Pi4 not booting after power cycle with multiple USB disks since eeprom update on Aug 22, 2025

[hungaborhorvath]

Describe the bug

I have a Raspberr Pi 4 in an Argon One M.2 case with an M2 SSD in the case, and 3 external drives attached via a powered USB3 HUB. The Pi is powered by the official power supply. There is only one boot partition in the four drives altogether, which is on the M2 drive in the case.

Before the 2025 Aug 22 update to the latest eeprom, the Pi booted properly with this setup. After that update, it can't boot up from a power loss. The led is stable green, not blinking at all.
If I remove the powered USB3 HUB, the pi4 boots up as it should. Then I can reattach the powered HUB with the 3 external drives after boot and use the system as normal.

I use the Pi4 headless, but for trying to diagnose this, I plugged a monitor to it. I shut it down, then pulled the power cable out then plugged it in, and the monitor did not power up, nor did the Pi4 boot up. Led was solid green. When I removed the USB3 HUB, power cycled it, and the Pi4 booted properly. Interestingly, when I plugged in the USB3 HUB and rebooted the pi4 using the reboot command, it successfully rebooted. Then when shut down and did a full power cycle, again, no boot, not even monitor getting power. Led is solid green.
Only could boot up if first I unplugged the USB 3 HUB, and then Pi4 booted properly.

I did one more eeprom update to latest on September 9, 2025, but the behaviour is not corrected.

Happy to provide more details as needed, though the Pi4 is not easily accessible physically, but have easy remote access to give outputs of commands, etc.

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

See in the description above, power cycle does not boot up, gives solid green light, no HDMI output, either. Removing the USB3 HUB and the Pi4 boots up with the M2 SSD in the Argon ONE M2 case.

No issues before the Aug 22 update for the eeprom.

Device (s)

Raspberry Pi 4 Mod. B

Bootloader configuration.

rpi-eeprom-config
[all]
BOOT_UART=0
WAKE_ON_GPIO=1
POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=0

System

cat /etc/rpi-issue
Raspberry Pi reference 2023-12-05
Generated using pi-gen, https://github.com/RPi-Distro/pi-gen, 70cd6f2a1e34d07f5cba7047aea5b92457372e05, stage5

vcgencmd bootloader_version
2025/08/27 19:57:12
version 000d3ca289ae790a2e46225eb11b319c67642b1a (release)
timestamp 1756321032
update-time 1757372477
capabilities 0x0000007f

vcgencmd version
Apr 30 2025 13:33:39
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 5560078dcc8591a00f57b9068d13e5544aeef3aa (clean) (release) (start)

uname -a
Linux raspberrypi4-db 6.12.34+rpt-rpi-v8 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.12.34-1+rpt1~bookworm (2025-06-26) aarch64 GNU/Linux

Bootloader logs

I may not be tech-savvy to do this UART thing I'm afraid. There was no HDMI diagnostics screen, the monitor didn't even boot up.

USB boot

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 174c:1156 ASMedia Technology Inc. Forty
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 3.10
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 9
idVendor 0x174c ASMedia Technology Inc.
idProduct 0x1156
bcdDevice 1.00
iManufacturer 2 Argon
iProduct 3 Forty
iSerial 1 0000000000E4
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0079
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xc0
Self Powered
MaxPower 0mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 1
bNumEndpoints 4
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 98
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
MaxStreams 32
Data-in pipe (0x03)
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
MaxStreams 32
Data-out pipe (0x04)
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
MaxStreams 32
Status pipe (0x02)
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x04 EP 4 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 0
Command pipe (0x01)

Bus 002 Device 006: ID 1058:25a2 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Elements 25A2
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 3.10
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 9
idVendor 0x1058 Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
idProduct 0x25a2 Elements 25A2
bcdDevice 10.21
iManufacturer 1 Western Digital
iProduct 2 Elements 25A2
iSerial 3 575854314135384B4441534A
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x002c
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 896mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15

Bus 002 Device 005: ID 1058:25a2 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Elements 25A2
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 3.10
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 9
idVendor 0x1058 Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
idProduct 0x25a2 Elements 25A2
bcdDevice 10.21
iManufacturer 1 Western Digital
iProduct 2 Elements 25A2
iSerial 3 57584B314136384E59455043
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x002c
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 896mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15

