Asus Z87-PRO and USB 3.0 problem?

[smithchrism]

Hello,

I have a question and issue I hope someone can help me out with.

This issue/question came about from a recent purchase of a portable, external USB based HD, a USB 3.0 500 GB Toshiba Canivo. I plugged it into my computer's USB 3.0 ports. The good news: my system of course saw/recognized the drive and I am able to use it. Things after this got interesting.

The first warning sign came up as I plugged the drive in. I got a notification from my system tray saying the device would perform faster if it was plugged into a high speed usb 3 port. Say what?! The device was plugged into a USB 3.0 port. On a hunch, I plugged the device into different ports on the back of the case which are all supposed to be USB 3. I got the same message every time.

I proceeded to pull up Device Manager and set the view to 'Device by Connection'. Doing this shows me which USB device the drive is using. Sure enough, regardless of where I plug the drive into, the drive always shows up under USB 2.0 on the device manager list.

I can see USB 3.0 on the device manager list just fine. However, nothing I do shows the Toshiba drive under USB 3.0. All my other USB devices (mouse, keyboard, printer, etc..) are USB 2.0 based so I can't test anything else.

I got to wondering about the possibility of a bad USB device driver. The install CD which shipped with this board has Intel USB 3.0 drivers V2.0.0.100. Asus's website has a newer version of the USB 3.0 drivers, v2.5.0.19. I downloaded and installed these drivers. The install went fine. However, whenever I plugged the Toshiba HD into a USB 3.0 port, the system immediately did a BSOD listing the USB 3.0 driver as the problem. To resolve this issue, I ended up doing a system restore which brought the previous version of the drivers back. Doing this allowed me to use the system without BSOD's again although everything appears to still be running in USB 2.0.

Question(s):
- why are the newer drivers causing a BSOD?
- does USB 3.0 work properly on the Asus z87-pro? Has anyone actually looked in Device Manager to verify their plugged in devices are shown under USB 3?
- I thought some of the USB 3.0 ports were ASMedia based. How come I don't see ASMedia listed for some of the USB 3.0 ports? The only reference I see to ASMedia are some SATA ports which I don't even use.

I have downloaded and updated the system to the latest BIOS version, v1205 if I recall correctly. In the hopes of triggering something which would fix this issue I have gone into the BIOS and made some changes to the USB settings, such as setting the boot option for USB from partial to full. However, nothing I do seems to fix the USB 3.0 issue nor am I able to update to the latest drivers without fear of a BSOD.

Thanks.

 

[Steven Astudillo]

The drivers you are using are probably not compatible with your kind of external hard drive. Are you sure you are using 3.0 on your motherboard? If so, did you ensure that the USB 3.0 headers are actually plugged in the motherboard from your I/O or front panel? I had that same issue, only to find out that I used an adapter to convert my 2.0 to 3.0.

 

[smithchrism]

The drivers you are using are probably not compatible with your kind of external hard drive. Are you sure you are using 3.0 on your motherboard? If so, did you ensure that the USB 3.0 headers are actually plugged in the motherboard from your I/O or front panel? I had that same issue, only to find out that I used an adapter to convert my 2.0 to 3.0.

You are correct about the front I/O panel: it is USB 2.0 based as my case doesn't have USB 3.0 plugs on it. However, I didn't plug the external drive into the USB plugs located on the front of the case.

My case is located in such a spot it's fairly easy to plug into the USB ports on the back of the system on the motherboard itself. I did this on purpose: the external drive is USB 3.0 based and I wanted to be sure to plug the drive into a USB 3.0 port.

Glancing at the manual confirmed what I thought: all USB ports, total of 6, on the back are USB 3.0. Two ports are Intel with the other four ports being Asmedia based. I tried plugging the drive into multiple ports, both Intel and Asmedia. Each time I got the same response: the system saw and recognized the drive. However, I always got a pop up from the system tray instructing me using a USB 3.0 ports would be better. A quick review of device manager confirmed the drive was not using USB 3.0.

I'm beginning to wonder about something. Asus advertises each USB 3.0 port has something called "USB Boost". I think this is a Asus feature and not standard feature of USB 3.0. Apparently, it does something to boost the data transfer rate a bit above normal speeds on compatible USB 3.0 devices. The rub in this is "compatible" devices. Perhaps this is causing some sort of problem and maybe I need to see if I can disable this feature?

I'm still bugged about something: four of the six USB 3.0 ports (on the back) are supposed to be ASMedia based. I don't see ASMedia USB ports listed anywhere within device manager although all ports do work as I have a printer and UPS plugged into them. I'm looking everywhere like crazy: I swear I have installed all device drivers on the system.

Thanks for the response. Any more thoughts?

 

[Steven Astudillo]

The drivers you are using are probably not compatible with your kind of external hard drive. Are you sure you are using 3.0 on your motherboard? If so, did you ensure that the USB 3.0 headers are actually plugged in the motherboard from your I/O or front panel? I had that same issue, only to find out that I used an adapter to convert my 2.0 to 3.0.

