z170a gaming pro - trying to install windows - no power to usb

Saekhmet · 28 Nov 2015 at 13:09

Ok so my motherboard is the msi z170a gaming pro - I have power on both my usb mouse and keyboard at BIOS band was able to set up boot priority to a usb pendrive with a windows 7 iso

But as soon as the windows 7 installer loads I lose all power to my keyboard in ANY usb port. Am I going to have to find a ps/2 keyboard as I have phoned all around Lincoln and it looks like we're all out of that option!

Is there something in the bios I can do? Help appreciated!!

8 Pack · 28 Nov 2015 at 13:40

Integrate the USB 3 drivers into your Win7 pen drive image. At teh same time integrate the storage srivers too.

Z170 is not supporting Win7 without these measures.

or yes PS2 is your friend. But you will still need XHCI.

Saekhmet · 28 Nov 2015 at 15:00

Thanks for the reply! I found this option in the BIOS which solved my power to keyboard/mouse problems... Which made me feel stupid.

However I now have what seems to be quite a common problem with Win 7 install from USB, but the common fixes (don't use USB 3.0 and re-download/reburn the iso) aren't working.

I assume this is what you meant by "integrate the storage srivers too." ? Apologies for being stupid - first time i've installed from USB - but how does one do this?

clone · 28 Nov 2015 at 19:43

Search for the gigabyte tool that puts the drivers into win 7,I'm sure it's in the motherboard section for the motherboard on the gigabyte web site,failing that you can hook up a sata dvd drive and use the cd that came with your board,I've done that to put win7 on my gaming 7 and I now have win7 and the usb drivers on a usb memory stick.

Saekhmet · 28 Nov 2015 at 21:06

Thanks for the reply - I... Just... Urgh

I give up. I managed to sort out everything by starting the install on my old rig then switching it over to the new one, copying across the drivers I needed as well... THEN I tried to install USB 3.0 drivers and it destroyed it all again. No power to my keyboard or mouse on start up - AGAIN - and MSI's Z170A's BIOS workaround is now broken for me. About to give up. 10 minutes ago I was just updating drivers and about ready now I'm back to square one....

Saekhmet · 28 Nov 2015 at 21:06

Does anyone know how to delete/revert back to a point before a specific driver setting or will I just have to do it all again from scratch???

clone · 28 Nov 2015 at 21:34

Try taking out the battery to clear the cmos and pull out the psu cable and press the start button to help drain out any power left on the board,leave it for about 1/2 hour put the motherboard battery back in and the problem should be sorted, I had no keyboard and mouse one time when I was upgrading to win 10 and I did the above to sort it,I'm now back on win7 as I find it more stable.

Saekhmet · 28 Nov 2015 at 22:15

Thanks clone, really appreciate the response! My plan is to pop to a mates tomorrow and pick up what I originally thought i'd need when i started the thread... A PS/2 Keyboard then install from there. Think I need a break from it anyway and it's time to go have a drink!

Appreciate all the help guys. At least the PC is now up and running (ish..) With 1 stick of dodgy RAM i need to return but c'est la vie!

Have a good evening all!

Saekhmet · 29 Nov 2015 at 14:03

Ok.. got a trusty Ps/2 keyboard and managed to finish installing the USB 3.0 extensible host controller 4.0.0.36.... Still no USB ports working and when I try and uninstall it says: "uninstall is not allowed for this platform"

Any thoughts??

Helios1234 · 4 Dec 2015 at 23:22

Having the same problem here as well. They don't make it easy...

I manage to find the setting to for the Windows 7 installation so can get the mouse and keyboard to work.

Initially, I couldn't use an external USB disk drive to install windows so I had to hook up a DVD drive from another PC using the SATA connection.

My friend, whose PC this is, is now trying to install the MSI drivers but his external USB disk drive won't work and I can't use my SATA drive. And he can't go on the internet to update the drivers because the Ethernet port isn't working. And he can't install windows 10 yet because his win 7 needs to be updated first...

So issues with the Ethernet and USB ports on win 7 on this motherboard stopping us from installing drivers to get both to work :/.

Saekhmet · 6 Dec 2015 at 17:29

Helios1234 said:
Having the same problem here as well. They don't make it easy...

I manage to find the setting to for the Windows 7 installation so can get the mouse and keyboard to work.

Initially, I couldn't use an external USB disk drive to install windows so I had to hook up a DVD drive from another PC using the SATA connection.

My friend, whose PC this is, is now trying to install the MSI drivers but his external USB disk drive won't work and I can't use my SATA drive. And he can't go on the internet to update the drivers because the Ethernet port isn't working. And he can't install windows 10 yet because his win 7 needs to be updated first...

So issues with the Ethernet and USB ports on win 7 on this motherboard stopping us from installing drivers to get both to work :/.

Yep.... Sorry for the slow reply.

I had to put my SSD back into my old computer, put the drivers onto it, then reinstall it into my new rig before it would work... Oh and when I updated the USB drivers my mouse and keyboard stopped working anyway so I had to travel 50 miles for my mate to lend me his PS/2 keyboard anyway.

Long story short - you just have to work around it and have old tech to get you by lol. I'm going to get a PS/2 keyboard and put it in a case saying: "in case of emergency, break glass"

Hope you've managed to sort through it now?

Helios1234 · 11 Dec 2015 at 13:25

Still working through it. I had to get the PC back from him. I was trying to plug the SSD on which Win 7 was installed into my other two PCs but for some reason couldn't boot. So now I'm back to just plugging in a SATA based DVD drive to install the drivers. I'll try this tonight and see how it goes...

8 Pack · 11 Dec 2015 at 13:28

Install on another intel platform.

Boot on Z170 with drivers in a folder for USB etc on HDD/SSD

Use PS2 keyboard or mouse to navigate and install. DONE!!!

Saekhmet · 11 Dec 2015 at 18:10

What 8Pack said

If you google search for "windows 7"; "z170"; "skylake" and "install" you'll find a reddit post I used suggesting the same thing

I... forgot the drivers... so I had to reboot the old system and put them back on lol. Typical. But after that you should be sound - until you hit the USB 3.1 update drivers when everything went horribly wrong for me but if you have a PS/2 keyboard you'll be sorted if you can update everything else!

Helios1234 · 11 Dec 2015 at 23:58

In the end a SATA DVD drive was all I needed.

Installed Win 7 on the SSD, booted on Z170 with the Win 7 compatibility turned on in BIOS.

Put the drivers on a second HDD from another PC. Plugged into Z170 PC, installed all drivers and now everything is up and running.

To be honest, it's what I was gonna do in the first place until the guy I built the PC for decided to take it before I had a chance to install the drivers. He couldn't do it and I tried looking for other short cuts to work. I couldn't be bothered removing my DVD drive from my PC to put in the new one so I left it there, had my PC power it, then connected it to the new PC. One PC to power it and the other having data transferring to it

.