Rift PC advisor says my USB ports aren't good enough?

Blyss4226

Note to people with this issue: If you have multiple controllers TRY DISABLING THE ONE THAT FAILS in Device Manager and testing again. See here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=28560&start=20#p314918

I ran the rift PC advisor. As I expected it flagged my CPU and GPU. My CPU is a 3770k @ 4.4Ghz though, which destroys the one they recommend as minimum even though it's a generation behind. So that's fine. My GPU is a GTX 670 4GB which when overclocked is about 15% slower than the recommended minimum 970. Yeah it OCs like a beast. But I know it's less than optimal, hope to upgrade before March when my Rift ships.

The main problem is it flagged my USB ports.


Clicking links to a page that says this:

Why am I getting this warning?
If you received this warning message, our compatibility tool detected that some of the hardware that powers your computer's USB ports have known incompatibilities with Rift.

What does this mean?
Rift may not work with your computer's USB 3.0 ports.

How can my ports be incompatible? My mobo is an Asus p8z77-i/wd mini itx. It has plenty of ports so the number is not the problem(I have 8 total USB 3.0 ports, and five 2.0 ports). I REALLY don't wanna have to replace my mobo too. Already gotta replace my GPU.

So yeah, any ideas? Don't be afraid to get technical, I have a degree in computer science and I spend most of my free time doing tech support on PCSX2 forums(it's a PS2 emulator if you didn't know).

deejayO

Same message here.
Asus RAMPAGE IV BLACK EDITION Board.

DalamarUK

I had the same message on my ASUS Sabretooth Z77.

As it mentions the power, I believe it could be talking about the XHCI controller that attaches to the front USB3 ports (not the ones that you directly connect to plate on the motherboard - the ones you attach the additional front case USB ports too)

But I would also like clarification.

Blyss4226

Interesting, all of us have Asus. Do you guys have the same Asmedia controller perhaps?

sparkie14

Same here for as rock.

deejayO

ASMedia ASM104x for USB 3.0

I thought maybe the drivers are outdated.
Date was 2013-08-16 and version 1.16.12.0.

Downloaded the latest drivers from ASUS. Nothing changed.

Blyss4226

Well at least others have this issue, so hopefully we will get a good answer eventually.

I mean part of me thinks it's not exactly correct or applicable. But the other part doesn't want to wait and get a Rift and plug it in only for it not to work XD

kezajones39

My GA-990FX-UD3 gives the same thing, also my FX-9590 apparently doesn't meet the spec (yeah yeah AMD, i know, i know)

Midnight

Likewise, Asus P8Z68-VGEN3 motherboard, running an I5 2500k (oc'd to 4.5ghz), it says my CPU is not good enough....and the USB ports "AsMedia USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller" are a problem.

DK2 runs fine (admittedly I've never gotten round to running it in Windows 10 yet but even so.....)

Blyss4226

kezajones39 wrote:

My GA-990FX-UD3 gives the same thing, also my FX-9590 apparently doesn't meet the spec (yeah yeah AMD, i know, i know)

FX 9590 should be good enough in most cases. Especially for DX12 stuff. I had an FX 6300 before my friend gave me this rig. It was "too weak" for lots of things, yet it ran them just fine and did not hold my GPU back.

Mainly AMD chips are only weak in single threaded performance. Multithread is fine. And DX12 will help with single threaded load being spread to multi.

@Midnight - Any CPU pre haswell (eg Intel 4xxx) will likely return not good enough because of being from earlier generation. But 2500k at that speed will be fine, I'm sure of it.

zaphodB

Where do I download the Rift PC advisor? Google isn't showing me any hits?

Kr55

deejayO wrote:

Same message here.
Asus RAMPAGE IV BLACK EDITION Board.

Same motherboard here, and same message.

The complaint may be an estimation of the bandwidth these USB 3.0 ports can provide. Seems very possible that it's sufficient already. Guess PCI-E USB 3.0 expansion boards are pretty cheap though, so I likely will just pick one up.

