USB 2.0 on USB 3.0 ports...

Greetings. New member here, so be gentle.

I've always had issues with the USB 3.0 ports on my M14X R1 ever since purchase (from new), but now it has become a real problem, as I need to be able to use them freely and as believed they should be able to be used.


Basically, is there any way to make/force the USB 3.0 ports on an M14X to act like USB 2.0 ports?


My main problems arise in similarity with the ones outlined in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...incompatible-native-instruments-products.html

As suggested in that thread and elsewhere, I have tried uninstalling the USB 3.0 drivers, but then the ports simply do not operate at all (though they still appear to pump out power).

It is audio and MIDI equipment I want to be able to use on the USB 3.0 ports, a couple of which are Native Instruments products as in that thread (Maschine, Traktor Audio 2). It is the audio interface (Traktor Audio 2) that causes most/worse problems in that an ol' BSOD occurs instantly as I start to use it.

Any help or advice would be welcome.

 

To switch between 3.0 and 2.0 does depend on the device you´re trying to connect.
To get those working what you could do is update the USB 3.0 drivers, flash the BIOS to the latest version and check with the manufacturer if there is a driver/firmware update for the device you are trying to use.

 

Thanks for replying, much appreciated.

All drivers (for internal components and external devices) on my system are up to date and the latest offered by the respective manufacturers. The BIOS is also the latest version.

The problem is that USB 3.0 is not as backwards-compatible as it was supposed to be. Devices that work perfectly well in USB 2.0 ports are either not recognised or cause serious issues when plugged into USB 3.0 ports. According to the USB 3.0 theory and marketing, this should not happen and USB 2.0 devices should work fine.

I don't need 3.0 speeds or additional power, I just want to be able to use the other two out of the three USB ports on my laptop. Currently, I cannot do this with anything more complicated than a mouse.

 

Are you using an M14x R1 or R2 theres a big difference USB related issues between those 2.

But no matter which Revision youre using both are only able to handle isochronous streaming over the USB 2.0 port not the USB 3.0 ports.

When you have the R1 just use the audio / midi interfaces on your USB 2.0 port it should work fine.
When you have the R2 go into your systemtools - standardsoftware - usb 3.0 extensible host controller driver. Uninstall this crap and reboot with unplugged everything. Then you can use ONLY the USB 2.0 port for isochronous streaming such as from audio / midi interfaces.

There is no technical possible way to make the USB 3.0 ports working for this asynchronous compensation transfers since neither NEC (previous Renesas) nor Intel supports it within their drivers for their USB 3.0 chipsets.

Even it is advertised as - Intels USB 3.0 is not backwards compatible to alot of USB 2.0 transfer standards. Id recommend you to use an USB Hub for more than 1 interface on your USB 2.0 port.

Updating BIOS`s or other software wont help at this issue.

 

Thanks for responding and for the extra info.

It's a shame I can do nothing about this USB 3.0 issue, therefore making them pretty much redundant to me. If Intel's USB 3.0 is not backwards-compatible, it shouldn't even be called USB 3.0, perhaps USB 2.37. From what I have read and understand, the USB 3.0 standard is backwards-compatible with USB 2.0, so surely there's some breach on Intel's part here? Not really topic for a forum though.

Tell me though, the difference between how USB works on the R1 and R2 is that the USB 3.0 on the R2 interferes with the USB 2.0 bus and so to use even the USB 2.0 port to full capacity and with full features, the USB 3.0 driver must be uninstalled? Crazy.

 

Always a pleasure its kind of a hobby for me to help ppl who want to understand to do so.

Well this is a bit more complex thematic. And yes theoretically it could be backwards compatible. The reason it isnt is the circumstance that Intel is not seeing the need to fix the driver problems due to their in test environment resulting known issues shall occur o nly in synthetic produced errors and not possible to repeat in common usage. Since this is known (by us users) not the fact and Intel is ignoring this there wont be a fix EVER.

