Ubuntu won't start with "device descriptor read/64, error -32", what does this message mean?

Question

I am running Ubuntu 12.04 on my computer. Yesterday I tried to change the splash screen according to the instructions here here.Then I installed gdm. After that I restarted the computer and the splash screen was changed. I enabled automatic login. Then I restarted again and went into windows 7 and again came back to Ubuntu.
This time Ubuntu was stuck up at a black screen with the following message:

                                    Ubuntu 12.04  
                                ....*starting virtualBox kernel modules       [OK]
*stopping cold plug devices       [OK]
                                  [OK]*Stopping log initial device creation 
                                  [OK]*Starting configure network device security  
                                  [OK]*Starting save udev log and update rules  
                                  [OK]*starting configure virtual network devices
                                  [OK]*Stopping configure virtual network devices 
                                  [OK]*Stopping save udev log and update rules [OK]

                                      *Starting Network connection manager wicd 
    *Starting the winbind daemon winbind                                            [OK]S
aned disabled:edit /etc/default/saned                                               [OK]S
tarting HWActivator *[done]
                               *Starting TiMidity++ALSA midi emulation...          [OK][ 
23.184121] usb 1-1.5:device descriptor read/64, error -32
[23.359845]usb 1-1.5:device descriptor read/64, error -32

I have reinstalled Ubuntu now, but I just want to know what caused the problem.

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 13 '17 at 21:59

5

[23.359845]usb 1-1.5:device descriptor read/64, error -32

This is a hardware error you see it with some USB device. Is at random as it could get.

USB has an over-current protection, which gets triggered when power consumption from the port is too high. (Triggering this error)

You can try unplugging all devices and trying again after a minute or two.

Sources:

edited Mar 13 '17 at 21:59

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answered Sep 05 '13 at 11:56

Braiam

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I tried by removing all USB devices but Ubuntu didn't start. – M.Tarun Sep 05 '13 at 12:11
@M.Tarun then the underlying issue wasn't the USB, but since you reinstalled we will never know. Anyways, I edited your question so it will be on the scope of the answer I was going to give: what the message means, not why the system didn't boot. – Braiam Sep 05 '13 at 12:14
When I pressed the power button it said stopping TiMidityALSA++ emulation and killed all processes and then turned off. – M.Tarun Sep 05 '13 at 12:21
If you have such problem, this could be a BIOS bug resolved by upgrading BIOS. – Croll Jul 03 '16 at 14:57
Do you know where the meaning of these error codes can be found? – doetoe Sep 11 '17 at 00:35
See here or here. – mirh Nov 13 '20 at 14:35
I've found that a bad cable can cause this, sometimes with the cable working fine with other things. – Frotz Feb 10 '24 at 20:01

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered May 15 '19 at 12:04

I have installed the XCP-NG server in one laptop and my system was not booting either due to this error: USB 3-1 device descriptor read/64, error 32

I tried a lot of things. Even disconnecting the USB ports.

Until I recalled that I have removed the default SR repository for Xen. So I went to check the /etc/fstab file

[root@xcpserver2 ~]# cat /etc/fstab
LABEL=root-jvgtod    /         ext3     defaults,noatime   1  1
LABEL=swap-jvgtod          swap      swap   defaults   0  0
LABEL=logs-jvgtod    /var/log         ext3     defaults,noatime   0  2
/opt/xensource/packages/iso/XenCenter.iso   /var/xen/xc-install   iso9660   loop,ro   0  0

The default SR repository was trying to get the content of the last line. I tried to comment it and it worked!! :) I concluded that this error it also showing when there is a problem at the /etc/fstab file. I hope it helps!

So, my /etc/fstab file looks like this now and it solved the issue:

[root@xcpserver2 ~]# cat /etc/fstab
LABEL=root-jvgtod    /         ext3     defaults,noatime   1  1
LABEL=swap-jvgtod          swap      swap   defaults   0  0
LABEL=logs-jvgtod    /var/log         ext3     defaults,noatime   0  2
#/opt/xensource/packages/iso/XenCenter.iso   /var/xen/xc-install   iso9660   loop,ro   0  0

Ubuntu won't start with "device descriptor read/64, error -32", what does this message mean?

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