Solution for USB Dongle not appearing in FPP for colorlight card

[Scottishsurfer]

I thought I'd share how I fixed the issue regarding my USB Dongle not appearing in FPP unless removed and reinserted.  It was so frustrating as I am using my PI4 to control my p5 matrix.  The pi only has one Network card, so you must use a USB dongle to connect to the colorlight card.  Every time I rebooted the pi, it would not recognize my usb dongle unless I unplugged it and reinserted it.

My Setup:

• Raspberry pi4 connected to a colorlight card with a Realtech USB Dongle.

What was happening?

On boot, the USB dongle was getting recognized as a storage device. I checked by

fpp@P5-Panel[/$[lsusb

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:8151 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8151 Adapteon Business Mobile Networks BV
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 05e3:0626 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

The results from above on my device shows my Realtek USB LAN adapter's info is: idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8151

If you need to install usb_modswitch:

sudo apt install usb_modeswitch

I then use the Vendor id and product id in the command below.  The -R will reset the USB device once it switches from storage to Ethernet Adapter.

sudo usb_modeswitch -v 0bda -p 8151 -R

Now check that your USB dongle is now being recognized as an Ethernet Adapter.

fpp@P5-Panel: lsusb
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 05e3:0626 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
us 001 Device 003: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
us 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
us 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub[

You are almost done, but FPP will still not recognize the USB device until you restart Fpdd.  It you restart fppd and it works, next is to automate this on boot.

To make the command run every time your Raspberry Pi boots up, you can add it to a startup script. Here's how you can do that:

Open the rc.local file for editing:

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add your command above the exit 0 line:

sudo usb_modeswitch -v 0bda -p 8151 -R 

Save the file by pressing CTRL + X, then Y, and Enter.  The last part is to set the fppd delay:  FPP SETTINGS >> SYSTEM >> FPPD Boot Delay.  I use 10secs.
Reboot your Raspberry Pi to test:

sudo reboot

Now your USB dongle will be recognized correctly and no more unplugging/plugging in again.  Enjoy.

[darylc]

Thanks.  This is likely USB dongle specific.  Some USB ethernet dongles will work out of the box, others are hard like this one.

The other alternative is to use the in-built Pi Ethernet port for colorlight (if your pi is 3B+, 4, or 5 with Gigabit Ethernet) and using wifi to receive fpp sync packets from a player.

[Scottishsurfer]

Thanks.  This is likely USB dongle specific.  Some USB ethernet dongles will work out of the box, others are hard like this one.

The other alternative is to use the in-built Pi Ethernet port for colorlight (if your pi is 3B+, 4, or 5 with Gigabit Ethernet) and using wifi to receive fpp sync packets from a player.

Totally agree, mine is a Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.  I also just wanted to document this in case anyone else has this issue as Chatgpt was hopeless troubleshooting, sending me down a rabbit hole, and the forums just said to buy a new dongle.

[darylc]

the forums just said to buy a new dongle.

In reality that is probably the best solution for 99% of fpp end-users