usb question

zultan3 · June 30, 2020

hello, I have a question that maybe could be useful for many other users.

I have built my new pc lately.

asus maximus X hero, i9 9900k, corsair vengeance pro rgb, h150 i pro rgb, rm 850i, asus gtx 1660 ti, 3x corsair sp 120 pro rgb, ls 100.

As you know many devices require an internal usb port to be software controlled but the newest motherboards have fewer and fewer usb 2.0 ports.

I had only two usb 2.0 ports on my mb and I needed more to connect

- at least 1 usb case front port
- rm 8501
- lightning node
- h150i pro rgb

so i bought an internal usb splitter on amazon

"Kalolary 9pin USB header Male 1 to 4 Female Extension Cable Card Motherboard 9-Pin USB HUB USB 2.0 9 pin Connector Adapter Port Multiplier Usb Header Splitter"

that splits a single usb port into 4 female usb ports.

The adapter is cheap but it seems to work well.

However i´m having a lot of issues with my icue controlled components.

At first my ls100 ambient mode stopped working (but it ´s connected to an external usb port) and my lightning node got stuck on hardware mode.

I fixed both the issues uninstalling my latest icue version and re installing an old version.

But today again the lighting node has disappeared from the icue control panel.

The question is: may I have exceeded any usb port limit?

are these splitters supposed to work well ?

if not, how people should connect so many usb devices (rgb light, psu, fans, coolers) if native usb 2.0 ports are so limited??

Thank you in advance for any help

AbydosOne · June 30, 2020

16 minutes ago, zultan3 said:

may I have exceeded any usb port limit?

USB can address 127 (I think) devices, so I don't think you've exceeded any technical limits.

18 minutes ago, zultan3 said:

are these splitters supposed to work well ?

I guess I would check to see if the devices work again without the hub. It's possible the hub is going bad or isn't entirely up to spec (too high of power draw?).

zultan3 · June 30, 2020

2 hours ago, AbydosOne said:

USB can address 127 (I think) devices, so I don't think you've exceeded any technical limits.

I guess I would check to see if the devices work again without the hub. It's possible the hub is going bad or isn't entirely up to spec (too high of power draw?).

thank you for your kind reply. the corsair forum is awful, almost dead.

nobody from corsair tries to help their disappointed customers.

I have tried changing the lighting node position on the splitter but it´s still

undetected by icue. i tried re installing icue again but this time it doesn´t work.

I swapped the node with the front ports usb and my pen drives work perfectly.

Also the node was working fine until this morning.

I forgot to say that sometimes I can hear the usb "unplugging" sound from the speakers.

I should really try the node without splitter but I can´t right now because I have a terrible back pain and I can´t bend over...

I hope the corsair node is not broken because it´s almost new.