USB 2.0 ports showing up as USB 1.1

[SaltBoy]

Wasn't sure where to post this - motherboards? operating systems?

Anyway, I have a 4-year old (wow!) LanParty P35-T2R motherboard that allegedly has USB 2.0 ports on the backside. I've been able to get the expansion ports (plugged into my case) working fine with USB 2.0. But Windows 7 (home 32bit) recognizes my back ports/hubs as full-speed/1.1 only.

Anything that I can do to help them be recognized as 2.0? I've checked the BIOS settings/flashed the BIOS/tried to update the USB drivers/etc.

 

[Modelworks]

Unplug the cables from those ports before trying to get them recognized. USB will downgrade if it detects a signal issue in the cabling.

 

[bacillus]

Do you see an enhanced usb controller listed under usb controllers in device manager?

 

[RebateMonger]

Do you see an enhanced usb controller listed under usb controllers in device manager?

Yeah, if there's no enhanced USB controller showing up and if you've installed the latest Intel Chipset drivers, then something's broken. This board is a pure Intel solution and quite recent. There should be no issues getting that enhanced controller to show up and be enabled.

 

[SaltBoy]

I see two ports as enhanced - the front case ports that connect to my motherboard - while the six that are built into the motherboard are *not* seen as enhanced. It's weird that some are seen as enhanced and others are not.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Saltboy/usbports.jpg

 

[mfenn]

I see two ports as enhanced - the front case ports that connect to my motherboard - while the six that are built into the motherboard are *not* seen as enhanced. It's weird that some are seen as enhanced and others are not.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Saltboy/usbports.jpg

I'm not sure what the root cause of your problem is, but that screenshot is a red herring. On my (perfectly functional) board, I only see 2 EHCI controllers.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Each EHCI controller, supports USB2.0 tranfers for a cluster of ports. There is not a 1:1 relationship between EHCI controllers and ports.

 

[SaltBoy]

I don't think I have a red herring. Hopefully, I get my terminology right.

1. When I plug my portable storage drive into any of the six "receptacles" directly attached to the motherboard (back panel), I get the "hey, you could have a faster connection if you use USB 2.0 instead of USB 1.1" notification.

2. I strongly believe that each of those six receptacles (attached to the motherboard) is mapped to its own usb root "hub" and *those* hubs are mapped to their own universal host controller as seen in my screenshot (controllers 2934-2939)

3. When I plug my portable storage drive into any of the two receptacles which are connected to the motherboard via a cable that came with the case (front panel), I *don't* get the USB 2.0/1.1 notification.

4. I strongly believe that those two receptacles, which are attached to the motherboard via the front panel cable, are mapped to the two remaining USB Root Hubs, which in turn are mapped to the two enhanced host controllers, as seen in my screenshot (controllers 293A, 293C)

5. I understand that each hub has up to six ports. I believe each port could support its own USB device. However, I don't know how to get all six ports working with a single "hub" unless (I guess) I use an actual, physical USB hub to connect the individual devices.

Am I missing something here?

 

[mfenn]

See VirtualLarry's post above. He is 100% correct, you will never see one EHCI controller per root hub. Also, each root hub typically corresponds to two USB ports. If you go to the Power tab on the properties page of your root hubs, you will see that there are two ports. Thus, the six rear USB ports only correspond to three of your root hubs. Another one is your front panel. The others are probably internal USB headers with nothing attached to them.

Again, I'm not saying that you don't have a problem. I'm saying that the number of EHCI controllers doesn't have anything to do with it. It is perfectly normal for a system with many fully-functional USB 2.0 ports to have only two EHCI controllers.

What suggest that you do is to boot a Linux live CD (like Ubuntu) and see your rear ports are working in USB 2.0 mode there. This should be very easy to test by copying some files to and from an external HDD. USB 2.0 should give you 20-30MB/s, whereas USB 1.1 will be around 1MB/s.

 

[SaltBoy]

See VirtualLarry's post above. He is 100% correct, you will never see one EHCI controller per root hub. Also, each root hub typically corresponds to two USB ports. If you go to the Power tab on the properties page of your root hubs, you will see that there are two ports. Thus, the six rear USB ports only correspond to three of your root hubs. Another one is your front panel. The others are probably internal USB headers with nothing attached to them.

Again, I'm not saying that you don't have a problem. I'm saying that the number of EHCI controllers doesn't have anything to do with it. It is perfectly normal for a system with many fully-functional USB 2.0 ports to have only two EHCI controllers.

What suggest that you do is to boot a Linux live CD (like Ubuntu) and see your rear ports are working in USB 2.0 mode there. This should be very easy to test by copying some files to and from an external HDD. USB 2.0 should give you 20-30MB/s, whereas USB 1.1 will be around 1MB/s.

Okay, just so I'm clear:

One EHCI controller has "many" root hubs

One root hub has "many" (e.g. 2) ports

right?

Also, I did a file transfer via one of my back panel ports - averaged about 25MB/s. So maybe I *don't* have a problem. Who knows?!

 

[mfenn]

Okay, just so I'm clear:

One EHCI controller has "many" root hubs

One root hub has "many" (e.g. 2) ports

right?

Yes, you are correct.

Also, I did a file transfer via one of my back panel ports - averaged about 25MB/s. So maybe I *don't* have a problem. Who knows?!

USB 1.1 tops out at 11 Megabits per second, so you're definitely running in USB 2.0 mode. Sounds like the warning message is spurious in this case.

 

[SaltBoy]

Yes, you are correct.



USB 1.1 tops out at 11 Megabits per second, so you're definitely running in USB 2.0 mode. Sounds like the warning message is spurious in this case.

Good enough for me.

Thanks a ton for the insight!

 

[mfenn]

Good enough for me.

Thanks a ton for the insight!

Yep, no problem.