Intermittent "single" USB port issue

[itsakjt]

Hi everyone,

I am having a minor issue in my PC. The specs are as listed on system specs here.
The chassis (Corsair Carbide 100R) has 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front panel which is connected to an USB 3.0 header on the motherboard. I find that the 2nd port on the front panel (the one to the right of the first one) has intermittent device detection issues. Here is a summary of the problem:
I have a WD My Passport Ultra 1 TB external hard drive (USB 3.0), a Sandisk USB 2.0 pen drive and a Kingston USB 3.0 pen drive.
Occasionally, I find that the 2nd port does not recognize my hard drive and the USB 3.0 pen drive (both receive power, LED lights up). Both the devices work absolutely fine in the first port and on all other devices (my HP laptop as on specs and my sister's Lenovo laptop as well).
On the other hand, that same USB port recognizes my Sandisk USB 2.0 pen drive in one shot without any issue. What's more is that if I keep the "undetected device" connected and restart the computer, the device is recognized just after POST and the problem will not happen for quite some time. Please note that the devices receive power. Even the hard drive spins up but won't get detected in Device manager, drive won't show up as well.
I am at my wits end and have no idea whether it is the front panel USB on the chassis or the motherboard. I also suspect a driver issue as well since restarting the system with the device connected fixes the issue for quite some time. Any help is appreciated.

 

[RCoon]

USB 3.0 contacts on the actual devices are shorter than USB 2.0 contacts. We've often found on my work's budget cases that the occasional USB 3 port has issues with the data contacts reaching one another (Power ones are longer adn thus fine), but the second we hook up a USB 2.0 extension from the port to the device it works fine.

 

[itsakjt]

USB 3.0 contacts on the actual devices are shorter than USB 2.0 contacts. We've often found on my work's budget cases that the occasional USB 3 port has issues with the data contacts reaching one another (Power ones are longer adn thus fine), but the second we hook up a USB 2.0 extension from the port to the device it works fine.

I get your point. But the thing is even if I "wiggle" the plug a bit, it does not connect. And once the computer is restarted, it is detected and even after I disconnect it and reconnect, it is recognized perfectly. USB 3.0 speeds are achieved as well (benchmarked with HDTune and AIDA 64 disk benchmark) with read speeds reaching 115 MBPS on the HDD and 165 MBPS on the USB 3.0 pen drive.

 

[Bill_Bright]

USB 3.0 contacts on the actual devices are shorter than USB 2.0 contacts.

They sure are not supposed to be shorter! The USB standard does not call for different contact lengths. USB 3.0 will have more contacts but they should physically be the same length as 2.0 specifically to ensure physical backwards compatibility. Yours being a different size suggests the makers of those devices have failed to comply with industry standards (which is not a surprise, sadly). They do this for the obvious reason - money/greed/profits.

BTW, the blue color coding for USB 3.0 ports is NOT a industry standard either. It is only a recommendation and not all makers comply with that recommendation either.

Also sadly is USB is the NOT the "universal" interface it promises to be. I believe that is partly due to makers being lax in adhering to the published standards plus the reality there is no oversight by any governing organization to ensure compliance. It is all through self-regulation.

I am at my wits end and have no idea whether it is the front panel USB on the chassis or the motherboard.

The only way I can think of to isolate the problem is to swap sides at the motherboard connector. That may require a special one-port cable that I have not been able to find. I can only find "keyed" cables that support the normal pair of 2 USB ports.

This means you might have to buy a USB3.0 PCIe card that supports internal USB 3.0 connections, then run a cable from there to the case's front panel ports and see if both ports work that way.

 

[itsakjt]

The only way I can think of to isolate the problem is to swap sides at the motherboard connector. That may require a special one-port cable that I have not been able to find. I can only find "keyed" cables that support the normal pair of 2 USB ports.

This means you might have to buy a USB3.0 PCIe card that supports internal USB 3.0 connections, then run a cable from there to the case's front panel ports and see if both ports work that way.

I have another front panel USB 3.0 just beside the 24 pin EATX connector on the motherboard. Shall I try it out?

Here's a photo:

I am using the bottom connector because of easier cable management.

 

[EarthDog]

Of course you shall... you haven't already???????

 

[itsakjt]

No I haven't already and am just about to switch it. Before doing that, I would like to make sure, is this the correct driver to keep?

I have installed the latest chipset driver from Intel and this still seems to be the Microsoft default driver. I have no idea why it should stay like that.

 

[EarthDog]

Is it the latest USB driver from the ASUS website for your board? Then yes it is.

 

[itsakjt]

Is it the latest USB driver from the ASUS website for your board? Then yes it is.

There is no separate USB driver for this board other than the ASMedia USB 3.1 driver. The front panel USB 3.0 comes directly from the Z170 chipset and is controlled by it. So the chipset drivers should have the USB drivers too right?

 

[EarthDog]

That should do it then, yes.

 

[95Viper]

USB 3.0 contacts on the actual devices are shorter than USB 2.0 contacts.

They sure are not supposed to be shorter!

Sorta depends on the connector type... however, he is probably referring to this USB 3 Type A connector:

 

[biffzinker]

Maybe the internal USB 3.0 connector for the front ports isn't seated all the way into the motherboard?

