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PCI-e USB 3.0 card with Asus M2V-MX SE mobo

F

fwtong

Senior member
i recently converted my old AMD Athlon 64 X2 machine running on an Asus M2V-MX SE to HTPC. The OS I'm running is Linux Mint. I tried to drop in a usb 3.0 card into the PCI-e slot because my external hd with all my media is a usb 3.0 drive and i'd like to take advantage of the extra speed when copying large media files. After I did that, the computer wouldn't boot. Fans would go on, but the screen stays blank and it wouldn't post. So I don't think that it's an issue with a Linux incompatibility, since it wouldn't post. I just got a blank screen. My psu should be sufficient, it's a rosewill 400w psu, snd I don't have a lot of peripherals. Is this just a bad card, or is for some reason, do USB 3.0 cards not play nicely with really old motherboards?
 
Is the card PCI-E x1 compatible? Some USB 3.0 cards are PCI x4.. The specs for that board only allow PCI-E x1..
 
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Looks like that card is PCI-E 2.0 supporting 2.5GT and 5.0GT signaling. There were issues with PCI-E 2.0 graphic cards on these VIA chipsets that required a BIOS update to the motherboard and/or firmware ROM update to the cards. Basically, the VIA chipset cannot properly support the protocol with PCI-E 2.0 cards to negotiate PCI-E 1.0 mode compliance. There could be a jumper on the card to 'force' PCI-E 1.x mode. Or the manufacturer could offer a BIOS ROM for the card that exposes the card as PCI-E 1.x only. Or you're out of luck, will need to obtain a PCI-E 1.x only card, or a different motherboard with non-VIA chipset.
 
Thanks for the input. I'm a little leery of flashing the bios, because last time i tried to do that, my MSI motherboard bricked, so I'll probably just stick with USB 2.0 for now.
 
Bootable BIOS update CD image for M2V-MX SE BIOS 0601 (created by me):

http://s89934018.onlinehome.us/bios/M2VMXSE0601.iso

Standard ISO "image" file that should be compatible with any decent CD burning app. After creating the CD, you should find a README file on the disc for instructions on flashing. Easy peasy.

There were also OEM versions of the M2V-MX SE used by a PC maker or in ASUS barebone systems. These OEM versions do not use the same BIOS as the retail ASUS-branded M2V-MX SE.

However, I doubt it will solve the problem you are having. A chance, yes, but most likely not.
 
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I think I'll just stick with what I've got. I did a bit more research, and it appears that even if I were to get everything working, due to the limitations of legacy technology, I won't be getting true USB 3.0 speeds, or even close to it. I think the only real solution is a new motherboard, which is essentially a new build. I'd rather not do a new build, since the current machine is working pretty well as just a linux based HTPC running XBMC.
 
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