Question Renesas USB 3.0 drivers for Windows 10?

[KublaiKhan]

My motherboard was one of the first to support USB 3.0 back in the day. It did so with a Renesas driver (version 2.1.19.0, dated 6/29/2011), which monitored USB 3.0 ports for changes and supported the higher transfer speeds. All was well under XP and Windows 7.

Under Windows 10, USB 3.0 worked only until the first reboot, after which USB 3.0 support was lost. A new USB 3.0 device would be detected when inserted into a motherboard USB 3.0 port, but Windows 10 saw the port as USB 2.0, and advised the device would operate faster if connected to a USB 3.0 port. Also, after that first reboot, Windows 10 lost the ability to any recognize devices connected to a PCI USB 3.0 hub. Others have found themselves reinstalling their old Renesas USB 3.0 drivers repeatedly to maintain use of of their USB 3.0 gear at the rated speeds.

After updating the original device driver via Device Manager, the following appeared:

Renesas USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0.96 (Microsoft)

And then the PC began locking up during POST, at the point when the user is advised to access BIOS or change the boot priority. This was resolved by removing the CMOS battery for a couple minutes. When Windows 10 launched again, this was added below the aforementioned entry in Device Manager:

Renesas USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Microsoft)

My question is: Does anyone know if this is something that can be downloaded and installed after Windows 10, to avoid USB 3.0 issues and PC lockups going forward? I am not the first person on the planet to go looking for this driver.

• Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
• Intel Core i7-950
• EVGA X58 131-GT-E767-TR LGA 1366 SLI3 (BIOS v83 08-31-2011)
• CORSAIR Vengeance 12GB CAS 9 (triple channel DDR3)
• MSI VENTUS XS GTX 1660 Super 6GB
• Intel PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter
• Antec TPQ-1000 TRUEPOWER QUATTRO 1000 watt
• Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 for C:
• ASUS PB278Q 27"

 

[hedwar2011]

If the device is causing lockups and is re-installing itself on every reboot and creating new instances in Device Manager there may be no fix for it. If it was designed for XP and Windows 7, it could very likely be too old to gain support for Windows 10 unless Renesas develops a driver for it or someone does 3rd party. It may be easier to simply purchase a newer card to gain those ports back if you need them.

 

[dwd999]

There are some drivers here:

USB 3.0

USB 3.0

www.station-drivers.com

Use at your own risk.

 

[BFG-9000]

There are no Windows 10 drivers; the latest Windows 8 drivers are from 2012. You can read the release notes/changelog to see all of the fixes made after your old v2.1.19.0 drivers to see if any of the listed performance degradation or crashing fixes apply to you.

uPD720200 is a draft-USB 3.0 device which only claims compatibility with draft xHCI specification rev 0.95. Nevertheless everybody who has one should correctly have Renesas USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0.96 (Microsoft) in their device manager and not 1.0, which is only for fully compliant devices made after 2010 when the USB 3.0 specification was ratified.

uPD720200a is pin-compatible with uPD720200 but only has a lower idle power draw. uPD720201 and uPD720202 are newer devices than yours and are certified xHCI 1.0+ compliant, but unfortunately are physically smaller so you can't just transplant the chip to your board.

 

[KublaiKhan]

There are no Windows 10 drivers; the latest Windows 8 drivers are from 2012. You can read the release notes/changelog to see all of the fixes made after your old v2.1.19.0 drivers to see if any of the listed performance degradation or crashing fixes apply to you.

uPD720200 is a draft-USB 3.0 device which only claims compatibility with draft xHCI specification rev 0.95. Nevertheless everybody who has one should correctly have Renesas USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0.96 (Microsoft) in their device manager and not 1.0, which is only for fully compliant devices made after 2010 when the USB 3.0 specification was ratified.

uPD720200a is pin-compatible with uPD720200 but only has a lower idle power draw. uPD720201 and uPD720202 are newer devices than yours and are certified xHCI 1.0+ compliant, but unfortunately are physically smaller so you can't just transplant the chip to your board.

Would it be possible to pick up a USB 3.1 PCI Express card, one that perhaps has drivers, to get around all this heartache?

 

[KublaiKhan]

If the device is causing lockups and is re-installing itself on every reboot and creating new instances in Device Manager there may be no fix for it. If it was designed for XP and Windows 7, it could very likely be too old to gain support for Windows 10 unless Renesas develops a driver for it or someone does 3rd party. It may be easier to simply purchase a newer card to gain those ports back if you need them.

