Computer Doesn't Recognize USB 2.0

Ok. I have a K8N Neo2 MSI MoBo with an NVIDIA nForce 3 Ultra Chipset. I've downloaded Live Update and gone through a Driver update as it recommended.

Now. The problem. I have USB 2.0 on my MoBo. Whenever I plug in a Hi-Speed device, the computer tells me there is a faster USB slot available. I tell it to show me the list of available USBs but none are labeled as Hi-Speed.

It tells me essentially that I have USB 2.0 hardware, but it isn't installed on the computer. I downloaded Live Update, updated the drivers, and I got nothing accomplished.

Live Update did, however, tell me that there was a BIOS Update. One of the notes under it on the updater said that it fixed USB 2.0 compatibility issues. I think this might fix it. But I am VERY nervous about doing anything dealing with BIOS.

I mentioned it to Wojo. He's uneasy about it.
I mentioned it to my brother who works advanced technical support for Apple. He was uneasy about it as well.

I'm not going to touch this unless I KNOW it'll fix the problem and I KNOW there won't be any problems. I've gone to the manufacturer's mainsite (www.msicomputer.com) but haven't found any forums or stuff like that. The main list of products isn't much help because the closest they have to my MoBo is a platinum version of it.

So. Should I grin-and-bear it on USB 1.0? Or is there something I'm missing that'll slap my computer out of retarded state so it'll know I have USB 2.0?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

If you're that uneasy about doing the bios thing you could pick up a PCI USB2.0 card for a few dollars ~

You could actually even one up that and get one that has both USB2.0 and Firewire.

I can understand why a BIOS update would be a little bit irksome. I know there's an updated version for my BIOS but there's no way I'm updating it seeing that everything is working perfectly already.

If you're not on SP2 then you could apply that, I know SP2 (or is it SP1) adds extra things to do with USB.

How ya doing, buddy?

I might go with the card suggestion. But I'll need to inspect the back of my tower to ensure I have space for it. I can't remember off-hand what I've got plugged in back there...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I updated the BIOS on my motherboard a while back when I got it to try and fix some random issues I was having, and it was considerably less painful than it used to be in the past. You might want to look up the procedure for updating the BIOS to see if it's even going to be that difficult.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Well, I'm moreso worried about BIOS-fiddling not due to complexity, but due to it being like a house of cards. I've updated once in the past and ended with everything going south.

It mentioned it was going to Flash my BIOS. I've heard of that before but I'm gray on what it entails. The process was on a Live Update. It'd download and do whatever on its own. But a message I saw somewhere on their site was essentially "we aren't responsible for idiots who fiddle with BIOS, ok? =D"

I was speaking idiomatically.

This is a fairly easy process, but still requires you to go and check your BIOS.

In the BIOS there should be some type of USB heading. See if there is a line that states something similar to USB Speed. Once you find it, check that it is set to HiSpeed and not FullSpeed. HiSpeed = USB2.0 FullSpeed = USB1.1

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Do you have SP1 or higher installed? I used to have that exact problem when I had just Windows XP installed without the service packs. Once I updated to SP1 and later on to SP2 I was able to update the BIOS and get the ports running at full speed.

Maybe that'll help.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, I'm sure I could update the BIOS, Enceph. Just a matter of not wanting to risk =\

Cetra -- That's just in tweaking the BIOS itself, right? I'll write that down and try it later.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

You mentioned "the drivers" but I need to clarify. You installed the latest USB2.0 drivers that are for your motherboard? Mine work at 1.1 until I install the drivers (I just use the ones that came with the mobo and CD)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Nah, I went to MSI's main site, downloaded "Live Update" and it said it had Driver updates for my MoBo.

Can't locate my CD unfortunately. The only damn Software CD I can't locate >__<

How ya doing, buddy?

I doubt the "driver updates" does it all. I'll check for just the USB one.

EDIT: It says for 98/ME, but it might be worth a try:

http://66.96.84.4/support/dvr_exe/mb...B2W9XME009.zip

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

You're running on XP, I take it?

I'd rather not mix-and-match OS type files =p Might just toughen it out.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

So what OS are you using? You know, basic information and all.

- Windows 98/ME doesn't natively support USB 2.0 (you need to use third party drivers)

- Windows 2000 introduces USB 2.0 support in SP3 (Reference)

- Windows XP introduces USB 2.0 support in SP1 (Reference)

Also, make sure the cable you're connecting your devices with is Hi-Speed certified.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Well, the plug coming with the product (iPod) was USB 2.0 definitely I'd think. Past ones were Firewire but USB 2.0 is faster, so they're doing that now.

I installed the Service Packs back when I reformatted, because a reformat in the past was the final result due to a a glitch that an up-to-date SP would've stopped. I've always done SP updates from the get-go as a result.

I run on XP.

How ya doing, buddy?

It's possible that the drivers you're using suck. I've found that any drivers provided from the motherboard manufacturer are total crap. I prefer to download and use the drivers from the CHIPSET manufacturer, in your case, nVidia. Here's the link to the nForce3 chipset drivers:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce3_winxp_5.11

Personally, I would do the BIOS update first. You said in the changelog for the BIOS, they fixed your USB problem. I'm not sure if MSI makes it easy for your to update your BIOS, but if they have an option to update within Live Update, then just do it. I could almost guarantee that it would work. I've done numerous updates to my BIOS and my mobo maker didn't make it easy.

FELIPE NO

Still, I'm just uneasy about fiddling with updating BIOS at all, since it is inherently picky. I'll read the site and try to find support forums again. I'll see if folks are having drawbacks to BIOS updates or not. I'd rather not experience trial-and-error on this stuff if ya get my drift ;D

Double Post:
This here is the help page I found that might tie into this.

I've got a K8N Neo2 with NVIDIA nForce 3 Ultra Chipset. Problem is, the MoBo is a bit more dated than I thought. The closest I'm getting are at the top of that link, but they have Platinums and such of this. Mine doesn't have any fancy suffix or title slapped on.

Anyhow, the top result is as close as I'll get on these sorts of things. Downloading and planning on reading the readme with it first.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?