ASROCK, 939 dual, USB woe's using front header and ALI drivers

[kb9nvh]

**** Sorry, newbie here..this was supposed to be in the ASROCK939 dual topic ****

I've got my asrock up and running with a SATA 300gig maxtor and I've installed all the drivers ASROCK has on their board. My processor is an amd 64 3200+, and I'm running windows XP sr2 and I'm booting off the SATA1 header to my diamondmax 10 300gig drive. I had to set my bios to NON-RAID and had to build an "F6" disk to get windows to see the drive (F6 disk load sata drivers). I have installed version 1.5 bios.

All is working pretty well except for a few USB issues. The rear ports seem to recognise all my devices (except my belkin usb to serial convertor which worked on my last windows XP sr2 machine???. The machine sees it but WONT load the drivers for it).

Anyway, the front ports wont "see" anything I plug into them (except for strangely enough, the belking usb to serial adapter which seems to be recognised but still will not load drivers for it).

On the rear USB ports my MP3 player gets configured into windows as does my memory card reader. The front ports have windows not even acknowledgeing a plug in. Removing the ALi usb drivers and allowing windows drivers to set up the extra four usb ports then all devices I plug into the front ports are seen but not identified...they are listed as unknown devices.....

anyone else having FRONT port USB issues? Thanks

 

[grooge]

You probably have the header plugged incorrectly in the motherboard. you should double check that. Second, if the SATA1 connector is the one that is controlled by the ULI, and you set the ULI controller as non RAID, you don't need any drivers to install windows. Even the SATAII connector, if set as IDE will be natively supported by WinXP. So, you did the complicated way of doing a simple thing..

Second, USB drivers are provided by XP and you don't need any other drivers with SP2. Still don't understand why you managed to get the USB drivers to install, as I cannot do that here and I have the same motherboard.

Seriously, you should take some time and download the manual for this board on Asrock web site and read it. Then, wipe ou clean your HDD, reinstall XP the simple way, then SP2 if not already integrated into your XP install CD, then proceed to install the motherboard drivers from the CD.

If you take some time to read the online manual, and figure how to install XP on your drive without pressing F6 and making sure that you look page 13 for correct pin out of the USB headers, you won't run into the same problem you created yourself. This board is running fine with my front USB headers as well as I've been able to install XP SP2 on any SATA drive I tried without any drivers loaded with F6.

 

[kb9nvh]

Originally posted by: grooge
You probably have the header plugged incorrectly in the motherboard. you should double check that.

Double and triple checked this one...to no avail...unless the D+ and D- are switched on my fixed connector cable (but it worked on my other mother board)

Second, if the SATA1 connector is the one that is controlled by the ULI, and you set the ULI controller as non RAID, you don't need any drivers to install windows. Even the SATAII connector, if set as IDE will be natively supported by WinXP. So, you did the complicated way of doing a simple thing..

Reading the asrock web page says that increased performance can be had by using the drivers even if not using RAID but I was having fits getting my hard drive up and running using the maxtor stuff and all that...I dont know but it just started to work after I flashed the ver1.5 firmware and redid all the bios setting

Second, USB drivers are provided by XP and you don't need any other drivers with SP2. Still don't understand why you managed to get the USB drivers to install, as I cannot do that here and I have the same motherboard.

Tried the windows drivers after the Uli ones didnt' work out...they did work different but not better..they always knew something was plugged in but never could tell what it was...???

Seriously, you should take some time and download the manual for this board on Asrock web site and read it. Then, wipe ou clean your HDD, reinstall XP the simple way, then SP2 if not already integrated into your XP install CD, then proceed to install the motherboard drivers from the CD.

Well, I would hate to go back to square one but if I have to to get the USB's on the front working..I just think I might buy a usb hub instead..LOL I dont know but I think everything I did was legit..but I do need to get an SP2 disk made up because my video didnt' work right under sp1 and I had to come up in safe mode to install sp2...

If you take some time to read the online manual, and figure how to install XP on your drive without pressing F6 and making sure that you look page 13 for correct pin out of the USB headers, you won't run into the same problem you created yourself. This board is running fine with my front USB headers as well as I've been able to install XP SP2 on any SATA drive I tried without any drivers loaded with F6.

