Z87 Sniper USB problem

[Kaiketsu]

I recently changed my mobo to Gigabyte Z87 Sniper. I have windows 10.

My USB devices ever since then are behaving strangely.

Some (like my keyboard and external HDD) work fine. Others (my Roccat Savu mouse and USB hub in my monitor) usually don't work when I turn on the PC. I have to unplug them, then re-plug them again for the issue to fix. The USB HUB never works; the mouse works 50/50 - sometimes it powers on and works fine, and other times the LED on the mouse doesn't work and the slightest touch sends the coursor flying across the screen. Until I replug it of course.

I suspect the mobo may be at fault, but could it also be drivr related?

What I already did:

- using different ports (duh) on the mobo
- disabling USB selective suspend
- enabling and disabling USB legacy support in BIOS
- enabling the option to power on all USB ports from the startup ("initial full" option) in BIOS
- unchecking "allow win to disable the device to conserve power" in the device manager
- uninstalling drivers, reinstalling drivers
- reinstalling mouse drivers

Sadly nothing works at all.

Is there ANYTHING to do about it? once I replug the mouse, it works just fine, for instance. It's just the damned startup that completely fails me. I don't want to be forced to unplug/plug my devices every time I turn on/restart my PC.

[shadowsports]

From your description, it sounds like you might have swapped your motherboard without performing a fresh install of your OS.  Is this correct?

The first iteration of Gigabytes Z87 based boards rev 1.0 had some USB issues.  Lots of complaints from folks regarding USB reliability (both in Win7 and 8.1).  Most of these complaints were eradicated in rev 1.1 or later.  Also with Windows 8+ which has native XHCI were windows 7 didn't.  What board rev do you own?

Hubs whether unpowered or powered can be problematic.  This has to do with chipset compatibility.  I'm not familiar with your mouse, but keyboards and mice tended to work better when plugged in to USB 2.0 ports, especially from cold boot. 

All of the steps you've taken are good.  I wouldn't focus on anything related to power management as the issue occurs at boot and not on resume from sleep or standby.

[Kaiketsu]

Thanks for answering. I did format my SSDs and reinstall the OS after I swapped the mobo.

My MoBo is v.1.1, according to the sticker on the box.



The problem with the hub (and the mouse) doesn't depend on the USB slot I pick, 2.0 or 3.0. It occurs around 60-70% time after the PC is restarted, for the mouse, and 100% time for the hub. It completly fixes itself after unplugging the device and plugging it back again. All my other USB devices, including another mouse I own, work perfectly fine. The issue occurs outside of OS as well, i.e. the mouse can go crazy in BIOS, too.

It's also worth to mention that the "bug" sometimes leaves the hub powered on (ie. it can charge my MP3 player) but it's not detected by Win10 nonetheless.

After the PC has worked some time, the chance of this strange bug occuring decreases upon system restart. Completely shutting down the system (turning the PDU off, for instance) pretty much "resets" the chance of this thing to occur.

Right now, I tried connecting the mouse to the frontal USB panel (which goes to the USB connector on the mobo, rather than going directly into the back ports), and on my 1 attempt it worked fine, both mouse and HUB. I'm pretty sure it's going to come back to haunt me anyway :<

[shadowsports]

I noted the G1.Sniper Z87 was Rev1.1 earlier, so that's as good as it gets from a hardware revision perspective.

Ouch, only one BIOS available for this board since 2014.  Guess they got it right the first time in their minds   

Refer to pages 46-51 of your manual. 

What are you using for XHCI?

If using Auto previously, try Enabled

Also what about USB DAC (page 51)?  Change this on the off chance the hub on your monitor is powered. 

You'll need to F10, save and allow the system to boot.  Now shut down gracefully.  Turn off rocker on PSU.  Wait a few minutes and attempt cold boot.   

Have you tested with only one device at a time?  Try this and see what happens.   

