Anyone have a good PCIe USB 3.1 card they like?

Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right? Siig?


Many thanks,
-T

T wrote:

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Which one?
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Cards/

Since you mentioned "dual port", I'll assume just 2 backside ports: one
USB-A and the other USB-C. That narrows the list down to:

PEXUSB311AC2
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...d~PEXUSB311AC2

PEXUSB311A1C
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...d~PEXUSB311A1C

Under the Support tab on those product pages, the same driver is listed:

[ASMedia ASM1142] Windows USB 3.1 Controller Card.zip
Version: 1.16.47.2

If I was installing that daughtercard, I'd first try with just the card
(hardware only) to see if the Windows-included drivers worked okay. If
not, then I'd install the vendor-supplied drivers. if those didn't
work, I'd go to the chip maker (likely Asmedia per the driver title) to
see if their drivers worked. Since the product description says it
supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 (for 10 Gbps), from:

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_prod...3&cate_index=0

I'd try the USB 3.1 Gen 2 device controller chip. Clicking on that
drops down a list of 3 chip models. Look at the daughtercard to see
which chip number is used on that card. StarTech also lists the chip
number in their product description (but when I went bas to the Asmedia
site then they were down). Alas, none of those had a link to a driver
download. I suspect the driver is selected based on a combination of
the USB controller chip along with the PCIE bridge chip (since you are
bridging USB protocol to PCIe protocol).

I went to http://www.asmedia.com.tw/ to see if they had a download page
for drivers. Whatever their Flash content was, I'm not going to see it
(have Flash disabled in my web browsers). Looks like the general public
doesn't get their drivers.

No such thing as perfect hardware for all units. Could be you got a bad
one. Called StarTech support yet?

On 06/01/2018 11:42 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Which one?

PEXUSB311AC2

https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...d~PEXUSB311AC2

T wrote:
Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right? Siig?


Many thanks,
-T


PCI Express should have CRC per packet. If you could
find a statistics counter, you could see if it's doing
excessive retries or something.

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...&cate_index=98

The chip uses PCIe Rev2 x2 or PCIe Rev3 x1 lanes.

I would start by plugging it into a x16 video card
slot, because the primary slot is pretty well guaranteed
to have a low jitter clock for the thing. Depending
on the design, some other slots might be using
regenerated clocks of some sort.

At times like this, I have a PCI bus video card
I can use, which frees up more choices for PCIe
tests.

Sure, it could be drivers, but this is Asmedia, and
they have half a clue. They do a lot of this stuff.
I could see some other brands leaving a few doubts
in your mind, but these guys do pretty well at it.

The PCB design could be bad, so there's always that.
You'd need to see a reference design, with notes,
to understand how they could screw it up (usually
that sort of info is under NDA).

*******

Don't forget to do a memtest86+ test run on the PC
in question, as there's a remote chance it could
be RAM related. And this particular stress test
just happened to uncover it.

Paul

On 6/1/2018 1:39 PM, T wrote:
Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Â*Â*Â* StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
Â*Â*Â* USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Â*Â*Â* Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?Â* Siig?


Many thanks,
-T

I have been using this one on Win 7 Home 64 bit for over a year without
problems.
On sale $19.99 for 4 port card.

http://www.kdlinks.com/index.php/usb-3-0/kdlinksr-usb-3-0-super-speed-4-port-pci-e-express-extension-card-with-4-pin-power-connector-for-desktops.html

--
Zaidy036

On 06/01/2018 01:52 PM, Zaidy036 wrote:
On 6/1/2018 1:39 PM, T wrote:
Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Â*Â*Â*Â* StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
Â*Â*Â*Â* USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Â*Â*Â*Â* Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?Â* Siig?


Many thanks,
-T

I have been using this one on Win 7 Home 64 bit for over a year without
problems.
On sale $19.99 for 4 port card.

http://www.kdlinks.com/index.php/usb-3-0/kdlinksr-usb-3-0-super-speed-4-port-pci-e-express-extension-card-with-4-pin-power-connector-for-desktops.html



Cool. Thank you!

I am looking to see if they have a 3.1 card right now.

:-)

On 06/01/2018 02:20 PM, T wrote:
On 06/01/2018 01:52 PM, Zaidy036 wrote:
On 6/1/2018 1:39 PM, T wrote:
Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Â*Â*Â*Â* StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
Â*Â*Â*Â* USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Â*Â*Â*Â* Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?Â* Siig?


Many thanks,
-T

I have been using this one on Win 7 Home 64 bit for over a year
without problems.
On sale $19.99 for 4 port card.

http://www.kdlinks.com/index.php/usb-3-0/kdlinksr-usb-3-0-super-speed-4-port-pci-e-express-extension-card-with-4-pin-power-connector-for-desktops.html



Cool.Â* Thank you!

