Z690 and USB issues

[W0lfecs]

Hello, I wanted to see if anyone else is having this kind of problem or if anyone knows of a fix.

When transferring large files, say 30 gig, to a USB 3.0 flash drive the thumb drive will lose its connection. Not only does the flash drive lose its connection but the keyboard LED lights will randomly cut in and out, the mouse will lock up, and the audio will cut out when this happens.

I saw on reddit where other people with z690 boards experienced similar issues but I could not find a fix. Seamed like people usually had some sort of a hub or really long USB cable when they had issues. I'm having this problem even when a hub or long cable isn't used.

My system:
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E
i9-12900K
G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin SDRAM DDR5 6000 (PC5-48000)
WD_BLACK 1TB SN850 NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive - Gen4 PCIe
WD_BLACK 2TB SN850 NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive - Gen4 PCIe x2 in RAID 1
EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3
Corsair HX Series, HX1000, 1000 Watt, Fully Modular Power Supply
iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Display Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair iCUE 5000X RGB Mid-Tower ATX PC Smart Case
Ducky shine 6 keyboard
Corsair Nightsword RGB mouse
Windows 11

This is with a fresh install of windows with all updates, all drivers updated, latest bios and everything else updated from Asus website as of 4/21/22

Troubleshooting I have tried:
I have tried multiple USB thumb drives. Most of which have been 3.0. I have tried different ports. I have tried moving the keyboard and mouse to different ports. I have tried different length cables for the keyboard. I have turned off AI overclocking. I have unplugged everything from the computer other than the keyboard mouse and thumb drive as far as USB ports go. None of these things fix the issue.

I have had success with with a USB 3.2 thumb drive transferring large files, but I only did it once and I can't confirm if its repeatable over an over again. I have also noticed that a longer USB cable will cause the keyboard LEDs have issues with the LED lights much faster than with the stock short cable.

[nordx]

STARRAIN@ROG wrote:
Hi nordx,
Do you mean USB devices will disconnect? Does it occur when transferring files?
Which devices and US ports did you use and have disconnecting issue?
Does it also occur on bios 2103 with bios all default settings(no OC)?
Have you tried updating PD FW Version 008 and Intel ME Version 16.1.25.1885 from our support site?
Thank you.

so i happen to find out that asus armoury crate doesnt update all drivers... so i manually installed RAID-driver, updated Intel ME to latest version (armoury crate did it to a specific version and said its the newest, but it wasnt and with CSME version detection tool from intel i found out it wasnt) - also update from PD FW 0006 to 0008 (i saw that there is a Version checker at the asus download page and found out its not the newest).

so after updating PD FW (i think this stands for power delivery Firmware for usb-controller?) Intel Management Engine (Intel ME) and the BIOS (i was at Version 0807 from 03/2021) it looks like my USB-Problem is gone.

Thanks for your help! 😄

ASUS should really do something with the armoury crate - its unintuitive to have updates for some drivers and not for all or at least give information that there are updates which i should/could install manually (PD, BIOS).

greetings,
nordx

[Aurosonic]

nordx wrote:
also update from PD FW 0006 to 0008 (i saw that there is a Version checker at the asus download page and found out its not the newest).

Where did you find PD FW 0008 ? I can't find it anywhere. Only 0004. I've a problem with USB C and connected Apple Magsafe charger to it. It makes bios init and all bios keyboard and mouse movements sluggish. Like bios init take about minute and then post menu minute. All the movements in bios by keyboard take like 10-15 seconds after pressing any keyboard key. Problem away whenever i unplug MagSafe from USB C port from backpanel of my Apex Z690. I've update Intel ME to latest. My bios version is 1403. Now all is left to try is to update USB PD FW to 0008. Mine is 0004 right now.

[nordx]

Aurosonic wrote:
Where did you find PD FW 0008 ? I can't find it anywhere. Only 0004. I've a problem with USB C and connected Apple Magsafe charger to it. It makes bios init and all bios keyboard and mouse movements sluggish. Like bios init take about minute and then post menu minute. All the movements in bios by keyboard take like 10-15 seconds after pressing any keyboard key. Problem away whenever i unplug MagSafe from USB C port from backpanel of my Apex Z690. I've update Intel ME to latest. My bios version is 1403. Now all is left to try is to update USB PD FW to 0008. Mine is 0004 right now.

i also needed a second look cause i couldnt find it right away now...

you need to expand the files-list (click on Show-all) at the asus driver page:
https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z690-a-gaming-wifi-d4-model/helpdesk_bios/

under the title "Firmware" (after choosing your OS) you can see the download for updating it to 0008.

see the picture here:

ASUS need to update their Download-site, its really confusing.

[Aurosonic]

nordx wrote:
i also needed a second look cause i couldnt find it right away now...
https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z690-a-gaming-wifi-d4-model/helpdesk_bios/

Thanks for the link. I've been searching at my Apex Z690 download page and it has only ver. 0005. I've updated it to 0008. Hope it helps with my issue
of Magsafe not charging from Type C back panel.

[DragDay7]

Agreed, I had the same USB issue exacly because I trusted Windows and Armoury Crate to take care of the updates. All you need to fix this is to download and install drivers manually. What's the point of that software if it can't be trusted?

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi nordx and DragDay7,
Thank you for your reply and feedback.
I'll forward it to our concerned team for Armoury Crate improvement.

[tbresson]

I too have an issue with USB devices malfunctioning. I don't remember having this issue from the beginning so I thought it might be related to Windows 11. It started with random static in my headphones which still happens occasionally but the weird part is my Oculus being unable to connect sometimes and my keyboard or mouse simply stop working. I found out that the sleep function is Windows is partly to blame. If the computer wakes up from sleep I loose one or more devices after a little while so I stopped doing that. I still hear the static noise in my headset now and then though.

One thing though. Someone wrote here that the problems went away with an update to PD FW version 008 and my motherboard is the ASUS Prime Z690-A and on the official website there is only a version 007. The motherboards seem closely related so I thought it might work but I haven't had the guts to try it out.

Here's the site for my board:  
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/prime/prime-z690-a/helpdesk_bios/?model2Na...

Newer version available here for a different but very similar board is here:
https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z690-a-gaming-wifi-d4-model/helpdesk_bios/

Release notes don't say anything about USB stability or power issues being fixed though.

Have anyone any experience or info about this?