I see someone left a review at Newegg with this listed under cons.

stiff usb 3.0 wires that broke pins off of my motherboard

Hard to say if it was damage caused the user or the cable.

 

[itsakjt]

Maybe the internal USB 3.0 connector for the front ports isn't seated all the way into the motherboard?

I see someone left a review at Newegg with this listed under cons.

Hard to say if it was damage caused the user or the cable.

Checked it as well before. I removed and reseated the connector last week to eliminate that possibility.
Last night, I have hooked up the USB 3.0 connector to the other USB 3.0 header near the EATX connector and so far, everything seems to be fine. Though, only time will tell if the problem will return.
If this header does not cause any problems, can we make sure that the problem is with the motherboard? Some fault in the bottom USB 3.0 header?
Also, is it worth it to RMA it for that problem when every other functionality of the board is perfect?
Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[qubit]

USB 3.0 contacts on the actual devices are shorter than USB 2.0 contacts. We've often found on my work's budget cases that the occasional USB 3 port has issues with the data contacts reaching one another (Power ones are longer adn thus fine), but the second we hook up a USB 2.0 extension from the port to the device it works fine.

They sure are not supposed to be shorter! The USB standard does not call for different contact lengths. USB 3.0 will have more contacts but they should physically be the same length as 2.0 specifically to ensure physical backwards compatibility. Yours being a different size suggests the makers of those devices have failed to comply with industry standards (which is not a surprise, sadly). They do this for the obvious reason - money/greed/profits.

This sounds similar to the network port issue I've seen on at least 50 HP laptops at my workplace. The network plug fits very loosely in the socket, allowing it to be pulled out by 2-3mm before the latch stops it. This is enough to break the connection, so the plug has to be pushed in again.

Needless to say this is totally unacceptable so we've made HP replace them as we find them, at their expense. Close examination of the sockets revealed that they aren't manufactured properly and look like they're a different model to the good ones. Kwality from HP.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Kwality from HP.

I'm not really sure it is about connector "quality" per say but rather adherence to standards. I mean the connectors are not "falling apart" because of poor quality.

What the industry wants is for everybody to toss out all their USB 2.0 devices and replace them all with USB 3.0 - well, actually "USB 3.1 with USB Type-C" connections. It is all a big confusing mess IMO and by far, not "Universal" as the name suggests.

 

[itsakjt]

Can we get back to topic please?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Can we get back to topic please?

Sure, but note in your previous post, you said,

Last night, I have hooked up the USB 3.0 connector to the other USB 3.0 header near the EATX connector and so far, everything seems to be fine. Though, only time will tell if the problem will return.

So, if it is working fine, what is it you want us to get back to? You have shown to yourself the problem is not with your case's front panel port - which was the topic of this thread.

 

[itsakjt]

Sure, but note in your previous post, you said, So, if it is working fine, what is it you want us to get back to? You have shown to yourself the problem is not with your case's front panel port - which was the topic of this thread.

I just wanted people's opinion on whether it is worth to RMA the motherboard for this problem or just live with it! Because everything else works fine.

 

[Bill_Bright]

That's totally up to you. Can you put up with the downtime? If me, I would contact ASUS and see what their policy is there in India. They may want you to send the board in first, then they will test it and if bad, they will replace or repair it. Or they charge you for a new one, send a replacement, and then refund you when they receive yours.
There will be nothing convenient about it regardless the process.

I would also move that cable back and see if it is still bad. There might have been some dirt, debris or other contaminate initially interfering with the electrical connection and unplugging then plugging the cable back in (reseating the cable) might clear/clean it so it works again.

 

[EarthDog]

Love the worth it question... thats not up to us bud. You know how an rma works, or can find out... then decide.

 

[itsakjt]

UPDATE: Problem happened today morning again. Exactly same issue. 2nd port not recognizing USB 3.0 devices. Keeping the unrecognized device connected while restarting the computer made it detect again and after that it is working again normally. But I am sure the problem will return again.
So is it the front panel USB board that might be having the problem?

 

[biffzinker]

So is it the front panel USB board that might be having the problem?

Yes it's possible that USB port has a problem or the cable maybe isn't completely soldered/unplugged to the logic board with the ports located in the front panel. Wouldn't hurt to have a look at the board in front of case. Thermal expansion in play maybe?

 

[eidairaman1]

Replace the board, do a fresh OS install too.

Replace offending devices too

 

[itsakjt]

Okay, I pulled out the front panel USB section and took it apart. Here's what I found.

Honestly speaking, nothing is wrong in it.
BUT, I fixed the problem. I reverted back to stock clocks for everything (basically only the RAM) and tested for more than a week. Just applied the XMP setting (2667 MHz 15-17-17-35 2T). Did not have any issues at all. 3 days ago, I set the RAM frequency at 2800 MHz, 15-15-15-35 2T at 1.25V, still USB ports are absolutely okay.
Now here's the funny part: The RAMs are absolutely stable at 2900 MHz 15-15-15-35 2T. Ran IBT 5 loops with 16 GB memory. Passed every single time. Ran MemTest for 4 hrs, all passed.
I have no idea how an overclock can affect USB ports stability. Anyone having any ideas?

 

[eidairaman1]

Comm between usb ports and fsb/system bus is instable due to ram speed.

That tells me the ram oc is not entirely stable.

What settings are you using to get 2900 MHz?