Pixelbook 2017 "Eve" & Ubuntu 26.04 does not negotiate USB-PD for connected devices

Bug Reports Firmware Bugs
1

System Details

  • Device: Pixelbook 2017 “Eve”
  • OS: Ubuntu 26.04
  • Firmware Type: UEFI Full ROM fCoreboot from MrChromebox
  • Firmware Version: MrChromebox-2603.2 (May 17, 2026)
  • Internal storage type: eMMC

Summary of the Issue

USB-PD does not appear to be working. I cannot get a Satechi 9 in 1 adapter to work for any of its ports passively (without external power). The adapter is working passivley though on a Mac using USB-PD.

If external power is introduced on the Satechi adapter via its USB-C input, the flash key is detected by pixelbook with Ubuntu and the Satechi does appear in lsusb.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Plug in the Satechi Adapter (USB-C) with a USB flash drive inserted into the USB-A port. No external power connected to the Satechi adapter.

  2. Look for the flash drive being detected

  3. Nothing detected in DMESG, or LSPCI or LSUSB

Expected Behavior

Would expect to see the flash drive detected because it negotiates power via USB-PD on initialisation.

Happy to provide any further details as requested to help diagnose or test as I have two of these devices available. Both were flashed with SuzyQ dongle to Coreboot and Ubuntu. WeirdTreeThing’s scripts have mapped the keyboard and fixed audio. It really is working well apart from this USB-PD issue.

2

Since the Satechi adapter is not being allowed a USB-PD connection, it also will not function to allow its HDMI or mini-displayport to connect to an external monitor from the Pixelbook. Note that this is the case even when the Satechi adaptor is externally powered over USB-C itself.

Curiously though, the pixelbook WILL connect to display on a Phillips 258B6QUEB/75 monitor over USB-C.

3

EC firmware version: eve_v1.1.6660-4484b5789 (2021-07-02, MrChromebox build)

ectool usbpdpower: Port 0: Disconnected / Port 1: SRC 3000mA
ectool usbpd 1: State: SRC_DISCOVERY (stuck — never transitions to SRC_READY)
ectool usbpdmuxinfo: Port 1: USB=1 (mux correctly set)

Non-PD sink device (Satechi USB-C hub) does not enumerate. Same hub
enumerates immediately bus-powered on Dell OptiPlex running Ubuntu 24.04.
EC sees physical connection (CC lines) but PD state machine stuck in
SRC_DISCOVERY, suggesting VBUS not applied or state machine not
transitioning for non-PD devices as USB-C spec requires.

4

Google firmware for Eve Pixelbook 2017 is still being updated.

Google’s firmware-eve-9584.B branch has commits as recent as September 2025

5

doesn’t mean that there is a release firmware containing them though.
I can check and see if there is a newer google ECRW release and if so, update the version bundled with my firmware

6

the latest google release is 1.6659-ba2088ed3, which is 3 commits from the top of the branch. None of those 3 commits has any effect on PD, so debugging this would likely be tricky