USB 3 memory sticks not working in USB 3 port

Credo · 8 Jan 2013 at 23:44

Our Asus S200e Vivobook (Windows 8) does not recognise either of the two 16GB 'busbi' memory sticks I just bought from a competitor. The pop up says 'The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned and windows doesn't recognise it' and the USB mass storage device in Device Manager says 'This device cannot start. (Code 10) A request for the USB product description string descriptor failed'.
The memory sticks work fine in a USB 2 slot, and a USB 2 memory stick works fine in the USB 3 slot.
Pretty weird, all drivers are up to date, has anyone seen this kind of behaviour?

wazza300 · 9 Jan 2013 at 00:42

seemslike it cant recognize that brand of usb stick?? doesnt surprise me with windows 8,tested it on any other machine with usb3 socket? pref one thats running win7?

Credo · 9 Jan 2013 at 10:55

wazza300 said:
seemslike it cant recognize that brand of usb stick?? doesnt surprise me with windows 8,tested it on any other machine with usb3 socket? pref one thats running win7?

This is my first device with a USB 3 slot, so I need to find someone with a USB 3 enabled machine to test. I'm assuming the USB 3 slot is physically OK as it works with a USB 2 stick. I've just thought actually, my DS213Air NAS has USB 3 slots, forgot that, I could see if that picks one up, that would prove the memory sticks are OK...

Credo · 9 Jan 2013 at 11:55

Well, the NAS seems to like them, so it must be a windows 8 compatibility issue...

PiKe · 9 Jan 2013 at 11:56

What's it showing in device manager with the stick plugged in?

Credo · 9 Jan 2013 at 12:41

PiKe said:
What's it showing in device manager with the stick plugged in?

It shows an exclamation mark next to the USB Mass Storage Device and 'This device cannot start. (Code 10) A request for the USB product description string descriptor failed' under this entry's Properties.
Having done a bit more research, it sounds like the 'Intel(R) USB 3.0 extensible host controller' does not have driver support from Intel, and Microsoft have done a half-arsed job of writing their own driver. If you search for 'intel usb 3.0 extensible host controller driver for windows 8' there are a lot of posts about this.