Asus X79 Deluxe - USB 3 Blu-Ray keeps appearing and disappearing

[rgames]

I just upgraded to a 4930k on an Asus X79 deluxe and my USB 3 external Blu-Ray drive doesn't always show up when I boot up. I was using this external drive on my previous setup (i7 920 on Asus P6T deluxe) and it worked fine. I also have a USB 3 external HDD (Seagate 3 TB) that works fine on the new machine, so the problem is limited to the Blu-Ray drive.

I'm not really sure where to begin. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

rgames

 

[Eymar]

Just to cover basics, is the external Blu-Ray using it's own power (ie. has it's own power brick/cable). If not, are you using the y-cable usb to connect to motherboard?

 

[rgames]

Yes - the external drive has its own power supply. I am connected to one of the back panel USB ports on the motherboard, if that makes a difference. I've tried a bunch of different USB ports and they all show the same behavior. The HDD works on all of them but the Blu-Ray drive is intermittent on all of them.

Thanks,

rgames

 

[jkauff]

Do you have the Blu-ray drive set up properly in the BIOS? By that, I mean does the BIOS recognize it as an optical drive, and do you have it set up as a boot drive? Does it appear in the Boot Drive selection list? Try taking it out of the boot order settings and see if that helps. If you need to boot from it, you can always use the Boot Drive menu in the BIOS (assuming it's showing up there, which it should).

As an experiment, you could see if having a disc in the drive makes a difference. If it does, the BIOS is probably seeing it as a hard drive and is spinning it up to get a response like it does with your USB hard drive.

 

[rgames]

The Blu-Ray drive is set as CD-ROM in the BIOS - I assume that's correct since there's no specific "Blu-Ray" option.

It is in the boot drive list - I'll take it out and see if that helps.

The problem is definitely in the BIOS because when it disappears, the name disappears in the BIOS even though the BIOS knows it's "something" and shows a line for it in the drive lists. In other words, it shows "BD-RE-whatever" as the name in the BIOS when it is working and the same line has a blank space for the name when it doesn't.

I've had the issue both with and without a disc so I don't think that's it.

Thanks,

rgames

 

[jkauff]

Just to eliminate the obvious stuff, have you tried another cable (assuming it's not a proprietary cable)?

 

[nenforcer]

Just to eliminate the obvious stuff, have you tried another cable (assuming it's not a proprietary cable)?

Yes, does the drive function properly when you only plug it in after booting to Windows?

How about try plugging it into one of the USB2 ports instead? You shoudn't really exceed USB2 speeds on an external mechanical drive and it may be more compatible.

 

[rgames]

Yes - the drive always works fine if I leave the power off until Windows boots up.

Since I don't use it that often, I'm just going to leave it turned off and wait until I'm in Windows to turn it on when I need it.

Not a big deal, just a hassle. And it sure seems like it ought to work since it worked fine on my last Asus motherboard (P6T). I guess I could try the USB2 connection - I agree it doesn't really need the USB3 speed.

There must be something about the X79 Deluxe that is not compatible. I noticed there was a new BIOS update a couple days ago with a note "improved compatibility with USB devices". Looks like it still needs some improving...!

Thanks,

rgames