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RODECaster Pro II USB Power Issue on ROG Strix B550-E Gaming

DECEiFER
Level 7
Hi,

I could use a little help. I just got the RODECaster Pro II a few days ago and I've noticed that no matter which USB port on my computer or cable I use (the official SC16 or from my own stash) when the RCP2 is connected to the computer via USB 1 (one of the device's two USB audio interfaces, where USB 2 is the second). When the computer and RCP2 are powered off, the motherboard still receives power. I can see my GPU's (ROG Strix 2070 SUPER) PCIe LED indicators are still lit, even when the PC is no longer wall powered, which is especially weird since the PSU can't be providing the power. But the most bizarre effect is, I can't power my computer on in the normal fashion when the RCP2 is off and still connected via USB 1. If I hit the power button on my case, the Fractal Design Define R6, nothing happens bar hearing a low click like it would make when actually powering on. Then, right after, when I power the RCP2 on - bam; the computer starts to boot. If the RCP2 was powered on before hitting the PC's power button, then the computer would have powered on normally, after I press it.

For context, my motherboard is on the latest BIOS (2803 at this time) and the RCP2 is on firmware 1.0.7 (also the latest at this time). I tried messing with a bunch of settings in the BIOS to no avail (I even shorted CLRTC pins to reset it as well). And again, this happens no matter what USB socket on the board's controllers (USB-A, USB-C, 2.0, 3.0, front, and rear) is connected to the RCP2.

I did put in a cheap PCIe x1 USB 3.0 card I have lying around just to test and none of the issues described above occurred. But I'd prefer to avoid using that card as I'm not sure how trustworthy it is, as when I used it briefly, I was getting USB 1 interface drop-outs when using its USB-C port on it with USB 1. It didn't drop out when using its USB-A ports over the short timespan of testing, but the USB-C issue doesn't do much to inspire trust in it.

Does anyone with this or a similar audio interface have this issue? Other than what I described, everything else appears to be working perfectly using the motherboard's USB ports. I settled on the board's USB-C Audio port for USB 1 and I'm also using USB 2 for the extra audio device that it provides, which is going into one of the USB-A 2.0 ports. Note that connecting the USB 2 interface on its own to the board does not cause the above issues.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
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1 REPLY 1

SunnyStefan
Level 7
It's the Rodecaster Pro II audio interface/mixer, not your ASUS motherboard.
Rode has acknowledged the issue and also detailed a work around involving a USB hub.
A BIOS update from ASUS will not solve this, however a firmware update from RODE could.
Unfortunately RODE has not committed to resolving the issue so far...

https://www.reddit.com/r/RodeCasterPro/comments/y9gnxf/usb_energy_issue_with_rcpii/

" A potential work around that can help with this is to use a USB hub (it can be powered or unpowered) as an intermediary (so plug a USB hub into your PC and connect the RCP2 to that hub). This can help prevent the computer seeing the voltage put out by the RCP2. The good news is that this should not damage your PC in any way, it's just a weirdness due to the poor implementation of USB protocols.

We are looking at ways to help alleviate this issue; potentially using a manual setting on the RCP2 to change the negotiation protocol (although the downside of this is that the RCP2 would not recognise a USB storage device whilst this mode was active). Our engineers continuing to investigate this matter. "