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Where is Intel USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller driver for Microsoft Windows 8?

idata
Employee
129,389 Views

I seached within Intel Support and what I got were Intel USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller drivers for MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&keyword=intel%20usb%203.0%20extensible%20host%20controller http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&keyword=intel%20usb%203.0%20extensible%20host%20controller

Microsoft Windows 8 was released yesterday, October 26 and where is the compatible driver for it?

Could an Intel technical support representative feedback to technical support about this problem?

253 Replies
idata
Employee
5,525 Views

THank you

I made all instructions but window still does not install the driver

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

you have to follow the instructions, although mine is still not working after this. you can not use the installer that came with the driver. You have to go through the device manager to force the install of the driver.\

Mine is installed and it shows the new driver but still getting 29-33 MB/s. oh well! lol I am going to try my OEMs USB 3 drivers that came with my laptop for Windows 7 and see if those work instead.

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

Mine is installed and it shows the new driver but still getting 29-33 MB/s. oh well!

The so-called modified driver provided by ekko will not work properly under Windows 8 because the set of specific instructions that made up the device driver have not been changed. ekko's method only provided a cosmetic change to it.

Intel should provide a real working device driver for Windows 8.

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

Here we go!

Everything's fine, just notice the other driver, I had to repeat the restart operation two times, one for the eXtensible host controller, one for root hub.

After the first installation and restart, the system didn't recognized a device, which was the root hub.

Now the ports work fine, this chipset is really powerful

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

I installed the host controller driver but how did you get the "Intel USB 3.0 Root Hub" installed like that?

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

Never mind I found it in Unknown devices and installed and rebooted again as you suggested. Still getting ~ 30 MB/sec with a known good USB 3.0 device. 😞

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TSilv5
Beginner
5,512 Views

What usb 3.0 disk did you manage to have 300MB/s transfer speeds?

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idata
Employee
5,512 Views

As I mentioned above, a fast SSD for the system (Ocz Vertex4 256 GB) and a fast pendrive (Kingston HyperX 64 GB) to move files in & out of it

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

I installed the mod but it didn't work for me. Could it be because I have an external USB hub and not an onboard motherboard one? I don't see how. I must be doing something wrong...

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

Since this discussion forum software is so NIGHTMARISH to deal with when using special characters, I uploaded the files and instructions here:

Well, dear friend, thanks for your effort but it is no help at all.

You've simply used the Windows 7 driver provided by Intel to make some cosmetic changes to it such as changing the name from "Microsoft" to "Intel".

A device driver is more than simply changing its name. It contains a set of very specific instructions relating to a specific OS.

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

Just an update from me:

I did not follow this discussion at all, but from what i see no one here is happy with Intel about the USB 3.0 issue.

I upgraded my Asus Zenbook UX31A from 7 HP to 8 Pro, and did nothing fancy with the drivers, only updating to newer ones from Asus's website.

I just did a check, i used my Transcend StoreJet 25M3 500GB with my UX31A, and i hit the normal speeds i had with it under Win 7, somewhere around 70-75MB/s in reading speeds, so for me the internal driver works good, nothing "unknown" under device manager.

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

Seriously? Wow. These are NOT cosmetic changes, follow me if you can...

What these changes do is add in the IntelAMD64.6.2 section into the driver INFs (the files that tells Windows HOW to install the driver). This section is blank in the current driver release. In fact, here is a screenshot of my driver details using the current Intel 1.0.6.245 release under Windows 8. How is this cosmetic? You might want to check Roberto's post above to see that he has it working as well, I don't really think that those speeds are "cosmetic". Once you begin to understand what INF files are and what they do, come back and discuss.

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

I have a new Vaio notebook in my hands, with the same configuration as the first, which I posted above; fast ssd, win8 and similar chipset (HM76) inside the pc for usb3.

With the pendrive previously tested I reached the usb2 cap, near 33 MB/s.

I'll try to proceed.

The solution ekko gave us is really good, as far as Microsoft doesn't release a better solution.

I sincerely don't understand how these two big companies couldn't be worried about it, such a good os with a wounded paw

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

70-75MB/s, maybe I'm wrong but that seems slow for USB3. Shouldn't that be somewhere around 170-200? That's what I get with my external USB 3 Drive on Windows 7.

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idata
Employee
5,525 Views

This all reminds me of the headache Dell 8500 owners had with getting their PCIe SATA 3 cards to work correctly. Until months went by with hundreds of complaints, it finally got fixed with a BIOS upgrade.

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HPark17
Beginner
5,525 Views

That speed sounds about right for USB 3.0, unless the tester used a SSD. Normal 7200RPM HDD sustained transfer speed is about 60-100MB/s.

However, getting the Intel USB 3.0 driver to work in Windows 8 as user "ekko" detailed is just a workaround (or hack). I appreciate the help you are giving. But if it was that easy, why wouldn't Intel release the damn thing like that? I want my drivers to be validated by Intel, and digitally signed. I hope they release a proper driver soon.

p.s. I wish there was an option to not notify you all that there was a new post here.

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idata
Employee
5,502 Views

Thanks ekko, with a little bit of work I was able to get these to work. I did have to install the USB Root Hub like Roberto said, but everything else is great now. You should update your instructions to include installing both the Host Controller and the Hub!

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idata
Employee
5,502 Views

I just did a check, i used my Transcend StoreJet 25M3 500GB with my UX31A, and i hit the normal speeds i had with it under Win 7, somewhere around 70-75MB/s in reading speeds, so for me the internal driver works good, nothing "unknown" under device manager.

Er, could you give us some details about Transcend StoreJet 24M3 500GB? Does it have native USB 3.0 support? What about UX31A? Does it have Intel USB 3.0 chipset?

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idata
Employee
5,502 Views

In fact, here is a screenshot of my driver details using the current Intel 1.0.6.245 release under Windows 8.

Intel specifically stated that 1.0.6.245 is made for Windows 7 and its versions.

The screenshot that you posted only tells us that the driver provider's name is now Intel (R) Corporation and not Microsoft (R) Corporation. That is the cosmetic change that I was referring to in my earlier post.

The screenshot does NOT tell us that the 1.0.6.245 version performes as a native USB 3.0 driver under Windows 8. You yourself said so and I quote (as follows):

What these changes do is add in the IntelAMD64.6.2 section into the driver INFs (the files that tells Windows HOW to install the driver).

Let me summarize: telling Windows HOW to install the driver is vastly different from telling Windows HOW to perform using the driver (which in this case the driver 1.0.6.245 is made for use under Windows 7, as per Intel's statement). Vous le comprenez? Verstehen Sie es?

Once you begin to understand what INF files are and what they do, come back and discuss.

Has your pride been hurt? C'mon, don't take it personally; there's NO need to get worked up.

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idata
Employee
5,502 Views

70-75MB/s, maybe I'm wrong but that seems slow for USB3. Shouldn't that be somewhere around 170-200? That's what I get with my external USB 3 Drive on Windows 7.

I agree with you. With a native USB 3.0 device driver and an external USB 3.0 HDD, one should get a speed that is in the 100-200 range (assuming the external USB 3.0 HDD comes with genuine USB 3.0 chipsets).

Under normal circumstances, I would buy either Seagate or Western Digital external USB 3.0 HDDs as both of them are established brands. I trust they will have native USB 3.0 chipsets incorporated in their external USB 3.0 HDDs.

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idata
Employee
5,502 Views

This all reminds me of the headache Dell 8500 owners had with getting their PCIe SATA 3 cards to work correctly. Until months went by with hundreds of complaints, it finally got fixed with a BIOS upgrade.

That was a nightmare, wasn't it? Dell is not really good at technical support.

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