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ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

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  • ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

    Hi, all, I coudn't find some similar thread (I hope I didn't mistake the search terms)... so I'm opening a new one.

    I've bought an external sound card: Focusrite Scarlett 2i4.
    It can not power up at boot time. If my pc is shut down and the power cable disconnected when I boot up my PC the sound card doesn't boot (the power led it's not completely off tough).
    If I shut down the PC but I don't unplug the power cable there are no problems.
    With my laptop it works fine but with my PC there is this issue.
    I've tried all the drivers and stuff for the sound card along with the focusrite support staff and it doens't change the problem.

    My Z77 Fatal1ty professional is all up-to-date (BIOS 1.7) and I can't understand if there are any particular settings that I'm not aware of on BIOS side (or something else) that could help me solve the problem.
    I've tried the different USB hubs, a standalone hub only for the soundcard... everything I had in the book and the focusrite support told me to do... nothing worked for me.

    Do you guys have any similar experience?
    Have any idea for a solution?

    Thanks in advance!

  • #2
    Re: ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

    Originally posted by Akumino View Post
    Hi, all, I coudn't find some similar thread (I hope I didn't mistake the search terms)... so I'm opening a new one.

    I've bought an external sound card: Focusrite Scarlett 2i4.
    It can not power up at boot time. If my pc is shut down and the power cable disconnected when I boot up my PC the sound card doesn't boot (the power led it's not completely off tough).
    If I shut down the PC but I don't unplug the power cable there are no problems.
    With my laptop it works fine but with my PC there is this issue.
    I've tried all the drivers and stuff for the sound card along with the focusrite support staff and it doens't change the problem.

    My Z77 Fatal1ty professional is all up-to-date (BIOS 1.7) and I can't understand if there are any particular settings that I'm not aware of on BIOS side (or something else) that could help me solve the problem.
    I've tried the different USB hubs, a standalone hub only for the soundcard... everything I had in the book and the focusrite support told me to do... nothing worked for me.

    Do you guys have any similar experience?
    Have any idea for a solution?

    Thanks in advance!
    I doubt there was a thread about your Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 in this forum, so don't worry about creating one. I don't own a Scarlett 2i4 so I don't have experience with it.

    You have not given us any detail about your PC besides the mother board. Such as what power supply you use, version of Windows (Windows 8?), etc.

    Does the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 just get power from the PC, from the USB cable? The 48V phantom power from the XLR inputs is not required for it to work?

    Do you have it connected to a USB 2.0 port, and not a USB 3.0 port?

    Are you using the Fast Boot option in the BIOS?

    I don't understand the part of your post I put in bold above. Are you saying the power LED on the Scarlett 2i4 is on normally the first time you connect the PC to power and turn on the PC power supply?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

      Originally posted by parsec View Post
      I doubt there was a thread about your Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 in this forum, so don't worry about creating one. I don't own a Scarlett 2i4 so I don't have experience with it.

      You have not given us any detail about your PC besides the mother board. Such as what power supply you use, version of Windows (Windows 8?), etc.

      Does the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 just get power from the PC, from the USB cable? The 48V phantom power from the XLR inputs is not required for it to work?

      Do you have it connected to a USB 2.0 port, and not a USB 3.0 port?

      Are you using the Fast Boot option in the BIOS?

      I don't understand the part of your post I put in bold above. Are you saying the power LED on the Scarlett 2i4 is on normally the first time you connect the PC to power and turn on the PC power supply?

      Hi, thanks for you answer.
      My power supply is a 700w Cooler Master Gold, Windows is 7 64 bit with latest updates (same as the laptop where the Scarlett works correctly), processor is Intel i7 2600k, RAM Ripjaws 1600 DDR3

      Scarlett 2i4 takes the power from the USB cable. I've tried both USB 2.0 and 3.0 hubs. Right now it's on the USB 3.0 hub that is stand-alone.

      Regarding fastboot I can't remember, I will reboot the PC and I will check it. I don't think it's enabled.

      About the led behaviour: Scarlett 2i4 has 2 leds. 1 for MIDI input and 1 with the USB connector icon. When the Scarlett is ON and perfectly working this led is always green.

      When I start my pc I start it by connecting it to a power stabilizer (for instrument purposes, but the fact is that it's the same as an unplugged cable. I don't let it ON always, just when I use PC or my musical equipment).

      So the PC starts, the Scarlett's led is not GREEN. It's NOT working. Windows doesn't reckognize it. When I unplug Scarlett's USB cable I can clearly see that the LED becomes darker, completely OFF, so it feels like there's some current going through the led... so maybe there isn't enough current at boot time to boot the sound card ONLY WHEN the PC is powered AFTER its power cable has been plugged in.
      That's my guess. But if I shut down the computer without unplugging the cable the soundcard powers OFF and when I start again the PC the sound card powers ON correctly.

      So there's a problem on the PC-side (motherboard) when it starts after the power cable is plugged, I feel that the whole "night led" and stuff (mentioned in the motherboard BIOS) that's on after the PC is shutdown, WITHOUT unplugging the power cable, leaves the current running and permits the correct power up of the sound card.

