USB 3.0 Front Panel Not Working

[snowyblizzard]

So, I have a build with a Gigabyte h97m-hd3 motherboard in an old HP Pavilion case. The front panel audio ports and memory card reader all work perfectly, but for some reason I can't get the front USB 3.0 port to work. I have the front USB panel connected to the 20 pin port on the motherboard. It seems like I've tried everything I could think of to fix the problem; I did a clean install of Windows, updated the bios, installed the drivers from the mobo's website, unplugged the cable and plugged it back in. Can't see what else could be wrong. The front panel USB worked fine before I installed the new mobo. Thanks in advance for helping.

 

[geofelt]

Possibly, your new motherboard is defective.
But, I have found that the front panel USB3 connectors do not always fit snugly to the motherboard and can loosen.
Take the covers off and test the ports being certain that the connector is fully in, straight and snug.

 

[cosmoji]

you say you installed the drivers, there's likely a specific usb 3.0 driver. did you install that one?

 

[snowyblizzard]

Possibly, your new motherboard is defective.
But, I have found that the front panel USB3 connectors do not always fit snugly to the motherboard and can loosen.
Take the covers off and test the ports being certain that the connector is fully in, straight and snug.

Yeah, I guess it's possible that the connector might not be in right. I'll keep trying to unplug it and plug it back in and see what happens. If the mobo itself is defective though, I'll just let it be.

 

[snowyblizzard]

you say you installed the drivers, there's likely a specific usb 3.0 driver. did you install that one?

For some reason there's no driver that specifically mentions USB 3.0. Here are the descriptions of the two chipset drivers from the disk that came with the mobo:

INF Update Utility: "This utility installs INF files that inform the operating system how to properly configure the chipset for specific functionality such as PCI-Express or USB interface."

Intel(R) Management Engine Software (5M): "Intel(R) HECI device driver"

The other drivers have nothing to do with USB.

 

[geofelt]

you say you installed the drivers, there's likely a specific usb 3.0 driver. did you install that one?

For some reason there's no driver that specifically mentions USB 3.0. Here are the descriptions of the two chipset drivers from the disk that came with the mobo:

INF Update Utility: "This utility installs INF files that inform the operating system how to properly configure the chipset for specific functionality such as PCI-Express or USB interface."

Intel(R) Management Engine Software (5M): "Intel(R) HECI device driver"

The other drivers have nothing to do with USB.

There is a usb3.0 driver available to download here:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4965#dl
select your os for the proper one.

 

[snowyblizzard]

you say you installed the drivers, there's likely a specific usb 3.0 driver. did you install that one?

For some reason there's no driver that specifically mentions USB 3.0. Here are the descriptions of the two chipset drivers from the disk that came with the mobo:

INF Update Utility: "This utility installs INF files that inform the operating system how to properly configure the chipset for specific functionality such as PCI-Express or USB interface."

Intel(R) Management Engine Software (5M): "Intel(R) HECI device driver"

The other drivers have nothing to do with USB.

There is a usb3.0 driver available to download here:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4965#dl
select your os for the proper one.

Huh, you're right, there are some USB 3.0 drivers, but none of them are for Windows 10. I'll definitely give it a shot though, thanks!

 

[geofelt]

Try using the windows 8 version.
There seem to be some hot fixes too.

 

[snowyblizzard]

Try using the windows 8 version.
There seem to be some hot fixes too.

Welp, it says you have to use the hot fix only after downloading the original driver. Unfortunately the original USB 3.0 driver is for Windows 7, and the hot fix is for Windows 8. When I tried installing the original USB 3.0 driver, it said that the computer doesn't meet the requirements for installing the software.

 

[snowyblizzard]

So neither of those USB 3.0 drivers/fixes will install. Do you think it would be viable to downgrade to Windows 7 just to download that USB 3.0 driver? And then upgrade to Windows 8 to get the hot fix. I would assume that I'd be back in the same situation upon upgrading back to Windows 10, so it would probably be a waste of time. Maybe my best bet would be to wait until Gigabyte releases a USB 3.0 driver for Windows 10.

 

[geofelt]

I would not bother with the windows 7 approach.
It is lots of work, and there is no guarantee that it would not screw up your windows 10 licensing.

Try contacting gigabyte support.
Possibly, they have a windows 10 driver, perhaps a beta development one.

In the mean time, usb2.0 should still be working so you still have usb functionality.

Since this USB 3.0 driver is to support a intel Z170 chipset, why not try downloading the driver for a different motherboard?
I checked, and my motherboard, asus maximus viii gene has a link for a asmedia usb3,0 driver for windows 10.

 

[snowyblizzard]

I would not bother with the windows 7 approach.
It is lots of work, and there is no guarantee that it would not screw up your windows 10 licensing.

Try contacting gigabyte support.
Possibly, they have a windows 10 driver, perhaps a beta development one.

In the mean time, usb2.0 should still be working so you still have usb functionality.

Since this USB 3.0 driver is to support a intel Z170 chipset, why not try downloading the driver for a different motherboard?
I checked, and my motherboard, asus maximus viii gene has a link for a asmedia usb3,0 driver for windows 10.

Yeah, I definitely won't be downgrading Windows. Strangely enough though, the USB 3.0 ports on the back all work fine (unless they're working at USB 2.0 and I don't know). But yeah, I'll contact Gigabyte about this, and I'll definitely look into downloading a driver for another mobo. Thanks!

 

[snowyblizzard]

Well literally none of the Gigabyte boards (even the Z170 boards) have any Windows 10 USB 3.0 drivers. I tried downloading the USB 3.0 driver for your Asus mobo, but of course that didn't work. Guess I'll be contacting Gigabyte