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USB 3.0 Compatible Expansion Cards

teknix1
Protege
Hi,

Like many people, the wait between the pre-order and actually receiving the headset gives me time to get my PC ready. I have USB 3.0 ports on my motherboard (ASUS P9X79) but they are not compatible (Asmedia). So I've been looking at getting a PCI Express card to get the required ports. As mentioned many times before in this forum, Inateck makes one that has been tested by Oculus (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPIMJEW). The Oculus documentation about the USB requirements state that I will need three USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port toi plug in everything. I thought I had read way back that I was going to need 5 ports total, did I dream this? Anyways, here's the break down of the requirements:
1x 3.0 USB port for the headset
1x 3.0 USB port for the 3D Positional Tracker
1x 3.0 USB port for Oculus Touch (available at a later date)
1x 2.0 USB port for Xbox wireless controller

So my thinking is why not get a card that will give me all the ports necessary for the Rift? Inateck also makes one with 4 USB 3.0 ports (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B6ZCNGM), can I assume this will do the job? Oculus says that I need a card with a Fresco Logic FL1100EX chipset, I believe it has such chipset but it's for all four ports (plus internal ones) rather than the two (plus internal ones again) with the Oculus tested card, now does that make it incompatible? Same throughput divided amongst more ports... Inateck also makes a few cards with 5 ports...

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Nic
89 REPLIES 89

NickytheHutt
Expert Protege
I don't think the checker tool has any way to tell our USB 3.0 ports are OK as well as actually testing the Rift. The checker is a sales tool because many don't know what they have inside their computer.

There are thousands of pages on the internet where people are forced to try different USB interfaces, powered hubs, etc. Even if the peripherals are unequally problematic, bottom line it's always the computer setup's fault if it's underpowered, in hardware conflict or "chipset incompatible". Those things are impossible to assume from looking at our hardware specs.

All we know is that we need two free "blue" USB's, with trial and error we'll find out how to work those out. I know I'm gonna need to make 2 round trips to the computer store before the Rift starts performing well although I have the right amount of USB ports.

mysharona
Honored Guest
I have a USB Type C port. What about an Inateck Unibody Aluminum USB-C to 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub?
Relatively inexpensive but it's good to be armed with as much information as possible.

cybereality
Grand Champion
"NickytheHutt" wrote:
All we know is that we need two free "blue" USB's, with trial and error we'll find out how to work those out.

That's not true. There are absolutely some USB 3.0 controllers that DO NOT WORK at all with the consumer Rift. Meaning you won't be able to use the headset. We have tested a wide variety of different motherboards and controllers to come up with the compatibility list. You should absolutely take the results seriously.
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NickytheHutt
Expert Protege
"cybereality" wrote:
"NickytheHutt" wrote:
All we know is that we need two free "blue" USB's, with trial and error we'll find out how to work those out.

That's not true. There are absolutely some USB 3.0 controllers that DO NOT WORK at all with the consumer Rift. Meaning you won't be able to use the headset. We have tested a wide variety of different motherboards and controllers to come up with the compatibility list. You should absolutely take the results seriously.


I didn't know the tool looked that deep in the hardware ID's. I was managing low expectations eventho the tool says all green for me.

May I ask how much power draw from each module? I have a USB3 HOTAS...

dracil
Protege
So looking at the Inateck cards, I noticed they also had "Mac Pro" ones that don't need to deal with the power cables. Specifically the KT4004 model over here: http://www.amazon.com/Ports-Inateck-PCI ... op?ie=UTF8

From the description, it seems like it also works with Windows, and the red color has the same chipset. Is there any reason why you couldn't just get this one and not even deal with power cables?

drash
Heroic Explorer
"dracil" wrote:
So looking at the Inateck cards, I noticed they also had "Mac Pro" ones that don't need to deal with the power cables. Specifically the KT4004 model over here: http://www.amazon.com/Ports-Inateck-PCI ... op?ie=UTF8

From the description, it seems like it also works with Windows, and the red color has the same chipset. Is there any reason why you couldn't just get this one and not even deal with power cables?

I doubt this definitively answers your question, but I have a similar Inateck 4-port card without any power connection, and it works great here.
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cybereality
Grand Champion
@dracil: I says it uses the supported chipset, so it should work as far as I can tell.
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Percy1983
Superstar
Just a tip, if you get the yellow triangle that means some of your ports aren't compatible.

Here is my short guide to check it out, (only if you have the yellow warning of course).

1, take note of the controller (in my case its "ASMedia USB3.0 eXrewnsible Host Controller").

2, Go to device manager and disable offending controller.

3, plug a usb device into each usb 3.0 port, the ports which don't work are linked to the offending controller.

4, if you have 3 or more working ports you are good to go, take note/remember which ports aren't working and don't use them for the rift.

5, Go back into device manager and of course enable the controller again.

Doing this I can confirm 2 ports on the back of my PC where the asmedia and the rest of my ports where Intel or Renesas which passed.
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buffer
Honored Guest
Got Fresco FL1100 based 4 port Orico PFU3-4P PCI-E expansion card from ebay and my USB passed with Occulus compatibility tool. No drivers were needed for Windows 10. I had to disable the (incompatible) Etron USB3 controller in device manager.

Camisade
Honored Guest
I bought the KTU3FR-5O2U linked to on Amazon. it's installed, with the SATA power connector attached, and when I try a non-USB3 device on the card, it's recognized and works fine. But when I try to plug a Rift device (headset or sensor) into one of the Inateck's USB ports, I get nothing. No device recognition, no nothing. The latest Inateck drivers for that card are from 2014, so that's not real reassuring. But when I try newer drivers direct from the Fresco Logic site the installation program (which looks identical to Inateck's) does not find the Fresco Logic hub. So I'm at a loss...

EDIT: Removed all devices from the Inateck card and uninstalled, then reinstalled the 2014 drivers that it came with, then managed to get the 2016 Fresco Logic drivers to install. Then I went and bought a USB3 thumb drive to test the USB3 functionality of the Inateck card, and that does not get recognized, either. So since I've tried the Inoteck card in two different (known working) PCI-E slots, and it recognizes USB2 devices but NOT USB3 devices, I'm beginning to think the card is defective. 😕

EDIT: The first Fresco Logic card was bad. The second one is working fine. With the new card (and a new GTX 1080), my VR system is working fine!