Monday, March 11th 2013
Lynx Point USB 3.0 Controller Issue Correction Needs New Hardware
The issue with USB 3.0 controllers integrated into Intel's upcoming "Lynx Point" 8-series core logic can be addressed only with new hardware (modifying the silicon), according to a new Hardware.info report. Intel decided against delaying launch of the 4th generation Core "Haswell" family to address the issue, and instead opted to address it in a future revision of the chipset.
A design flaw causes devices connected to Lynx Point's integrated USB 3.0 controller to be disconnected when the system wakes up from S3 (suspend-to-RAM), forcing users to reconnect them. This could mean you'd have to mount your USB 3.0 hard-drives/flash-drives again, although no data is lost. If you're editing files stores on such a storage device, you might have to save your work before the system is put to S3 sleep.
In 2011, Intel launched its 6-series "Cougar Point" core logic that drove its first LGA1155 processors based on the "Sandy Bridge" architecture; with a faulty SATA 3 Gb/s controller, that warranted a general recall and replacement with 6-series Rev 3.0 chipset. This particular issue is classified by Intel as more of an irritant than a major flaw. It remains to be seen how it affects early adoption of the platform.
Source:
Hardware.info
A design flaw causes devices connected to Lynx Point's integrated USB 3.0 controller to be disconnected when the system wakes up from S3 (suspend-to-RAM), forcing users to reconnect them. This could mean you'd have to mount your USB 3.0 hard-drives/flash-drives again, although no data is lost. If you're editing files stores on such a storage device, you might have to save your work before the system is put to S3 sleep.
In 2011, Intel launched its 6-series "Cougar Point" core logic that drove its first LGA1155 processors based on the "Sandy Bridge" architecture; with a faulty SATA 3 Gb/s controller, that warranted a general recall and replacement with 6-series Rev 3.0 chipset. This particular issue is classified by Intel as more of an irritant than a major flaw. It remains to be seen how it affects early adoption of the platform.
54 Comments on Lynx Point USB 3.0 Controller Issue Correction Needs New Hardware
[/anger&sadness]
How can a big company like Intel with a product planned so far ahead an with so little change (USB3.0 is the same as in Z77) still produce such maior errors. And what's more, they handle them like the were nothing. With Cougar point it was a problem for the mobo manufacturers and was totally irritating to bur a P67 Board, knowing you would have to exchange it soon.
I will still buy S1150 Z87 but I'll wait until the issue is resolved.
Kind of makes me wonder what else did they miss?
1. We know that there is a design flaw
2. We know that this flaw will casuse this malfunction
3. We know that in advance, and technically we could suckup, take the hit, and fix the problem with minimal-ish delay
4. Will we do it ?
5. Nope, sell defective product to the masses, they will surely appreciate it.
2. this really isn't a big deal for me the only usb plugged in is my mouse and keyboard. I never leave my external HDD plugged in, only when I need it.
3. Can't people just disable S3 and use a different S state?
4. Would safely removing a device before putting it in sleep mode fix this? but leave it still plugged in.
The very idea that I have a faulty chip in my room won't allow me to sleep soundly.
If this takes too long to fix and/or I hear no concrete news about mainstream 6-cores Broadwells or DDR4 by autumn... Steamroller, here I come!
Other companies just release shit that's broken and try to cover it up with software fixes and performance-killing workarounds. You know, like NVIDIA, AMD and VIA chipsets. At least Intel is open about it.
For everyone else, it's time to wait for Broadwell... or until AMD can put out something comparable to Haswell.
AMD and mobo vendors had/has a raft of similar problems with the SB950 southbridge- except that the issues are non-detection of USB2.0 devices after resuming from S3/S4, system resets that don't reset the USB controllers causing BSoD's, and data cache errors.
Even with these known issues, buyers still shell out for the 990X/FX/970 boards.
If its Lynx I would think it's on Motherboards, but sense they said Haswell I would think CPU.
To be honest I'm not 100% sure. I thought Motherboards at first, but when they say " Intel's upcoming "Lynx Point" 8-series core logic" It makes me think it's a CPU problem.
EDIT: more about Lynx www.techpowerup.com/160702/Intel-quot-Lynx-Point-quot-8-series-Chipset-Detailed-Completely-SATA-6-Gb-s.html
and its too late for intel to fix this because they already started ramping up haswell production a long time ago lol, so they would need to get rid of a huge number of chips, or disable usb3.0 and sell these chips as pentiums and celerons lol
not to mention after the problem is fixed on paper it takes over a month for a wafer to be ready
and the last thing intel wants to do is release haswell at the same time as kaveri and steamroller
Considering how fast they offered Cougar Point Rev.B3 to fix the SATA-Bug, this shouldn't take that much time. Intel stating they will stick to the shedule could also mean they'll fix it but it won't hurt the shedule, since the release of Haswell depends not on technology but purely marketing shedule to better sell off ivy and sandy.
Desktop I imagine should be pretty much unaffected. They'll either be ON, OFF or maybe in S4 Hibernate. I've never seen anyone use the normal S2/S3 save-to-RAM sleep modes for desktop.