Some AMD users have posted on social media, including Reddit, about interrupted connectivity issues when using USB ports on their 500 Series motherboards. In response, AMD said in a Reddit message that they were made aware of the connectivity issues, and requested more information from specific users to resolve the issue. Since this announcement, many users have been contacting AMD.
AMD’s X570 motherboards have been readily available since July 2019, and its B550 models have been available since June 2020 and have both become well established over the past year and a half. The fact that users are currently experiencing USB issues raises the question of whether the issues have been present all along but are now rising above the noise, or whether there is something related to the lifespan of these systems.
AMD 500 Series Motherboard and USB Connection Problems?
The most common version of this release appears to be while using Virtual Reality headphones such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, with an alternating connectivity issue that is more common among these users. Since USB is the most important method of driving and communicating VR headsets and peripherals, any downtime, even slightly for the powerful VR applications, will be immediately highlighted. This is not the only problem it can cause, as power devices and USB audio interfaces can also experience power outages, which can be very noticeable, especially if you are doing a recording.
Although AMD has not yet determined the exact cause of the problem, it asks users to contact them on Reddit through u / AMDOfficial, which is an official support channel for AMD. If you browse extensively through user comments on Reddit, it does not seem to have only one section of hardware. Some issues that users are reporting appear to be due to the release of PCIe 4.0 graphics cards on 500 motherboards. Reddit user u / duddy32 also states that they have experienced these issues with a B450 motherboard and a Ryzen 7 3700X processor, which precedes the 500 series chipset.
AMD’s B550 Chipset layout, including USB connection.
One possible solution to reduce the problems (but important not to stop completely) is for users to change the motherboard’s settings from PCIe 4.0 to PCIe 3.0. Users on Reddit report that although it has reduced the frequency of downtime, but has not eliminated it, which may indicate a problem between the USB hub and other parts of the chipset. Some users report that the problem is mainly with USB 2.0 ports, and some have succeeded in switching devices to USB 3.1 ports. It is also recommended to update the firmware to the latest AGESA version on models, which may reduce issues. Although at this stage it is possible to assume that none of the solutions can solve these problems that users experience with random and alternating USB cuts.
Although AMD did not notify the reddit audience if they could fix the problem internally, they are asking users experiencing these issues to provide their hardware configurations and other relevant system information so that AMD can recreate the issues at the end of it. AMD also openly encourages users to set up online service requests with AMD customer support to help correlate data and compare notes with other support applications to potentially limit the problem.
The back panel of an X70 motherboard with USB 3.1, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports.
It should be noted that not all users have experienced these issues – we have tested a few dozen AMD AM4 motherboards and used them extensively over the past 15 months, with exactly no related issues. That’s why this issue might just be highlighted right now – users did not notice the issue, as a very slight cut out of a mouse or keyboard may not be very clear, or that they’m lucky that this issue is not theirs. do not touch. However, enough users are emerging with these alternating USB connection issues to make the issue widespread in various models and processor combinations. This means that the problem is not specifically dependent on a certain manufacturer and looks more like a problem with AMD’s chipset or how it is connected from the USB hub to the chipset.
If AMD succeeds in fixing the issue with its internal team and collaboration of consistent data points provided by users, it is possible that a future update of the AGESA firmware could alleviate the issues. Of course, if it’s directly related to a design and hardware issue, it can be a much tougher nut to crack for AMD.
AMD’s official statement posted on 20/02/21 can be found here on Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/lnmet0/an_update_on_usb_connectivity_with_500_series/