linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic breaks serial communication

I think that this bug report may also be the same issue:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-lts-trusty/+bug/1500860

I also found this which seems like it may be relevant, but I am not a kernel developer so I'm not certain:
https://<email address hidden>/msg136898.html

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Similar issue here - i own a RFXTRX device which internally uses a FTDI USB/serial converter. After update to kernel 3.13.0-65, the software which uses the RFXTRX device ( FHEM ) stops working and hangs while reading from it.

Based on this thread, it looks like the fix is on the way:
https://<email address hidden>/msg137245.html
but I don't know how long these things take to go "live".

Broke Python serial with RFCOMM bluetooth binding.

Problem occured also when using Qt's QSerialPort.

QSerialPort::waitforReadyRead() returns true, bute QSerialPort::readAll() returns no data.

Downgrading kernel version to 3.13.0-63 'fixed' the problem.

Gr. Henk
-----------------
Qt 5.5.0
Linux henklaak-desktop 3.13.0-65-generic #105-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 21 18:50:58 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I also found it first in PySerial, but it affects everything down to the underlying poll() implementation. Demo C code is attached (compile with -Wall -std=gnu99). Under -63 the poll() call blocks for the 1 second it's supposed to, a ping is sent once a second, and if you short pins 2-3 of the serial port the ping loops back and the code starts running I/O bound; pinging as fast as it can until you remove the screwdriver.

Under -65 poll() returns immediately even with nothing to read and the console I/O is the only thing restraining the process.

In short, this is a driver bug, not a Python specific thing, and most likely breaks any code that relies on select, poll, or epoll for serial I/O.

I can confirm that 3.13.0-63 kernel works.

If you rely on this functionality, editing GRUB_DEFAULT to something like "Advanced options for Ubuntu>Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-63-generic" is a graceful way to downgrade kernel in the interim. You can list available kernels with "cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg | grep menuentry". Just run update-grub to apply, then reboot. I'd then recommend subscribing to this bug for updates so you don't forget to revert grub settings once it's fixed.

I didn't have 3.13.0-63 available on my system until I manually installed the packages (linux-headers-3.13.0-63 linux-headers-3.13.0-63-generic linux-image-3.13.0-63-generic linux-image-extra-3.13.0-63-generic linux-signed-image-3.13.0-63-generic).

I have found the "serial" library no longer works in Python.2.7. I discovered this when using Python to read and parse a serial stream from my Arduino Uno based weather station. The Arduino listens in on 433MHz signals from my Oregon Scientific weather station sensors and sends a stream of weather data every minute to the web server via a USB/Serial inerface. The web server has worked well with this system 24/7 for the last 5-6 years and suddenly it is broken on the upgrade to 3.13.0-65-generic kernel. Downgrading the Kernel to 3.13.0-63-generic has worked for me and also I am using Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS as XUbuntu.

Whether it is a problem with Ubuntu or Python or Arduino, I don't know as the latter two may have problems with how the serial interface is initiated or maintained, and the Ubuntu may just have a higher specification now that they can't deal with.

However my Arduino IDE downloads programs and 'listens' to the serial stream from the Uno with 3.13.0-65-generic Ok, So my suspicions is the broken bit is between the kernel and Python???

Here is the Python error message-
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "SerialDemo.py", line 19, in <module>
    dataIn = ser.readline()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 460, in read
    raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)')
serial.serialutil.SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)

I realize my issue is not related to Python but I find the same problem when I use the serial port from Perl using the Device::SerialPort class. My scripts have run for almost 10 years without a problem till the last system upgrade to kernel ending in -65. I find that reverting to kernel ending in -63 the problem does not exist, but it clearly exists under kernel -65...

I concur with the poster above who considers this a bug in the serial port driver or possibly in the kernel's poll() or select() function. For the time being our organization has a policy to not upgrade to any new kernels till this issue is resolved.

We consider this a very very bad bug in the OS... We have been loyal Ubuntu users since 2008 (Ubuntu 8.04) and have been very happy with the distro... I hope that the kernel developers consider this a HIGH PRIORITY issue and repair it by the next kernel release.

