Question Stock RGB Case Fans not detected by BIOs or Utility software, Tuff Gaming B550 MB

[LostinAR]

[Moderator edit to break up solid paragraph of text.]


I recently installed a ASUS TUF Gaming B550 with Wifi II motherboard in to a Gamdias Aura PC case.

Case has 4 RGB fans including necessary wiring but no instructions. I am not using an RGB hub or controller, just the stock case and cables. After install the fans are running, and the LEDs are on.

I can cycle colors and patterns with an LED hard button on the case but that is it. I have checked both my bios and Aura Sync utility and both CHA Fans show NA or 0 RPM even though they are running. (The CPU fan is present and working just fine, though its a non RGB fan.)

There is no wiring that connects the case fans to the CHA Fan headers on the MB. The case fan connectors are 4-pin, but do not physically fit the CHA FAN headers on the MB. Each fan has a male 4-pin connector and a female 4-pin pig tail which are used to daisy chained all 4 fans together.

Power is coming from a SATA connection to the PSU. The only direct connection between the fans and the MB is via a 3-pin Addressable GEN 2 header.

I thought this connection would provide the data to the Bios and Aura sync for RPM and LED control because it shows its carries data as well as 5V power and ground.

I'm suspicious that either the Gen 2 header or cable is bad but is there some other possibility I'm missing?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

ASUS TUF Gaming B550 with Wifi II
Is this;

TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WIFI II｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

TUF Gaming series distills essential elements of the latest AMD and Intel® platforms, and combines them with game-ready features and proven durability. Engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution and a comprehensive set of cooling options, this motherboard delivers...

www.asus.com

your motherboard?

Gamdias Aura PC
Gamdias have a couple of cases under the Aura series, which one are you working with?

 

[LostinAR]

Yes that is my MB. The case is the Aura GC 1. Also, I used the Armory Crate utility to scan my MB for Gen 2 devices and it came up with none.

 

[Paperdoc]

Starting point: any lighted fan actually is TWO separate devices in one unit: a fan MOTOR, and LIGHTS in the frame. Each has its own separate power cable and is controlled individually. From your description, the LIGHTS in those fans have some link to a mobo ARGB header. However, you report that control of their display is only by a physical button on the case that you press repeatedly to make changes. That kind of control says the fans' lighting cables are all connected to some central hub that functions as the Controller for the lights. The fact that there is some connection (probably a single cable from that hub to one mobo ARGB header) does NOT mean that the mobo is controlling the lights. BUT you can try this trick. MANY such systems do their own control but ALSO have a way to turn over lighting display control to the signals from a mobo header. The way to do that is to push in and HOLD that button for at least 5 seconds. Then the built-in hub unit lets the signal from the mobo ARGB header take over. At that point you use the software tool (AURA Sync)that came with your mobo to make all settings of the lighting in the fans. This switch to mobo control may NOT be permantent so you may have to re-do that after every start-up.

Fan MOTOR control is done separately via its power cable to the fan. From your description there is no connection of motors to the mobo, so you will never see any fan speed. You say the motors all are daisy-chained to a SATA power output from the PSU, so I must assume you have NO control of speed and they all run full speed all the time. Let's see if that can be changed to mobo control.

From your description it is not clear exactly what connector type each fan has on its wires. ONE common way this is done is to use 4-pin Molex connectors for both male and females on the fan wires. Here's a photo of male and female 4-pin Molex connectors on one odd adapter

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://www.amazon.ca/Molex-Male-Female-Power-Cable/dp/B00478RLKS&psig=AOvVaw3LHSexJ-7BNWPIMnA3e1E3&ust=1733765970741000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCKDomN3bmIoDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

But yours may be different. One important item here is how many wires there are between those connectors and the fan motor. IF there are only two, mobo control MAY be possble but with no acutal reading of speed. IF there are four (probably not), mobo control using PWM Mode may be possible. IF there are three, mobo control may be possible using Voltage Control Mode. For any of these, however, some way must be found to make the right connections to the first fan in the daisy chain from a mobo fan header. So tell us what you can about those wires to the first fan from a PSU SATA source and about the further daisy-chain connections.

 

[LostinAR]

Thanks, I tried the 5 sec hold of the button and now Aura Sync seems to see the fans as an LED strip and I can adjust colors and run patterns through the software tool, so that's a win!

There is still no RPM reported in Armor Crate or in the BIOs (also, I noticed the GPU fan is not reporting RPM either, could that be related?? Its an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT). The case fans do seem to be running a constant speed, probably 100%. Fortunately, they are pretty quite and are doing an excellent job of cooling so I'm not to worried, but I would like that feature if there is a simple way.

Here's a short video of a guy with my exact case and he shows the SATA connection which powers the fans and he shows those connectors that daisy chain the fans together as well. They are not Molex.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/JAG-UqtpD10?si=_5dGj6WPKfVxF56Z


You are correct, there is no power connection for the fans to the MB as far as I can find. Here is a picture of the Gen 2 connector (1) which is the only thing that connects the Fan/LEDs to the MB. Note its 3 pin with a blank. The attached VDG connector (2) is not used as far as I can tell. I thought this Gen2 connection would be the path for RPM data, but maybe I'm mistaken about that. Maybe there simply isn't a way to do that.

(3) is the a male connector like those coming of each fan (minus a set of "ears" on each side that lock it into a receiving connector). The same cable with this male connector is a splitter that ends in a female version of this connector that allows for the daisy chain. There are no examples of the power connector (4) coming from any of the fans or anywhere in the case. This is what I was expecting to find and plug into the MB, but alas, nowhere to be found. Power is from the SATA connector you see in the video link.

Thanks again

 

[Paperdoc]

Glad to hear you got mobo control of the lights to work.

The cable from the lights to your mobo has 3 wires and holes in each of the two connectors. The wider one is most common, the other is for exactly the same connections, but using a slightly different mobo header type that some mobos use. So you use only ONE of them to connect to whichever type of mobo header you have. For an ARGB lighting header, the three wires are a Ground and a fixed +5 VDC power supply, and a digital control signal line. Along an ARGB light string (or fan frame) the LED's are in Nodes, each with its own controller chip. Each chip listens to the controller line for a data packet addressed to it alone, and does as instructed with its three LED's. Those lines have NO relationship to what fan MOTORS do.

The video does clear things a bit. With almost no info on the way your fans' motors are wired it would be a LOT of figuring, experiments and trouble to find a way to get them controlled by the mobo fan headers. Since you find their noise level quite acceptable, leaving them work as they do is your best option. IF you ever decide to change that in future, the simplest way would be to remove and discard all those fans and replace them with "standard" ARGB fans that are designed to plug into mobo headers.

 

[LostinAR]

Thanks, that explains a lot.