[SOLVED] Why does my BIOS tell me that I have "2 hubs"?

[Will Robinson]

When my computer boots, it says "USB devices: 1 keyboard, 1 mouse, 2 hubs".

What is this? The only things I have plugged into my computer are my mouse, keyboard, monitor, and ethernet cable to my router. Inside, I only have my hard drives and GPU plugged in - that's it.

Also, I don't know if it's related, but when Windows boots, I often hear two "Device connected" noises, even though I haven't added any new hardware for ages.

 

[Colif]

what motherboard do you have?

what shows in Device manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers?
i have 2 generic hubs, one is under the AMD USB 3 controller and other is connected to Intel Bluetooth
I have 4 USB root hub (USB 3) all linked to the AMD chipset.

 

[Will Robinson]

what motherboard do you have?

ASUS P7P55D iP55

what shows in Device manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers?

Generic USB Hub
Generic USB Hub
Interl(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B34
Interl(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B3C
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

I don't know what any of this means!

 

[Colif]

highlight one of the hubs in device manager and click on view/devices by connection. It will show you what they are linked to. Most are parts of the motherboard
change view back to select next hub to check.

Ignore the controllers.
the composite devices likely linked to The intel controller - I would say most of the USB devices here are

this is what i see for most of them

Asus have a few P7P55D motherboard and they all IP55
P7P55D Premium
P7P55D Pro
P7P55D LE
P7P55D-E
P7P55D-E Pro
P7P55D-E LX

these might not be what you are looking for.

I see mention of 2 hubs in relation to USB searching for your motherboard on google. I chose a random model and browsed through the manual but didn't see anything solid.
could be 1 hub controls the front USB and other the back since you have 6 at front and 8 at back. (numbers of ports may vary, those based on the Pro)

 

[Will Robinson]

Thanks. I don't know which version of the motherboard it is, sorry.

highlight one of the hubs in device manager and click on view/devices by connection. It will show you what they are linked to.

When I do that, all the 'hub' entries disappear.

 

[Colif]

so if you highlight say Generic USB Hub so its blue, and then click on View in header and change it to Devices by connection it shows nothing? that is odd.

USB ports built into your computer are connected to USB root hubs; each root hub is controlled by a Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (which provides USB 1.1 support), and all of the root hubs in a system are also controlled by an Enhanced Host Controller (which provides USB 2.0 support).

A generic hub is a device that splits one USB port into multiple ports (usually four, although seven-port hubs are also available). By using multiple hubs, a single USB port on a computer can support dozens of devices.

old but source of above 2 paragraphs - https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1629020&seqNum=2

I think the 2 hubs that show are just part of the motherboard. I can't get anything more specific.

 

[Colif]

i think just this sort of proves you have 2 hubs being used

Generic USB Hub
Generic USB Hub
Interl(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B34
Interl(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B3C
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

if you rearrange them like my tree in the screenshot above

lvl 1 - Interl(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B34
lvl 2 - USB Root Hub
lvl 3 - Generic USB Hub
lvl 3 - USB Composite Device

lvl 1 - Interl(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B3C
lvl 2 - USB Root Hub
lvl 3 - Generic USB Hub

Controllers are top lvl, they control the USB Root hub which runs all the Generic USB Hubs.

that was just a guess based on what you showed, the composite device could be under second controller, not first, I can't tell. I worked it out based on what mine shows.

It is also possible that if you had more than 2 USB devices being used it would report more hubs as it might just show what is being used. Your motherboard could have up to 14 USB slots on it, and every slot can act as a hub for multiple devices.

I only have 2 USB devices but I know other parts of PC use USB, like my Water cooler and my Bluetooth that is on the motherboard. I don't know how many hubs I have as it doesn't show me anywhere without me looking too hard. I could work it out but I am not that concerned really