Thanks for your help....I think my main problem was not starting with an SP2 version of windows XP. I will consider starting over but I would would like to just move ahead from here instead...as things are working well for the most part.
If I didnt' do the f6 disk my drive would always be 139GB so that why the F6. After he F6 disk it worked great...also, I did read that the SATA drivers were recommended using raid or not....

Thanks again...

 

[kb9nvh]

OK, I made the slipstream disk with windows sp2n reformatted the hard drive and started over. I did not install the ULi usb drivers yet
and much seems to work better. My belkin USB to rs232 convertor works now on the rear usb ports. The front usb ports still are intermitant. My pocketec removeable usb drive is found and the name shows up on the list but it is not accessable. My creative muvo mp3 player fails to be recognized on the front usb ports but it does know something was plugged in.

I"m going to try and loat the ULi drivers next.

UPDATE: the ULi usb2 drivers crash my computer now (as yours did I think you said).
Looks like my front usb troubles are some sort of connection problem..I'll have to look very closely at the data lines to be sure they are not reversed (these front ports worked on my last computer????).

Thanks for all your help..I think I'm running about as good as I can be now.

 

[MrBaseball]

Did you find a fix for the USB problem? My computer freezes at the windows boot logo when I have the front USB hooked up to my 939 Dual. The case is a Antec P180.

 

[kb9nvh]

Not yet, but I did find that the ULi usb2 drivers crash my comupter so I had to uninstall them.

My front usb ports act weird (even under the windows drivers). I plug things in and the system finds them and even gets the device name on a list but for thumb drives and such they never get configured into the system to be used..they are just on a list with the correct name of the device and all. I'm perplexed....maybe my d+ and d- are reversed????

I'll post again if I find an answer. (my front ports are an aftermarket thing but it did seem to work on my old machine with usb1.1).

 

[raell]

Grooge is right about the SATA drivers. I installed winXP just fine on my SATA HDD without them.
As for the usb problem. The Asrock site says the usb drivers are for Win98/ME.
http://www.asrock.com/support/Download/dl_939Dual-SATA2.htm
Perhaps if you installed them on XP that could be the problem. My usb ports work fine with the Windows drivers.

 

[kb9nvh]

Here's a good tutorial on hooking up front USB ports.
I'm going to go through it tonight and figure out my problem..

http://www.directron.com/installusb.html

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: kb9nvh
OK, I made the slipstream disk with windows sp2n reformatted the hard drive and started over. I did not install the ULi usb drivers yet
and much seems to work better. My belkin USB to rs232 convertor works now on the rear usb ports. The front usb ports still are intermitant. My pocketec removeable usb drive is found and the name shows up on the list but it is not accessable. My creative muvo mp3 player fails to be recognized on the front usb ports but it does know something was plugged in.

I"m going to try and loat the ULi drivers next.

UPDATE: the ULi usb2 drivers crash my computer now (as yours did I think you said).
Looks like my front usb troubles are some sort of connection problem..I'll have to look very closely at the data lines to be sure they are not reversed (these front ports worked on my last computer????).

Thanks for all your help..I think I'm running about as good as I can be now.

You don't need frigging drivers for USB2 other than the Microsoft one that is with XP..

Why are you still trying to install a Windows 98/me drivers and expect it to work under XP perfectly??? You said everything is working good, but I did not try the Uli drivers!! You don't ned it.. the correct drivers is already installed..Will you understand that for once and stop trying to install wrong drivers!!!

As for the front connector, the problem might simply be that they did use simple wire instead of shielded one, that are requiered by USB2.0. So, when a 2.0 devices is plugged in, the higher speed cause data corruption and connection problem.

 

[kb9nvh]

You don't need frigging drivers for USB2 other than the Microsoft one that is with XP..

Why are you still trying to install a Windows 98/me drivers and expect it to work under XP perfectly??? You said everything is working good, but I did not try the Uli drivers!! You don't ned it.. the correct drivers is already installed..Will you understand that for once and stop trying to install wrong drivers!!!

LOL....OK dude chill... I didn't see that the usb driver was nof for XP. (but that does explain the crash). Since the USB wasn't working right I figured it was worth a shot.

As for the front connector, the problem might simply be that they did use simple wire instead of shielded one, that are requiered by USB2.0. So, when a 2.0 devices is plugged in, the higher speed cause data corruption and connection problem.

Thats probably it...its just simple wire..not twited pair or anything. The header pins look to be standard intel with both power pins on one side and the one key (missing pin) on the left.
Thanks for your help...I'll look into getting a new front port adapter.

 

[grooge]

if they are single wire, that's probably the problem. Try to get at least a front port that is USB2.0 certified, and not those cheap USB port that wont work any better that those you already have.

 

[kb9nvh]

Originally posted by: raell
Grooge is right about the SATA drivers. I installed winXP just fine on my SATA HDD without them.
As for the usb problem. The Asrock site says the usb drivers are for Win98/ME.
http://www.asrock.com/support/Download/dl_939Dual-SATA2.htm
Perhaps if you installed them on XP that could be the problem. My usb ports work fine with the Windows drivers.

Yep, ULi USB drivers not for me!!! My big problem was not using a slipstreamed windows XP disk during install. Without it windows only saw 139Gig on the drive and my video wasn't supported right...

Best thing I did was to wipe it all out and start over with a slipstreamed XP/sp2 disk.

I'll post back here when I try different cabling/front ports.

 

[MrBaseball]

I tried both USB headers on the mb. The first one causes windows to freeze at the Windows boot logo. The the 2nd one, windows boots slowly and blue screens when I plug in my 1gb flash drive. Im using the windows drivers. My card reader works great on either USB header.

 

[kb9nvh]

Spot on friend!!!

I took apart the usb "single wires" and used my drill to twist D+ and D- together and I also twisted power and ground together for good measure. Now most of my USB 2.0 evices work that wouldnt' think about working before. My poocketec external usb pocket drive still has a few problems though. Looks like I need to get some better built cables to get full use of my front ports. Hope this thread helps others who might have this same problem. I searched and search the web without finding too many folks with front port USB issues so either I'm the only one who bought the cheap front usb port kit or everyone else just lives without them.

Anyway, I want to thank grooge and everyone else who chimed in on my problem.

Good cables ARE definitly important to using high speed usb 2.0

Originally posted by: grooge
if they are single wire, that's probably the problem. Try to get at least a front port that is USB2.0 certified, and not those cheap USB port that wont work any better that those you already have.

 

[rmrfhomeoops]

Originally posted by: kb9nvh
Spot on friend!!!

I took apart the usb "single wires" and used my drill to twist D+ and D- together and I also twisted power and ground together for good measure. Now most of my USB 2.0 evices work that wouldnt' think about working before. My poocketec external usb pocket drive still has a few problems though. Looks like I need to get some better built cables to get full use of my front ports. Hope this thread helps others who might have this same problem. I searched and search the web without finding too many folks with front port USB issues so either I'm the only one who bought the cheap front usb port kit or everyone else just lives without them.

Anyway, I want to thank grooge and everyone else who chimed in on my problem.

Good cables ARE definitly important to using high speed usb 2.0

Originally posted by: grooge
if they are single wire, that's probably the problem. Try to get at least a front port that is USB2.0 certified, and not those cheap USB port that wont work any better that those you already have.

Did you ever solve the intermittent problem with USB device not recoqnizing in the front USB port. I'm using a USB keyboard & mouse and they work great when connected to the back of the case. But when they're connected to the front of the case, they wouldn't be recognized after each soft-reboot; I need to unplug/plug them back in after each reboot for it to be recognized again.
Also on the keyboard itself its got two usb ports. If I ever plug the mouse into the keyboard and the keyboard into back USB of the case, the mouse also will not receive power after each soft reboot. Again, I need to unplug/plug in again for the mouse to be detected.
I'm using Windows XP Pro SP2 and I didn't install any USB driver from the CD. I'm wondering if I should RMA my board or is everyone else seeing this...
I would appreciate if you could share what you've found so far.
The good thing is that both the keyboard & mouse works if they're individually connected to the back of the case. I'll need to hook up my printer & scanner to see if connection is lost after each soft-reboot with front ports.

