MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard will not recognize USB 3.0, runs at 2.0 speed

Gerardo Naranjo

Honorable
Jun 2, 2013
29
0
10,530
Hello, I recently bought a MSI z97 gaming 5. After installing it in my system and doing a crap load of installing and updating, a problem came up where the usb 3.0 driver will not get installed correctly. Every time it gets installed, it simply freezes the ability to use even the usb 2.0s after reboot of the driver install. I have to shut off, restart and system restore (easiest option) in order to get back the mouse and keyboard functionality. In the drivers it says Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller missing driver which I know is the usb driver I'm installing not only from the CD that came with motherboard but also the website i've tried, even used an previous older driver version and still didn't work. I've read online that this might be an issue with maybe just MSI motherboards or just specific z97 motherboards that just will not install the driver correctly. I have yet to contact MSI support to see what they can do but i will call soon, just need to see what other options I may have. The bios version I have is 1.C comparative to the new bios on the website that is 1.D. I'm not sure if flashing the updated bios will allow me to install the driver, I have not tried out of fear that my motherboard will brick on me. It was also having an issue with startup where it would have me press f1 to setup and f2 to continue every time I would have to hard reset computer. Replaced the CMOS battery and haven't had the issue yet, but there was no indication that the battery was low, the BIOS clock wasn't resetting or anything, just kept doing it not matter how many times I saved and rebooted.

My system:
CPU: i7-4790K
PSU: EVGA 700B
Ram: 8gb (2x 4gb) ADATA XPG V2 DDR3 1600Mhz
Motherboard: MSI z97 gaming 5
GPU: EVGA gtx 970 SC ACX 2.0
HDD: 2TB WD Black edition 7200rpm
SSD: 250 GB Samsung 850 Evo
Case: CM Stormstryker Full Tower
OS: Windows 7 64-bit OEM *on SSD*
Other: NZXT hue+

If the motherboard is defective, is it possible to replace it with something almost close to it so the OEM will be able to activate windows correctly. I was looking at this motherboard (different brand but not sure if too different of a model):
https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Motherboard-Z97-PRO-GAMER-Retail/dp/B00PT5E32M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467619440&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+z97
or
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-Z97X-GAMING-Gaming-Networking-Motherboard/dp/B00JKCHDEU/ref=sr_1_21?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1467620072&sr=1-21&keywords=asus+z97&refinements=p_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A5657494011%2Cp_n_feature_six_browse-bin%3A2057506011
If this one doesn't work to reactivate windows because its too different, another would be nice to recommend that isn't MSI (so far i've been having issues with MSI) Want to do 2 way SLI in the future.
 

Gerardo Naranjo

Honorable
Jun 2, 2013
29
0
10,530
I had tried to install the chipset driver to a newer update and it worked. Although I was not able to install the intel ME driver as both MSI and Intel download said the platform wasn't supported so I couldn't install it. I tried the USB 3.0 driver and it did the same problem, all usbs freeze up and restarting and system restoring is the only solution in safemode. I have not yet updated the BIOS to 1.D and wasn't sure if this was safe before maybe looking at other options.