MSI board front USB problem? (Connect both USB 3.0 and 2.0 headers?)

[Nine Iron]

Weird issue recently with the front(?) USB's of my MSI B75 mobo: sometimes I'll plug a thumb-drive into one, and not only will it fail to recognize the drive - or do so very, very slowly - it'll screw around with My Computer (hide hard drive used/available bars). The next shutdown often hangs even before any messages (verbose enabled) appear.

I've taken to putting thumb drives directly into the back of the computer for the time being as a workaround, and no issues yet. My thinking is it's one or more of the following:

a) issues with the OS - Win 7 64 Pro. Possible, because of the shutdown hangs and the fact that it's a good 15 mnths since the install,

b) issues with the front USB headers on the mobo (less likely - I've got my mouse's Bluetooth dongle in one of them, and the mouse has always worked perfectly,

c) issues with the case's front USB connections. I changed cases recently, so this is possible - it's got 1 x USB 3.0 and 2 x USB 2.0... was I supposed to plug both the USB 3.0 and the USB 2.0 cable into the mobo, or will the 3.0 cable take care of all of them? First case with USB 3.0 on the front, so I have no idea, and I don't want to unplug the USB 2.0 to test it because my mouse is in the 2.0 and I don't want to scupper it.

d) driver issues.


Any advice/test procedures would be appreciated.

M.

 

[Feronix]

In order for all your USB ports to work you must plug in both the thick 20 pin USB3 connector, as well as the smaller USB2 connector. Any USB header on the motherboard can drive up to 2 ports so the USB2 header does the USB 2 ports and then the USB3 header only does the single USB3 port at the front of your case.

Also, take your sidepanel off and double check if these are all plugged in correctly (due to a missing pin on the header and a blocked out hole on the connector they should only be able to go in one way). Also follow that cable through your case and see if you can access them from the front and if they are plugged in correctly there as well (where the actual front I/O ports are located, they should all be attached to a little PCB).

Does this happen with any storage device (USB/ External HDD/ etc.) or have you only tried a single flash drive?

Have you installed the latest USB3, and chipset drivers for your motherboard? USB 2 works natively without any drivers.

 

[Nine Iron]

In order for all your USB ports to work you must plug in both the thick 20 pin USB3 connector, as well as the smaller USB2 connector. Any USB header on the motherboard can drive up to 2 ports so the USB2 header does the USB 2 ports and then the USB3 header only does the single USB3 port at the front of your case.

I just swapped my mouse from USB 2.0 to 3.0 and pulled the 2.0 header as a check - the 2.0 are now out of comission, so it's not definitely not that. (I should point out that the thumb-drive error happened on the front USB 3.0 port as well.) No great loss, as I don't trust the front USB's for anything except the mouse now, anyway. Maplins have got a USB 2.0 extension cable for a quid, so I'll bang it in one of the 2.0 ports at the back so I don't have to keep reaching.

Does this happen with any storage device (USB/ External HDD/ etc.) or have you only tried a single flash drive?

I tried two thumb drives and an SD->USB adapter and my iPod - all came a cropper in the end. Basically anything USB-y with storage.

Have you installed the latest USB3, and chipset drivers for your motherboard? USB 2 works natively without any drivers.

According to the MSI site I am running the latest drivers for everything (and it's a pretty old board, so I doubt there wil be any more updates for the B75 chipset anyway!).

M.