usb - Should I enabled or disable xHCI hand-off in BIOS setup, when running Windows 7?

08
2014-07
  • misha256

    I have a Jetway NF9E-Q77 motherboard which supports USB 3.0. An Intel driver is available to enabled USB 3.0 support in Windows 7.

    Assuming the driver is installed, should xHCI hand-off be enabled or disabled in BIOS setup?

    BIOS USB Settings Screenshot

    The BIOS manual says this:

    Excerpt from BIOS manual

    I know Windows 7 doesn't natively support USB 3.0. That being the case, it seems the setting should be enabled.

    On the other hand, the Intel driver enables USB 3.0 support in Windows 7. That being the case, it seems the setting should actually be disabled.

    Not sure which one is correct...

    • Answers
  • misha256

    I asked over at Intel Communities to try get to the bottom of this. Turns out Intel Engineering have something to say about this:

    "According to engineering, it is necessary to leave it as “enabled” for xHCI".

    https://communities.intel.com/thread/52421

    So that's that then. When running Windows 7 + Intel's USB 3.0 drivers, xHCI hand-off must be ENABLED in BIOS setup.


    • Related Question

    Toshiba Satellite P755D USB 3.0 Drivers Missing - Windows 7 Professional
  • nicorellius

    I bought a Toshiba Satellite P755D recently and installed Windows 7 Professional on the machine. It runs great. But I noticed the exclamation point in the yellow triangle icon in the Device Manager next to the Universal Serial Buss (USB) Controller (I'm assuming this is the USB 3.0 controller because mine doesn't recognize devices). Normally, when this kind of thing happens I go to the manufacturer's website and download appropriate drivers and call it a day.

    But not this time...

    I browsed to my model and found no driver for the USB 3.0 controller. I tried other HW and Utility drivers, thinking they would be bundled. No luck. I tried looking up the motherboard in my machine. Generic name, no luck.

    I then called Toshiba technical support and they tried basic troubleshooting, eg, uninstall device, reboot, for auto-installation; no luck. I popped the Windows 7 disk back in and tried to get information that way, no luck.

    Finally, the technical support guy said he would look into the engineer's system to see if there was a specific driver available and that's where I'm at. The technician told me that these USB 3.0 drivers come within the native driver pack in windows but that doesn't seem to be the case.

    Any ideas?

    EDIT - See attached screen shots.

    enter image description here

    enter image description here


    • Related Answers
  • BJ292

    I put your laptop details into Toshiba UK support site and it listed two USB 3 drivers for your system:

    http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/download_drivers_bios.jsp?service=UK

  • Mokubai

    Here is a link to AMDs Chipset drivers.

    I had a similar problem and these were the drivers that fixed it for me.