Bus 002 Device 004: ID 1058:2655 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Elements SE SSD
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 3.20
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 9
idVendor 0x1058 Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
idProduct 0x2655
bcdDevice 60.02
iManufacturer 2 Western Digital
iProduct 3 Elements SE SSD
iSerial 1 323132375053343030373335
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0079
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 896mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 1
bNumEndpoints 4
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 98
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
MaxStreams 32
Data-in pipe (0x03)
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
MaxStreams 32
Data-out pipe (0x04)
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 15
MaxStreams 32
Status pipe (0x02)
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x04 EP 4 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0400 1x 1024 bytes
bInterval 0
bMaxBurst 0
Command pipe (0x01)

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2109:0811 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 3.00
bDeviceClass 9 Hub
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 3
bMaxPacketSize0 9
idVendor 0x2109 VIA Labs, Inc.
idProduct 0x0811 Hub
bcdDevice 31.98
iManufacturer 1 VIA Labs, Inc.
iProduct 2 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x001f
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xc0
Self Powered
MaxPower 8mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0 Full speed (or root) hub
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 19
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Feedback
wMaxPacketSize 0x0002 1x 2 bytes
bInterval 8
bMaxBurst 0

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 3.00
bDeviceClass 9 Hub
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 3
bMaxPacketSize0 9
idVendor 0x1d6b Linux Foundation
idProduct 0x0003 3.0 root hub
bcdDevice 6.12
iManufacturer 3 Linux 6.12.34+rpt-rpi-v8 xhci-hcd
iProduct 2 xHCI Host Controller
iSerial 1 0000:01:00.0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x001f
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 0mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0 Full speed (or root) hub
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0004 1x 4 bytes
bInterval 12
bMaxBurst 0

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.01
bDeviceClass 9 Hub
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 1 Single TT
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x2109 VIA Labs, Inc.
idProduct 0x3431 Hub
bcdDevice 30.98
iManufacturer 0
iProduct 1 USB2.0 Hub
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0019
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 0mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0 Full speed (or root) hub
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0001 1x 1 bytes
bInterval 12

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.10
bDeviceClass 9 Hub
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 1 Single TT
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x2109 VIA Labs, Inc.
idProduct 0x3431 Hub
bcdDevice 4.21
iManufacturer 0
iProduct 1 USB2.0 Hub
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0019
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 100mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0 Full speed (or root) hub
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0001 1x 1 bytes
bInterval 12

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 9 Hub
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 1 Single TT
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x1d6b Linux Foundation
idProduct 0x0002 2.0 root hub
bcdDevice 6.12
iManufacturer 3 Linux 6.12.34+rpt-rpi-v8 xhci-hcd
iProduct 2 xHCI Host Controller
iSerial 1 0000:01:00.0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0019
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 0mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 9 Hub
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0 Full speed (or root) hub
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0004 1x 4 bytes
bInterval 12

NVMe boot

The drive is not NVME

Network (TFTP boot)

This should not be applicable.

[lurch]

Might be worth testing to see what happens with just the USB hub connected, but nothing else plugged into the hub? And the same thing but with only one USB drive connected to the hub, rather than all 3 drives?

[timg236]

The issues appears to be power related.

In general, we can't debug USB / hardware interop issues without clear logs indicating a possible software issue. Will leave this issue for a bit longer before closing it as can't reproduce.

[hungaborhorvath]

Haven't had a chance to do any more targeted debugging on this, yet.

Just now I updated the eeprom with the Oct 14 version, rebooted from software, and the pi didn't boot up. So apparently, it happens on soft reboots, as well, not just on hard reboots. I removed the USB stuff, and then it booted up.

I have a few other Pi4 dedicated power supplies, and one for the Pi5, I can try and see if changing to any of them helps. I would be somewhat surprised, though, because the USB drives are all on an externally powered HUB. I'll give it a try, though, maybe at boot they take away some current....

I'll see if I can also do the test with only a few of the USB drives plugged in. That's a harder thing to check, as those drives are hidden behind tons of other stuff I need to move first in order to get to them. :-)