Odd problem connecting iPad to certain USB ports

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Prlaba

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Nov 8, 2012
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I have an ASUS Z87-Plus MB in an NZXT Phantom 410 mid-tower case, running Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit.

The MB itself provides 6 USB 3.0 ports on the back I/O panel, spit into two "groups" of 4 ports and 2 ports. The case provides 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports, connected to headers on the MB.

If I connect my iPad device to any of the 'group of 4' USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel, all is well - I hear two PnP 'up tones' and see two devices, a generic USB device and an iPad device.

But if I connect to *any* other USB port (the 'group of 2' USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel or any of the USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 ports on the top of my case), I hear a single PnP 'up tone' followed by a never-ending series of 'down tones'. A generic USB device appears in my Devices and Printers list, then disappears, then appears, then disappears ... I never see the iPad device.

This behavior only happens with my iPad device. I've plugged a variety of other USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 devices (flash drives, external drives, keyboards, mice, etc.) into each of the USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, but never see this problem.

I tried uninstalling all of my Apple 'programs' to see if that solved the problem. It didn't.

Can anyone offer suggestions as to what's going on here? If it's a hardware problem with certain USB ports, why only with an iPad? And why only some USB ports and not others?

Any troubleshooting help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Solution
pauls3743
This is all about the power requirements of your ipad. Specifically, it has higher than average power requirements for a usb device. The front panel usb ports and some of your rear panel usb ports cannot deliver enough current to charge/power your ipad. You've already identified which ports it does work with so stick wit them.
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Prlaba

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To clarify: When when I plug in my iPad into any of the 'group of 4' USB 3.0 ports on the MB's I/O panel, I hear two 'up' tones and these two devices appear in my Devices and Printers applet:

Apple Mobile Device USB Driver
Apple iPad

(When I unplug the iPad, I hear a single 'down' tone and the above two devices disappear from the list.)

When I plug my iPad into either of the 'group of 2' USB 3.0 ports on the MB's I/O panel, or any of the USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 ports on the top of my case, I hear a single 'up' tone followed by a continues series of 'down' tones. At the same time the device 'Apple Mobile Device USB Driver' appears and disappears continuously.
 
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pauls3743

pauls3743

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This is all about the power requirements of your ipad. Specifically, it has higher than average power requirements for a usb device. The front panel usb ports and some of your rear panel usb ports cannot deliver enough current to charge/power your ipad. You've already identified which ports it does work with so stick wit them.
 
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Solution
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Prlaba

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Nov 8, 2012
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Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure that's the problem, as I normally see a pop-up error if I plug a USB device into a port that can't supply enough power for the device (versus just continually adding and removing the Apple Mobile Device USB driver).

I can certainly 'stick with what works', but if I have I have a hardware problem with my MB, I'd like to know about before the end of warranty. Not to mention the inconvenience of trying to plug my iPad into a back USB port when I have more convenient ports on the top of my case.

Ironically, this ASUS MB designates one of the USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel as a 'fast charger' port, which ASUS claims can charge your device 3x faster, after you enable the 'Ai Charger+' feature in software. The designated port happens to be one of the 'group of 2' USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel that *doesn't* work when I plug in my iPad.
 
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Prlaba

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Well, the problem mysteriously went away. Following up on pauls3743 suggestion that this was USB power related, I went ahead and enabled the Ai Charger+ (it had been disabled), and tried plugging my iPad into the designated '3x faster charging' USB 3.0 port on the I/O panel. It worked!

But wait. I then plugged my iPad into all of the other USB ports that had failed previously. Those ports now worked too. Hmm. I then went back and disabled Ai Charger+. All the ports still worked. I rebooted and all the ports continued working.

So at this point I can plug my iPad into any of the USB ports on either the back I/O panel or the top of the case and the drivers load correctly.

I guess this is good news, although I would be happier knowing that the problem is gone for good.
 
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Prlaba

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By the way, my iPad (an iPad 2) does not support BC 1.1, so enabling my MB's Ai Charger+ feature would make no difference for that device. Only the newer iPads and iPad Minis support BC 1.1.
 
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