Thank you,
Michael Uman

I agree with @rob-gaddi, this appears to be a driver bug. I am running a C application called tunslip, which is provided as part of the Contiki OS distro. select() indicates there are bytes available on &rset even when this is not the case. A subsequent fread() on the serial device returns zero bytes, resulting in an exception.

if you use try and except serial.serialutil.SerialException
 then u dont encounter the error
raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)')

however the output does not synchronize properly

Seems to be fixed in 3.13.0-66.107, which is available for Ubuntu 14.04 now.

Same here. Could not reproduce the issue on 3.13.0-66.108 any more. Cheers

cheers the bug is no more present after latest kernel update

On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 8:50 AM, Sebastian Unger <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Same here. Could not reproduce the issue on 3.13.0-66.108 any more.
> Cheers
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1501345
>
> Title:
> linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic breaks serial communication
>
> Status in linux-lts-trusty package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> Today after updating to the linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic 3.13.0-65
> Kernel on Lubuntu 14.04.3 LTS two different programs that rely on
> PySerial quit working. miniterm.py and my ROS (Robot Operating System)
> based Python node quit working.
>
> When rebooted and selected 3.13.0-63-generic via GRUB everything
> worked again.
>
> Here are the steps to create the issue with miniterm.py, note that you
> need something connected via a USB to Serial adapter for this to work.
> I am working with a Parallax Activity Board, but an Arduino should
> also exhibit the same behavior.
>
> sudo apt install linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic
> sudo apt install linux-image-extra-3.13.0-65-generic
> reboot
>
> $ miniterm.py /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
> --- Miniterm on /dev/ttyUSB0: 115200,8,N,1 ---
> --- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
>
> --- exit ---
> Exception in thread Thread-1:
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 810, in __bootstrap_inner
> self.run()
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 763, in run
> self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)
> File "/usr/bin/miniterm.py", line 220, in reader
> data = character(self.serial.read(1))
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line
> 460, in read
> raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned
> no data (device disconnected?)')
> SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data
> (device disconnected?)
>
> Reverting to the 3.13.0-63 kernel allows miniterm.py and other Python
> Serial based programs to work normally.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-lts-trusty/+bug/1501345/+subscriptions
>

thank u the bug seems to be fixed

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 1:53 PM, bouke <email address hidden> wrote:

> Seems to be fixed in 3.13.0-66.107, which is available for Ubuntu 14.04
> now.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1501345
>
> Title:
> linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic breaks serial communication
>
> Status in linux-lts-trusty package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> Today after updating to the linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic 3.13.0-65
> Kernel on Lubuntu 14.04.3 LTS two different programs that rely on
> PySerial quit working. miniterm.py and my ROS (Robot Operating System)
> based Python node quit working.
>
> When rebooted and selected 3.13.0-63-generic via GRUB everything
> worked again.
>
> Here are the steps to create the issue with miniterm.py, note that you
> need something connected via a USB to Serial adapter for this to work.
> I am working with a Parallax Activity Board, but an Arduino should
> also exhibit the same behavior.
>
> sudo apt install linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic
> sudo apt install linux-image-extra-3.13.0-65-generic
> reboot
>
> $ miniterm.py /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
> --- Miniterm on /dev/ttyUSB0: 115200,8,N,1 ---
> --- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
>
> --- exit ---
> Exception in thread Thread-1:
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 810, in __bootstrap_inner
> self.run()
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 763, in run
> self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)
> File "/usr/bin/miniterm.py", line 220, in reader
> data = character(self.serial.read(1))
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line
> 460, in read
> raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned
> no data (device disconnected?)')
> SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data
> (device disconnected?)
>
> Reverting to the 3.13.0-63 kernel allows miniterm.py and other Python
> Serial based programs to work normally.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-lts-trusty/+bug/1501345/+subscriptions
>

Confirmed. Bug's gone with kernel upgrade to 3.13.0-66.108. Thanks! Can we close this?

