ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

[inigmatus]

Not sure what's happening. I can't seem to plugin the following:

Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
Logitech G9x mouse

and/or

Logitech G13 gaming keypad

and/or

Edirol MIDI convertor

into USB 2.0 slots

without the ASRock boot splash screen freezing and not proceeding further.

I can however plugin the keyboard and mouse into USB 2.0 and the G13 and MIDI into USB 3.0 and everything powers up and I get past the ASRock splash screen into Windows 7.

The USB 2.0 ports work otherwise when I plugin the mouse and keyboard into them. It just seems that I can't plugin more than two items into the USB 2.0 ports on the motherboard I/O panel without it causing the board to freeze. The USB 3.0 ports (as well as the header) do not have this problem. Do I have a bad board?

UPDATE: As discussed below, the reason the USB 3.0 port workaround works is because USB 3.0 doesnt load until Windows 7. So in short, if I don't want to plugin my extra (non keyboard/mice) 2.0 devices into the 3.0 ports as a workaround, then disabling legacy ports for 2.0 in UEFI is the "fix", but this essentially renders all USB 2.0 ports on the board to not load on POST which makes working in the BIOS useless with your USB keyboard/mouse until you reflash BIOS to default settings which will reenable the ports (or unless you have a non USB keyboard with which to enter UEFI and thus you can avoid flashing - I think). It would be great if ASRock could just fix their BIOS to disabling only certain USB 2.0 ports, rather than all of them at once in one fell swoop. This way the keyboard and mouse USB 2.0 ports could work and still be used, and then it would allow Windows activate the ports when they load at Windows startup. Or ASRock could just fix the BIOS issues with problem USB 2.0 devices period and either choose to ignore them on POST or just work with them without freezing. Also if you're reading this prior to buying, this board is great otherwise. With its debug and reflash bio button features, we are actually able to have this convo here. This board is still great for beginners who want a board that can do anything this year's tech can throw at it. I just wish the USB 2.0 multiple devices issue can be resolved without manual workarounds.

[kick]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

Unless there is a bios problem and revision fix, and you seem to be ok using the usb 3.0 ports as well.Try connecting your extra usb 2.0 devices into the first pair of usb 2.0 ports on the i/o panel first.
Are you using the front usb 2.0 ports, or have the cabled usb 3.ports on the front panel?
Check and see if you have legacy devices enabled for both usb 2.0 and usb 3.0 in bios ,could be ,If its only usb 2.0 the devices connected to usb 3.0 ports wont be "activated " until u need them once your in windows.

[inigmatus]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

I use the first two i/o ports on the i/o panel for USB 2.0 I can also plugin and use the 2.0 headers, but same result when adding extra USB devices. All ports work fine in Windows 7 when I plugin in all devices into my USB 2.0 ports. It's just something in BIOS that must be hanging when all my devices are still plugged into USB 2.0. most annoying.

currently my extra usb devices (keypad and MIDI convertor) plugged into usb 3.0 (either i/o or front) dont activate until Win7 loads so this is perhaps the reason why the board isn't hanging when I use them. If there was only a way to disable BIOS from loading specific USB 2.0 ports to prevent future hangs (or just not hang period) would be the fix I need and would free up those USB 3.0 ports for future USB 3.0 devices, short of unplugging devices from USB 2.0 and manually replugging them back in after POST. what a pain.

[kick]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

All my usb devices seem to work in usb 2.0 or 3.0 ports (theyre all usb 2.0).Tho i did have a prob once when I connected my printer into a usb3. by accident and that was just something with xfast usb in windows.
On the manual tho you will see to use the first 2 usb 3 ports first for best performance.

Could be just your board doesnt like some of your gaming devices at post..doesnt really matter does it? . The board has a load of ports.
If as it seems legacy is turned off in bios for usb 3?,just plug any devices you wont need until your in windows into those.
That should be most things.except keyboard ,mouse and maybe a usb stick for flashing and bios screenshots.
All you really need for uefi is a keyboard, but its nice to have the mouse , even if it is a bit "sticky".

[ped]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

Honestly it's quite ironic that I see this post as the top post and most recent.

I have the P67 Extreme4 GEN 3 as well and have exactly the same problem. When I was first configuring my PC, it worked fine. Now it's caused by my gaming mouse, which is a USB 2.0 device. I try every 2.0 port, and it seemed to cause it to get stuck upon boot, not passing the UEFI. If I boot into UEFI with the keyboard only plugged in, then I plug in the mouse, it actually stops the system clock as well.. the UEFI freezes.

I've been building it since 1 week ago, and everything went fine until I got a 0x0E errror, and thought it was a seated RAM problem. After testing each RAM stick, with one in, I'm getting repeated B4 - "Hot USB port" Errors from Dr. Debug.

I can disable the legacy 2.0, however then I won't be able to get into UEFI anymore, and everything will then boot.
Then of course the only way I could get into my BIOS thereafter is to flash it... but I shouldn't have to do that.

What else can I try other than disabling the legacy port?

[inigmatus]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

ped, I think I read somewhere that downgrading to a lower BIOS (1.0 I think) would fix some USB issues, but don't take my word for it. It might have only been a fix for USB 3.0 blue screens, but not this USB 2.0 POST issue. I didn't think about disabling legacy in BIOS, but that makes a lot of sense with what you came up with. Back up your BIOS settings and set to legacy. The have a normal computer life. If you need access to BIOS again, re-flash if necessary using the boar's handy reflash bios button (whoulda thought?). How often are we in BIOS anyways after the first few months? I just might try your work around until ASRock comes up with a better fix.

[inigmatus]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

I updated my OP with info gleaned from above. I will try ped's USB 2.0 disable legacy BIOS work around when I get another USB device (as by then I will have run out of 3.0 ports to plug it into).

[kick]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

edit:

UPDATE: As discussed below, the reason the USB 3.0 port workaround works is because USB 3.0 doesnt load until Windows 7. So in short, if I don't want to plugin my extra (non keyboard/mice) 2.0 devices into the 3.0 ports as a workaround, then disabling legacy ports for 2.0 in UEFI is the "fix", but this essentially renders all USB 2.0 ports on the board to not load on POST which makes working in the BIOS useless with your USB keyboard/mouse until you reflash BIOS to default settings which will reenable the ports (or unless you have a non USB keyboard with which to enter UEFI and thus you can avoid flashing - I think). It would be great if ASRock could just fix their BIOS to disabling only certain USB 2.0 ports, rather than all of them at once in one fell swoop. This way the keyboard and mouse USB 2.0 ports could work and still be used, and then it would allow Windows activate the ports when they load at Windows startup. Or ASRock could just fix the BIOS issues with problem USB 2.0 devices period and either choose to ignore them on POST or just work with them without freezing. Also if you're reading this prior to buying, this board is great otherwise. With its debug and reflash bio button features, we are actually able to have this convo here. This board is still great for beginners who want a board that can do anything this year's tech can throw at it. I just wish the USB 2.0 multiple devices issue can be resolved without manual workarounds.

eh discussed?
My suggestion was the board doesnt like some of your more unusual usb devices enabled at post, not the amount of usb 2.0 devices,and that having them on the usb ports with legacy disabled for usb 3 ,enables them to work in windows,and that that would be the explanation for having nps with some devices connected to usb 3.0 ports.
Disabling all legacy usb wasnt suggested as a "fix" unless you have a ps2 keyboard and a non usb flash source for bios , such as a fdd.
I dont think ped suggested this as a workaround, more that he didnt want to have to do it.
It is convenient that usb 2.0 and usb 3.0 port legacy can be disabled independently.
Ive seen many problems on older boards from other makers also where legacy enabled has conflicted with "custom" usb devices at post. In that case there was no option but to use a ps2 keyboard and fdd /or usb stick if that caused no conflictfor flashing bios if:
a bios came out that was tailored to cure a particular usb compatability problem at post.
Some even say thats the reason Asrock left a fdd connector on the board,for "gamers" who like to experiment with the bios.


A lil history.
When I got my board first..yeh its an older p67 the mouse(usb 2.0 8 button) didnt work in uefi.just stayed locked. It didnt prevent post or boot up.
With later bios revisions it worked tho still seems a bit "sticky" in uefi. I wouldnt like to be playing a game in uefi mode.

There was some problem awhile back with gaming mice on z68 e4 gen3, maybe still is.

What I was saying. tho I dont have that problem myself with this mouse is

What do you need before u get into windows (unless your a retro fanatic and have some version of dos6 on a drive)

Uefi, .. a keyboard and possibly a usb stick.
Connect those up to usb 2.0 ports or you may not really need any usb 2.0. if you have a ps2 keyboard and you connect up the floppy drive!(half joking)

Disable legacy for usb 3.0 ports connect up your mice,midi cards n wotever is causing posting problems to those ports.

Leave usb 2.0 legacy enabled in bios use keyboard on that, if its usb,if u have a usb 2.0 mouse and that doesnt cause any problems leave it on a usb 2.0 port, if it does try it on a usb 3.0 with usb 3 legacy disabled.

It might help, altho in peds case .. if something was working before .. it should work now, unless there was a change?
cmos reset might do the job tho.

[inigmatus]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

I thought clr CMOS would reset the BIOS to default settings, so that "gamers" wouldn't have to flash with fdd to reset settings (such as switching back from disabled legacy to enabled).

[kick]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

clr cmos will/should set bios back to default settings..but even for most of those who dont overclock ,what use would that be if you cant enter uefi,
storage defaults to ide.. if you cant change that to ahci you wont get very far, unless youve been using ide the whole time, if you use 2 boot drives.. cant change to the other etc.

I meant cmos reset purely for Ped's problem since he had a debug error that he didnt have before ,unless he changed his setup in some other way, but I cant tell from his post whether he was using this gaming mouse when things were fine, or the mouse started the problem.

[ped]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

clr cmos will/should set bios back to default settings..but even for most of those who dont overclock ,what use would that be if you cant enter uefi,
storage defaults to ide.. if you cant change that to ahci you wont get very far, unless youve been using ide the whole time, if you use 2 boot drives.. cant change to the other etc.

I meant cmos reset purely for Ped's problem since he had a debug error that he didnt have before ,unless he changed his setup in some other way, but I cant tell from his post whether he was using this gaming mouse when things were fine, or the mouse started the problem.

Well I've been hitting CMOS reset for the past two weeks now giving I've been tryin to build my new rig. I also had some other errors from dr debug so given everything I've seen, this USB problem was potentially always there but perhaps masked by other problems.

Right now I'm running my rig with memtest86 to check on the original problem I thought I had.. Which is Ram. However trying to go thru the process of elimination.

So this legacy 2.0 stuff does not help me one bit trying to install windows and then run UEFI to crank performance out of my CPU and RAM. Really annoying but it may be wishful thinking that it's just one problem for me at this point.

I also wrote an email to the ASrock tech support on the same issue.

If the disable legacy USB trick helps ya, more power to ya. However kick is right, not my preferred method given what I gotta still get done.

Cheers to ya both. I still will hope we get one solved.

[inigmatus]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

wait, will setting USB 2.0 to disable legacy actually permanently remove UEFI, even if I do a clr CMOS? Or wont clr CMOS reset disabled legacy back to enable and UEFI will load again (so I don't have to flash using fdd)?

[ped]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

wait, will setting USB 2.0 to disable legacy actually permanently remove UEFI, even if I do a clr CMOS? Or wont clr CMOS reset disabled legacy back to enable and UEFI will load again (so I don't have to flash using fdd)?

The clr CMOS will indeed reset the disable legacy USB 2.0 to default. Default being legacy USB 2.0 is active.

My point is, when you deactivate it in the UEFI, you no longer have the ability to get back into the UEFI with your keyboard. Seems it deactivates the legacy ports during POST, then when you get into windows it turns them on. Which is fine I guess if you are not going to be playing with BIOS settings.

However the moment you DO want to start going back into the UEFI, the only way to do so is to "clr CMOS" again so your USB 2.0 keyboard or whatever can be active during POST. Crappy way to have to do that IMHO.

Side note: if I do remember correctly, the PS/2 ports also seem disactivated by default. So maybe if you have a PS/2 keyboard lying around, you could activate that first before you disable the legacy 2.0.

Anyway personally my problem seems to be more severe now than I thought. My memtest86 results came up with garbage on the screen, so seems to be a more serious mobo problem. However will change threads for that discussion.

Cheers.

[greenrubberducky]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

I had this same problem. Just my plain-jane Logitech optical mouse and a Dell multimedia keyboard. Had the keyboard in the top left 2.0 slot (in the rear) the mouse right next to it. And every time I started the thing, it would hang on the BIOS screen. Then I'd take out the mouse, leave in the keyboard, and it would start right up.

Yesterday, I switched them. Mouse on the left, keyboard on the right. It worked. It now starts up without fail and does not hang.

Someone smarter and more thorough than me will have to figure out why that mattered, but the answer might lead to the root cause.

[inigmatus]

Re: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 USB power issues

Ok, I finally got a ps2 keyboard ($3) and I can F2 into BIOS just fine. I turned off USB 2.0 legacy and as expected my USB keyboard does not powerup until after Windows loads. And as expected, I can still access BIOS just fine using F2 on my ps2 keyboard. So disabling USB 2.0 legacy does not disable the ps2 keyboard.

What this means is that I can finally plugin in as many USB devices as I have ports on my p67 Extreme4 Gen3 mobo and it won't freeze on boot up anymore! Issue solved. Just a word of info, the USB Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard is not compatible with any ps/2 adapter since it contains no electronics to use such an adapter (which is why MS didn't include such an adapter with the keyboard). So I did have to purchase a real ps2 keyboard. But for less than $3 and a solid work around to my USB issues I'm not complaining. I love this motherboard.