You could use a kernel parameter or you can create the option with
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/usbcore.conf
add
options usbcore autosuspend=-1 #prevent USB auto-suspend for new USB devices
Ctrl + o then enter to save the file
Ctrl + x to exit nano
For what its worth I’ve never had a good time with USB DACs combined with Hubs. If you can avoid the hub it’d be better or have a powered hub as usually power ends up being the issue.
I’m assuming the hub is likely USB 2 or Early 3 at 10yrs which means you don’t have much power headroom. Around 500ma us the spec which with a DAC + other devices isn’t much.
A friend of mine does Audio production and in the past 15yrs has tried many times to use DACs with hubs and it ends in problems every time.
EDIT: my experience with it is usually the DAC will drop off the bus when its not getting good power delivery
I agree, problems could happen when a digital stream needs lots of computing power and the DAC is really under powered, but not if it’s just powered and not decoding anything, the power supply current is not the cause.
DACs havent done decoding for over a decade if not 2. CPUs do all the work the DAC just does the digital → analog. You can decode a 24bit flac, DSD 256, etc on a 1ghz ARM11 CPU sipping power processing audio is so easy.
DACs can draw a decent amount of power and if youre running it off a non powered hub with other devices you can very easily hit the limit and have devices drop off the bus. There is a reason most audio enthusiasts dont recommend running hubs and if you have to it needs to be powered. Decoding isnt the issue with audio, its converting/amplifying the signal without crapping on it which is what DAC/AMPs do (well, hopefully not always lol) and that requires more power than processing the audio does. The modie 3E is a DAC/AMP combo not JUST a DAC.
EDIT: my bad i mixed the modi 3E with the fulla somehow, but still stand it uses more power than processing audio does.
EDIT2: The modi power brick is rated at 8w so likely we are looking at around 3-6w for the Modie3E assuming the power brick is over spec by a good chunk. The USB2 spec can deliver 2.5w and early USB3 4.5w. The hub being 10yrs old its one of those and accounting for component age the likelihood of a power delivery issue is much higher. If its anything like my Motu M4 itll demand the full 500ma of the USB 2.0 spec and want a dedicated port (how much it uses of that idk but thats what it wants)
I would say that youd want a new and powered HUB for a DAC. Powered hubs can deliver the proper requested power to alll the connected devices which non powered ones (especially old ones) have issues with.
nah, unless youre running an interface with many In/Out USB2.0 is just fine for the data. I would spring for a new HUB thats powered with decent reviews at the very least for any DAC you run. Its possible this one is bad but old/not powered hubs dont help. I tried to run my old Focusrite 2i2 off a non powered usb2 hub and it kept dropping off the bus
@33Nicolas i just noticed youre on an old FX system, what USB3 chipset does that gigabyte board use and are you plugging the DAC into it? Some old USB3 chipsets can be problematic with certain devices.
EDIT: had to look it up, try adding the kernel parameter iommu=soft to the kernel command line.
My bad, I should have wrote converting instead of decoding, anyway, when a DAC is connected to a computer with no signal to convert, the power consumption is the most weak and is irrelevant for hardware detection by the OS.
Don’t know what you call “power brick”, but the Modi 3E is a simple DAC with unbalanced outputs and no amplification stage.
Modi can also be powered from the Wall with an optional “wall wart” / power brick from Schiit
Yes, I know, but it seems they don’t sell devices with 5V USB output :
https://www.schiit.com/products/wall-warts
I just checked with my Topping E50 (balanced output+display+volume control), no problem being powered with an USB3.0 port from my old computer.
I’m not questioning the motherboards usb power, I’m questioning a 10yr old HUBs power delivery along with have other devices on the same port.
A single usb2 port will power any single DAC around that isn’t expecting usb3 power. Having multiple devices with that DAC on an old hub on an old computer can lead to power issues in a non powered hub. I’ve had it happen to me personally with the kernel complaining which is the only reason I knew why my 2i2 kept dropping at the time.
It looks like the hub is not used for anything than the DAC.
If that’s the case probably not power.
After I noticed its an old FX system though I think its more likely to be general usb issues those systems run in to. Depending on the usb chipset for USB 3 and if OP is using the usb3 ports it may require workarounds.
The iommu usb issue is pretty common on those with VIA chipsets
Quick question, do I add “options usbcore autosuspend=-1” anywhere?
Sadly, I don’t know how to do this 
Wow, so plugging in directly to the computer is the best way. It still doesn’t see it, but I haven’t rebooted about usbcore.conf. I have it powered from the wall and the USB source selected.
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 045e:0823 Microsoft Corp. Classic IntelliMouse
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 413c:2107 Dell Computer Corp. KB212-B Quiet Key Keyboard
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
I’m assuming you’re running a default install with grub so you’ll need to run this in terminal
sudoedit /etc/default/grub
That will open the file in nano in the terminal. You’ll need to navigate with the arrow keys to the end of this line
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX
It’ll have a bunch of stuff in inside quotes " " and at the end inside quotes you’ll add
`iommu=soft usbcore.autosuspend=-1’
In example (yours will be different)
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=“quiet splash iommu=soft usbcore.autosuspend=-1”
Press Ctrl+X to save, it’ll ask to save it with you needing to press Y+Enter, then press Enter again to save.
In terminal run
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
To regenerate your grub and reboot to have things take effect
Not the best way, I was just testing (on UB3.0 and USB2 later) if it brings enough power and it did, I use a wall charger power supply for my DAC.
Its best in some cases, the wall wart / power brick from Schiit is for people with noisy usb power or weak usb (some older HP systems I.e are terrible). Its just an option for testing right now.
In their how-to-use, they say that once plugged into a USB source, it should be enough to power the DAC. I’m assuming my computer has USB 3, it is only 5 years old.
It does but the usb 3 chipset on it is problematic (via chipset + bulldozer platforms are weird)
Don’t use the blue ports/usb 3 for your DAC use the usb2 ports