Webcam not working – usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?

[thinkpaduser_3]

Hi all,

I am having issues with my Thinkpad X1 Carbon 6 running Fedora 35 Linux since a few weeks. My webcam is not detected anymore, furthermore the microphone is not working and bluetooth mouse/keyboard are disconnecting after not using them for a few seconds.
I believe the root of these problems is some issue with an internal USB connection. The kernel repeatedly sends messages like:

[89460.318885] usb 1-8: reset high-speed USB device number 120 using xhci_hcd
[89460.432674] usb 1-8: device descriptor read/64, error -71
[89460.651616] usb 1-8: device descriptor read/64, error -71
[89461.705708] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89462.657656] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89463.609665] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89463.609872] usb 1-8: USB disconnect, device number 120
[89464.593664] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89465.545613] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89465.545795] usb usb1-port8: attempt power cycle
[89466.561663] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89467.513643] usb usb1-port8: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?
[89467.513832] usb usb1-port8: unable to enumerate USB device

My first suspicion was that there is something wrong with my Linux OS, however, I now tried running numerous Linux distributions with different kernels (Fedora 34, Fedora 35, Ubuntu 21, Ubuntu 20 LTS) from a USB stick and they all give the same kernel messages and webcam remains "not detected" (according to Cheese app). To check for potential hardware problems, I ran the full UEFI diagnostics tool but according to that the hardware passes 100% of the tests.

Now I don't know how to further debug this problem. I'm inclined to still suspect that there is actually something going on with the USB hardware because the notebook was dropped some months ago while plugged into power and it fell directly on the cable which left a little kink in the USB connector. The notebook port remained intact (visually) and I am still able to charge it with the same cable. Could this be what causes the problems now? On the other hand, USB 1 port 8 corresponds to the webcam according to dmesg, and not to the power USB-C..

Does anybody have an idea how to go about this problem? Any tipp/suggestion highly appreciated.

Cheers
(full dmesg log attached)

 

[Brickwizard]

The cable that runs from both the web cam and microphone to the usb bus may have become damaged, not too common but I have replaced a few on different makes over the years

 

[thinkpaduser_3]

Hey, thanks for your quick reply! Is there any way to test the cable connection via software so that I can be sure before opening my notebook?

 

[Brickwizard]

If you have inxi installed, you could run inxi -Fnxxx and see if they are shown in the results

 

[thinkpaduser_3]

Hmm so yeah there neither microphone nor webcam show up.. I guess I will have to check the cable then.

 

[X104825]

This problem has occurred on multiple distos by other users too.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

I see in your dmsg you are getting - device descriptor read/64, error -71
Try this

echo Y | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/old_scheme_first

reboot

 

[thinkpaduser_3]

I see in your dmsg you are getting - device descriptor read/64, error -71
Try this

echo Y | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/old_scheme_first

reboot

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately it doesn't fix the issue..

Before checking the webcam cable, I will finally try installing Windows to make sure this isn't a software bug. Keep you updated...

 

[Deleted member 108694]

There is another option -

echo Y | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/use_both_schemes

then reboot

 

[g.guerin]

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately it doesn't fix the issue..

Before checking the webcam cable, I will finally try installing Windows to make sure this isn't a software bug. Keep you updated...

Did you ever solved your problem?? I'm having the exact same issue on the same laptop. Many thanks

 

[rabinnh]

I was also having this issue on a USB 3.2 port with a DVD drive. If this info helps, I attached the cable to a USB 3 to USB-C adapter and plugged into a USB-C port on the same computer and it worked perfectly.