I am looking to see if they have a 3.1 card right now.

Nope. Rats!

T wrote:
On 06/01/2018 11:42 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Which one?

PEXUSB311AC2

https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...d~PEXUSB311AC2

The specs there say it uses a 2142 chip.

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...cate_index=175

Support PCI Express Revision 3 x2

Paul

On 06/01/2018 10:39 AM, T wrote:
Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Â*Â*Â* StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
Â*Â*Â* USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Â*Â*Â* Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?Â* Siig?


Many thanks,
-T



I am looking at this one:

http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/...-type-a-c.html

But I can not tell which chipset it uses

On 06/01/2018 04:33 PM, T wrote:
On 06/01/2018 10:39 AM, T wrote:
Hi All,

Stay away from the Star Tech PEXUSB311AC2

Â*Â*Â*Â* StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card – 1x USB-C – 1x
Â*Â*Â*Â* USB-A – 10Gbps per port – Expansion Card – USB 3.1 PCI-E
Â*Â*Â*Â* Card – USB 3 PCI

It crashes your file system on large file transfers and crashes your
boot if anything is plugged into it when you boot.

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?Â* Siig?


Many thanks,
-T



I am looking at this one:

http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/...-type-a-c.html


But I can not tell which chipset it uses

Found it:

Chipset: Asmedia ASM1142

Wonder if it works any better than the asmedia 2142?

Paul wrote:

T wrote:

PEXUSB311AC2
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...d~PEXUSB311AC2

The specs there say it uses a 2142 chip.

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...cate_index=175

Support PCI Express Revision 3 x2

Does Windows 7 include in its install image a driver compatible with
USB 3.1? From a cursory online scan, looks like the user must install a
driver to add USB 3.1 support (perhaps just an INF file to define the
characteristics and naming of the device).

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ed-usb-drivers

I didn't find "3.1" in the usb.inf file but then I didn't find "3.0" or
"2.0", either. In the "[Manufacturer]" section, only some makers are
listed (to reference later sections in the INF file); else, the device
would be handled as a generic or standard USB device.

While USB controllers on the mobo should be detected by Windows, will
USB controllers on PCI[e] cards be automatically detected by Windows and
hence the need for a driver to identify the device to Windows?

I also looked in winusb.inf. Nothing there noted USB versions as to
what Windows 7 would natively support with its included drivers. I'm
not disassembling the usbccgp.sys or winusb.sys driver files to see if
they indicate support for USB 3.x (especially 3.1).

From memory and some cursory reading just now, Windows 7 only supports
up to USB 2.0. For example, see:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us.../mini-pcs.html

The OP must install a driver to add USB 3.x support in Windows 7. The
OP never mentioned which driver he used for the PCI-e daughtercard but
then the OP merely mentioned the Asmedia chipped card from StarTech as a
lamblast, not how to troubleshoot that card, and instead was looking for
alternative cards. Tough to make any suggestions if he is already
having problems with a USB 3.1 card and its driver since the same could
happen with any alternative suggestion.

T wrote:

T wrote:

T wrote:

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?* Siig?

I am looking at this one:

http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/...-type-a-c.html

But I can not tell which chipset it uses

Found it:

Chipset: Asmedia ASM1142

Wonder if it works any better than the asmedia 2142?

Note the list of operating systems supported by this card at:

http://www.siig.com/download/search/...d=JU-P20A12-S1
(when going to your link for the product page, I clicked on Downloads to
see what were available for this card.)

Windows 7 is not included. Why? SIIG does *not* provide a driver for
this card. They rely on the one included in Windows. However, as
mentioned in my reply to Paul, Windows 7 only supports up to USB 2.0.
Windows 7 does *NOT* natively support USB 3.x, so you cannot use this
card with Windows 7. you MUST install a driver in Windows 7 to add USB
3.x, and SIIG doesn't provide one for that card.

VanguardLH wrote:
Paul wrote:

T wrote:

PEXUSB311AC2
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...d~PEXUSB311AC2
The specs there say it uses a 2142 chip.

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...cate_index=175

Support PCI Express Revision 3 x2

Does Windows 7 include in its install image a driver compatible with
USB 3.1? From a cursory online scan, looks like the user must install a
driver to add USB 3.1 support (perhaps just an INF file to define the
characteristics and naming of the device).

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ed-usb-drivers

I didn't find "3.1" in the usb.inf file but then I didn't find "3.0" or
"2.0", either. In the "[Manufacturer]" section, only some makers are
listed (to reference later sections in the INF file); else, the device
would be handled as a generic or standard USB device.

