GA-Z87-D3HP (problems with wireless, likely related to usb 3.0)

[timelesspa]

Hi

over the past two weeks since my new build lve had a few different issues.. one of which was blue screen related. this l believe l have tracked to the RAM.

basically l was using 2 different matched pairs to take me to 16gb of ram, after removal of my older 8GB (2x4gb) l havent had any further bsod's (that said it took a week before l even received a blue screen error).

l had asked questions at a 3rd party forum (sevenforums) who analyzed the crash dumps and while they said my virus software was the cause, another noted problems with my wireless drivers and usb 3.0 ones which would make sense considering my current problem is wireless related (the connection speed fluctuates between 140mbps to 35mbps).

suffice to say l upgraded my wireless driver to the latest generic driver for the usb wireless chipset driver which has helped my wireless connectivity a bit as l dont suffer the timeouts l did before (it was much worse before updating the usb drivers), the current version of the Intel USB 3.0 drivers lm using is 3.0.0.16 but the speed problem has persisted despite my signal being perfect (hell the router is not more than a few meters away) also my laptop also gets a solid 130mbps with none on the fluctuations that my PC has.

this leads me to believe the problem is related to the drivers. that said l found a post over at the intel community site that seems to possibly link into my issue: https://communities.intel.com/message/243400

that said l dont believe lve problems connecting usb 3.0 devices well not to the front headers of my system in fact when l put my usb 3.0 thumb drive in it works fine and detects (unlike the linked post on the intel community site), its just that my current wireless adapter always worked without issue with the basic windows drivers downloaded via windows update.. however lve tried generic, from the manufacturers website and generic ones for my chipset all still seem to experience the major speed fluctuations while the signal pretty much stays perfect (tho not with as many timeouts now).

l did however contact Gigabyte support who recommended l update the bios where l was recommended to flash with bios F14b. but the thing is l looked at the bios page of the downloads section of my motherboard and there doesnt seem to be a F14b bios for my board... in fact bios versions only seem to go from F4 to F7 leaving me wondering if lve been recommended to install an incompatible bios which worries me more because lm not exactly keen on updating the bios as it is due to bad past experiences.

suffice to say while l am contemplating getting a new wireless adapter to rule that out as an issue (tbh its worked perfectly for years, only stopped working like usual since l rebuilt the system) but lm worried not only because of being told to update the bios but also if lve been recommended to install a potentially incompatible one as well.

that said l will likely use @BioS to update within windows, will the fact l have dual bios mean less possibility of problems? that is to say if it was a bad/corrupted flash the second bios will take over as well as copy its content to the main chip? and should l do it within safe mode with networking so l dont have my virus software etc running in the background?

as for the reps suggestion, of bios updating should l use F6 or F7? reason l wondered is because the latest bios (F7) is smaller than the previous (F6) bios.

 

[Lvcoyote]

I wouldn't update the BIOS from a windows environment. Create a bootable USB thumb drive and do it that way. I think instructions can be found on the Gigabyte web site for doing this. Running into older hardware problems when put in a newer system isn't uncommon. I could just be a compatibility problem between the MB and older wireless card.

 

[timelesspa]

still l do wonder if a bios update would help.. l guess l can just get a new card first.

its a toss up between:
http://www.ebuyer.com/262951-tp-link-tl-wn722n-wireless-n150-high-gain-usb-adapter-tl-wn722n
http://www.ebuyer.com/259807-tp-link-tl-wn821n-wireless-n300-usb-adapter-tl-wn821n

still as l mentioned before l had issues with BSOD errors, which l was told were caused by my virus protection but removing the older ram seems to have stopped it (well hopefully, my system didnt start giving out bsods for a week) but one of the ppl on seven forum who analyzed my bsods posted the following:

