Windows 7: USB 3.0 Ports Bad?

BarryBGB, I did in fact make sure that the cable was both what it should be and that it was not damaged or loose. I am a certified PC Technician and would not make the rookie mistake of buying a 2.0 ONLY hard drive. I verified that the hard drives were USB 3.0 CERTIFIED. I even called both companies who manufactured the hard drives and verified through them that it should work.



This MOBO does use the ASMedia Drivers but I doubt this is the cause of the problem. I tried installing the drivers both from the CD and from the ASUS web site; still had the same problem. I have not tried a USB 3.0 flash drive but that is a great idea. I will definitely look into that. Thank you for the suggestion. If this still fails to give me any insight as to what could be going on, I am going to purchase a 9 series AMD MOBO and RMA this 880G MOBO.

Yeah, I thought that sounded kinda dumb.

Back in March I purchased a USB 3 to Sata 3 adapter and it is great. Even when I use it in a USB 2 port it is still faster than my other USB 2 to Sata 2 adapters and docking stations. Even works with my 3TB drives.
Newegg.com - VANTEC CB-SATAU3-6 NexStar SATA 6Gbps to USB 3.0 Adapter - 2.5"/3.5"/5.25"/SSDs

I have 2 external enclosures that are way to slow for my tastes and never use them anymore. They are both USB2 with Sata 2 internal interface.

I found a USB 3 to Sata 3 enclosure that is out of stock at the moment and may get that one to use with my Sata 3 2TB drive when I can find it. Unfortunately, it only supports up to 2TB but should work with my other drives.
Newegg.com - StarTech SAT3510BU3 Aluminum / Plastic 3.5" BlackSuperSpeed USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Enclosure w/ Fan

I prefer to choose my own drive for the enclosure so I know what is going into it.

You should be able to find a good USB 3 flash drive. I have a couple that were pretty low in price. ie. $20 for a 16GB. I think they are cheaper now.

Honestly, I think I'm just gonna go with a RAID setup. It's faster, more efficient and I won't even notice if one of the hard drives falters. Besides, externals take up desk space and I don't have very much of that at the moment. Thanks to all for their help on this matter. If anyone else has experience with this problem, please step forward with any info you may have. Thanks...

I've got an Asus board and a laptop which both use NEC USB 3.0 - no problems with my USB 3.0 devices.

I don't have any ASMedia chipset based hubs so I can't comment on their reliability.




That's a decent temporary work around.


Unfortunately all signs do indeed tend to point towards a faulty hub.

I presume you've already enabled/checked the USB 3.0 controller setting in the BIOS?

Yea, I've checked everything in the BIOS and it's all normal. I even reset to default just in case then went through it all again just to see if anything was changed. I noticed a tweak that had to be made with a VGA setting but nothing else. All the USB related settings were good to go. All set to Auto, On, Hi-Speed, etc.

If the hubs showing up in device manager, the drivers install fine, both HDD's work in USB 2.0 and it's only crashing when transferring data via the USB 3.0 - it really does sound like the hub is foobared.

If it were just drivers, then pretty much all Asmedia chipset users would be having similar issues.

As much of a pita it is, I'd RMA the thing.

Oh I already called ASUS and they gave me a huge run-around about RMAing the thing. I swear, if their techs were any more incompetent they wouldn't even be able to take your name and serial number. The guy on the phone at first had no idea what a USB 3.0 external hard drive was. It was like he never heard of anything like it before. At first he was confused asking me if the Sata cable was connected to my motherboard and I was like, Oh my god, just shoot me now.

Tech support is always a LAST LAST resort for me and I hate RMAing things but, when I upgrade to a nine series board that has more PCI 1x slots and USB 3.0 ports that WORK I'll be happy. Hopefully they won't send me back the board with a letter that says it works just fine.

lol, I feel your pain mate. Been there, tore hair out...

Ditto. I hate RMAing as well. Any chance of initiating the RMA through the place of purchase instead of dealing with Asus directly?

As for the 'no fault found' - that is always a worry. Unfortunately that part is out of your hands. (That's if they even bother to test the board).

Yea, I'll never get MOBO without an extended warranty from the seller. Computer parts are just too sensitive. I had a 30-Day money back on it from NewEgg but other than that there is no other coverage other than what the manufacturer gives you. That'll teach me to not test everything I guess. Although, external HDDs are expensive and I couldn't really get one within the 30 days just to test it. It can always serve as a spare though. USB 3.0 is really just a luxury anyway. RAID is where it's at when it comes to backing up/protecting data.

30 day money back is a bit rough. Most, if not all our retailers have at least a one year warranty where they'll handle the RMA for you.

RAID is great for backups and USB 3.0 certainly is a luxury - and a convenient one if transferring across multiple machines. Provided it works...

You'll appreciate it more when you finally get a working board.