No Power on ExpressCard USB Ports

I just purchased a new, unopened, ExpressCard to USB 3.0 adapter. It is detected in lspci and lsusb but connected devices aren’t and there is no power delivery. Has anyone ever encountered this before?

[root@Tecra-R850-S8513 ~]# lspci | grep “FL1100”
02:00.0 USB controller: Fresco Logic FL1100 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 10)

[root@Tecra-R850-S8513 ~]# lsusb | grep ‘Bus 003|Bus 004’
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I assume this is the PCIe version of that card.

You probably need a driver for it.
A search such as ‘fresco logic fl1100 usb 3.0 host controller driver linux’ might help you find one and may include more detailed info on how to get it functional.

A more detailed listing of the card info using lspci -v would help to identify the actual chipset and in locating the proper driver.

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately lspci -v doesn’t provide any more useful information. It’s a generic card based on a generic chipset. I was under the impression that if the device listed in both lspci and lsusb that drivers for both the ExpressCard slot and USB host were already loaded. I’m going to throw in an old Windows drive to see if it might be a hardware issue with the laptop itself since I have Windows drivers.

See, that would have been helpful to tell us this was a laptop with the card slots for that device. The device you showed is available in both styles - cards for installation in a desktop and also for use with a laptop.

The issue still seems to be driver related and searching for the driver seems the quickest fix though.

Does ‘lspci -v’ actually only give that one line output or is there more?

What devices are you trying to connect? It’s been a while, but I don’t really remember ExpressCard being able to output much power to devices. If it’s a high-power device (like beyond a keyboard/mouse), the card interface may not be able to supply the requisite power.

I agree with @guiltydoggy . It may be necessary to have a powered usb hub if attaching something that needs more power than available.

Thank you everyone, this is why I love Fedora and opensource in general. Turns out it was user error all along. The way they designed the card it appeared that the USB ports were upside down. I pried the metal lip outward and was able to insert the plugs the correct way. And for anyone curious, this card supplies plenty of power, I have two external 2.5" mechanical hard drives on it with no issues. I now have 6 USB ports on this laptop and will rarely need to use my hub now :smiley: