GA-970A-UD3 usb 3.0 ports aren't working

[Cylorn123]

had the little exclamation point in my devices and printers for my motherboard so i went to the gigabyte site and downloaded the appropriate drivers, says there are no issues now and it still doesn't recognize anything i plug into it, nothing pops up at all, they haven't worked since i got the computer, would appreciate some help please.

[MisterEd]

USB 3.0 should be enabled by default as seen in the BIOS:
Integrated Peripherals
F_USB3.0 Controller [Enabled]
R_USB3.0 Controller [Enabled]

In the device manager you will see something like this if the driver is loaded:
Universal Serial Bus controllers
* Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller
* Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller
* Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Root Hub
* Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Root Hub

[Cylorn123]

Checked the BIOS and everything checks out the same as you listed, my device manager reads as followed,

Universal Serial Bus controllers
* Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller
* Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Root Hub
* Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
* Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
* Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
* Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
* Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
* Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
* Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
* USB Composite Device
* USB Composite Device
* USB Composite Device
* USB Composite Device
* USB Composite Device
* USB Root Hub
* USB Root Hub
* USB Root Hub
* USB Root Hub
* USB Root Hub
* USB Root Hub
* USB Root Hub

[MisterEd]

I have the GA-990FXA-UD3 but the USB 3.0 setup looks the same.

Each board has two Etron EJ168 USB 3.0 chips.
One of the EJ168s is for R_USB30 which for the two USB 3.0 connectors on the rear panel.
The other Etron EJ168 is for F_USB30 which is for the internal USB 3.0 header. This requires an optional cable to connect it to the front panel.

There should be two USB 3.0 controllers in the device manager. One for R_USB30 and the other for F_USB30.
Since you have indicated that both F_USB30 and R_USB30 are enabled in the BIOS but only one shows up in the device manager then the next step will be to see which one is not working. Go into the BIOS and disable each one in turn to see what shows up in the device manager.

First test:
Integrated Peripherals
F_USB3.0 Controller [Disabled]
R_USB3.0 Controller [Enabled]

Second test:
Integrated Peripherals
F_USB3.0 Controller [Enabled]
R_USB3.0 Controller [Disabled]

[Vezina]

Unfortunately it seems you ve had bad luck with the board ,it may have issues with the USB3.0 controllers.
Had similar problems like you with a board version 1.0.I sold mine some time ago.

Issues with controllers would occur with Windows XP most of the time and more rarely with W7.
The yellow bang/inability to use the ports would occur randomly and you may notice this only by looking in the Device manager.
In my case one of the Etron chips would do it more often ,was the front panel one.

But issues with the controller drivers can have a source in a conflict with AMD drivers as well ,issue may not be at hardware/BIOS level.Some people reported this along the time with the board.The order in which you ve installed drivers at the OS clean install can play a role here.

I would recommend a clean OS install having the drivers close for use before going online.
Try installing the USB 3.0 driver before all the others and DO NOT install  the AMD filter driver from the chipset package.Uncheck the item at AMD driver wizard launch.

If you are NOT using a FX CPU try BIOS F5  ,if you are using the first revisions (1.x) of the board.

MisterEd your board is a totally different story ,the PCB is different