AMD Has Fixed Its USB Connectivity Issues, Updates Arrive in Early April

AMD has announced an updated AGESA (AMD Generic Encapsulated System Architecture) version to solve problems with the B550 and X570 motherboard families. After collecting data from various folks experiencing problems, AMD thinks it has nailed down a fix. The software update should ship out from them in about a week, after which motherboard OEMs need some time to test and integrate the fix into their own UEFI updates. AMD expects the patch to be available on beta UEFI updates by early April, with full UEFI releases arriving after that.

According to AMD, the update solves problems with “USB port dropout, USB 2.0 audio crackling (e.g. DAC/AMP combos), and USB/PCIe Gen 4 exclusion.” The company notes that these are not the only symptoms their AGESA update fixes, just the largest ones, so anyone with generic USB troubles of any kind may want to check for an update. The UEFI update will be bundled with AGESA 1.2.0.2.

One wrinkle in AMD’s announcement is that it doesn’t actually include any information about affected chipsets. Reports initially suggested that the problem is confined to Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000 CPUs running in 500-series chipsets, but a few 400-series owners popped up in the original thread and said they were affected as well. It’s not clear if this is actually the case. Motherboard failures tend to be modular. Audio, Ethernet, or USB can potentially fail on a motherboard without impacting anything else, so it’s possible that some of the 400-series reports were users with other issues swept into this problem.

If you are having problems with your motherboard and want to test AMD’s previous workarounds, here is what the company has previously recommended:

First, perform the usual updates. Make sure Windows is fully updated and that any new UEFI versions have been installed. Check your Ryzen chipset driver (the latest is 2.13.27.501) and update it if you haven’t.

If none of these solutions work, you can drop into UEFI to try a few things. Set your PCIe mode from either Gen 4 / Auto to Gen 3. This will force the motherboard to use PCIe 3.0, and while that might have a modest impact on storage performance, it could also help stabilize the device. AMD has also recommended disabling global C-states in UEFI. If you do take this step, make sure to re-enable it when you update your UEFI, if the update doesn’t automatically reset your changes.

AMD has not shared any information on what might be causing these problems. Since the company does not say which motherboards or chipsets are affected, or which CPU families, we’d recommend Ryzen customers in general keep an eye on things. If you aren’t having any problems it’s likely no big deal, but it’s always good to remember these sort of events if you help other people troubleshoot hardware.

One last tidbit several readers communicated to us: If none of the above work, you can also try switching to bog-standard USB 2.0 ports, if you have any available. This option appears to have worked for some folks when other fixes did not.

Continue reading

China’s Tianwen-1 Spacecraft Arrives in Orbit of Mars

The Tianwen-1 spacecraft arrived around Mars just this week, and it will land in the coming months not too far from NASA's latest rover.

Diablo II: Resurrected Arrives on PCs and Consoles This Year

Blizzard is remaking Diablo II, with a number of quality of life improvements. Revisit one of the greatest hybrid RPG titles ever made. Fight the Lords of Hell. Then, kick back, stay awhile, and have yourself a listen.

NASA’s Gigantic SLS Rocket Arrives in Florida on Equally Gigantic Barge

Following a number of impressive engine tests, the various components of the first full spacecraft have all arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, including the newly arrived core stage. That part of the mega-rocked floated up to the spaceport on a 310-foot barge earlier this week.

Nvidia’s New DLSS Support in VR Could Lower Barriers to Adoption

Nvidia has extended DLSS to eight new games, including three VR titles. Improving DLSS support in VR might help make the hobby a bit more affordable.