The USB 3 stack is unstable in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8. I was hoping the upgrade to Windows 8.1 would improve the stability but no.
On two different motherboard systems I have had the same experience with 64 bit Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8.1 Pro compatibility with various USB 3.0 devices and hubs including:
An AFT PRO-57U front panel card-reader/hub, various Anker, Syba multiport hubs, and these are just a few I have tried, there are many more.
Symptoms are the same.
For example: the AFT PRO-57U slots are enumerated correctly as drive letters in Windows 8.1.
Then the drives (the PRO-57U slots) disappear, then reappear, then disappear, and reappear and so on. This happens consistently and the cycle time to disappear/reappear varies from 10 seconds to 10 minutes.
The Windows Device Manager shows the devices appearing and disappearing as enumerated devices. I have tried many trial and error methods to solve this, uninstalling and reinstalling USB motherboard drivers, different cables to the AFT PRO-57U device different USB 3 ports for the devices and many more...
One of the hubs I bought specifically because it has the latest chip and firmware: Anker USB 3.0 9-Port Hub + 5V 2.1A Smart Charging Port with 12V 5A Power Adapter [VIA VL812-B2 Chipset and updated Firmware 9081] This hub FAILs to enumerate some external HDDs and other devices.
To troubleshoot I have tried many things:
- I have disabled Windows Power Options, USB Selective Suspend.
- I have disabled power options for each and every USB device in Windows Device Manager
- I have uninstalled the Asus AI Suite 3 software and the issues remain.
- I have tried BIOS settings for Legacy USB devices on and off and the issues remain.
- I have tried BIOS setting for xHCI Mode - Auto, Smart Auto, On, Disabled
- I have updated to the latest Intel chipset drivers 9.4.0.1026
- I have all the latest BIOS, drivers, firmware, devices, - anything that is involved with the USB 3 stack.
- Etc. etc. etc...
I have contacted Asus, Gigabyte Intel, AFT, Anker Syba, etc. and they are all finger pointing.
I have tried so many trial and error methods to solve the problem and I have run out of ideas.
It is clearly an unstable USB 3 stack and I am not sure who is responsible although I suspect Intel chipset drivers.
USB 2 is fine BTW. All devices work correctly when plugged into USB 2 ports.
From what I can tell, the entire USB 3 environment is a problematic P.O.S.
If anyone has any ideas I am willing to try anything I have not already tried.
Thanks,
Michael Downs
P.S. Here is my system information. I have all the latest BIOS, updates, drivers and etc. for all devices.
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- ASUS Maximus VI Formula w/ BIOS 1002
- Intel Core i7-4770K BX80646I74770K
- G.Skill Trident X 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2400 Model F3-2400C10D-16GTX
- Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD Seagate Constellation CS ST3000NC002 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB
- EVGA GeForce GTX 760 ACX 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
- Corsair Carbide Series 330R Mid-tower Case
- Corsair RM850 850W 80 Plus GOLD Certified
- Cooler Master Seidon 240M - Liquid CPU Water Cooler
- Pioneer 15X BD-R SATA Blu-ray Burner BDR-2208
- AFT PRO-57U All-in-one USB 3.0 5.25" Media Card Reader
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Then there is a similar system with the exact same USB 3 issues:
Gigabyte - GA-Z77X-UP4TH
Intel i7 3770K