Add how to disable a USB device to the FAQ?

Clyde

Hi,

I just stumbled upon my own post about how one can disable a USB device. While adding it to my own bookmarks for future reference, I wondered if it would be a useful addition to the FAQ. Here's a slightly polished version:

How can I disable a USB device without disconnecting it?

USB devices can be disabled via usb authorisation in udev. For example, this udev rule will disable a Mayflash Wireless Wii U Adapter:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0079", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1800", ATTR{authorized}="0"

The values for idVendor and idProduct can be determined by the command lsusb in the Retropie console. Alternatively, the following command line will show them for a particular joystick device /dev/input/jsX.

udevadm info -q all -n /dev/input/js0 | grep 'VENDOR_ID\|MODEL_ID'

To disable the device, put your vendor and model ids as idVendor and idProduct values in the above udev rule and save it in the text file /etc/udev/rules.d/60-disabled_devices.rules (the name between 60- and .rules is arbitrary). That should disable the usb device on the next reboot or after running the command sudo udevadm trigger.

To re-enable the device, just delete the file or change the value "autorized" to 1.

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In code:

**How can I disable a USB device without disconnecting it?**

USB devices can be disabled via usb authorisation in udev. For example, this udev rule will disable a Mayflash Wireless Wii U Adapter:

```
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0079", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1800", ATTR{authorized}="0"
```
The values for idVendor and idProduct can be determined by the command ```lsusb``` in the Retropie console. Alternatively, the following command(s) will show them for a particular joystick device (js…).
```
udevadm info -q all -n /dev/input/js0 | grep 'VENDOR_ID\|MODEL_ID'
```
To disable the device in question, put your vendor and model ids as idVendor and idProduct values in the above udev rule and save it in the text file `/etc/udev/rules.d/60-disabled_devices.rules` (the name between `60-` and `.rules` is arbitrary). That should disable the usb device on the next reboot or after running the command ```sudo udevadm trigger```.

To re-enable the device, just delete the file or change the value "autorized" to `1`.

Please tell me your thoughts about it. With overall approval, I would add it to the FAQ myself.

Cheers
Clyde

cyperghost

@Clyde nice Christmas present
Useful for scripts

Clyde

@cyperghost Thanks, and also for the reminder to put it in the FAQ! 😳😊

Clyde

I added it to https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/FAQ, but my link to the entry doesn't work. The page doesn't jump down to the entry.

Could someone with more knowledge of the wiki please fix that? Thanks!

chipsnblip

@Clyde thanks for your contribution. i did some minor cleanup, hope it's to your liking. i'm not too convinced it's a frequently asked question, but i can definitely see how it would be useful. there should be a tips & tricks article or something, so that cool stuff like this doesn't get buried in the forums :)

Clyde

@chipsnblip Great, thanks! Could you please tell me why my link in the topic list wouldn't lead down to my topic? It does now, so I guess you did something to it.

The FAQ was the best place for it I could find for such information that isn't related to any of the other wiki articles.

chipsnblip

@Clyde it was missing the triple hash ###. i cleaned up some other anchor links in that article that were broken as well, you can see my revisions here: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/FAQ/_history

Clyde

@chipsnblip Argh, I thought there was something wrong with the link, but the target was the problem. 😳

Again, thanks!

edit: typo