      So the question would be: is there a BIOS setting or something else that I can do to obtain the correct powering UP at boot time of my soundcard?

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

        I think your analysis of the power to the Scarlett 2i4 could be correct, or partially correct. When the PC's power supply is disconnected from AC power, and then it is restored, the power from the USB ports is not the same as when the PC is normally shutdown.

        But think about this, when the PC is shutdown, the power LED on the Scarlett 2i4 is fully on, right? It is only when the PC's power supply is turned off or is disconnected from AC power, but then turned on/plugged in that the the power LED on the Scarlett 2i4 is dim, correct?

        If that is right, my point is when the PC is just shutdown the Scarlett 2i4 is still fully on. Yes I know you know that, I'm not done explaining my point yet.

        The same thing is true when you use the laptop. When you close the laptop, it really is still on in Windows Hibernate state. The laptop would only be completely off if the battery was dead and it is not plugged into the AC power supply/battery charger. So the Scarlett 2i4 is still fully on when you close the laptop, it is the same regarding the USB power as shutting down the PC, power still is available to the Scarlett 2i4 and it stays fully on.

        Finally my point. Imagine the PC is shutdown but is connected to AC power and the PC power supply is on, but you do not have the Scarlett 2i4 connected to the board's USB 2.0 port.

        If you then connect the USB cable from the Scarlett 2i4 to the board, what happens? What does the Scarlett 2i4's power LED look like, fully on or dim?

        If the LED is fully on, and if you then start the PC and the Scarlett 2i4 works normally, then the USB power situation you first described is true.

        But if you then start the PC and the Scarlett 2i4 does not work normally, then in my opinion the issue is with the Scarlett 2i4 itself. The only way to get it to work when power is removed from the PC is to first start the PC, and then connect the USB cable to the Scarlett 2i4.

        Do you understand this? Does it make sense to you? I'm asking because I see you are from Italy, and not sure how good your English is (it seems to be very good, but I'm not sure.)

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

          Originally posted by parsec View Post
          I think your analysis of the power to the Scarlett 2i4 could be correct, or partially correct. When the PC's power supply is disconnected from AC power, and then it is restored, the power from the USB ports is not the same as when the PC is normally shutdown.

          But think about this, when the PC is shutdown, the power LED on the Scarlett 2i4 is fully on, right? It is only when the PC's power supply is turned off or is disconnected from AC power, but then turned on/plugged in that the the power LED on the Scarlett 2i4 is dim, correct?

          If that is right, my point is when the PC is just shutdown the Scarlett 2i4 is still fully on. Yes I know you know that, I'm not done explaining my point yet.

          The same thing is true when you use the laptop. When you close the laptop, it really is still on in Windows Hibernate state. The laptop would only be completely off if the battery was dead and it is not plugged into the AC power supply/battery charger. So the Scarlett 2i4 is still fully on when you close the laptop, it is the same regarding the USB power as shutting down the PC, power still is available to the Scarlett 2i4 and it stays fully on.

          Finally my point. Imagine the PC is shutdown but is connected to AC power and the PC power supply is on, but you do not have the Scarlett 2i4 connected to the board's USB 2.0 port.

          If you then connect the USB cable from the Scarlett 2i4 to the board, what happens? What does the Scarlett 2i4's power LED look like, fully on or dim?

          If the LED is fully on, and if you then start the PC and the Scarlett 2i4 works normally, then the USB power situation you first described is true.

          But if you then start the PC and the Scarlett 2i4 does not work normally, then in my opinion the issue is with the Scarlett 2i4 itself. The only way to get it to work when power is removed from the PC is to first start the PC, and then connect the USB cable to the Scarlett 2i4.

          Do you understand this? Does it make sense to you? I'm asking because I see you are from Italy, and not sure how good your English is (it seems to be very good, but I'm not sure.)
          I do understand but the fact is that if now I power down my PC the Scarlett powers off and the LED is OFF. It's the normal behaviour.
          If I power on the PC the scarlett will power on regularly. This is because there's something still working on the motherboard after I've powered off the PC without unplugging the AC power cord.

          My problem is that I don't wanna waste current leaving the PC shutdown with the MOBO running in it's intermediate state with the power stabilizer ON as well without using the PC. It's just of waste of energy, money and Co2 :D
          I want to be able to disconnect everything and when I power it up the Scarlett powers UP as well, like it should be.
          So I'm asking if there is some configuration on the motherboard that could help like disabling fast boot, or enabling sleep mode or disable legacy USB support or whatever.

          Thanks in advance :)

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

            Originally posted by Akumino View Post
            I do understand but the fact is that if now I power down my PC the Scarlett powers off and the LED is OFF. It's the normal behaviour.
            If I power on the PC the scarlett will power on regularly. This is because there's something still working on the motherboard after I've powered off the PC without unplugging the AC power cord.