While USB controllers on the mobo should be detected by Windows, will
USB controllers on PCI[e] cards be automatically detected by Windows and
hence the need for a driver to identify the device to Windows?

I also looked in winusb.inf. Nothing there noted USB versions as to
what Windows 7 would natively support with its included drivers. I'm
not disassembling the usbccgp.sys or winusb.sys driver files to see if
they indicate support for USB 3.x (especially 3.1).

From memory and some cursory reading just now, Windows 7 only supports
up to USB 2.0. For example, see:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us.../mini-pcs.html

The OP must install a driver to add USB 3.x support in Windows 7. The
OP never mentioned which driver he used for the PCI-e daughtercard but
then the OP merely mentioned the Asmedia chipped card from StarTech as a
lamblast, not how to troubleshoot that card, and instead was looking for
alternative cards. Tough to make any suggestions if he is already
having problems with a USB 3.1 card and its driver since the same could
happen with any alternative suggestion.

Windows 7 supports USB2, just as WinXP SP3 or so did.

And in fact the "capture" is done via licensing.

Intel releases INFINST.exe to install drivers. But the
section for USB2 states "#include usbport" or similar.
In other words, while Intel makes it look like they're
providing a USB2 driver in that case, in fact they call
the Microsoft INF for the job, and Microsoft does it.
The Intel USB driver contributes a text string that
shows in Device Manager.

*******

On Windows 7, each manufacturer of chip provides a driver.
If you install an add-on Asmedia card, it can only work
if you insert your Asmedia CD and install the Win7 driver
contained on the mini-CD.

If you then buy a NEC/Renesas USB3 card and install that,
then you need a separate driver from Renesas for that.

The cards won't do anything until that step is taken.

It's just as likely the problem in this cases is
unrelated to the add-in hardware, as anything else.
Similar to how I thought I had a storage issue (system
crash after ~15GB of data transferred). But instead, it
turned out to be bad RAM.

A person can use Driver Verifier, assuming they can find
a good article with suggested settings. But Driver Verifier
is just as likely to make symptoms "disappear" while it's
running, as flag an actual issue. That's what happened to
me once, when I tried out Driver Verifier - the problem
disappeared.

Paul

On 06/01/2018 06:38 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
T wrote:

T wrote:

T wrote:

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right?Â* Siig?

I am looking at this one:

http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/...-type-a-c.html

But I can not tell which chipset it uses

Found it:

Chipset: Asmedia ASM1142

Wonder if it works any better than the asmedia 2142?

Note the list of operating systems supported by this card at:

http://www.siig.com/download/search/...d=JU-P20A12-S1
(when going to your link for the product page, I clicked on Downloads to
see what were available for this card.)

Windows 7 is not included. Why? SIIG does *not* provide a driver for
this card. They rely on the one included in Windows. However, as
mentioned in my reply to Paul, Windows 7 only supports up to USB 2.0.
Windows 7 does *NOT* natively support USB 3.x, so you cannot use this
card with Windows 7. you MUST install a driver in Windows 7 to add USB
3.x, and SIIG doesn't provide one for that card.


I just will install the chipset drivers from Intel

VanguardLH wrote:
T wrote:

T wrote:

T wrote:

Anyone have a favorite PCIe USB 3.1 card that actually
works right? Siig?
I am looking at this one:

http://www.siig.com/it-products/usb/...-type-a-c.html

But I can not tell which chipset it uses
Found it:

Chipset: Asmedia ASM1142

Wonder if it works any better than the asmedia 2142?

Note the list of operating systems supported by this card at:

http://www.siig.com/download/search/...d=JU-P20A12-S1
(when going to your link for the product page, I clicked on Downloads to
see what were available for this card.)

Windows 7 is not included. Why? SIIG does *not* provide a driver for
this card. They rely on the one included in Windows. However, as
mentioned in my reply to Paul, Windows 7 only supports up to USB 2.0.
Windows 7 does *NOT* natively support USB 3.x, so you cannot use this
card with Windows 7. you MUST install a driver in Windows 7 to add USB
3.x, and SIIG doesn't provide one for that card.

ASM1142

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...&cate_index=98

* Support driver on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1
* Support various Linux Kernels

ASM2142

http://www.asmedia.com.tw/eng/e_show...cate_index=175

* Support driver on Windows7, Windows8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10
* Support various Linux kernels

Which implies that (somehow) the "flavor" of the 2142 isn't supported
by Windows 10 itself at the moment.

However, take these web page things with a grain of salt, because
I've seen promises of drivers before on a chip manufacturer site,
where in fact no such driver existed. Windows 7 is still in extended
support, but companies do whatever the hell they feel like most
of the time.

It's strange that Siig doesn't offer a driver. Some of
Siigs competitors are a bit better about this stuff.

Paul