P4B533 BIOS setup question

[Nigel Morgan]

Hi,

I'm about to upgrade my system (P4B533 BIOS rev 1004) to Windows XP Pro SP2
(clean build from scratch) and I'm somewhat confused by the USB controller
settings in the PCI configuration section. I have been using all 3 ports enabled
in the USB 1.1 Controlers section as I never bothered to install the USB 2.0
drivers into Windows 98SE (didn't have any USB2 devices). Now I want to set all
ports to USB2 devices if possible and I can't decide on how to set the USB1.1
Controllers section and the USB 2.0 Controller section. Should I set the USB 1.1
Controllers section to DISABLED and the USB 2.0 Controller to ENABLED or what?

Also, does enabling this second option enable USB 2.0 speeds on all six USB
ports?

Thanks,
Nigel

Aagh! Every time I learn something new... it pushes something old out of my brain!

 

[Paul]

Hi,

I'm about to upgrade my system (P4B533 BIOS rev 1004) to Windows
XP Pro SP2 (clean build from scratch) and I'm somewhat confused
by the USB controller settings in the PCI configuration section.
I have been using all 3 ports enabled in the USB 1.1 Controlers
section as I never bothered to install the USB 2.0 drivers into
Windows 98SE (didn't have any USB2 devices). Now I want to set
all ports to USB2 devices if possible and I can't decide on how
to set the USB1.1 Controllers section and the USB 2.0 Controller
section. Should I set the USB 1.1 Controllers section to DISABLED
and the USB 2.0 Controller to ENABLED or what?

Also, does enabling this second option enable USB 2.0 speeds on
all six USB ports?

Thanks,
Nigel

Aagh! Every time I learn something new... it pushes something old
out of my brain!

Turn them both on. The controllers they refer to, are the blocks
of logic inside the Southbridge. A USB 1.1 controller is shared
over two ports, so three of them are needed for a total of six
USB ports. A USB 2.0 controller is shared over all ports, so
the same controller is time shared over the six ports.

When you plug a USB device into a port, there is a dynamic process
that decides whether the port is bound to a USB 1.1 controller
logic block, or the USB 2.0 controller block. The USB driver
software should do this automatically, so I cannot think of a
good reason to disable any logic blocks in the Southbridge.

To learn more about the chipset on your motherboard, you can go
to developer.intel.com and download a datasheet for the
Northbridge and the Southbridge. For example, the Southbridge
is here, and is a 7MB download (a little too technical for
casual reading, so if you are on a dialup modem, don't
bother):

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/290744.htm

The feature summary in the datasheet says this for ICH4:

"USB
‹ Includes three UHCI host controllers that support
six external ports
‹ Includes one EHCI high-speed USB 2.0
Host Controller that supports all six ports
‹ Supports a USB 2.0 high-speed debug port
‹ Supports wake-up from sleeping states S1­S5
‹ Supports legacy keyboard/mouse software"

HTH,
Paul

 

[Nigel Morgan]

Many thanks Paul for your very useful reply! All is crystal clear now! I just
wish these mobo manuals would give useful information like yours - it would make
life so much easier!

Cheers!
Nigel

Turn them both on. The controllers they refer to, are the blocks
of logic inside the Southbridge. A USB 1.1 controller is shared
over two ports, so three of them are needed for a total of six
USB ports. A USB 2.0 controller is shared over all ports, so
the same controller is time shared over the six ports.

When you plug a USB device into a port, there is a dynamic process
that decides whether the port is bound to a USB 1.1 controller
logic block, or the USB 2.0 controller block. The USB driver
software should do this automatically, so I cannot think of a
good reason to disable any logic blocks in the Southbridge.

To learn more about the chipset on your motherboard, you can go
to developer.intel.com and download a datasheet for the
Northbridge and the Southbridge. For example, the Southbridge
is here, and is a 7MB download (a little too technical for
casual reading, so if you are on a dialup modem, don't
bother):

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/290744.htm

The feature summary in the datasheet says this for ICH4:

"USB
‹ Includes three UHCI host controllers that support
six external ports
‹ Includes one EHCI high-speed USB 2.0
Host Controller that supports all six ports
‹ Supports a USB 2.0 high-speed debug port
‹ Supports wake-up from sleeping states S1­S5
‹ Supports legacy keyboard/mouse software"

HTH,
Paul

Aagh! Every time I learn something new... it pushes something old out of my brain!