AMD Investigating USB Connectivity Issues on 500 Series Motherboards

Tsing

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AMD has confirmed that it is looking into a long-standing issue with its 500 Series chipset motherboards, whereby devices connected via USB will randomly (and sometimes frequently) drop out. The company has advised r/AMD users that it is seeking detailed hardware configurations and other system information so it can better diagnose the problem. Users who are experiencing USB connectivity problems on 500 Series motherboards may also contact the company directly through its online service request form.



“AMD is aware of reports that a small number of users are experiencing intermittent USB connectivity issues reported on 500 Series chipsets,” the company wrote. “We have been analyzing the root cause and at this time, we would like to request the community’s...
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Kinda glad I didn't make the switch to the X570 boards... I will probably wait for the next-gen boards to come out before I need to get something anyways..
 
I replaced an RGB mouse I had because it kept dropping out and then coming in .. maybe it wasn't the mouse?
 
ThreeDee said:
I replaced an RGB mouse I had because it kept dropping out and then coming in .. maybe it wasn't the mouse?
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Could be, but USB flakiness is a bit universal. I've always had interesting behavior, even with Intel stuff. Some devices just won't work well, or even at all, in some ports. And USB-C at least on desktop systems seems to be even worse.

And then... there's hubs. Internal, external, and so on. More variables, more confusion, and no real way to troubleshoot except to try different ports until everything works.

I've taken to adding a PCIe x1 USB card just so that I have enough real ports to plug everything in.
 
I'll say the 3.0 ports on my motherboard are really picky about what gets plugged in to them.
 
LazyGamer said:
Could be, but USB flakiness is a bit universal. I've always had interesting behavior, even with Intel stuff. Some devices just won't work well, or even at all, in some ports. And USB-C at least on desktop systems seems to be even worse.

And then... there's hubs. Internal, external, and so on. More variables, more confusion, and no real way to troubleshoot except to try different ports until everything works.

I've taken to adding a PCIe x1 USB card just so that I have enough real ports to plug everything in.
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..the other issue was losing a different USB mouse and a keyboard (2 different, separate instances) after installing AMD GPU drivers .. unplugging and then plugging back in "fixed" them .. but odd
 
Half the time I start my computer up the mouse doesn’t get picked up until I unplug and replug - and that’s an Intel machine.
 
ThreeDee said:
..the other issue was losing a different USB mouse and a keyboard (2 different, separate instances) after installing AMD GPU drivers .. unplugging and then plugging back in "fixed" them .. but odd
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Brian_B said:
Half the time I start my computer up the mouse doesn’t get picked up until I unplug and replug - and that’s an Intel machine.
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Same.

On this very machine!

Can't get into UEFI etc., stuff doesn't get picked up until well after Windows login loads, and occasionally needs a full unplug -> replug to get going. No issues at this time and they seem to come and go based on... I really don't know.

ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate. I bought it because it was about the same price as a board I'd probably buy along with the 10Gbit NIC I wanted, so whatevs at the time. Costly but with features I'm using.

I think I'm going back on that 'thinking' now. I've since picked up an Intel X550-T2 to address connectivity problems I've experienced with the Aquantia 10Gbit NIC, which may just be this implementation, but I've had the same problem elsewhere, with at least one other ASRock implementation as well as a discrete version of the same chipset. The X550-T2 is a PCIe 3.0 x4 card, for which I had one free slot that wasn't hooked to the CPU and wouldn't interfere with the GPU.

To that I have some generic USB card that has four A ports and one C port on the slot, as well as one A-type internal connector which I have run to a slot. Ugly, but it works.


And I think I'm done with boards that have extra 'features'.

I used to really like the idea of using as few cards as possible, but as I've gone external for sound with an audio interface (Audient Evo 4) and a... higher-midrange? USB DAC/Amp (Topping DX7s), and I regularly use stuff like memory card readers, flash drives, external hard drives, and have a UPS and other low-rate silliness that I like to keep plugged in, I think I'll just make sure that I have the slots I need.

I'm almost certainly looking at HEDT too, whenever this 9900k starts to feel 'slow' :D

[I feel like I'm turning into @Dan_D, take that however you like, Dan]
 
This is one issue I have yet to see. I really do not use too many USB devices on my desktop/gaming computer though.
 
On the subject of USB ports, issues can occur on any motherboard out there. There are a lot of factors concerning this. One of the main ones relates to the design implementation of the ports. If you were using a pure chipset based solution, meaning you only had the native USB ports of the chipset and or CPU and nothing else, you probably wouldn't have issues and if you did, they would likely be a result of the device firmware itself, and or the cabling.

However, that's not how any mid-range or high end boards are built. Designers have one of two options to increase the amount of usable USB ports on a motherboard. More ports sells boards and these companies know it. Therefore, they'll either opt to use an internal USB hub which multiplexes the individual ports into however many they want. You can also use multiple hub ASICs to achieve this. Usually, there are two of them. The alternative is a third party controller. AMD platform based systems have an extra complication of the CPU's own USB controller being added into the mix.

When you add third party controllers into the mix, you often create compatibility issues with some devices. This is the faster solution and the more expensive one. Additional USB controllers do not have to share bandwidth like the hub design does. In the hub design, you have fewer compatibility issues, but you share your bandwidth. Therefore, it's possible to saturate the bus since it all connects to that one original endpoint in the PCH.

And none of this even touches on the fact that trace layout and other design factors and firmware come into play with each design as well. You can and will have issues on Intel boards the same as you will AMD. The thing is, AMD tends to be slightly worse in this regard for various reasons. Say what you want about Intel, it knows what its doing on the platform side. Even when it's platform is behind, it's bullet proof regarding liability. That's not to say that Intel doesn't screw up on occasion, it does. But, Intel is generally going to give you fewer headaches of this type.
 
Should be noted that Intel is where USB came from, and also where Thunderbolt came from, and Thunderbolt 3.0 will be USB 4.0.

I also think that the 'universalness' of USB is a bit oversold. I find myself looking for ports with higher data rates, ports that have more power, ports that are just simple ports for something like a printer or a UPS... and USB-C has been flaky as hell on desktops. Laptops not nearly as bad, despite using the same chipsets, so I'll chuck that up to Dan's explanation concerning board implementations.
 
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