For folks in Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00PAFDW3M

Midnight

Blyss4226 wrote:

kezajones39 wrote:

My GA-990FX-UD3 gives the same thing, also my FX-9590 apparently doesn't meet the spec (yeah yeah AMD, i know, i know)

FX 9590 should be good enough in most cases. Especially for DX12 stuff. I had an FX 6300 before my friend gave me this rig. It was "too weak" for lots of things, yet it ran them just fine and did not hold my GPU back.

Mainly AMD chips are only weak in single threaded performance. Multithread is fine. And DX12 will help with single threaded load being spread to multi.

@Midnight - Any CPU pre haswell (eg Intel 4xxx) will likely return not good enough because of being from earlier generation. But 2500k at that speed will be fine, I'm sure of it.

Yeah, the CPU itself should be fine, and purely reported based on its stock speed. Running a single 980 card alongside.

The USB 3.0 thing has me concerned however. I can't even remember how many 3.0 ports I have at the back, so I better pull the unit out (which is a huge pain)....definately at least 2 ( 1 being extended to the front...though the front port is a bit dodgy these days)....

So if I'm right, I can still preorder this...not be charged until dispatch, but still within my rights to cancel the order at any time? (whereas could not do this with my DK1 and DK2)

Blyss4226

Midnight wrote:

Blyss4226 wrote:

kezajones39 wrote:

My GA-990FX-UD3 gives the same thing, also my FX-9590 apparently doesn't meet the spec (yeah yeah AMD, i know, i know)

FX 9590 should be good enough in most cases. Especially for DX12 stuff. I had an FX 6300 before my friend gave me this rig. It was "too weak" for lots of things, yet it ran them just fine and did not hold my GPU back.

Mainly AMD chips are only weak in single threaded performance. Multithread is fine. And DX12 will help with single threaded load being spread to multi.

@Midnight - Any CPU pre haswell (eg Intel 4xxx) will likely return not good enough because of being from earlier generation. But 2500k at that speed will be fine, I'm sure of it.

Yeah, the CPU itself should be fine, and purely reported based on its stock speed. Running a single 980 card alongside.

The USB 3.0 thing has me concerned however. I can't even remember how many 3.0 ports I have at the back, so I better pull the unit out (which is a huge pain)....definately at least 2 ( 1 being extended to the front...though the front port is a bit dodgy these days)....

So if I'm right, I can still preorder this...not be charged until dispatch, but still within my rights to cancel the order at any time? (whereas could not do this with my DK1 and DK2)

Yeah you can cancel, and yeah you aren't charged until it ships.

At worst though you could use like a powered USB3 hub or get an expansion card for like 10 bucks.

cybereality

So, there are a variety of different USB controllers, and not all of them are fully compatible with the Rift. The Compatibility Tool will show you a warning if this controller is known to cause problems. Even though the port may be labeled as USB 3.0, and be functional, it may not work with the Rift.

If you do have this issue, you can buy a PCI-E add-on card. This one is confirmed to work.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPIMJEW

Blyss4226

cybereality wrote:

So, there are a variety of different USB controllers, and not all of them are fully compatible with the Rift. The Compatibility Tool will show you a warning if this controller is known to cause problems. Even though the port may be labeled as USB 3.0, and be functional, it may not work with the Rift.

If you do have this issue, you can buy a PCI-E add-on card. This one is confirmed to work.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPIMJEW

That sucks because being a mini itx my board has NO expansion slots aside from a single PCIe x16 for GPU.

So I'm stuck buying a new mobo then? Wow, that hurts >_<

deejayO

Kr55 wrote:

Same motherboard here, and same message.

The complaint may be an estimation of the bandwidth these USB 3.0 ports can provide. Seems very possible that it's sufficient already. Guess PCI-E USB 3.0 expansion boards are pretty cheap though, so I likely will just pick one up.

I even tried the Asus USB 3.0 Boost from ASUS.
Nothing changed.
I cannot imagine the bandwith isn't sufficent enough.
An extra PCI board kills the nice view of my case
I read something about an update for the controller firmware but I can't find anything from ASUS on their webpage.

