Z690 Hero can't USB boot from some ports

[BobVul]

Here's an interesting problem.

I have a Toshiba USB 2.0 flash drive configured for UEFI boot.

Hardware ID: USB\VID_0930&PID_1400

This drive does not appear in the boot options if it's plugged in to any of the front (USB 3.0, USB 2.0) ports, which are connected to motherboard headers (notably, these headers are provided by an on-board hub). Likewise, it does not appear in boot options if plugged in to USB hubs hanging off the rear ports.

However, it does appear in boot options when directly connected to the rear ports that are attached directly to the controller/root hub.

The same Toshiba drive is correctly detected and accessible in Windows via all hubs and ports. It's only in BIOS boot options that it is missing.

A separate Sandisk USB 3.0 drive is bootable from any port on any hub.

It seems there's an issue with booting from the specific combination of this Toshiba drive on ports that go through a hub, whether internal or external from the board.

Does anyone know why this might be the case? Are there any esoteric options I should look at, that might be preventing bootable drive scanning from picking this drive up?

[STARRAIN]

Hi BobVul,
The distance from front ports is longer than rear ports and front ports are through an hub for pc case.
If it is working fine with a Sandisk USB 3.0 drive, to make sure stability, we would suggest plug the Toshiba USB 2.0 flash drive in rear ports.
Thank you.

[SneakyLittleman]

Thank God I found your thread. I'm currently investigating this issue with my own Z690 Hero (only bug found so far):
- My own USB 3.0 sandisk stick is randomly detected by the bios - most of the time it isn't - Detection on my case's front port is intermittent at best. It always works in windows, just like you.
- Same think for my external sata drive in a USB case (Icy Box) - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Rear ports are more reliable but usb sticks still aren't detected 100% of the time by bios.
Can this be fixed in a bios update? Insufficient volage or something???

[STARRAIN]

Hi SneakyLittleman,
Does it occur on bios 2004 with bios all default settings(no OC)?
May I know which USB ports you have tried?
Thank you.

[SneakyLittleman]

STARRAIN@ROG wrote:
Hi SneakyLittleman,
Does it occur on bios 2004 with bios all default settings(no OC)?
May I know which USB ports you have tried?
Thank you.

Hi Starrain, yes it's on bios 2004.
Asus AI overclock for now, I'll reset my bios and try with default settings + enforce all limits.

I've tried all "red" usb ports on the back + 2 front usb ports provided by my case (Meshify 2). Will report back.

(For now, all ports exhibit the same behavior: sometimes the usb stick is detected; sometimes it isn't. I can't seem to find the pattern).

[STARRAIN]

Hi SneakyLittleman,
If it still occurs on bios 2004 with bios all default settings(no OC), please help to notice how often the issue occurs like once in three times.
If you change the USB flash drive to other USB ports or try other USB flash drive in the failed USB port, is it detecting?
Thank you.

[SneakyLittleman]

STARRAIN@ROG wrote:
Hi SneakyLittleman,
If it still occurs on bios 2004 with bios all default settings(no OC), please help to notice how often the issue occurs like once in three times.
If you change the USB flash drive to other USB ports or try other USB flash drive in the failed USB port, is it detecting?
Thank you.

I've tried all ports with 3 different usb sticks but can't say I find a regular pattern... Here are my "findings":

- When usb bios detection works, all usb sticks can boot (1 sata SSD with an usb adatper - live Ubuntu disk + one 250gb sandisk USB stick - full Ubuntu USB install + one 32gb Kinston USB stick - Windows Recovery drive).
- When usb bios detection doesn't work...no usb device shows up anywhere (bios settings or F8 boot menu).
- It seems to always work after booting Windows and soft rebooting + F8 boot menu: I had three crtl+alt+del reboots and the bios still detected all devices.
- After booting a Ubuntu usb live drive or a full usb install + soft reboot, BIOS doesn't seem to detect usb devices (I don't see why windows or ubuntu would changer anything, since we're dealing with bios detection...but I'm out of ideas).
- Cold boot after powering off the computer then on doesn't exhibit any regular pattern: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't 😕

I don't think there's any "failed" usb ports: all have either managed to boot a usb stick at times and at other times they didn't 😕 😕 😕

[STARRAIN]

Hi SneakyLittleman,
Does the random issue also occur on bios 2004 with bios all default settings(no OC)?
Does it happen since first build or after any settings or components changed?
Thank you.

[SneakyLittleman]

STARRAIN@ROG wrote:
Hi SneakyLittleman,
Does the random issue also occur on bios 2004 with bios all default settings(no OC)?
Does it happen since first build or after any settings or components changed?
Thank you.

Hi, I forgot to mention that I reset all 2004 settings to default last week i.e stock / no OC - no change in behaviour.
My PC has remained the same for the last 10 months since I bought it: Z690 Hero + 12900K + 3080 Founder's edition + 16gb ddr5 at 4800mhz / no overclocking.

I also noticed that sometimes, the mouse doesn't work in bios - which I hadn't noticed before 2004, so I'm just waiting for next bios flash to see if it is fixed.

[STARRAIN]

Hi SneakyLittleman,
Thank you for your reply.
May I have the following information?
- the serial number of the motherboard via pm
- the brand and model name of your ram, PSU, OS drive, USB flash drives and mouse
(Please check the specific model name of ram such as G.SKILL F4-4600C18D-16GTRG.)
- graphics driver version
- OS version and OS build
Thank you.