scsi host10: uas_eh_bus_reset_handler FAILED err -19
[31220.789971] scsi 10:0:0:0: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery
[31220.790008] usb 1-4: USB disconnect, device number 13
[31220.901881] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 14 using ehci-pci
[31226.014066] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31241.228758] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31241.444748] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 15 using ehci-pci
[31246.556493] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31261.771904] usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31261.987637] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 16 using ehci-pci
[31272.395239] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 16, error -110
[31272.507069] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 17 using ehci-pci
[31282.914493] usb 1-4: device not accepting address 17, error -110
[31282.914518] usb usb1-port4: unable to enumerate USB device
[31283.230491] usb 4-4: new full-speed USB device number 2 using ohci-pci
[31288.366230] usb 4-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31303.605445] usb 4-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31303.845978] usb 4-4: new full-speed USB device number 3 using ohci-pci
[31308.981114] usb 4-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31324.220313] usb 4-4: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[31324.460291] usb 4-4: new full-speed USB device number 4 using ohci-pci
[31334.867726] usb 4-4: device not accepting address 4, error -110
[31335.003716] usb 4-4: new full-speed USB device number 5 using ohci-pci
[31345.411230] usb 4-4: device not accepting address 5, error -110
[31345.411308] usb usb4-port4: unable to enumerate USB device

Instead, you should see something similar to the following in the kernel showing that the device has been blacklisted in the UAS driver.

[   43.639056] usb 11-2: UAS is blacklisted for this device, using usb-storage instead