Midnight

This high price news and uncertain compatibility checks are really making my day

No room for an extra expansion slot as mine are used up by other things. The app doesn't say a usb 3.0 port being known to cause problems, just that its incompatible...trouble I guess then is to know if its simply to an unknown chipset or that it definitely has issues......and whether my DK2 was also meant to 'not work' with this same usb 3.0 controller it has always been working on

jusbott

How the hell can it say a Amd 9590 isn't good anoth its loads better then the I5 they say you need minimum and have it paired with a 980ti and all overclocked and water-cooled and plays games in 4k no problems so don't see how it wouldn't be powerful anoth for the rift

Bendak

So Asmedia USB 3.0 controllers don't work with the rift? Soooooooooo many motherboards use those. That's troubling.

Also the CPU component could do better with supporting the "or equivalent" part. My i7 3770k @ 4.5ghz destroys a stock i5 4590, but the tool says it's not sufficient.

KarlHungus

Asus Sabertooth P67 passes the USB 3.0 requirement

failingbetter

Same issue. "The hardware that powers your USB ports has known incompatibilities", and no slot available in my case. I have (4) USB 3.0 and (4) USB 2.0. What's the deal?

Can someone confirm that a powered hub will work?

Blyss4226

jusbott wrote:

How the hell can it say a Amd 9590 isn't good anoth its loads better then the I5 they say you need minimum and have it paired with a 980ti and all overclocked and water-cooled and plays games in 4k no problems so don't see how it wouldn't be powerful anoth for the rift

It's actually not loads better than that i5. But it should be sufficient IMO.

Blyss4226

failingbetter wrote:

Same issue. "The hardware that powers your USB ports has known incompatibilities", and no slot available in my case. I have (4) USB 3.0 and (4) USB 2.0. What's the deal?

Can someone confirm that a powered hub will work?

I said that before cyberreality responded. Since a hub has to go through the controller, no, it likely won't. I only meant a hub in cases of not enough ports. I'd LOVE to be proven wrong though because of what I wrote below.

Meanwhile I tested another board I had(for my FX 6300). Gigabyte GA78LMT USB3. Fails the USB test.

That's a bit ridiculous. Since LGA1150 mobos aren't made anymore, replacing mine is gonna cost half of what I spent on the Rift unless I can find a good deal on ebay. Wow. I may just take my chances. I hear/see a lot of "may" about whether they will work or not.

Midnight

so yours actually says "The hardware that powers your USB ports has known incompatibilities?"?

For my board, it says "The hardware that powers your USB ports is incompatibile with the Rift. Here is the hardware that is incompatable : ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Contro" (rest off the screen)

And no issues in past with the DK1/2 on same machine....so don't see why this should be the case?

Blyss4226

Midnight wrote:

so yours actually says "The hardware that powers your USB ports has known incompatibilities?"?

For my board, it says "The hardware that powers your USB ports is incompatibile with the Rift. Here is the hardware that is incompatable : ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Contro" (rest off the screen)

And no issues in past with the DK1/2 on same machine....so don't see why this should be the case?

The screenshot shows what the tester shows to me. The quote is from the text I get when I click "Learn more"

As for why - I'd really like to know to better inform what I will do. Bandwidth? Who knows.

zaphodB

If your USB ports aren't up to snuff can't you just buy a $20ish PCIe USB 3.0 card that solves the problem? You don't need a new mobo.

Blyss4226

zaphodB wrote:

If your USB ports aren't up to snuff can't you just buy a $20ish PCIe USB 3.0 card that solves the problem? You don't need a new mobo.

As I said I have no expansion ports on my mobo because it's Mini ITX form factor.



That's my board. The one PCIe slot is for GPU.

Tbone

I got a USB 3.0 PCI-Express card just for the Rift. Ran the utility. It doesn't appear to be finding the USB on the card - I believe it's only finding my default USB ports, but I'm not sure.

Is this card compatible? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ARQV6U

I get the error "VIA USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Microsoft)" as not being compatible...

Blyss4226

You bring up a good point. I have two USB3 controllers on my board. One from Intel, and the detected one that isn't compatible. I'm gonna disable the not compatible one and try again.

Blyss4226

Success!



Disabling the incompatible(front port) controller, ran it again and passed. So only my front port one is bad.

Wootness.

Note to people with this issue: If you have multiple controllers TRY DISABLING THE ONE THAT FAILS in Device Manager and testing again.