I can confirm that my Weather sensors->Arduino->USB->(Python+Apache+XUbuntu) serial communication is back to reporting my weather 24/7 as normal. Your assistance in fixing this quickly for us is greatly appreciated.

I initially encountered the same error on kernel 3.13.0.66 so I m still
investigating if this error comes back to the surface and trying to
recreate what caused so I wud not want the thread to be closed as yet.
Although since the last few trials I haven't encountered the bug again
On 24 Oct 2015 02:35, "Gawarmel" <email address hidden> wrote:

> Confirmed. Bug's gone with kernel upgrade to 3.13.0-66.108. Thanks! Can
> we close this?
>
> ** Changed in: linux-lts-trusty (Ubuntu)
> Status: Confirmed => Fix Committed
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1501345
>
> Title:
> linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic breaks serial communication
>
> Status in linux-lts-trusty package in Ubuntu:
> Fix Committed
>
> Bug description:
> Today after updating to the linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic 3.13.0-65
> Kernel on Lubuntu 14.04.3 LTS two different programs that rely on
> PySerial quit working. miniterm.py and my ROS (Robot Operating System)
> based Python node quit working.
>
> When rebooted and selected 3.13.0-63-generic via GRUB everything
> worked again.
>
> Here are the steps to create the issue with miniterm.py, note that you
> need something connected via a USB to Serial adapter for this to work.
> I am working with a Parallax Activity Board, but an Arduino should
> also exhibit the same behavior.
>
> sudo apt install linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic
> sudo apt install linux-image-extra-3.13.0-65-generic
> reboot
>
> $ miniterm.py /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
> --- Miniterm on /dev/ttyUSB0: 115200,8,N,1 ---
> --- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
>
> --- exit ---
> Exception in thread Thread-1:
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 810, in __bootstrap_inner
> self.run()
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 763, in run
> self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)
> File "/usr/bin/miniterm.py", line 220, in reader
> data = character(self.serial.read(1))
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line
> 460, in read
> raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned
> no data (device disconnected?)')
> SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data
> (device disconnected?)
>
> Reverting to the 3.13.0-63 kernel allows miniterm.py and other Python
> Serial based programs to work normally.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-lts-trusty/+bug/1501345/+subscriptions
>

yes the serial functioning is working properly thnx for ur cooperation

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 1:53 PM, bouke <email address hidden> wrote:

> Seems to be fixed in 3.13.0-66.107, which is available for Ubuntu 14.04
> now.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1501345
>
> Title:
> linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic breaks serial communication
>
> Status in linux-lts-trusty package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> Today after updating to the linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic 3.13.0-65
> Kernel on Lubuntu 14.04.3 LTS two different programs that rely on
> PySerial quit working. miniterm.py and my ROS (Robot Operating System)
> based Python node quit working.
>
> When rebooted and selected 3.13.0-63-generic via GRUB everything
> worked again.
>
> Here are the steps to create the issue with miniterm.py, note that you
> need something connected via a USB to Serial adapter for this to work.
> I am working with a Parallax Activity Board, but an Arduino should
> also exhibit the same behavior.
>
> sudo apt install linux-image-3.13.0-65-generic
> sudo apt install linux-image-extra-3.13.0-65-generic
> reboot
>
> $ miniterm.py /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
> --- Miniterm on /dev/ttyUSB0: 115200,8,N,1 ---
> --- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
>
> --- exit ---
> Exception in thread Thread-1:
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 810, in __bootstrap_inner
> self.run()
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 763, in run
> self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)
> File "/usr/bin/miniterm.py", line 220, in reader
> data = character(self.serial.read(1))
> File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line
> 460, in read
> raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned
> no data (device disconnected?)')
> SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data
> (device disconnected?)
>
> Reverting to the 3.13.0-63 kernel allows miniterm.py and other Python
> Serial based programs to work normally.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-lts-trusty/+bug/1501345/+subscriptions
>

This bug is back in kernel 4.8 series. I'm seeing it in pyserial, using the Cura 2.4 application, on current Ubuntu 16.04 LTS install.