Hello @kdickerson, this is quite an abnormal issue report. Best guess is that you're encountering a kernel bug which is causing the usb controller to reset and is aggravated by Steam.
If possible, please update to Linux Mint 19.2 and test a newer kernel release.
I just updated to Mint 19.2 and switched to the 5.3.0-19 kernel. Steam showed an "installing update" window when that happened, but it still shows the same build version, so presumably it just reinstalled a kernel module or something?
Have had Steam open for a few minutes now and the USB devices have been disconnected twice.
Been running through any experiments I can think of.
My USB devices are all connected to the hub built in to my monitor, which connects to a USB 3 port on my motherboard.
I have 2 devices:
Webcam and LUR connected to monitor.
Unable to use mouse or keyboard, webcam activity unaffected
LUR same as in 1. Additional Lenovo Mouse/Keyboard dongle connected to monitor.
Unable to use either mouse or keyboard
Both connected to monitor but swapped which USB port each used.
Unable to use either mouse or keyboard; however there was a delay between the two sets becoming unusable (just a few seconds, probably not relevant).
LUR same as in 1. Lenovo dongle connected to motherboard via USB 3.
Unable to use LUR mouse/keyboard. Able to use Lenovo mouse/keyboard
LUR connected to motherboard via USB 3. Lenovo dongle connected to monitor.
Unable to use Lenovo mouse/keyboard. Able to use LUR mouse/keyboard.
LUR, webcam, and Lenovo dongle connected to monitor. Monitor connected to motherboard via USB 2 port instead of USB 3
So far I have had no issues with this arrangement (~10 minutes of poking around Steam). I will leave this arrangement in place (well, I'll disconnect the Lenovo dongle) and will definitely add a new comment if I do run into the issue again with this arrangement.
So it looks a lot like the issue involves the monitor's hub being connected via USB 3. It's a Dell U2415. Running lsusb identifies the hub as "Texas Instruments, Inc. TUSB8041 4-Port Hub".
I wiped out my Steam installation and reinstalled with no change in behavior.
I've only ever had the issue within the library, but it also opens to that page and the issue usually happens within a few seconds so that may be irrelevant.
Still no clue why the Steam client is triggering this issue. It has worked perfectly for years so it seems to definitely have been something in the recent update.
I started having a USB stick disconnecting on one port at about that same time and thought it was an application. After some time it happened again and I did more testing.
For me it was also happening in Windows so I new the port or cable was having a problem which I've never seen before. I suppose these problems could be a bug in the bios as well.
For now, I'm not using that port and its all good, but it can be a bit disorienting to figure out what the cause is.
For all we know here, Steam could be doing something not related to USB but that thing does affect/use USB and then triggers it. So difficult to say.
Same here in Fedora. Steam Linux disconnects my keyboard (but not my mouse) and it would happen randomly but not often (once out of 20 times, maybe). Physically disconnecting and reconnecting the keyboard is not working which forces me to restart the computer.
This same thing is happening for me upon opening Steam on Windows 10. Disconnects my Logitech MX Vertical mouse.
I have pretty much the same issue here! After opening the steam.exe file my mouse started disconnecting and coming back.. Before that everything were okey.
Over Here on EndeavourOS, Have tested on the latest ZEN kernel aswell as a linux-tkg build based off of Linux 6.4, also having logitech mouse disconnect when starting steam.
Same issue on Windows 10. I have mouse & keyboard connected via a USB Hub, but only the mouse disconnects and I have to physically remove and plug it back in to recover. It doesn't always happen either, only sometimes upon launcing steam.
Nothing extracted yet.
Your system information
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
Describe what you expected should happen and what did happen. Please link any large code pastes as a Github Gist
As of the most-recent client update (which deployed the new library UI) running the Steam client will cause USB devices to disconnect (in particular, my Logitech, USB-dongle, wireless mouse and keyboard). Which is rather annoying.
I can restore connectivity by physically disconnecting and reconnecting the USB dongle, but it can recur. Since it kills my mouse and keyboard there's not much I can do to investigate the issue when it's happening. However, if needed I could SSH in to poke around if there's something in particular to poke at.
I think it has happened every single time I've opened Steam since the update, sometimes multiple times in one "session" (meaning opening Steam once and having the issue occur more than one time before closing Steam).
It has never happened while in a game launched via Steam, only while the client was open standalone. It has never happened when Steam was not open and usually happens within a few seconds of opening Steam. It has happened after closing a game launched from Steam while Steam was still open waiting for cloud syncs to complete. If I open Steam and then close it again within a few seconds the issue doesn't happen.
I don't see anything particularly interesting in system logs. Syslog shows the USB devices being disconnected with entries like:
"usb 10-1: USB disconnect, device number 2" and "acpid: input device has been disconnected, fd 10"
I was also unable to find anything interesting in the Steam logs found at ~/.steam/steam/logs.
Steps for reproducing this issue: