USB 3.0 Problem

[Sacs]

Have a P67 Fatal1ty Pro and am trying to use USB 3.0 to transfer 602 GB file to a USB 3.0 external Hard Drive. Both are 1T HDD's. It finds a total of 602 Gb and begins the file transfer at approx 60 Mb's per. Transfers approx 64 Gbs worth of data and stops transferring data. This happens using both front and rear USB 3.0, so it does not appear to be a Mobo problem. I have finally given up and am using a USB 2.0 port. Working Fine using 2.0.
If I access Device Mgr, the mass storage device controller is yellow and trying to install device driver. This locks up the machine.
Does anyone know if there is a 64 Gb limit on USB mass storage devices??

Adding that I am using Windows 7 Home Premium and the most current Etron USB 3.0 Drivers. The external enclosure is also a USB 3.0

[marosy]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Yes, there are problems with the Etron USB 3.0 host controller.
Currently all external HDD enclosures with JMicron JMS539 chipset will likely have similar problems in conjunction with Etron. The HDD is disconnected during file copy operation.
Could you please specify the exact type of your external HDD enclosure?

You would have no problems if the USB 3.0 host controller was the well proven NEC chip. Unfortunately Asrock has chosen the Etron chip.

[sadprince]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Similar problems with USB 3.0 on P67 Extreme6. (Rather frustrating).

Problem: I have an Iomega eGo 1Tb ext USB 3.0 drive which only performs at usb 2.0 speeds.

Attempted fixes so far:
-Have updated all the USB drivers (Etron - @marosy is Etron the issue here, why?).
-Made sure all USB 3.0 settings in BIOS are enabled.
-Checked there is no rogue ACS drivers in storage controllers (some ppl said this was an issue in other forums).
-I uninstalled the asrock fastusb software (the ext drive just hung until I deleted these).

Out of ideas now. Any advice appreciated!

[marosy]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

"Etron - @marosy is Etron the issue here, why?"

Each external HDD has been tested and optimized only with the NEC USB 3.0 host controller. The Etron EJ168A is a new chip and the drivers are still to be optimized.

The quick solution for you would be to add a PCIe USB 3.0 with the NEC chip (This Asrock USB 3.0 CARD adapter
for instance) or replace your external HDD enclosure with another one which is compatible. An external HDD with Asmedia chipset is compatible with Etron (for example RAIDSONIC Icy Box IB-250StU3-B enclosure with Asmedia ASM1051 chipset).

There is a list on a German forum with compatible and incompatible hardware. Could you post your HDD problem to http://www.pctreiber.net/forum/intel...e_14617.0.html, the list will go to Asrock.


It is possible that your HDD has the JMicron chip (I'm not sure.). You could try to update the firmware from http://www.station-drivers.com/page/jmicron.htm . For me the 255.31.3.41.22 firmware was the most stable one.

[ASRock TSD - Emily]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Dear Sacs,

I did the test, but I cannot see the symptom.
Below is my test configuration,
Motherboard: P67 Professional
HDD: WD 1TB
OS: Windows 7 64bit
USB3.0 device: Buffalo HXU3 1TB
USB3.0 driver version: Etron USB 3.0 driver ver:0.89

Please kindly refer to below suggestions for testing.
1. Download the latest Etron USB3.0 driver ver:0.91 from below link to try.
Link: Etron Technology Inc.
2. If possible, please kindly connect your USB3.0 device to another motherboard which has USB3.0 port to check the symptom still occur or not.

Thanks!

Have a nice day
ASRock TSD

[marosy]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

There are new Etron drivers version 0.98 available only from Gigabyte support site:

http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Driver/motherboard_driver_etron_usb3.exe

[Sacs]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Have not had any time to do any more testing on this problem. Ordered a new ext enclosure, but have not re-done any more file transfers.
My wifes mother died last week-end so things have been kind of in limbo around here this week.
Thanks for the replies

[marko69]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

There are new Etron drivers version 0.98 available only from Gigabyte support site:
http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList...etron_usb3.exe

Can they be used with Asrock motherboard?

[radier]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

They work like a charm. Gigabyte uses the same Etron chip on some of their mobos.

My Samsung S2 Portable 640GB USB 3.0 works just fine without any problems.

[Jon Skilling]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Hi,

I am experiencing a similar problem, so here is my setup and symptoms:

Brand new build using all latest drivers.
Asrock P67 Extreme 4 Mobo, Bios 1.6
USB 3 Etron Controller, driver 1.0.0.96
Buffalo 2TB HD-HX2-0TU3-EU

This HDD works fine with USB2 ports, but cycles on and off with USB3 ports on either the front or the back of the machine. Start a backup and it will spin up and copy for about a minute and then spin down. Wait a minute or so, and it spins up again and carries on. It continues up and down like this.

I've tried switching on and off various USB turbo modes (both Buffalo and Asrock) with no change. I've swiched off any eco modes with no effect. I've altered the drive policy to performance mode in windows with no effect.

I built this PC at the same time as another one which had an Asus P8P67 LE mobo where the drive worked absolutely fine. The drive also worked fine with a laptop, plugged into a usb3 express card.

I'd really appreciate any solution to this problem because I use this as a backup drive and 100Gb plus backups take substantially longer via USB 2. Although I could get a USB card to plug it into, I'd really prefer my existing kit to work the way it's supposed to...

UPDATE: I just updated the drivers for the Etron USB 3 controllers with the .98 drivers using the link above and now the drive only spins up in USB2 mode (green light) when plugged into the USB 3 port. It also doesn't seem to want to recognise anything on the disk because it asks me to format it and double clicking the drive in My Computer just shows an empty folder. Fortunately, the data hasn't been lost because when I plug it back into a USB2 port it works fine and is still all there.

[Jon Skilling]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Hi,

I've spent a bit more time testing the .98 drivers and can confirm that they are definitely an improvement over the .96 ones. However, whatever is causing the problem has not been completely fixed.

After going back to .96, I tried again to install the .98 drivers and this was helped by completely removing the USB cable from both the machine and HDD before I started and then reattaching it after they'd updated. This started off well with the drive spinning up in USB3 mode and recognising the data on the disk. The drive also stays on more consistently, instead of spinning up and down.

However, there are still problems as the drive will regularly hang during startup or shutdown, preventing the startup/shutdown from happening. This is characterised by the blue light remaining on and the drive spinning up every couple of minutes. Eventually it will get itself together for long enough to allow the machine to shut down or get into windows.

I tried a backup when the drive looked like it was behaving, but after about a half hour going well the drive froze. I left it for an hour and then unplugged the drive so that I could turn the machine off. A copy from the drive to another internal backup drive did well but ended up with a BSOD after about 200Gb copied.

In the end I transferred all the data off the drive via USB2, formatted it and ran a thorough checkdisk which completed without problems.

In summary, the new drivers are a step in the right direction but still not that useable...

[marosy]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

The Etron driver could cause random BSOD in certain situations. See this thread:

Solved Random BSOD Driving me crazy! - Windows 7 Forums

As of now the best solution is to install an extension card with the NEC USB 3.0 host controller and disable the Etron controller.

[Jon Skilling]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Hi Marosy,

Thanks for the reply. I looked at this an a couple of other threads which confirm that lots of people are having various levels of problems with this controller and associated drivers. I've got legacy USB support enabled in the BIOS and am having no problems with devices other than the HDD in USB3 mode when using these ports. Devices I'm using are Logitech G25 and MX1000 mouse.

I've done my testing now on the .98 drivers and concluded that they're still not useable with my external HDD, therefore my plan is to wait it out and try again with the next set of drivers that get released. Nothing else I can do short of fixing the drivers myself, so it's time to just be patient and hope this and other threads help people to identify and work around their own issues. Hopefully it might also encourage Etron to pull their collective fingers out and get a stable driver released....

[radier]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Etron Technology's EJ168 USB 3.0 host controller passes USB-IF certification

[bahram_alinezhad]

Re: USB 3.0 Problem

Etron Technology's EJ168 USB 3.0 host controller passes USB-IF certification

Couldn't open the url, but is true (recently added):

USB-IF Compliance Home