            My problem is that I don't wanna waste current leaving the PC shutdown with the MOBO running in it's intermediate state with the power stabilizer ON as well without using the PC. It's just of waste of energy, money and Co2 :D
            I want to be able to disconnect everything and when I power it up the Scarlett powers UP as well, like it should be.
            So I'm asking if there is some configuration on the motherboard that could help like disabling fast boot, or enabling sleep mode or disable legacy USB support or whatever.

            Thanks in advance :)
            If you have Fast Boot set to anything but disabled now, try setting it to disabled. Otherwise I am not aware of any BIOS setting that will fix the problem.

            Sleep mode will not help, but you could try Hibernate, which is like Sleep but it stores the data it needs to start the PC where it left off on the C: drive, instead of DRAM memory. You can completely remove power from a PC in Hibernate mode, and restoring power and starting the PC will resume where it left off. Whether or not the DAW software will maintain itself after a Hibernation is something you must test.

            In my opinion, if you plug a PC into power and turn on the power supply, with the Scarlett connected to a USB port, and then start the PC as we always do, but the Scarlett does not start up correctly, that is a problem with the Scarlett, its driver, or DAW software, not the mother board.

            Are you using the latest driver, version 2.5.1?

            A couple other thoughts, I thought I read in the manual that the LED on the scarlett is fully on when it has power AND Windows acknowledges the device is working correctly. When power is removed completely from the scarlett, the Windows acknowledgement will be lost or cleared.

            Related to that, the DAW software you use may be causing the problem. From the scarlett manual:

            Please note - your DAW may not automatically select the Scarlett 2i4 as its default I/O device. In this
            case, you must manually select ‘Scarlett 2i4’ as the driver on your DAW’s Audio Setup* page.


            That would mean the scarlett may not be getting the acknowledgement it requires until you select it. The selection is lost when the system is completely removed from power.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: ASRock Fatality Z77 Professional - External sound card not powering up at boot time

              Originally posted by parsec View Post
              If you have Fast Boot set to anything but disabled now, try setting it to disabled. Otherwise I am not aware of any BIOS setting that will fix the problem.

              Sleep mode will not help, but you could try Hibernate, which is like Sleep but it stores the data it needs to start the PC where it left off on the C: drive, instead of DRAM memory. You can completely remove power from a PC in Hibernate mode, and restoring power and starting the PC will resume where it left off. Whether or not the DAW software will maintain itself after a Hibernation is something you must test.

              In my opinion, if you plug a PC into power and turn on the power supply, with the Scarlett connected to a USB port, and then start the PC as we always do, but the Scarlett does not start up correctly, that is a problem with the Scarlett, its driver, or DAW software, not the mother board.

              Are you using the latest driver, version 2.5.1?

              A couple other thoughts, I thought I read in the manual that the LED on the scarlett is fully on when it has power AND Windows acknowledges the device is working correctly. When power is removed completely from the scarlett, the Windows acknowledgement will be lost or cleared.

              Related to that, the DAW software you use may be causing the problem. From the scarlett manual:

              Please note - your DAW may not automatically select the Scarlett 2i4 as its default I/O device. In this
              case, you must manually select ‘Scarlett 2i4’ as the driver on your DAW’s Audio Setup* page.


              That would mean the scarlett may not be getting the acknowledgement it requires until you select it. The selection is lost when the system is completely removed from power.
              Found the solution! Here's my mail to report it at Focusrite! :D

              Hi there!
              I've found the solution!Feel free to send free cookies to my personal address! :D


              Here it is:
              go into the BIOS of the motherboard (ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional) and set the legacy support for USB into "Auto" for USB 2.0 and set in DISABLE for USB 3.0. Connect the Scarlett 2i4 to the USB 3.0 hub. Enjoy.


              I've tried few other things but I this is the problem.
              My mental process to debug this was the following:
              I have my PC with the power cord unplugged. I plug it in, power on the PC and the Scarlett doesn't power on.
              So I disconnect the USB cable of the sound card. When I disconnect the cable I can see clearly that the Scarlett's LEDs (both MIDI and USB) go darker.
              So, in this state, there is some current inside the sound card but not enough to power it UP.
              If I UNPLUG the USB power cord of my Scarlett and PLUG it in again the sound card works flawlessly.
              If I turn off the PC WITHOUT unpluggin its power cord and then I power it on again the sound card works perfectly.
              Between the two states there are some intermediate tension states of the motherboard that it's still on for some internal features (like night sleep light and other stuff).
              It's off but it drains some current to keep some functions on.
              After few experiments here's what I've found to be the solution: setting USB in legacy compatible mode in the BIOS sets some kind of tension/current into the USB hub which is NOT enough for the card to power UP but it's ENOUGH for Windows to reckognize the sound card as FULL ON.
              Now: disabling legacy support for USB 3.0 the result is that at boot time the LED and the sound card are OFF. Right before the Windows logo disappears (before the login screen) the sound card powers up and works flawlessly.
              I'm using the latest .10 beta driver but I think it's just a matter of tensions/currents given by the motherboard


              Enjoy :)


              Best regards!

              Comment

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