usbreset.c

/* usbreset -- send a USB port reset to a USB device
 *
 * Compile using: gcc -o usbreset usbreset.c
 *
 * */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <linux/usbdevice_fs.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  const char *filename;
  int fd;
  int rc;

  if (argc != 2) {
    fprintf(stderr, "Usage: usbreset device-filename\n");
    return 1;
  }
  filename = argv[1];

  fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY);
  if (fd < 0) {
    perror("Error opening output file");
    return 1;
  }

  printf("Resetting USB device %s\n", filename);
  rc = ioctl(fd, USBDEVFS_RESET, 0);
  if (rc < 0) {
    perror("Error in ioctl");
    return 1;
  }
  printf("Reset successful\n");

  close(fd);
  return 0;
}

1. Download the file using wget

wget -c --no-check-certificate https://gist.githubusercontent.com/mukhortov/b90ae7388c4ca09d82180e41a8b44c09/raw/bf21dbda4a67de2c2d15d6c66b1e1bd0b1db7e1b/usbreset.c -O usbreset.c

2. Compile C code as usbreset

cc usbreset.c -o usbreset

3. Give execute permission to the usbreset program

chmod +x usbreset

4. Run lsusb and find your device in the list. Remember the name of your device (ZTE, Huawei, etc)

lsusb

5. Replace DEVICE_NAME with the device name from the previous step. The following command gets the device ID by name using lsusb and passes it as an argument to usbreset.

lsusb | grep DEVICE_NAME | cut -d' ' -f6 | xargs usbreset

6. Add it to crontab to reset the USB device every 5 minutes. To start editing press i key.

crontab -e

7. Add the following at the very end of the file. Make sure to replace the DEVICE_NAME with the name of your USB device. To save and exit press esc, type :wq, and hit enter.

*/5 * * * * lsusb | grep DEVICE_NAME | cut -d' ' -f6 | xargs usbreset