Windows USB 3.0 Compatibility drivers?

I know native instruments has been working on the usb 3 0 fix for osx and have released some beta drivers but is anything in the works for windows? I recently purchased an Alienware m14x r2 to use with my kontrol s4. The laptop didn't even acknowledge the s4 was plugged via usb 2.0. I know this has been a major problem with computers coming with usb 3.0 ports. I used the usual windows work around and uninstalled the usb 3.0. But I am getting audio drop outs, pops and blue screens of death which is very frustrating. Hopefully they can fix this for windows as well as osx.

 

you can't "un-install USB3" on a PC it's HARDWARE. I have both the M18x r2 and XPSL701. The choice is either use the esata combo port, change laptop to an older version or use a different controller ..(my denon 6000 is working okay). But if you want to use A2, A4, A8 or S4 with USB3 ....then it's going to crash.

I reported this problem well over a year ago and was told it was nothing to do with NI and they blamed everyone else ....


and Oh look! ..now apple has the same problem, they are working on it.

 

actually, you can and that's pretty much what is happening ATM - replacing USB3.0 stuff with USB2.0 stuff, sloppy spoken.

because it is not NIs fault.

not "now" - but from the beginning when they decided to release a product that doesnt leave you a choice - very well knowing that they would cause problems with many other hardware manufacturers.

NI had reacted way in advance, since the newer interfaces (audio 6 and 10) do work on USB3.0.

@jbusiness72: NI is working on the win side, too. i think i can give more info next week.

 

freshfluke tell me EXACTLY how to make a USB3 port work as a USB2 port on a PC.

BECAUSE YOU CAN'T ! it may be possible on a MAC but it is not possible on a PC. You can't simply turn off USB3, it's a chipset which will require a new firmware specifically disabling it and that doesn't exist for PC's and i doubt it will ever exist. I've been working with renasys/NEC for over a year on this problem ... so get your facts straight PLEASE!

way in advance ? I reported this well over a year ago, and we haven't seen anything yet .... way to go NI !

or is NI's response "forget all the expensive stuff like the S4, A8 etc. and buy the newer A6 or A10" ?

C'mon get real. NI's interfaces do not work with USB3 because of an implementation they chose which is not supported in the new interface. They must go back to the drawing board and redesign the drivers to work with the new interface. If they can't how about a buy back of all the kit which no longer works on modern computers.

Almost every PC manufacturer is now USB3 only, and as you full well all new MAC are USB3.

THIS IS NOW A SERIOUS LIMITATION OF NI HARDWARE.

 

It's down to USB 3 manufacturers not releasing chipsets that are properly backwards compatible (as advertised) with USB 2. The Alienware model the OP has posted has loads of problems with USB 2 devices. Here is a thread which recommends 2 solutions:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ndom-disconnects-when-transferring-files.html

The first is to update the drivers for the USB chipset. Anyone with a different model of computer should check their OEM manufacturer's website for the latest drivers. The second is to run the ports in USB 2 mode and is also detailed in the thread I linked, where Intel appear to be copping the blame for the problems.

 

the S4 has been announced in summer 2010! you may imagine how much earlier developement started?

the XMOS devices (A6, A10) simply do not have the problem, since they're way newer and have a different chip on it.

 

Uninstall the USB3.0 driver and replace it with a generic USB2.0 driver.

Let us try and understand the problem in more detail so we can stop this pointless bickering.

There are 4 components involved in making your soundcard work.

USB Hardware
USB Driver
Soundcard Driver
Soundcard Hardware

Lets examine each component in more detail.

USB Hardware.
Supposedly USB 3 is backward compatible with USB 2. Well in the case of the hardware this is true. Which is why the solution I mentioned above works.
No Problem here.

USB Driver
The usb driver implements a number of features which make up the whole USB protocol.
In the case of USB 3 vs USB 2 there is a feature in the USB 2 driver which has not been carried over to USB 3. (The audio streaming component.)
THIS IS THE ISSUE

Soundcard Driver
The soundcard driver is the interface between your soundcard hardware and the USB protocol. It maps the features of the soundcard hardware to the features in the USB protocol. It cannot map features the soundcard hardware doesn't have and cannot map features the soundcard hardware has that the protocol doesn't.

Souncard Hardware
At the core of your soundcard is the interface chip. Specific chips have features that provide the functionality. A chip is developed at a given point in time to make the best use of available technology. The chip is a piece of hardware that cannot be changed.

Conclusion
The problem lies with the USB 3 drivers that do not fully implement the USB 2 protocol in order to be fully backwards compatible.

So why didn't NI see this coming?
The answer lies in the hardware development cycle. It takes roughly 2 years to get a chip from inception to final product. Once a chip is produced a company like NI will take that chip and use it to develop a hardware product like the NI soundards. NI's hardware engineers cannot start this process until they have a physical product they can use in the lab. It will then take NI a year or 2 to finalize there own product containing this chip. That means that all up there is 3 to 4 years of development to get to a final product.

Once USB 3 was announced a chip manufacturer would have to wait until USB 3 hardware was available before they could start making chips because until the USB hardware comes out there is no guarantee on how exactly it will work. Since a chip costs millions to develop if something was different in the final USB 3 hardware they would have to scrap their designs and start again. (Not going to happen). Only once USB 3 compatible chips produced can NI start development on hardware products containing that chip.

Even if USB 3 had been announced when NI started development on stuff like the S4 there wouldn't have been hardware available at the time to use in their products. And since with the announcement of USB 3 it was supposed to be fully backwards compatible it would have been reasonable for NI to assume that they could bring out USB 2 hardware without a problem. And since there is always something new on the horizon you can't keep waiting otherwise nothing would ever get done.

Bottom Line

The issue does NOT land with NI. It is a USB 3 Driver issue. NI are doing their best to circumvent the issue but there is not enough compatible features between the hardware in their soundcards and the USB driver implementation. If they can find a workaround they will but it is not their fault.

The end user can implement their own workaround by replacing USB 3 drivers with generic USB 2 ones until something better comes along.

 

The S4/S2/A4/A8 are not currently supported under USB3.0. When and if NI manage to circumvent this issue an update will be released. All the pointless bickering about whose fault it is, is going nowhere. So this and similar threads are going to be [closed]