I have a Raspberry Pi model A with RC2 of osmc installed on it. When I boot it up, I can control it just fine using either my ios app remote or the webserver remote, as well as easily ssh into it. However, when I plug my flash drive into the pi suddenly my remote will lose connection, I won’t be able to access the webserver, and I can’t even ssh into it! This happens if I boot up with the flash drive in as well. What could be causing this? Do I need to get a new flash drive? It’s just so strange that as soon as I connect the USB the pi goes dark.
This is a known hardware limitation. Hot plugging USB devices is not supported on Pi model A/B, prob not even for B+ or Pi 2 even.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=23205
Using a powered USB hub would be a workaround for this.
It doesn’t reboot though, it just stops letting me connect to it wirelessly. It still functions fine. And I’ve hotswapped usb devices before with no problem. For instance, what I usually do to turn off my pi after it stops letting me control it is unplug the USB drive, plug in a keyboard, and use that to navigate around and turn it off. And it works fine. Furthermore, I still have the same problem I described even if I turn the pi off, plug the USB in, and turn it back on. So it’s a different issue entirely from the one you’re describing. I have experienced the issue you’re describing but only when I plug or unplug my wireless dongle while the pi is running, not the flash drive or keyboard.
In this case, it may be possible that the USB drive you are plugging in is demanding more power than the pi can provide while keeping the ethernet port alive. Network is usually the first to go when there is insufficient power provided to the device. Have you tried testing TP1-TP2 with a volt meter?
I have not, however, I did try switching to a different flash drive. That seemed to fix the problem for me. I should probably get a powered hub anyway…