Help me with USB 3.1 problem.

[Thinker_145]

I recently upgraded to Skylake my mobo is the ASUS Z170-K. It has 2 USB 3.1 ports which have a very odd problem. On every "other" reboot they will stop working until I reboot again after which they will work perfectly until the next reboot.

These 2 USB ports support charging even when the computer is off and oddly enough this particular functionality is still available when they are not working for any other purpose. Like right now both the ports are not working but I can still charge my phone with it. My computer however does not detect the phone so it's just the USB port acting as a charger.

I have installed every single utility and latest driver available for my motherboard. I am also running the latest BIOS. This can't really be a hardware issue? I mean why would it continue to work perfectly until a reboot if it were a hardware issue? What can you suggest me to diagnose this incredibly annoying problem?

PS: If I get a replacement of the same mobo I don't need to reinstall my OS right?

 

[nerp]

What USB chip is on that board? Do you have the right drivers? Some ASMedia USB chips have been somewhat problematic on 170 implementations but recent (sometimes beta) drivers seem to have resolved it. I was getting wonky stuff with mine (ASUS H170 PRO GAMING) until I installed the newest driver released on ASUS' site. The one pumped through Windows Update is older.

 

[vailr]

Try: use the PSU rocker switch to turn off the power, then press and hold the front case power switch to discharge the PSU capacitor.
Also: try the free program Iobit Driver Booster:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/driver_booster_3.html
There may be an Asmedia USB 3.1 firmware update, which can be found here:
http://www.station-drivers.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=353&func=select&id=20&lang=en

 

[Thinker_145]

Try: use the PSU rocker switch to turn off the power, then press and hold the front case power switch to discharge the PSU capacitor.

Everything on my PC was fully updated be it drivers, firmware or BIOS. However I just tried this thing a few days back and lots of reboots later I still haven't encountered this problem again. Quite shocking that something like that was the problem all along. Can you explain a little the technical aspect of this?

And thanks a bunch.

 

[Thinker_145]

Well as it turns out the problem wasn't fully resolved. Maybe it wasn't every other reboot before as well and I just didn't pay enough attention.

While given how less I reboot it's not a deal breaker to live with but still it's annoying that a new component should have an issue like that.

What else can I do before sending it back? Windows reinstall?

 

[vailr]

If you haven't yet tried the Iobit Driver Booster program, I'd suggest giving that a try.

 

[bonehead123]

^^THIS^^ booster often finds drivers that are not listed elsewhere, especially on WU., and you don't have to go squrrying around on every mfgr's website trying to find them and figure out which is which, it auto-detects and identifies your hardware to get the most current appropriate drivers, THEN installs them too.

EASY PEEZY & so friggin breezy.

 

[Thinker_145]

Okay will install that and report back.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Thinker_145]

So I ran that software, it found USB 3.1 update among others and I let it do it's thing. After completion the USB 3.1 ports won't work at all even after several reboots. This is the reason I always stay away from "all in one auto" softwares.

So I noticed the update installed by this software was a newer driver than the one ASUS recommends for this motherboard. So I rolled back the driver and things were back to normal. But ofcourse the same problem was still there and I found out that when the 3.1 ports refuse to work correctly on a fresh boot I could fix that up by reinstalling drivers without having to reboot.

Anyways so one day I just decided to uninstall the ASUS driver completely and everything has been working fine since then. Some Microsoft USB 3.1 drivers were installed automatically and I haven't had that problem since. What would be the drawback of using Microsoft drivers? I don't actually have USB 3.1 devices to find out.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

What would be the drawback of using Microsoft drivers?

None. In fact you properly stand to gain UASP support, because MS licenses it. Not all manufacturer provided drivers include support.

 

[UsandThem]

That motherboard had a firmware update tool for USB 3.1. After it is updated, you shut down the PC and remove the power cord from the wall to finalize the update (it tells you this after installing it).

Did you do that by chance?

 

[vailr]

USB 3.1 driver support is still "in a state of flux". Windows 10 latest "Insider build" 14352 provides a different USB 3.1 driver than the "Release preview" Win10 build 1511.338.
For the firmware update to function correctly, I'm thinking that the Intel provided USB 3.1 driver must be installed, for the firmware update to work. This may or may not be correct.
However, the MS supplied USB 3.1 driver seems to be latest, going simply by the driver date.
The Intel supplied driver uses a completely different version numbering system than the MS supplied driver.
Adding to the confusion: the USB 3.1 controller is sometimes called Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 3, or Intel Alpine Ridge.

 

[Thinker_145]

That motherboard had a firmware update tool for USB 3.1. After it is updated, you shut down the PC and remove the power cord from the wall to finalize the update (it tells you this after installing it).

Did you do that by chance?

I did run that but it didn't ask me to do any of that. I think I am happy for now since I have done enough reboots to know its really fixed. So I don't feel like messing with something especially since I dont even have a single 3.1 device for now.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk