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Trouble with USB3.0 on an Alienware Aurora
Dear Community,
recently (3 weeks ago) I got my hands on a brand new Alienware Aurora R4 (the big one; for specs see signature). So far, everything worked just fine!
But two days ago, I wanted to create a bootable system recovery with Alien Respawn.
So I attatched my 128GB usb thumbdrive to the front usb port.
The stick got recognized and I could start the recovery creation process. But in the middle of that process the system ended up in a bluescreen.
After the system rebooted I tried once more to create the recovery image. But again, I got stuck in the bluescreen.
After this second reboot, I tried the usb 3.0 port on the back. This time, I could successfully create a recovery image. But after I closed the software the computer didn't recognize any usb hardware that was attatched to the front usb ports or the usb 3.0 port at the back of the Aurora.
A look at the hardware manager said, that he had some trouble with a generic usb hub.
I could solve that problem by deinstalling the driver and then scanning for "new" hardware. After that, everything worked so far. But nevertheless, I contacted the support and told them what happend.
They said, that I shouldn't be worried at all. This could happen from time to time.
So far so good I thought. But today I faced another issue. I bought a usb 3.0 hub (http://www.amazon.de/Anker%C2%AE-Uspeed-Netzteil-Stromanschluss-Chipsatz/dp/B007TPFXEC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1399913416&sr=8-3&keywords=anker+usb+3.0+hub).
When the usb hub is attatched during boot process, the Aurora doesn't recognize my alienware mouse or keyboard (both are attatched _directly_ to the usb 2.x ports on the back of the Aurora).
If the usb hub is attatched afterwards, everything works just fine.
Have someone faced the same issue before? I really don't have a clue and it drives me crazy. I didn't had the chance to get back to tech support yet.
I attatched an image of the wiring I have done. If I attach everything to the usb 2.x ports, everything works fine (except that the usb 3 hub is worthless -> cause it is limited to usb 2.x speed).
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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May 12th, 2014 11:00
Nice USB Hub. I like that it has powerful external Power-Supply. It's always attached right?
Have you tried hub on different PC?
What Intel chipset and is USB-3.0 running from Intel Chipset or a separate motherboard controller chip?
Personally, I'm not impressed with USB 3.0 compatibility or speed.
Zeihold_von_SSL
6 Posts
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May 12th, 2014 11:00
Yeah, I too love the powerful power supply. That is the main reason I wanted to buy this hub.
So far I have tested this beauty at work with my Latitude E6320 (with the usb 3.0 ports on the docking station as well as directly attatched to the notebook).
So far so good. I suspect the internal usb 3.0 hub of the aurora because of the problem before that (the one that I wrote of -> with the usb thumbdrive). Also Alienware seems to have updated the driver for the usb hub a week ago (the support homepage says that it was uploaded 5 May 2014).
But that is just a suspicion, no hard facts. That is why I asked if maybe someone else is facing the same issue.
amric1
52 Posts
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May 12th, 2014 15:00
Zeihold_von_SSL
6 Posts
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May 13th, 2014 00:00
Hi amrichat,
thanks for your info. Hopefully it is no general problem.
Can you please tell me two more things:
1) What is your bios version (mine is A11).
2) Do you use uefi or legacy boot? My Aurora seems to do uefi boot.
Zeihold_von_SSL
6 Posts
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May 13th, 2014 08:00
Thanks for the update. I just ordered another usb hub (this time from Amazon basics): http://www.amazon.de/AmazonBasics-USB-3-0-Hub-Ports-Eurostecker-A-Netzadapter/dp/B00E4J7PTM/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1399991721&sr=1-2&keywords=amazon+basics+usb+hub
I will check this out. If it works, I will send the Anker usb hub back to Amazon. If both usb hubs don't work, I will send them both back to Amazon and will stick with my old usb 2.0 hub...
USB 3.0 does not seem to be worth the trouble.
amric1
52 Posts
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May 13th, 2014 08:00
AW-HW
9 Posts
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June 16th, 2014 14:00
I have had virtually the same issues since May 20th when I installed an Anker 9-Port USB 3.0 Hub on my new Alienware Aurora R4. Finally discovering it was that Hub, I sent it back and got an Amazonbasics 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub. Running it with the power supply gave me some crazy results in accessing my 3.0 devices. Running it without the power supply has given me reliable access to devices, but now I'm starting to get some of the computer problems I had with the Anker: Startup failures, no keyboard found, etc.
The Renesas USB 3.0 Host Controller driver is up to date, 3.0.23.0, as is the BIOS, A11. I, too, am frustrated and considering connecting all my 3.0 devices to my 2.0 Hub which has not caused any problems. But that's a great loss -- I got a high-performance computer and expect the high-performance USB 3.0 devices to work with it. (I installed USB 3.0 interface cards on my two previous Alienware computers with no problems.)
AW-HW
9 Posts
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June 17th, 2014 07:00
OR -
I'm seriously considering getting a USB 3.0 PCI-e card to install in my Aurora R4, though I hate to use up the card slot, and who knows if it might cause some of the same problems or conflict with the onboard 3.0 . . .