You are correct about the front I/O panel: it is USB 2.0 based as my case doesn't have USB 3.0 plugs on it. However, I didn't plug the external drive into the USB plugs located on the front of the case.

My case is located in such a spot it's fairly easy to plug into the USB ports on the back of the system on the motherboard itself. I did this on purpose: the external drive is USB 3.0 based and I wanted to be sure to plug the drive into a USB 3.0 port.

Glancing at the manual confirmed what I thought: all USB ports, total of 6, on the back are USB 3.0. Two ports are Intel with the other four ports being Asmedia based. I tried plugging the drive into multiple ports, both Intel and Asmedia. Each time I got the same response: the system saw and recognized the drive. However, I always got a pop up from the system tray instructing me using a USB 3.0 ports would be better. A quick review of device manager confirmed the drive was not using USB 3.0.

I'm beginning to wonder about something. Asus advertises each USB 3.0 port has something called "USB Boost". I think this is a Asus feature and not standard feature of USB 3.0. Apparently, it does something to boost the data transfer rate a bit above normal speeds on compatible USB 3.0 devices. The rub in this is "compatible" devices. Perhaps this is causing some sort of problem and maybe I need to see if I can disable this feature?

I'm still bugged about something: four of the six USB 3.0 ports (on the back) are supposed to be ASMedia based. I don't see ASMedia USB ports listed anywhere within device manager although all ports do work as I have a printer and UPS plugged into them. I'm looking everywhere like crazy: I swear I have installed all device drivers on the system.

Thanks for the response. Any more thoughts?

Yup. Some ASUS motherboards reserve one or two slots for the ROG Connect feature. You plug it in to a laptop and install the software and you can tweak the BIOS from the laptop instead. Are you sure you're not plugging the external hard drive into one of those slots? They tend to run at 2.0 speeds.

About those Intel slots? That means those ports are running straight from the Z87 chipset. They are optimized for the fastest speed compared to other ports. This is the same when you mentioned the Asmedia ports. From the sounds of it, your motherboard isn't truly 3.0 capable or the drivers you've installed just don't function with the hardware you're trying to use.

I recommend trying to get yourself a USB to SATA adapter so you can easily connect your hard drive into the eSATA port on your I/O, or even plug it in the internal SATA 3 slots on the motherboard itself. I've recommended this option to nearly everybody that had this same problem, and it fixed the issue quite nicely. They're very inexpensive and it's worth a try. Good luck!

 

[smithchrism]

Alright...

I've got some good news. I just saved a bunch of money by switching to Geico.

The even better news is every thing is working fine now.

I don't know what exactly solved the problem but this is what I did:

First I went back to Asus' website and looked over all the files to make sure everything was up to date. I already knew the USB 3.0 drivers were a revision behind: the new drivers cause my system to BSOD everytime I plugged my hd drive into a USB 3.0 port. But, I got to looking at everything else too. I noticed the LAN drivers were out of date and the Intel Management stuff had a hotfix for it. I downloaded and installed both items.

Next, I got to thinking about the USB 3.0 Boost stuff. According to everything I read about this feature, it increased USB 3.0 transfer speeds to a higher rate than normal. In my mind, this means the USB 3.0 with boost enabled transfer rate was faster than the standard specified. Something that is out of spec such as the USB 3.0 boost, even if it is meant to be a good thing, is a bit of a red flag for me. I uninstalled the USB 3.0 Boost from my system and rebooted.

Finally, I thought about the new USB 3.0 driver and the problems it was causing. When I tried it before, I simply installed the new update. This time, I uninstalled the older driver first and rebooted my system. I then installed newer USB 3.0 driver from Asus' website.

Now, everything works fine. I can plug my USB 3.0 External drive into any of the USB 3.0 ports and the system will no longer BSOD as it did when I previously installed the updated drivers. Plus, the HD is now working at USB 3 as it should; I verified this by looking in device manager under device connections. The external drive is now listed under the USB 3.0 hub.

I don't know what exactly caused the problem nor do I know exactly what the solution was. However, all is well now.

Thanks for your input.

 

[nounours18200]

Hi smithcrism,
I did the same than you: uninstall the previous driver, remove the driver, and install the newest Intel driver 3.0.5.69 downloaded from the Intel website.

But no change : the external USB3 disk is NOT recognized ! whereas the USB3 sicks are perfectly recognized....

Do you have any ASmedia device listed by the Device Manager on your PC ???

 

[elektronic_boss]

Hi nounours18200,

I also had an issue with USB 3.0 ports : http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2760259/asus-z87-pro-usb-issue-startup.html
I reïnstalled every USB driver and although it's seems running fine now, I also don't see the ASMEDIA USB controller in the device list.

So it seems to me that this is normal behaviour. I don't know why.
Like I read on other forums, the ASMEDIA USB 3.0 ports are also affected by the Intel USB 3.0 XHCI driver.
And if my problem is solved now, it's again a prove that the Intel XHCI driver affects all USB 3.0 communication.

