Just built 2 nearly identical systems - USB conflicts on one machine

[Pharkas]

Case: Cooler Master Haf-X case(both)
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570k (A system)
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570 (B system)
Mother: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WiFi (A System)
Mother: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H (B System)
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit (both)
VGA: MSI Geforce GTX 660 2GB DDR5 PCI-E (both)
Ram: G-Skill Ripjaws 32 gig (both)
Power: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W PS (both)
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo cooler (both)
card reader: AFT Pro-57U USB 3.0 internal card reader (both)
Optical: ASUS Blu-Ray 12x DVD RW (both)
SSD: Crucial M4 128GB SATA 6 Gb/s (both) - system drive
Hard drives: 2x WD Black 2TB (both)


Both systems went together very nice. I highly recommend the HAF-X case for anyone that has room for it. The cable management/airflow/drive accessibility is awesome! The modular 1000w power supply is very nice and makes the system more future proof. I highly recommend the 212 Evo cooler. The directions for installation of the cooler was not the best but once installed it has kept my chip at 32 deg under moderate load. If I was to do it all over I would go with a larger SSD. After installing the OS and open office I only have 40gig left on the drive. I still need to install my photoshop and premiere elements on the SSD for maximum performance of those programs. All data will be stored on the two 2TB WD-Black drives. After the Photoshop installation I will have only about 30gig left on the system SSD. System B is running perfect. System A has a USB conflict. The WiFi card is attached to the USB 2.0 header and I think I have it narrowed down to that 2.0 header. Windows 7 doesn't seem to get along very well with USB 2.0 once the USB 3.0 drivers are installed. Gigabyte manual recommends connecting USB 2.0 devices to USB 2.0 ports before installing the USB 3.0 drivers. I don't think the Wifi card USB is meeting this criteria. Contacting gigabyte tech support by e-mail was useless. They gave no recommendations and only said if I can't figure it out I should RMA the motherboard! Despite the conflict showing up in device manager, the system and all usb ports seem to function fine. The motherboard is the newest 1.1 revision and has the most up-to-date firmware F14. I have uninstalled and reinstalled all of the USB drivers and the conflict remains the same. Even when I unplug the wifi card from the problem usb 2.o header the conflict remains. The WiFi card does show up as functioning normally in device manager when plugged into this USB header. When I move the front USB 2.0 ports to this header however the system has major problems and boot time goes from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. The front USB ports will then not work if plugged into this header. Switch everything back and the system runs fine but the USB conflict shows up in device manger. Bad USB header? I don't like seeing conflicts in device manager but everything seems to function fine. Any suggestions short of RMA'ing the MB?

[RickyTick]

Congrats on 2 great builds.

Check to see if there are any driver updates available, and also check for BIOS version update too. Other than that, you may have to RMA the board.

[Rob]

Congratulations!

[Pharkas]

Since I have the oem version of Windows 7 Pro 64bit installed, is Microsoft going to give me a problem if I switch out the motherboard? Are they going to think I am installing on a different system?

[zburns]

The WiFi card is attached to the USB 2.0 header and I think I have it narrowed down to that 2.0 header.

You should not even be 'messing' with anything USB 2.0. Everything should be USB 3.0 assuming all new components. Your case front panel usp ports are 3.0, not 2.0 ( I am pretty sure about this -- the Coolermaster specs are 'incomplete' regards detail; however, the picture, this url: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6653 -- see Product Highlights, 3rd picture to the right clearly shows two usb ports labeled 3.0
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Another suggestion. You do not mention keyboards and mouse. If you use a wireless keyboard and mouse, do you not 'avoid' the wireless card? I use the Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse -- never a problem of any kind going on five years!
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Back to your original question or statement regards Microsoft. You raise a valid point! There is no reason you cannot call them, make a note of the name of the individual you talk to, tell them your situation. They will agree. Best to anticipate the potential problem and call them first.

Regards talking to Gigabyte: I have periodically (because of this forum) called them for tech help (Los Angelus). I have mostly talked to a gentleman named 'Chang'; if you call, ask for him even if you have to leave a number and let him call you back. They have always been helpful, in the final analysis. My impression is that Chang knows 'the landscape' the best; have talked to others with mixed results -- always courteous, etc..

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This is a later edit, about 15 to 30 minutes after the above post. I do not want to create confusion with the above. I also ignored the fact that evidently you are using the one build at some distance from the 'internet hookup' (as in another room).

I ignored your comment regards the WiFi card being attached to USB 2.0. USB 2.0 does not have the bandwidth of USB 3.0. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that 'transmitting thru the WiFi card, one room to another, that the USB 2.0 'lower bandwidth' is preventing or blocking the transmission of any signals that require the bandwidth of USB 3.0.

Assuming my comment in the last para is correct (as to your setup), you might want to run this by Chang at Gigabyte.

