Here's the problem I've been running into: I have been trying to load the
RTM version of Vista (for testing) on a drive in my current system. The
motherboard is an Abit KN8 Ultra, which works fine under Windows XP x64.
Loading the 32-bit version of Vista presents two issues, one of which I
already see folks complaining about (lack of audio drivers for the RealTek
AC97 chipsets). However, I have two external USB drives that I use. Neither
drive is recognized in Vista at all. Booting the system up with the drives
off and turning on the drives causes Vista to hunt for a very long time (over
10 minutes) before claiming that the devices are installed for use, but do
not show up either under My Computer or under Drive Manager.

Is this a known issue with the USB ports with Vista, or is Vista simply
sitting here with it's arms crossed refusing to cooperate? Until I can get
the USB issue resolved, I have no reason to go to Vista as I use the USB
drives just as much as the internal SATA drives.

It is a known issue with some usb drive enclosures. I have read reports of
other causes, including not having any IDE devices internally. Search on
the vista.general group for some discussions about a month ago. If the
drive enclosures are matched the firmware may be the issue. If they are
from different manufacturers then probably not. I doubt that the ports are
the issue.

"Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4F7AB5C6-58A0-413D-B83B-985FEC995668@microsoft.com...
> Here's the problem I've been running into: I have been trying to load the
> RTM version of Vista (for testing) on a drive in my current system. The
> motherboard is an Abit KN8 Ultra, which works fine under Windows XP x64.
> Loading the 32-bit version of Vista presents two issues, one of which I
> already see folks complaining about (lack of audio drivers for the RealTek
> AC97 chipsets). However, I have two external USB drives that I use.
> Neither
> drive is recognized in Vista at all. Booting the system up with the
> drives
> off and turning on the drives causes Vista to hunt for a very long time
> (over
> 10 minutes) before claiming that the devices are installed for use, but do
> not show up either under My Computer or under Drive Manager.
>
> Is this a known issue with the USB ports with Vista, or is Vista simply
> sitting here with it's arms crossed refusing to cooperate? Until I can
> get
> the USB issue resolved, I have no reason to go to Vista as I use the USB
> drives just as much as the internal SATA drives.
>

Actually, I did find out that it is a general problem with the nVidia nForce
4 chipsets.

Here's the skinny as I'm understanding it now: there are multiple reports
on the nVidia forums that give the same issue, Vista refusing to recognize
USB devices. The common thread is that it's with systems running greater
than 2gb of memory (like I do). If you have 2gb or less, it's fine, USB is
recognized and the drives work at USB 2.0 speed. BUT...

If you have greater than 2gb, Vista barfs, doesn't want to recognize the
drives, and spits at you for even thinking about it. You can drop the USB
down to version 1.1 on the motherboard and it'll work, but that's the same as
deciding to copy your DVD to floppies... if you want to spend a few hours
moving the data, be my guest.

Apparently someone reported it to the Vista developers, and got a 'Not Our
Problem' for the resolution. NVidia knows about it, but can't say if it'll
be fixed when they release official nForce drivers. So... Yes, it's a
problem, no, it's not fixed, and no, I won't go to Vista until it is fixed.
I don't care to lose either the USB drives (that's half a terabyte right
there) or 1gb of memory (which eases the pain of using Vista).

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> It is a known issue with some usb drive enclosures. I have read reports of
> other causes, including not having any IDE devices internally. Search on
> the vista.general group for some discussions about a month ago. If the
> drive enclosures are matched the firmware may be the issue. If they are
> from different manufacturers then probably not. I doubt that the ports are
> the issue.
>
> "Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4F7AB5C6-58A0-413D-B83B-985FEC995668@microsoft.com...
> > Here's the problem I've been running into: I have been trying to load the
> > RTM version of Vista (for testing) on a drive in my current system. The
> > motherboard is an Abit KN8 Ultra, which works fine under Windows XP x64.
> > Loading the 32-bit version of Vista presents two issues, one of which I
> > already see folks complaining about (lack of audio drivers for the RealTek
> > AC97 chipsets). However, I have two external USB drives that I use.
> > Neither
> > drive is recognized in Vista at all. Booting the system up with the
> > drives
> > off and turning on the drives causes Vista to hunt for a very long time
> > (over
> > 10 minutes) before claiming that the devices are installed for use, but do
> > not show up either under My Computer or under Drive Manager.
> >
> > Is this a known issue with the USB ports with Vista, or is Vista simply
> > sitting here with it's arms crossed refusing to cooperate? Until I can
> > get
> > the USB issue resolved, I have no reason to go to Vista as I use the USB
> > drives just as much as the internal SATA drives.
> >
>

I'm guessing it may be more motherboard specific than a generic nForce 4
issue. Given the symptoms you describe it sounds like an issue with the way
motherboard resources are mapped into memory. Hopefully it will be fixed
with a BIOS update or drivers.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2


"Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FB958755-D46D-458E-B118-7B5E49DC2107@microsoft.com...
> Actually, I did find out that it is a general problem with the nVidia
> nForce
> 4 chipsets.
>
> Here's the skinny as I'm understanding it now: there are multiple reports
> on the nVidia forums that give the same issue, Vista refusing to recognize
> USB devices. The common thread is that it's with systems running greater
> than 2gb of memory (like I do). If you have 2gb or less, it's fine, USB
> is
> recognized and the drives work at USB 2.0 speed. BUT...
>
> If you have greater than 2gb, Vista barfs, doesn't want to recognize the
> drives, and spits at you for even thinking about it. You can drop the USB
> down to version 1.1 on the motherboard and it'll work, but that's the same
> as
> deciding to copy your DVD to floppies... if you want to spend a few hours
> moving the data, be my guest.
>
> Apparently someone reported it to the Vista developers, and got a 'Not Our
> Problem' for the resolution. NVidia knows about it, but can't say if
> it'll
> be fixed when they release official nForce drivers. So... Yes, it's a
> problem, no, it's not fixed, and no, I won't go to Vista until it is
> fixed.
> I don't care to lose either the USB drives (that's half a terabyte right
> there) or 1gb of memory (which eases the pain of using Vista).
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
>> It is a known issue with some usb drive enclosures. I have read reports
>> of
>> other causes, including not having any IDE devices internally. Search on
>> the vista.general group for some discussions about a month ago. If the
>> drive enclosures are matched the firmware may be the issue. If they are
>> from different manufacturers then probably not. I doubt that the ports
>> are
>> the issue.
>>
>> "Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:4F7AB5C6-58A0-413D-B83B-985FEC995668@microsoft.com...
>> > Here's the problem I've been running into: I have been trying to load
>> > the
>> > RTM version of Vista (for testing) on a drive in my current system.
>> > The
>> > motherboard is an Abit KN8 Ultra, which works fine under Windows XP
>> > x64.
>> > Loading the 32-bit version of Vista presents two issues, one of which I
>> > already see folks complaining about (lack of audio drivers for the
>> > RealTek
>> > AC97 chipsets). However, I have two external USB drives that I use.
>> > Neither
>> > drive is recognized in Vista at all. Booting the system up with the
>> > drives
>> > off and turning on the drives causes Vista to hunt for a very long time
>> > (over
>> > 10 minutes) before claiming that the devices are installed for use, but
>> > do
>> > not show up either under My Computer or under Drive Manager.
>> >
>> > Is this a known issue with the USB ports with Vista, or is Vista simply
>> > sitting here with it's arms crossed refusing to cooperate? Until I can
>> > get
>> > the USB issue resolved, I have no reason to go to Vista as I use the
>> > USB
>> > drives just as much as the internal SATA drives.
>> >
>>

I'd like to think that, but so far I've seen postings from folks who have
Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and DFI all saying the same things. I'm convinced
it has to be chipset specific, not BIOS specific in this instance since it's
being reported by a wider range of folks than usual. The other quirk is that
if it was reported during beta testing and was closed as 'Not a Problem' that
it's a bad mentality thinking that folks wouldn't want to have more than 2gb
in their systems.

Me? I run video rendering software, databases, and other programs and need
the memory fairly often. Not to mention busy trying to learn some
programming and SQL Server...

-Raymond Lang
"Broken down on the side of the Information Superhighway"

"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> I'm guessing it may be more motherboard specific than a generic nForce 4
> issue. Given the symptoms you describe it sounds like an issue with the way
> motherboard resources are mapped into memory. Hopefully it will be fixed
> with a BIOS update or drivers.
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2

That is indeed a bummer. Have you tried Vista x64? Does the same problem
exist in XP x86?

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2


"Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5BD7FC4D-F2A2-4A17-BA98-4FA9D478A5ED@microsoft.com...
> I'd like to think that, but so far I've seen postings from folks who have
> Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and DFI all saying the same things. I'm
> convinced
> it has to be chipset specific, not BIOS specific in this instance since
> it's
> being reported by a wider range of folks than usual. The other quirk is
> that
> if it was reported during beta testing and was closed as 'Not a Problem'
> that
> it's a bad mentality thinking that folks wouldn't want to have more than
> 2gb
> in their systems.
>
> Me? I run video rendering software, databases, and other programs and
> need
> the memory fairly often. Not to mention busy trying to learn some
> programming and SQL Server...
>
> -Raymond Lang
> "Broken down on the side of the Information Superhighway"
>
> "Kerry Brown" wrote:
>
>> I'm guessing it may be more motherboard specific than a generic nForce 4
>> issue. Given the symptoms you describe it sounds like an issue with the
>> way
>> motherboard resources are mapped into memory. Hopefully it will be fixed
>> with a BIOS update or drivers.
>>
>> --
>> Kerry Brown
>> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
>> www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2

I belive that. I have a P5x board with the nVidia chipset and have serious
problems with more than 2GB. Sounds like a BIOS issue.

"Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FB958755-D46D-458E-B118-7B5E49DC2107@microsoft.com...
> Actually, I did find out that it is a general problem with the nVidia
> nForce
> 4 chipsets.
>
> Here's the skinny as I'm understanding it now: there are multiple reports
> on the nVidia forums that give the same issue, Vista refusing to recognize
> USB devices. The common thread is that it's with systems running greater
> than 2gb of memory (like I do). If you have 2gb or less, it's fine, USB
> is
> recognized and the drives work at USB 2.0 speed. BUT...
>
> If you have greater than 2gb, Vista barfs, doesn't want to recognize the
> drives, and spits at you for even thinking about it. You can drop the USB
> down to version 1.1 on the motherboard and it'll work, but that's the same
> as
> deciding to copy your DVD to floppies... if you want to spend a few hours
> moving the data, be my guest.
>
> Apparently someone reported it to the Vista developers, and got a 'Not Our
> Problem' for the resolution. NVidia knows about it, but can't say if
> it'll
> be fixed when they release official nForce drivers. So... Yes, it's a
> problem, no, it's not fixed, and no, I won't go to Vista until it is
> fixed.
> I don't care to lose either the USB drives (that's half a terabyte right
> there) or 1gb of memory (which eases the pain of using Vista).
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
>> It is a known issue with some usb drive enclosures. I have read reports
>> of
>> other causes, including not having any IDE devices internally. Search on
>> the vista.general group for some discussions about a month ago. If the
>> drive enclosures are matched the firmware may be the issue. If they are
>> from different manufacturers then probably not. I doubt that the ports
>> are
>> the issue.
>>
>> "Raymond Lang" <RaymondLang@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:4F7AB5C6-58A0-413D-B83B-985FEC995668@microsoft.com...
>> > Here's the problem I've been running into: I have been trying to load
>> > the
>> > RTM version of Vista (for testing) on a drive in my current system.
>> > The
>> > motherboard is an Abit KN8 Ultra, which works fine under Windows XP
>> > x64.
>> > Loading the 32-bit version of Vista presents two issues, one of which I
>> > already see folks complaining about (lack of audio drivers for the
>> > RealTek
>> > AC97 chipsets). However, I have two external USB drives that I use.
>> > Neither
>> > drive is recognized in Vista at all. Booting the system up with the
>> > drives
>> > off and turning on the drives causes Vista to hunt for a very long time
>> > (over
>> > 10 minutes) before claiming that the devices are installed for use, but
>> > do
>> > not show up either under My Computer or under Drive Manager.
>> >
>> > Is this a known issue with the USB ports with Vista, or is Vista simply
>> > sitting here with it's arms crossed refusing to cooperate? Until I can
>> > get
>> > the USB issue resolved, I have no reason to go to Vista as I use the
>> > USB
>> > drives just as much as the internal SATA drives.
>> >
>>

I haven't yet. To be honest, I've been running WinXP x64 since it came out,
and it's probably the most stable Windows OS I've ever dealt with since the
days of Windows 3.0. Aside from two driver issues (both of which were
resolved over time) the OS has run perfectly and without any issues since
installation. I'm probably going to pull the x64 Vista version down, and see
if the issue rears it's head up. If it doesn't, then there's probably some
issue between the x86 Vista and the nVidia chipset that will have to be
addressed sooner than later.

-Raymond Lang
"Trying to be a beacon of light... and being blindsided."

"Kerry Brown" wrote:

> That is indeed a bummer. Have you tried Vista x64? Does the same problem
> exist in XP x86?
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2

A situational update:

I downloaded the x64 edition of Vista, and attempted to install. The OS
installed without incident, but the USB issues remain. No USB removable
media (external drive or thumb drive) is recognized while running 3gb of
memory in the system. Running 2gb allows the USB drives to be recognized,
but that's not an acceptable situation in my instance.

Clearly there's some sort of memory/driver issue between the NVidia nForce
motherboards and Windows Vista, probably with the USB drivers getting
confused over the amount of memory in the system. I recall in the early days
that install programs (particularly Microsoft programs) became easily
confused by large capacity drives when they surpassed the 2gb size, with
programs reporting that there was insufficient space to install a program.
It is possible that this is the same issue that's developed with these
drivers, that when you go over 2gb, it's wrapping around a counter and
becoming confused.

Just as a second update:

I am running Vista x86 right now. Removing the extra 1gb of memory out of
the system allowed all of the USB devices to work without issue.
Reinstalling the extra 1gb causes the system to lose all of the devices, so
it's clearly something that appears driver-related in my mind. In as much as
I'd prefer to run with 3gb of memory and give Vista enough room to stretch
its legs, I'll have to make do for the time being with 2gb until someone
(either NVidia or Microsoft) recognizes the issue and provides a patch, fix
or update.