Regarding your problem that your drive is not recognized; I also had that kind of issue last month.

I tried this: http://ccm.net/forum/affich-674698-external-usb-hard-drive-doesn-t-show-up-in-my-computer
and it worked !

You actually assign it a letter in DOS.

 

[nounours18200]

Hi electronic_boss,

I believe like you that the Intel xHCI driver affects the USB3 communications...

I did unsinstalled all the USB driver and re-installed the latest Intel USB3 drivers 'version 3.0.5.69) but it did not solved the problem ; but if I correctly understand what you explain , it did solved the pb on your computer ?

Based on what I have read on different topics, the only thing I can therefore try , is to go to the Bios and set the option "Intel XHCI" to DISABLED ---> have a look to this topic: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1919551/z87-pro-usb-ports-detecting.html

This seems the only oprion I could try ?

If this not solved the problem, then this ASUS motherboard will go to the trash can, and it will never buy any new Asus motherboard: it is NOT acceptable that a well known manufacturer as Asus , does not provide a solution to a major problem such as the USB3 ports .... I believe that USB-3 is a must have feature on any motherboard !

I will be back to my home next week, so I will update you after having disabled the "Intel xHCI" feature in the Bios.

Meantime, if you have any idea, please inform me !

Many thanks,

 

[elektronic_boss]

Hi nounours18200,

For me it's to early to say if the problem is completely solved. I just powered up my pc and had a crash again
That makes 1 crash out of 4 boots....
Terrible!

You are right, it's UNACCEPTABLE for a famous manufacturer to bother thousands of people with this issue, and for so a long time !

Remember that, if you put XHCI in BIOS to "OFF", all your USB ports will only work on USB 2.0 speed. So mayby your drive will be recognized but only on 2.0 speed...

Actually, I only had to do it to install "ASMedia_U3_FW_update "
Otherwise it kept telling me that it could not find a "ASM107x hub controller"
(this was also explained in the topic you mentioned by 'chrysalis' 31 December 2014 19:59:26

Anyway, keep me updated next week !
regards,

 

[nounours18200]

Remember that, if you put XHCI in BIOS to "OFF", all your USB ports will only work on USB 2.0 speed. So mayby your drive will be recognized but only on 2.0 speed...

Actually, I only had to do it to install "ASMedia_U3_FW_update "
Otherwise it kept telling me that it could not find a "ASM107x hub controller"
(this was also explained in the topic you mentioned by 'chrysalis' 31 December 2014 19:59:26

Oups... you are right ! So this means that there is NO solution to get the USB-3 ports working correctly with this ASUS motherboard...

The only idea would be to install the ASMedia after disabling the Intel xHCI option in the Bios, and then turn the Intel xHCI to "Auto" after having installed the ASMedia driver. But I doubt that this will solve the problem...

If you live in the USA you should open a ticket to the ASUS Support : in France, there is no hope to get any reply, but in the USA the manufacturers generally care more about the consumers opinion...

Please keep us informed about this Asus ticket.

Regarding myself, I am going to put this ASUS motherboard to the trash can, and buy a GIGABYTE. I own several other PCs using various GIGABYTE motherbaords and I have never faced any problem ! even smaller than this huge USB-3 problem :they are rock stable and rock relialable.

Contrarily, the last 4 Asus motherboards that I have bought have caused me multiple problems, from very small ones to a major one like this USB-3 issue. So I do not accept to continue lose my time with a manufacturer that do NOT provide a solution to its clients. Particularly because I do need USB-3...

So bye bye Asus ! Gigabyte is going to power all my existing and future PCs...

 

[elektronic_boss]

I now can tell you that my problem is not completely solved, as I had again a crash today

I live in Belgium but I think to call the support here in Belgium and look what they say. They simply can't ignore it !! Too many cases out there !

Thanks for the info about your problems with ASUS boards...
I 've chosen it because of the nice features and the really professional impression I had about the boards...

But I will also choose another manufacturer in future !

 

[nounours18200]

hi electronics_boss,

My Asus Z87-Pro C2 has always been rock stable since the 1st day (consequently I thought: this time I will be satisfied with Asus...), so except this pb it is an ecellent motherboard, but this USB-3 problem is not acceptable in 2015 ! USB-3 is a must have feature...

As you say, there are too many persons having the same problem : we are not 2 isolated cases...And I have not read a clear solution to date...

I agree with you : ASUS cannot ignore the problem without damaging its brand image (but the Support in France is...): so if you can contact Asus Belgium and get an answer, it would be an excellent step forward.

Asus will probably ask you to update the Bios to the latest version prior searching for a solution, except if they already have a solved the problems because of previous complaints... So maybe you should update the Bios (and we never know, it can improve the stability of your motherboard).

I also send you a private message with my personal email address.

Please keep me (and us) informed !
Michel