USB 3.0 thumb drives Intermittently fail to work in the front USB ports

[Z-User]

I have a Z440 system which, for reasons unknown, intermittently fails to recognize any USB 3.0 thumb drives. I am not able to discern any type of pattern for failure or resolution. On occasion when I plug in a USB 3.0 thumb drive the drives activity indicator fails to illuminate and the OS does not see the drive to mount it. I can plug a USB 2.0 device into the same port and everything works as expected. I can take the USB 3.0 drive and plug it into the rear ports and it functions as expected. This behavior is not consistent as there are occasions when the USB 3.0 drives work fine in the front USB ports. Rebooting doesn't consistently resolve the problem.

What I have done to troubleshoot:

• Rebooted the system
• Used multiple USB 3.0 drives from the same manufacturer.
• Used different USB 3.0 drives from different manufacturers.
• Used different capacity drives (ranging from 8GB to 64GB).
• Tested these same drives in the front USB 3.0 ports on my Z620 system without problem.
• Reseated the USB 3.0 cable at both the motherboard connector and the I/O board connection.
• Replaced the entire I/O board (note this does not include the cable, just the I/O board).
• Ensured I am running the latest firmware.

The problem does not appear to be OS related as when this issue occurs I am unable to boot from the front USB ports. The same USB 3.0 drive boots fine using the rear USB 3.0 ports.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior on their Z440 front USB ports? If so how did you correct the problem? The next step is to try replacing the USB cable between the motherboard and I/O board however I suspect that will not solve the problem. The only other thing I can think of is an issue with the motherboard.

Any help is appecriated, even if it's to say "I haven't had that problem on my Z440 system".

Configuration:

Z440, optical drive, media reader, 16GB (third party), 700 watt power supply, additional cooling, E5-1650v3, 1TB Z-Turbo drive, NVS-315 GPU, Windows 10 Professional x64, latest firmware.

[Z440Roger]

Have you done a clean install of Windows 10 on that machine? If yes, make sure to install the Intel Chipset Drivers.

(Drivers page: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-z440-workstation/6978828)

I have the same machine as yours and have had no problems with USB3 drives. (G1X59EA)

[Brian1965]

Hi Z-User,

Unfortunately, I don't have a Z440, (mine being a Z620), but I found the following document that may possibly help. Specifically, this document applies to W8 and W10.

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c03327635

Hopefully, there may be a fix listed that you haven't tried yet? (e.g. uninstalling the USB root hub?). Post back and let us know how you get on.

[Z-User]

@Z440Roger: Thank you for the response. I have installed all of the Windows 10 drivers. A fresh install of the OS was performed when I received the system. It was at that time I installed all of the necessary drivers for Windows. Per your suggestion I've gone ahead and re-installed them. Having said that I'm not sure the problem is with the OS. When I experience the problem I'm unable to use these ports with a USB 3.0 device to boot the system.

Additional information: This morning I rebooted the system and the problem persisted. I then shut the system down and unplugged it and the problem did not disappear. I then pulled it apart and reseated the USB cable at the motherboard connection. After doing this I am now able to use the front ports with USB 3.0 thumb drives. However I did this before and the problem eventually returned.

This might be pointing to the issue. After each reseating of the cable (which I've only performed twice now) the front ports work with 3.0 thumb drives. Maybe this time they'll continue to work. If not I am going to swap out the cable (I received a new cable with the new I/O board I swapped in).

[Z-User]

@Brian1965: Thank you for bring this document to my attention. There are a few things from it I will try the next time I experience the problem (currently working fine, see post above)

[Z-User]

UPDATE: This morning the front USB ports again failed to recognize USB 3.0 thumb drives. They had worked for the past couple of days but this morning when I went to use the system they were no longer functioning with USB 3.0 drives. I rebooted the system and that had no effect. I did attempt some of the troubleshooting steps in the documentation Brian had referenced. Unfortunately none of those steps resolved the problem. I am hesitant to perform any changes to Windows as when the problem occurs it remains a problem outside of the OS (i.e. I am unable to use USB 3.0 version drives prior to the OS loading (such as using them to boot the system).

My next troubleshooting step was to substitute a different cable (the one which came with the replacement I/O board). On tuesday removing and reconnecting the USB cable at the motherboard resulted in my being able to use USB 3.0 devices in the front USB ports upon reassembly (which, until this morning, continued to work). This suggested maybe the cable may be the issue. When replacing this cable I did inspect the motherboard connector and I did not see anything that looked to be an issue.

Currently the system is now recognizing USB 3.0 thumb drives in the front USB ports. I can't say if this was related to removing / reconnecting at the motherboard (as part of the cable substitution) or if the result of the new cable. I will monitor progress and report back. If the problem recures I'll buy a new motherboard and see if that solves the problem (if it doesn't I'm out of ideas). My motherboard is a revision A version. Perhaps there might be an issue in the earliest revision?

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

[Z-User · Accepted solution]

I wanted to follow up on this with an update so that anyone who comes across this in the future has a conclusion. It has been a week since I replaced the front panel USB port cable and I have not experienced any further issues using USB 3.0 thumb drives (or any other USB 3.0 device) in the front ports. I have never been able to go more than a few days before the problem recurred. Thus, based on a weeks worth of testing, I am concluding I've discovered the problem and corrected it:

It appears the USB cable was the problem.

If I should experience problems within the upcoming weeks I will return here to update the status but at this time I have a high level of confidence this problem is now resolved.