fffff880`035fe128 00000000`00000000
fffff880`035fe130 fffff880`05834c00Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\iusb3hub.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for iusb3hub.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for iusb3hub.sys
iusb3hub+0x34c00
fffff880`035fe138 fffff880`05802147 iusb3hub+0x2147
fffff880`035fe140 fffffa80`144a4700
.
.
.
fffff880`035ff528 00000000`00000000
fffff880`035ff530 fffff880`04f6ade0Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\iusb3xhc.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for iusb3xhc.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for iusb3xhc.sys
iusb3xhc+0x6bde0
fffff880`035ff538 00000000`000003e7
fffff880`035ff540 fffff880`04f79f60 iusb3xhc+0x7af60
fffff880`035ff548 00000000`00000000
fffff880`035ff550 fffffa80`1644c0b8

and

Code:

fffff880`035fe2e8 fffff800`0305b000 nt!KiSelectNextThread <PERF> (nt+0x0)
fffff880`035fe2f0 fffffa80`14937354
fffff880`035fe2f8 fffff880`062fe91fUnable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\netr28ux.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for netr28ux.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for netr28ux.sys
netr28ux+0xe591f
fffff880`035fe300 fffff880`06248230 netr28ux+0x2f230
fffff880`035fe308 00000000`00000000

however l downloaded and updated the wireless with generic drivers as the latest on the adapter manufacturers site were quite old.

however in either case l really dont like the idea of updating the bios having had bad previous experiences. and the theory was that if l used the @BioS utility l could be sure l had the correct bios since ld guess it checked my board for the correct one, and that l was hoping if something did go wrong since l have dual bios ld have something to fall back on.

 

[Lvcoyote]

If your computer is so close to the router, why not just use a cable? I can almost insure the blue screens you were getting were because of the mis-matched memory you were using, we see that quite often around here.

Getting the correct BIOS is as easy as visiting the Gigabyte page for your motherboard and getting the newest one they list. Don't worry about the one they pointed you too, because the b at the end means it's a beta BIOS. As long as you are confident you can get to the right Gigabyte page for your motherboard, then getting the right BIOS shouldn't be an issue. The safest way to update your BIOS is from a USB stick. Flashing from within Windows is the most dangerous. Was your previous bad experience updating the BIOS done from within windows?

 

[timelesspa]

my previous bad experience was outside windows..

as for suggesting connecting to the router directly, lm not keen on that either.. lve lost two computers both of which were connected directly to the phone line.

first was on dialup (fried my modem and hard drive), second once ld updated to ADSL (lightning took out my router and computer)... in two different houses as well as surge equipment, suffice to say while l know surge protectors cant protect against lightning strikes, since lve gone wireless lve had better experiences.

plus l havent got any free space on my usb 3.0 thumb drive and the older one l dont trust so much since it seems to be pretty slow (it was one of those drives that had security software on which can encrypt files tho its always acted a little buggy when copying).

however what worries me the most is the fact that the version Gigabyte told me to download and update to (F14b) doesnt shoe on the bios download page, in fact there are no beta bios versions on the page for my board and the only versions there are from F4 to F7 making me worry even more that ld been told to upgrade to an incompatible bios.

 

[Lvcoyote]

That's my point man, don't use that BIOS use the one on your product page.

 

[timelesspa]

thats the plan, but l can wait (not going to be home for a day or two anyways) l'll get a new wireless adapter first try that before contemplating updates. tho lm still not keen on doing them..

l know my board has q-flash, but the problem is finding a thumb drive.. as lm not sure l would trust a converted SD card (one of those SD cards that connects to a usb) or the one l mentioned.

tho l do have a spare SSD with nothing on it now, would l be able to use that? basically just pop it into a usb caddy and load the bios update from that?

 

[timelesspa]

looks like @BioS is currently the only way l can update the bios at the moment. l wont do it online l'll have the file downloaded and do it from system.. but l dont have any means of sorting out an update via usb.

lm just hoping dual bios will kick in if there are problems.

 

[timelesspa]

just thought ld post an update, lve updated the bios to the latest version shown on the Gigabyte site, namely F7 however my wireless is still being a cow.