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Serious Problems With USB and Ethernet On the Raspberry Pi
First time accepted submitter rephlex writes "The USB controller used in the Broadcom BCM2835 (which is the SoC the Raspberry Pi uses) has buggy drivers which have been causing problems for many of its users. In addition to this, the Pi can only supply an unusually low amount of current to its USB devices, just 140 mA approximately, and using a powered hub to sidestep this limit exacerbates the issues caused by the USB drivers. Even Ethernet is affected as the Ethernet controller used on the Raspberry Pi is connected to the SoC via USB. This has resulted in packet loss and even total loss of network connectivity in certain situations. Attempts have been made in the past to fix the buggy USB drivers as there are other devices which use this problematic controller. None of these attempts seem to have achieved very much."
A buggy driver (which can be fixed) is hardly a "serious problem" - give it time, distros and drivers are still progressing on the RasPi
you get what you pay for...in this case, a $35 tiny little board not designed by a company with QA capabilities... Big surprise it has problems...not.
It's a hacker tool - so hack it until it works.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I've had two Raspberry Pi's running side-by-side since June and I did initially experience 'network choke' as described but it was from improperly powering my Pi's. I was using a 5v microUSB adapter but with too low of an amp draw. Pay particular attention to what you're using as a power source would be my first bit of advice.
My second bit is a bit of a rip FTFA. The quote "As I said, the Pi is currently being worked over by a crowd of skilled techno-people" is a bit of a stretch. I'd say maybe20% of Pi users actually have their shit together with enough well-rounded-ness of hardware/EE/development in their background to be productive with the Pi. The other 80% are just trying to use this device as a $35 desktop replacement who want to try and hook up 4 1TB SATA devices to it, followed a long with a board load of "pamper-me" forum posts that will make a self-respective real "geek" nauseated.
Issues like this are seen ALL the time in the 'real hardware engineering world', and they are worked out. Let's not be so quick to judge this device all the time, and see the Pi for what it is: A very easy-to-work-with low cost ARM platform that far beats out the overheard of working with any SBC or emebedded hardware platform that would need JTAG, flash map, kernel/bootloader support to get going ...on your own.
Nobody would ask "what is the resistance of your fuse at 100mA?
Nobody except an engineer who is attempting to design something that will work properly.
Can't they have the healthy attitude of accepting the flaws exist and be helpful to those looking for solutions? is it too much to ask?
Well, it's complicated. There are a few very prolific malcontents who were following up on every. damn. thread. they could shoehorn themselves into ranting about how this is yet another failing of the foundation ...
The foundation, for their part, seem to be noobs when it comes to moderating forums, and haven't yet gotten the hang of carefully proportioned response.
Both sides kinda suck and are turning this into more drama and less collaboration than would be ideal.