lsusb can label a running pmOS USB gadget as "fastboot

scope: generic · severity: trap · confidence: proven · subsystem: boot

On taimen, lsusb shows the running pmOS USB gadget as 18d1:d001 ... (fastboot). It is not fastboot. The device is fully booted.

So USB IDs cannot discriminate a booted device from a bootloader, and no decision may key off lsusb text.

The one reliable discriminator is fastboot devices, which prints a line only in the real bootloader. fastboot devices being empty while lsusb says “fastboot” is the tell.

Set PORTHOLE_USB_LIES_AS_FASTBOOT=1 and record both IDs in the profile when you find this on a new device. Check it early: it is cheap to test (boot the device, run both commands) and expensive to discover halfway through a debugging session.