A method for operating a media agnostic universal serial bus (MAUSB) device includes a compute device having a link connection manager, a USB manager, and a state manager. The compute device establishes a link with a MAUSB device and a session with the MAUSB device. Subsequently to receipt of a sleep command for the compute device, the compute device transitions to a sleep state and terminates the link with the MAUSB device while keeping intact the session with the MAUSB device. The compute device transitions back to an active state in response to receipt of a wake command for the compute device. The compute device sends a wake request to the MAUSB device. If the MAUSB device responds to the wake request with an acceptance, then the compute device reestablishes the previous session with the MAUSB device. If instead an error is received, the compute device terminates the session.