[RickyTick]

OK, I just re-read your original post. Looks like you've already done the driver updates and BIOS updates. I'm curious how the wifi card is connected. Is it in the pci-e slot next to video card. What does the manual say?

[zburns]

On a hunch, I found this in the last hour: The 'A System' gigabyte motherboard is slightly different than the 'B System' mobo in that the A system includes a WI-Fi Pcie board -- ie. part of the Gigabyte motherboard 'configuration': http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4167&dl=1#ov

I not see how it is possible (from Gigabyte's viewpoint) to use USB 2.0 as a connection when the mobo is fundamentally a USB 3.0 mobo.
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CORRECTION:

The motherboard comes with the WiFi board and a separate manual for the WiFi. Much to my surprise (from the manual. I downloaded the WiFi manual.), the interface cable from the WiFi board to the motherboard is USB 2.0 cable. Any comment, of mine above, that makes reference to USB 3.0 being actively used should be replaced with USB 2.0.

To help to cancel out confusion that I have caused, the following should be 'fact'. I assume, Pharkas ordered two different motherboard packages, the difference being one mobo had the WiFi card with it, along with a separate WiFi manual.
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The one discrepancy I still see is the front panel usb ports on the HAF X case. They appear to be only usb 3.0 on the front: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6653 But there are usb 2.0 available (internally I presume)

[Pharkas]

You should not even be 'messing' with anything USB 2.0. Everything should be USB 3.0 assuming all new components. Your case front panel usp ports are 3.0, not 2.0 ( I am pretty sure about this -- the Coolermaster specs are 'incomplete' regards detail; however, the picture, this url: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6653 -- see Product Highlights, 3rd picture to the right clearly shows two usb ports labeled 3.0

The front I/O panel has 2 usb 3.0 and 2 usb 2.0 ports (4 ports total). The picture referenced above crops off the right side of the I/O panel that has the other ports. The motherboard also has 4 usb 3.0 ports and 2 usb 2.0 ports on the rear I/O panel. The wireless card comes with the motherboard and is plugged into a pci exp1 slot. The usb 2.0 header connection to the card is for the bluetooth connectivity that the card also can provide. Internet to this computer is by a wireless hotpoint.

I am not sure why Cooler Master has both types of USB on their front I/O panel and Gigabyte has both types on their rear I/O panel when 3.0 is now the standard. I have my keyboard and mouse attached to the rear usb 2.0 ports since that is all they require and it doesn't use up any 3.0 ports. I ordered this specific motherboard with WiFi card to eliminate any potential conflicts with an aftermarket WiFi card. The WiFi card is designed to work with the motherboard and plug into the USB 2.0 header.

I don't need to use any of the USB 2.0 ports and that is why I am not in a hurry to return the 1 week old motherboard and have the potential grief with Microsoft about my operating system being installed on a different motherboard. As long as the system stays stable going forward (I'm not sure how the 2.0 architecture on the board affects the 3.0 architecture) I'm temped to leave it alone. I hate looking in device manager and seeing conflicts, but all seems to function well right now. Does that seem reasonable, or am I being foolish and looking for the easier way out? If it isn't broke don't fix it? On the other hand I just spent a lot of hard earned cash to have a system with conflicts!

[Pharkas]

Looking at page 11 in Gigabytes user manual, in the USB section in small type it reads " * Do to a Windows 7 limitation, please connect your USB device (s) to the USB 2.0/1.1 ports(s) before the Intel USB 3.0 controller driver is installed" . When you type the beginning of this statement into google ending with the word device (s), there seems to be other cases of people with problems on other Gigabyte motherboards, although none identical to mine. The 1st time I set up the system I did not follow these directions since they are located only at the beginning of the manual in the specs section and not in the installation sections. I then uninstalled the drivers and plugged two usb mice into the front 2 usb 2.0 ports and the mouse and keyboard into the rear usb 2.0 ports and then reinstalled the drivers. That decreased the number of conflicts from 4 down to 2. I think theoretically if I unplug the WiFi usb connection and replace it with an adapter that allows me to plug 2 more usb devices to that usb 2.0 header, then uninstall and reinstall the drivers I might be conflict free? I am really ticked off at gigabyte since after a long email explaining all this to them all they could say is "sorry, if this trouble persists use the following form to RMA the board". BTW, thank you very much for the web site and forum.

[zburns]

It does sound like you have reasonable control of what is happening. I wanted to 'repeat' some advice. E-mailing Gigabyte USA Tech Support is not nearly as effective as 'calling them'. If you call GB Tech Support, please speak to 'Chang'. My opinion, he has the best grasp (in fact 'total grasp') of the Gigabyte products. I have talked to him multiple times in the past regards 'gigabyte' topics for this forum. I always had confidence in what he said.