Is there a beta BIOS available?  Might be worth a look on tweaktown, etc.  It might just be the hardware you are using together since you said another mouse and other USB hardware is working normally.  ??

   

[Kaiketsu]

I noted the G1.Sniper Z87 was Rev1.1 earlier, so that's as good as it gets from a hardware revision perspective.

Ouch, only one BIOS available for this board since 2014.  Guess they got it right the first time in their minds   

Refer to pages 46-51 of your manual. 

What are you using for XHCI?

If using Auto previously, try Enabled

Also what about USB DAC (page 51)?  Change this on the off chance the hub on your monitor is powered. 

You'll need to F10, save and allow the system to boot.  Now shut down gracefully.  Turn off rocker on PSU.  Wait a few minutes and attempt cold boot.   

Have you tested with only one device at a time?  Try this and see what happens.   

Is there a beta BIOS available?  Might be worth a look on tweaktown, etc.  It might just be the hardware you are using together since you said another mouse and other USB hardware is working normally.  ??

 

ah, missed the XHCI options. I will try different ones.
The bios is updated to the latest version.
USB DAC doesn't do much (turning it on/off that is).

Also, using the frontal panel for the Roccat Savu mouse instead of the rear one solved the issue completely, which is interesting... maybe it's a hardware bug/issue with the rear USB panel after all

[dmdilks]

What power supply are you using watts? Plus now many devices do you have plug in too?

[Kaiketsu]

EVGA Supernova G2 650W, gold rated. One of the best and most stable PSUs there is.

I have around 5 devices plugged in, I guess... mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor hub, external HDD.

[Kaiketsu]

Sorry for the bump.

What I find interesting is that when I completely shut down the system, then turn the power on (but not the PC), the USB ports can be charged or not, depending on BIOS settings.

And, the interesting part is that even in this state, it forces me to unplug the USB hub and plug it back in to "recognize" it. That way I can charge my phone through my monitor with the PC being off.

That's for a system being completely OFF, so... I guess that is a very obvious indicator of some sort of malfunction of the rear USB panel of the mobo itself.

[dmdilks]

No it is normal for that you can still charge you phone. As long as you don't flip the switch on the PSU you computer will get power. It isn't like the old days where you turn the computer off and it was off.

They have change all of that were even when the computer is off it will still draw a little power. On the boards today they did that. I could be wrong but it has something to do with the sleep mode.

[Kaiketsu]

What I meant was: in this "charge mode" (I know it's a feature  ), the USB HUB I'm having trouble with is not recognized until I unplug it, then re-plug it. And then, it works. When I shut down the PSU (with a switch, or by switching off my PDU panel), and turn it back on, it doesn't work until I unplug the hub, then plug it back again.

Every time.

So that definitively leaves windows settings aside, since this is technically done in S5 ("soft shutdown") with the PC turned off.

[shadowsports]

If this is a compatibility issue between the chipset in the hub and your board, there isn't much you can do.  Can you try with a different hub?  If you remove the hub and just use ports and header for front panel for your devices, does the issue resolve? 

[Kaiketsu]

Yes. When I connect the USB HUB of the monitor to the frontal panel of my PC (which is connected to, IIRC, USB1 connector on the MoBo), it also works flawlessly. The only issue here is the rear panel, which I find... weird. If compatibility was the problem, it should also not work with the frontal panel, no?

[shadowsports]

Yes. When I connect the USB HUB of the monitor to the frontal panel of my PC (which is connected to, IIRC, USB1 connector on the MoBo), it also works flawlessly. The only issue here is the rear panel, which I find... weird. If compatibility was the problem, it should also not work with the frontal panel, no?

Is the hub 2.0 or 3.0?  Have you tried different ports o the back?

What about the additional settings on pages 50-51.  Have you looked at all of them?  Might be helpful to open a ticked with support and see if they can give you explanation of the expected behavior and/or recommendations for best BIOS settings.  You would think the back would work the same as the header your USB connector is using on the FP.