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C6H, problems with USB card on PCIEX4_3

Juanlo_
Level 7
TL;DR: PCI Express USB card does not work on bottom PCI Express slot (rated at Gen3 4x on the manual). It works on secondary PCI Express slot, but then video card works at 8x.


I have a Ryzen build with the following components:

- Asus Crosshair VI Hero (BIOS 1403)
- Ryzen 1800X (default speed)
- 32 GB G.Skill DDR4-3200 (at 2133 Mhz)
- Samsung 960 Evo 512 GB (NVME M.2)
- 2 x Samsung 840 Evo 1 TB (RAID 0)
- NVIDIA Titan X Pascal (PCIEX16/X8_1)

Everything is working perfectly (I still haven't tried to clock my RAM at 3200 Mhz, that will come later), but I need a dedicated USB 3.0 card with independent ports for bandwidth consuming USB devices, so I purchased a Startech card with 4 independient USB controllers at 5 Gb/s each:

https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Cards/PCI-Express-USB-3-Card-4-Dedicated-Channels-4-...

This card uses a PCI Express 3.0 x4 bus, so I installed it on the bottom PCI express slot, the one named PCIEX4_3. The manual says that plugging a PCI Express 3.0 x4 card disables the three PCI Express x1 slots, and I'm ok with that because I'm not using more expansion cards.

So I plug the card, attach the power connector to it and boot my computer. When Windows 10 starts, I get 4 new USB host controllers, that's correct, but Windows can't start these devices (code 10). They are named "Generic Host USB controller xHCI compatible" and they can't be started. By the way, Windows takes quite a while to load (it was lightning fast before plugging the card). So I try everything I can think of: remove the device from control panel, detect again, disable, enable, reboot... I even downloaded the driver from the card manufacturer, which is older and not meant for Windows 10. When installing that driver the card is recogniced as Renesas USB 3.0, but it still gets the alert icon and the Error Code 10.

65999

So I try to move the card to another slot, and I plug it under the grphics card, into PCIEX8_2, the slot meant for dual video cards, and then Windows boots really fast, as before, and the card is successfully recogniced as Renesas USB 3.0 host controller (4 of them) and it works fine. The problem of using this slot is that my graphics card is reduced to PCI Express x8, so I want the USB card on the other slot. I move devices again, and the problem happens again: card is recogniced as generic USB 3.0 that can't be started by Windows.

I tried to change PCIEX values in BIOS, there is an option to force that slot into x4 mode, but it does not help. The USB card simply doesn't work on the bottom PCI Express slot. As far as I know, this slot only shares bandwidth with the 3 PCIEX 1x slots so it should work fine if there are no more expansion cards.

Is my PCIEX4_3 slot defective? Any ideas? I'm willing to reinstall Windows, but don't know if it may help.
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44 REPLIES 44

Juanlo_
Level 7
New beta BIOS 1501 includes this fix:

* Fixes PCIEX4 Bandwidth setting getting lost after power is removed

Does it have something to do with my problem with PCI Express x4 cards? I'm not at home today so I can't try the new BIOS until tomorrow.

Juanlo
Level 9
It's been a while since I tried to make work the USB card on the PCIEX4_3 slot. A few new BIOS have been released, so I decided to upgrade my Windows 10 to the Fall Creators Update and completely format my computer. I flased to 1701 BIOS and reinstalled the USB card. After formatting the disk and booting into Windows, the problem remains and the card can't be initialized.

I knew this problem could take quite a while to be fixed, so I would like to know the status of it. Basically, I have a motherboard with a non-funtional PCI Express slot, and I need that slot. I know there are other issues related to memory, BIOS, AGESA and so on, but come on... I'm not asking for automatic extreme overlocks and low latencies that work automagically by pressing a button... I just want a PCI Express slot that works as announced.

Anyone from Asus please... this issue is it's extremely frustrating, any news about it? Thanks

Juanlo
Level 9
It would be fantastic to get any feedback of the status of this issue.

I have exactly same issue with my CH6. I bought a Renesas USB 3.0 card with front panel header because my USB 3.0 front panel randomly disconnected when plugged in motherboard USB 3.0 header. Other (PCIE x1) devices work in chipset-controlled slots, but the USB card does not. Very frustrating, i can not use my front panel at all. Have you anything connected to MB USB 3.0 header? (just interested because i could get 2-port USB 3.0 front panel working on it but not 4-port.)

jotakinhan wrote:
Have you anything connected to MB USB 3.0 header? (just interested because i could get 2-port USB 3.0 front panel working on it but not 4-port.)


It's connected to my case's front USB panel, sometimes I plug devices like pendrives and external drives, no problems so far.

Juanlo_ wrote:
It's connected to my case's front USB panel, sometimes I plug devices like pendrives and external drives, no problems so far.


Sorry for derailing thread a little, but how many USB 3.0 ports does your front panel have? Is there anything else integrated in your front panel and connected via USB 3.0 front panel header (like SD-Card reader)?

As for the Renesas USB card problem, there seem to be also other PCIE cards that plain refuse to work on X370. Thread about a capture card, it was said by the manufacturer that it cannot be made to work with X370: https://community.amd.com/thread/213606

jotakinhan wrote:
Sorry for derailing thread a little, but how many USB 3.0 ports does your front panel have? Is there anything else integrated in your front panel and connected via USB 3.0 front panel header (like SD-Card reader)?


My case has just 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports on the front panel.

jotakinhan wrote:
As for the Renesas USB card problem, there seem to be also other PCIE cards that plain refuse to work on X370. Thread about a capture card, it was said by the manufacturer that it cannot be made to work with X370: https://community.amd.com/thread/213606


Interesting... apparently they have problems with x1 cards too, but I don't have that problem. I tried a Inatek x1 card on different x1 slots and it worked fine in all of them, I only have problems with x4 card, which works fine on x16 slot (making my graphics card run at x8) but fails on x4 slot.

Juanlo wrote:
Interesting... apparently they have problems with x1 cards too, but I don't have that problem. I tried a Inatek x1 card on different x1 slots and it worked fine in all of them, I only have problems with x4 card, which works fine on x16 slot (making my graphics card run at x8) but fails on x4 slot.


I have exactly same situation, 1x PCIE wireless adapter works, but 4x USB card does not. I have noticed all similar USB 3 card problem threads i have found tell about Renesas cards, for example these ones: http://www.overclock.net/t/1631583/crosshair-vi-problem-with-pcie-slot-functions and: https://hardforum.com/threads/crosshair-vi-hero-problem-with-pcie-slots.1936089/. I am thinking about ordering similar USB 3 card but with another controller than Renesas and trying it.

jotakinhan
Level 7
Issue seems also be affecting Threadripper: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?96511-Renesas-USB-3-0-PCIe-x4-issue-solder-question. Some people have suggested that windows 10 might cause the error, so i tried Ubuntu, but could not get USB card not working in Linux either. I bought this USB card, since it seems not to be a Renesas: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Ports-PCI-Express-USB-3-0-Front-Panel-with-4-Pin-20-Pin-Control-Card-Adap.... I will report back if it works or not.

From the Threadripper thread:

Lol again magically one of the Renesas USB controllers came to life when I had issues with Graphics card, NVidia newest drivers signal 4:2:2 screwed up TV hdmi input (turned colors to red/orange on all devices connected to that hdmi) had to reset TV to get back to normal. And after nights shutdown the USB controlled stopped working again.


This happened to me too, 1 of the 4 USB controllers on the Renesas card worked just once after several reboots, and I plugged a USB device on it and it worked. But after another reboot it just went away.