Some people having the hope Windows 8 will solve these USB issues magically without any deeper knowledge of the technical background.

To summ it up yes its definetly Intels fault.

The difference is simple.

The R1 has natively USB 2.0 integrated by chipset and a seperate NEC chip right next to the Platform Hub Controller.

The R2 has only 1 chipset for all integrated inside the Platform Hub Controller located right below the keyboard or in other words right downside of the board (not the side where the CPU / GPU are on).

Because of these differences there is only 1 driver in the R2 for both the USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 transfer but it only works for the USB 3.0 ports and there only for data transfer. This driver heavily interferes with the funcionaility of the USB 2.0 port and all related data transfer such as async endpoints buffering and some more...

The NEC USB 3.0 chip on the R1 on the other hand is fully seperated from the USB 2.0 port - driver and hardware wise.

The driver for USB 2.0 is integrated in the chipset drivers. The driver for USB 3.0 is named Renesas/NEC USB 3.0 host controller driver or something.

Thats also the reason for limited bandwith for endpoints readings when you try to use a wireless desktop f.e. and only the mouse works or a printer and it ends up sending 1 documents data but not the next page due to occassional interrupts. <-- R2

I hope that helps.

 

Definitely (for that reason) glad I have the R1 then. Sounds like even more of a nightmare with the R2.

Damn Intel. Such a bittersweet relationship users have with them.

Thanks again. Though I would have been even more thankful if you'd provided a magical fix.

 

Yes for that the R1 is clearly superior to the R2. You can have both USB 3.0 speed and a functional USB 2.0 port for all kind of external devices.

I wish i had a magical solution myself.

But since you are into music having the R1 but the R2 is a big big plus.

Just use a hub with a power supply and youre good.

 

This is what I have been doing and it does work. Just not as smoothly as it could due to the (understandable) recommendations to have any external audio interface connected directly to the system on its own port and even bus. Hence my desire to be able to use the USB 3.0 ports too (not necessarily for the audio, but for MIDI controllers at least - even some of those cause issues on the USB 3.0 ports).

Anywho... Just have to keep trying and testing for the most stable setup.

 

It should make no difference at all if you use a hub between your audio interface and M14x. At least there is no logical reason for it.

Maybe you got a general latency problem due to driver problems.
For example to use perfect realtime audio transfer without dropouts i had to deactivate my Killer Wireless card and the Microsoft ACPI simultaneously on my R2.

Try latencymon and check if you have any driver problems. To find the bad ones may need some investigation tho.

 

I recently installed a Numark DJ IO on my m14x r2 and was greeted by BSODs. This happened no matter which USB port I used, 2.0 or 3.0. I had to uninstall the USB 3.0 drivers and degrade all ports to USB 2.0. So now I have lost bandwidth that I was using for video r/w in the name of getting an audio interface to work. Very disappointing.

 

Hi... new member here too... I've been reading the forums and i think i'm experienceing this USB 3.0 problem also. I just bought an Alienware m17x R4 and i've been trying to use an external monitor with it (Asus VG278H). In order to connect to this monitor i had to buy a Mini DisplayPort to DVI-D Dual-Link Adapter. This adapter has a USB plug to power the adapter for the signal conversion. What's been happening is the monitor keeps switching on and off and i hear the "windows new device attached sound" and after reading the forum it makes sense that it's a problem with the USB 3.0.

I tried uninstalling and deleting the INTEL USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver (by going to the device manager) but when i do this my USB ports are completely disabled and don't switch to USB 2.0. Could anyone lend some advice as to how to switch my m17x R4 to USB 2.0?... it would be greatly appreciated!.. thanks!

 

Uninstalling them in the device manager is a bad idea and if you would have read some posts to this topic you would have known that this is a bad idea.

However - go to the systemtools (NOT DEVICE MANAGER!!!) then go to the software uninstallation folder and right click uninstall the drivers. Then unplug everything and reboot. After reboot is completed plug in devices into your USB 2 port and external HD´s or Sticks into you USB 3 port - done.