Fix Ubuntu and other Linux slow/hanging file copying via USB.

linux-usb-file-copy-fix.md

If your running a x64 bit Ubuntu or other Linux and find USB transfers hang at the end apply this fix:

echo $((16*1024*1024)) > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes
echo $((48*1024*1024)) > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes

I suggest you edit your /etc/rc.local file to make this change persistant across reboots.

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Go to the bottom of the file and leave a space then paste in those two lines.

Save the file with ctrl + x then press y.

To revert the changes enter this in console and remove the lines in /etc/rc.local

echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes

More info and references: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/107703/why-is-my-pc-freezing-while-im-copying-a-file-to-a-pendrive/107722#107722

for those who dont have /etc/rc.local can use this:
sudo sysctl -w vm.dirty_bytes=50331648
sudo sysctl -w vm.dirty_background_bytes=16777216

is this persistent or do i have to apply this every boot?

For this to be persistent on Ubuntu 18.04 I had to add the following to my /etc/sysctl.conf file.

vm.dirty_bytes=50331648
vm.dirty_background_bytes=16777216

It's fucking 2020 and this problem has been around since 2014...Why the fuck hasn't this been fixed yet?

You literally can't transfer files over 4GB on to USB in 64bit Linux without this fix right now.

finally i found this, thank you man

Bewbman nailed it.
Still a long way to go for Linux.

MarcGuay thank you

thanks for this, i had issues with usb sticks being read-only and very slow speeds, now i think with this fix and opening my file manager (krusader) in root mode my problems are hopefully fixed.

update: i have managed to fix my issues copying files to usb stick with the help of this page and also formatted the usb stick with gnome disk, it's not a big deal for me as i'm the tinkerer type but things like this might make people think twice about switching to linux and i think saner defaults are needed.

Thanks so much man! Saved my day!

At the core of this problem is an unjustifiably low speed while, typically, writing to USB2.0 thumb drives. All these solutions appear to provide is an honest reporting of the -still sluggish- transfer progress and nothing to address the diminished speeds. What can one do about the low transfer speed?

leave

I'm amazed at how Linux can fail to perform such basic tasks... This is ridiculous.

thank you 😃

Thanks a lot!

It's fucking 2020 and this problem has been around since 2014...Why the fuck hasn't this been fixed yet?

You literally can't transfer files over 4GB on to USB in 64bit Linux without this fix right now.

It's 2021 and still I have this problem! Later I will test the workaround to see if it's the problem that I have....

Thank you!

I AM NEW ON UBANTU CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME FROM ZERO STEP BY STEP TO DO ALL USB HANG ANSWERS

I HAVE ALSO THIS ISSUE BUT I AM NOT GETTING HOW TO FIND /ETC/RC.LOCAL

CAN ANYONE HELP ME

For instance in my Mint system
Open a terminal and use nano text editor with root permission, type:
sudo nano /etc/sysctl.d/*99-sysctl.conf
Introduce your password
Scroll to the end of the file and paste :
vm.dirty_bytes=50331648
vm.dirty_background_bytes=16777216
at the and of it, press ctrl-S to save and then ctrl-X to quit nano.
Thats it you are done.
Depending on the flavor of linux there are other console text editors you can use to modify that file, but being a system file you can not modify it until you provide the administrator password.
I hope this helps a little.

Shocked to see this is an issue under Linux.

Using Kubuntu I had this issue today and arrived here. What exactly that line does and what could be their side effects?

I got it fixed. Thank you

MarcGuay's fix worked for me on Ubuntu 22.04. Before, I was unable to copy a 1.7GB file to a FAT-based USB stick. (Or at least, it seemed stuck. I didn't wait long for it to finish.)

Anyone know, does this fix effect all storage devices on the system, or just the USB one's?

for those who dont have /etc/rc.local can use this: sudo sysctl -w vm.dirty_bytes=50331648 sudo sysctl -w vm.dirty_background_bytes=16777216

It seems to have fixed the issue. (Arch Linux)

I have tried "various" approaches, even completely disabling swap without any change. copying large files (and large amounts of files) to a USB exfat spinning HDD-drive freezes the system beyond usability. (POP_OS, asus TUF gaming, 16gigs of ram, 512 nvme)
Very frustrating. Funny enough - and I have no logical explanation, this does NOT happen to an exfat formatted SSD-USB. same USB enclosure, so not even the firmware of the case can be the problem. I don't even know where to start troubleshooting this anymore.

to add value to my rant; I found that gcp and rsync work flawlessly and fast, without causing a freeze / hog.
I used these two successfull for a large amount of files & large files (my 900gb steam library)

$ gcp -rv /whatever/* /some/other/place/

$ rsync --info=progress2 -auvz /whatever/* /some/other/place/

Based fix. Works!

How on earth this still exist for basic task.. i thought this only happen on my Manjaro arch based linux, then its happen in Ubuntu also. This is sooooo frustrating.

It works! Lubuntu 22 LXQt, 64GB USB, exFAT. THX!!!

sudo sysctl -w vm.dirty_bytes=50331648

what about to remove it ..which code can i use

Same issue here. I decided to switch from Ubuntu to Mint recently. Now I am on Linux Mint 21.1 Vera - and still have this problem. Cannot believe it is still there. I am still a nuub and do not feel comfortable editing /etc/rc.local file. I will try to format USB as exFAT. Hopefully, that will work out.

This is ridiculous. Linux can't handle USB disks 🤦‍♂️. In case of my system setting kernel dirty parameters do not help at all. I get total system freeze within 10-15 seconds of initiating copying files from USB drive to local drive. Seeing how entire Ubuntu family may be compromised, is there a Linux distro that doesn't have such problem?

Fuck it, I have been having the same damn problem since three bloody days!

Still facing this problem today, unbelievable. And I have to use this setting suggested by Linus in 2013 to fix my system in 2023.

Why is Linux so slow in copying files ? Over the years it has been an issue. I don't get it.

I'm not sure but suggested solution is just the placebo... nothing changed much...

I'm not sure but suggested solution is just the placebo... nothing changed much...

Nothing at all 😂

I'm not sure but suggested solution is just the placebo... nothing changed much...

Nothing at all 😂

It did for me.

I'm not sure but suggested solution is just the placebo... nothing changed much...

Nothing at all

😂

I did not get your point ... does it work... or I'm right ( its placebo ) :-)

$ echo $((16*1024*1024)) > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes
bash: /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes: Permission non accordée

$ echo $((48*1024*1024)) > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes
bash: /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes: Permission non accordée

Is sudoing these commands safe? (Ubuntu 22.04)

@guy-teube use - sudo su

Works! Thank's @2E0PGS !