The lockup happened when I tried to update the original, non-functioning device drivers via Device Manager.

I do not believe the motherboard chip itself is causing lockups. I do not even believe the original device drivers are causing the issue. They actually work immediately after being installed, and all the computer's USB 3.0 ports are transferring at the appropriate speed—until the system is rebooted or restarted. At that point, USB 3.0 stops working on the USB 3.0 PCI express adapter entirely, and the two ports on the motherboard itself only operate at USB 2.0 speed. They also fail to detect connected devices after reboot or restart.

I think the issue is actually Windows 10. I imagine it is "updating" the original device drivers, thereby disabling the hardware.

 

[BFG-9000]

Would it be possible to pick up a USB 3.1 PCI Express card, one that perhaps has drivers, to get around all this heartache?

Oh sure, and to blow your mind, even a PCIe card with the uPD720200 on it would probably work just fine. I'm using two of those right now, in Win 10 using the Win 8 drivers.

See, there really isn't anything really wrong with the chip itself--it doesn't perform as well as newer chips but is perfectly stable in Win 10 provided you have the latest drivers and firmware. The early firmware was pretty bad, and any solution integrated into the motherboard is going to have the firmware incorporated into the motherboard's BIOS. Unfortunately a motherboard maker who can't be bothered to even host the latest drivers on their website also probably won't bother to update the firmware in their BIOS either--they've already got your money after all. This is likely why there have been so many complaints about such USB 3.0 add-on chips on motherboards for the last 15 years, and why it was such a big deal when Intel finally incorporated a native controller into the Ivy Bridge chipsets.

The caveat is you usually can't boot from a drive attached to a USB port on an add-in card, as they normally don't have the option ROM needed to allow this.

 

[KublaiKhan]

Oh sure, and to blow your mind, even a PCIe card with the uPD720200 on it would probably work just fine. I'm using two of those right now, in Win 10 using the Win 8 drivers.

See, there really isn't anything really wrong with the chip itself--it doesn't perform as well as newer chips but is perfectly stable in Win 10 provided you have the latest drivers and firmware. The early firmware was pretty bad, and any solution integrated into the motherboard is going to have the firmware incorporated into the motherboard's BIOS. Unfortunately a motherboard maker who can't be bothered to even host the latest drivers on their website also probably won't bother to update the firmware in their BIOS either--they've already got your money after all. This is likely why there have been so many complaints about such USB 3.0 add-on chips on motherboards for the last 15 years, and why it was such a big deal when Intel finally incorporated a native controller into the Ivy Bridge chipsets.

The caveat is you usually can't boot from a drive attached to a USB port on an add-in card, as they normally don't have the option ROM needed to allow this.

The rig stopped locking up during POST and it appeared that USB 3.0 was working, at least for a couple of days. I installed some mouse drivers. The next day, I noticed USB 3.0 stopped working, again. I had to switch my USB HDD to a USB 2.0 port. I connected my phone to transfer music, and it locked up again when next I restarted the rig

Error code is 50, which is USB Init.

The only way to get past the lockup at POST is to reset CMOS, possibly even remove the battery for a few minutes. It is a drag.

Could the the firmware you mentioned be available somewhere other than the EVGA website? Or the drivers?

 

[KublaiKhan]

Ugh. Windows 10 . . . .

I updated the firmware (to version 4.0.2.1.0.3) for the Renesas/NEC uDP20200a USB 3.0 controller chip on my motherboard. Eventually, I found that firmware at Station Drivers. They also downloaded drivers version 2.1.39.0 WHQL from 2012, which is more recent than what I have; however, I've not installed those drivers, as the motherboard's USB 3.0 ports began working from one day to the next immediately after updating the firmware—which was remarkably easy.

I've seen other solutions that point toward even more recent firmware and driver sets, but the download links never work, or are non-existent. Most guides written about the issue are written by AI and tend to be incorrect—but lengthy, so as to deliver maximum advertisement content.

The FebSmart (what a name) PCI-E USB 3.0 host controller is another matter. Even with drivers installed, which Windows 10 ostensibly does not require, the thing only works when devices are connected after startup. Devices that remain connected overnight, for example, aren't recognized the following day, unless the machine is turned off, the devices disconnected, then reconnected after startup.

Windows 10 keeps asking permission to allow Service Host rundll 32 to run any time I change anything, such as power settings or even disconnecting a thumb drive. It also randomly restarts the machine when I power down for the day.