FM2A85X Extreme6 USB 3.0 Header

[MisterSpok]

I just started building a new rig with the subject motherboard. Everything on the back plane seems to be working. My problem is with using the USB 3.0 header with a Vantec Multi-Memory Internal Card Reader. When I plug it into the USB 3.0 header I get absolutely nothing...nada...zip. The USB A socket on the reader doesn't recognize anything plugged into it. I get no response from the card reader sockets either.

Is there something in the BIOS setup that I need to change to activate the header? I looked through the UEFI setup but found nothing but switches to turn on and off USB lagacy settings. I tried messing with these but to no avail.

I'm also wondering about the USB 2.0 header pinout description in the user manual. I'm pretty sure I had all the little individual wires for the front panel USB sockets hooked up correctly according to what the manual showed. But when I pushed a thumb drive into the front panel USB socket, I got an error message indicating that the USB device was not recognized. If I plugged the same jump drive into a USB 3.0 socket on the back plane, it worked perfectly.

Then there are indications in Device Manager under "Other Devices" that telly the drivers for the SM Bus Controller and the Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller are not installed. I searched the CD that came with the motherboard but couldn't tell for sure if the drivers were there or not.

I sure would appreciate any assistance anyone can give me...especially since ASRock's tech support staff are out for a week celebrating Chinese New Year and won't be back until the 18th.

[parsec]

Re: FM2A85X Extreme6 USB 3.0 Header

Looking at your boards download page at the ASR site, there is the AMD all in one driver, which I assume would have any AMD USB driver needed. I also see the ASMedia USB 3.0 driver, ASMedia USB 3.0 driver ver:1.16.1.0. You can download and try installing it, if already installed it won't hurt anything. Plus you can see if it is installed in Windows Programs and Features in Control Panel.

Do you have the ASR XFast USB utility installed? That can be goofy at times, so not sure if that is causing you grief. Does that Vantec card reader have an extra power connector it might need?

[MisterSpok]

Re: FM2A85X Extreme6 USB 3.0 Header

parsec,

Thank you for your reply. I did load the AMD All-in-One driver and the ASMedia USB 3.0 driver from the CD that accompanied the motherboard. I also installed the ASR XFast USB utility. From what I've read, I agree, the ASR XFast USB utility can be a bit wonky.

I think what I'll try first is uninstall the ASR XFast USB utility. I don't really need it and just loaded it because it seemed like a good thing to do. If that doesn't cure the problem, I'll verify that the USB drivers are properly installed as indicated in Device Manager. I'll also see if there are updates and if there are, install them. If the problem persists, I'll see about updating the BIOS. I'm using what came on the motherboard's CMOS: Ver 1.50 and I think 1.80 is available though I don't know what the various updates addressed.

If I'm still having problems, I'll just have to wait until the techs are back at ASRock.

As to the card reader, the only provision for connections is the USB 3.0 cable that plugs into the motherboard's USB 3.0 header. No other cables or sockets are provided.

Again, thanks for taking the time to help me out. When I get this sorted out, I'll post the solution(s).

[MisterSpok]

Re: FM2A85X Extreme6 USB 3.0 Header

parsec,

The most important of my problems is solved. (Uninstalling ASR XFast USB wasn't the answer, though.) I downloaded all the driver files from ASRock's website and installed the All-in-One driver first. That seemed to solve the problem with the USB 3.0 card reader. It appears to be fully functional now. Also in Device Manager there are no more error indications. Thank you so much for assisting me with this. It was such a relief to see that little green LED illuminate on the face of the card reader.

A relatively minor problem that persists is that I'm still not able to monitor core temperatures. In the AMD Overdrive utility, with CPU Status selected, the stats for frequency, multiplier, and VID appear appear for each core. The temperature for all 4 cores reads 0.0C. (I've got a big, hunkin Zalman cooler strapped onto the APU but I know it's not that efficient!) I am able to get a general processor and case temperature reading while logged in to the UEFI. (I also downloaded a temperature monitoring utility as a double check. It works well on my old computer showing both core temperatures and processing activity. On the ASRock build, it also shows core activity for all 4 cores but nothing for temperatures.)

The last minor glitch I'm trying to clear up has to do with the case's front panel USB ports. (I assume these are USB 2.0 ports even though the case I'm using is an old Antec built in 2002.) The individual connectors for each wire read 5V-1, D-1, D+1, Ground-1, and 5V-2, D-2, D+2, Ground-1. There is also a connector with two wires labeled Gound-1 which I've placed on the dummy pin. I assume these correspond with what the manual shows for pinouts on all 3 USB 2.0 headers, the difference being the manual uses a "P" instead of a "D." I'm using the header labeled USB 0 and 1. When I insert a USB thumb drive into either one of the USB front panel sockets, I get an error message indicating that the USB device is not recognized. It is properly recognized in any of my USB 3.0 ports. If you've got any suggestions as to how to make the front panel USB ports operational, I'd appreciate knowing what they are.

Thanks again for assistance with the most significant of my problems.