 

[professor1942]

Front USB ports work 100% for me

 

[kb9nvh]

Now I have replaced my single line USB cables with high quality cables from www.frontx.com
Everything works in the front except my pocketec usb2.0 hard drive (80gig). If I provide seperate power to the hard drive then it works fine in the front.

The drive works fine in the back without extra power supply.

Looks like the front USB ports cant provide much current or at least nothing like the rear ports. I have an email into asrock about this but they were on their chinese new year till the 5th of feb.

Other threads I have ask about this have gone unanswered but many have no complaints with the front USB ports so I'm at a loss. I wish more folks would experiment with some higher current devices and see what happens to them.

Anyway, I'll post back here when I find something out.

 

[kb9nvh]

I wonder if I should RMA my board now too...????

 

[Peter]

2.5" drives all (yes all!) exceed the ACTUAL power allowance from USB ports, which is 500 mA. So you should be surprised when it works off USB port power, not be disappointed if it doesn't.

 

[kb9nvh]

Mine seems to crash with a blue screen 09C stop code when I plug in a USB device that needs too much power. I woudl think the device just wouldnt' work but not CRASH the machine.


I'm still waiting on a reply from asrock.

 

[kb9nvh]

Ooops. I tried the fix (below) when I got home and I still get the 09C stop code blue screen so whatever the PS2USB_PWR1 jumper does it didn't fix my problem.
The board comes by default in the +5VSB mode (whatever that is)?

Anyone know???


**************My original post ******************************************
I got my reply from ASROCK.

Turns out there's a jumper on the MoBo that I neglected to move that supplies 5V 2amps to the front usb ports.

OK OK....read the book stupid!!!

Anyway, If anyone is having my troubles....READ THE BOOK.

 

[Spatulator]

There is something funny about the usb ports on this asrock board. I have mine configured correctly, most stuff works fine. My 80gig usb 2.5" external drive soaks up as much power from a usb port as any device could and it functions on all the ports. One problem Im having is that it never powers down. USB devices are supposed to go into a sleep mode and these usb ports dont seem to do that. Not a huge deal, but even when I power off the computer my external drive is still on! Weird.
Also when I use a usb 1 mouse I have to unplug it and plug it back in for it to work anytime I restart windows. Never had to do that before. No problems with a usb 2 mouse though. I dont know if there is a bios setting or something that might fix this but its definitely quirky

 

[imported_Seer]

Originally posted by: Spatulator
There is something funny about the usb ports on this asrock board. I have mine configured correctly, most stuff works fine. My 80gig usb 2.5" external drive soaks up as much power from a usb port as any device could and it functions on all the ports. One problem Im having is that it never powers down. USB devices are supposed to go into a sleep mode and these usb ports dont seem to do that. Not a huge deal, but even when I power off the computer my external drive is still on! Weird.
Also when I use a usb 1 mouse I have to unplug it and plug it back in for it to work anytime I restart windows. Never had to do that before. No problems with a usb 2 mouse though. I dont know if there is a bios setting or something that might fix this but its definitely quirky

You might want to check on page 11 of the mobomanual. It describes a jumper that causes your USB and ps/2 devices to receive more power during standby.

 

[Reznick]

I am having the same problem as Spatulator with my ASRock 939Dual, but I am using a Razer Diamondback mouse. Plugged into the back USB panel, the mouse occasionally will not power up when booting into Windows. I have to unplug and plug it in again for it to work.

I will look into the jumper setting Seer mentioned and see what happens. Being honest, I haven't been happy with this mouse - drivers rarely work, defaulting to the standard HIC mouse drivers. On the fly sensitivity adjustments rarely work, and this is the same problem that I've had on several motherboards and after several XP reinstalls. I have a Logitech G5 being shipped today, but will be curious to see if the USB problem is solved with this mouse or not.

 

[flyboy2003]

It's definitely a hardware problem anyway and not Windows.

I installed Ubuntu Linux on this PC. I have been using Linux for a long time, and while I have seen the GUI lock up from time to time, I have NEVER seen Linux just spontaneously reboot itself until now!

When I plug a USB device into one of the front side ports, it just spontaneously reboots.

This is a new PC. Just arrived. Still trying to figure out what is causing this.

:disgust: