Intel Corporation NUC8i7HVB: More than 1 ext. WD USB-Drive (Backside) stops Booting

[nuctestit]

Ref.:

Intel Corporation NUC8i7HVB J68196-502

2 x 16GB Crucial DDR4-2400 CL 17 SO-DIMM RAM

1 x SSD 970 EVO NVMe M.2 500GB

Hi,

I am running a NUC8i7HVB J68196-502 with Windows 64 Bit Prof.

If you connect more than one external USB-WD ELEMENTS HDD to the USB ports on the back of the NUC, the system will no longer boot! It doesn't matter whether you change the boot order in the BIOS or deactivate USB disks as boot media etc.

The problem does not occur if you used the USB Ports on the front of the NUC. Of course it's not acceptable that you can't use the USB ports in the back for external WD-USB hard disks without having boot problems. And also the solution cannot be that the user can solve this problem only by activating FASTBOOT as workaround.

I would be interested to know if there is anyone here who has the same NUC model and at least two external USB WD Element hard disks connected at the back during boot, but does not have the boot problems described?

It is very strange that INTEL has only tested 2 ext. USB hard disks (DELL and TRANSCEND) in connection with the NUC8i7HVB according to information on his website.

Thanks in advance and kind regards

[LeonWaksman]

There is probably a problem, while you connect to identical external drives. Please read this thread https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P00004MS5IASA1/nuc817hnk-boots-to-unsuccessful-post-attempt-error

I hope, Intel is investigating this and updated Bios will be released.

Leon

[Alberto_R_Intel]

nuctestit, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

I just wanted to let you know that we tried to replicate the issue in our Intel® Lab, we tested an Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK with Windows* 10 1903 and BIOS 0058.

During the testing we used two "Western Digital Elements" HDDs of 2TB plus an Intel® SSD Pro 5400s connected to the USB back ports and there were no boot problems, the Intel® NUC was able to boot properly.

Additionally, as a second test, we connected two Intel® SSD 520 series on the USB back ports of the same Intel® NUC and also we did not have any issue while booting, it was able to boot to Windows* normally.

Based on that information, there is a change that your Intel® NUC might be defective, the issue could be related to a hardware problem with the Intel® NUC itself.

I sent you a private message to further assist you with this scenario, please verify your inbox.

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[Alberto_R_Intel]

nuctestit, I just wanted to check if you were able to see the information that we sent you previously and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[nuctestit]

Hello Alberto,

when the NUC8i7HVB was released, there was no Windows 10 Build 1903 available. Therefore, even with the version 1803 or 1806 used, the described problem with several external USB hard disks of the same model type on the back of the USB should not have occurred.

In the meantime I tested the whole thing on a Windows 10 Build 1903. The problem does not occur there.

Since there are many good reasons for not installing the latest Windows 10 version every time and since Windows 10 Build 1903 did not exist at the time of the NUC release, the problem must not even occur with Build 1803 or 1806,  especially since the lifecycle of this those builds have not yet expired.

Summary: Test it with Build 1803 and 1806 and you will be able to confirm the problem! With 1903 you simply have other new problems you can read about in cyberspace (confirmed by Microsoft).

Kind regards

nuctestit

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello nuctestit, Thank you very much for providing that information.

In this day and age and when it comes to computers, it is always recommended to install the latest updates and software versions, since they include fixes to some issues that were detected in previous releases, that is what Microsoft does with every new build version that becomes available for installation.

The fact that the problem does not occur when using Windows* 10 build 1903, it means that there is no hardware problem with the Intel® NUC itself, it indicates that the problem is actually related to software.

It is great to hear that the problem got fixed when using build 1903 and what we recommend is to keep using that version. We completely understand that there are other issues with version 1903 and in that case, the best thing to do will be to get in contact directly with Microsoft to report those issues, to provide your feedback and for them to try to give some suggestions or possible solutions for this scenario:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[nuctestit]

Hello Alberto,

ad

"In this day and age and when it comes to computers, it is always recommended to install the latest updates and software versions, since they include fixes to some issues that were detected in previous releases, that is what Microsoft does with every new build version that becomes available for installation."

Didn´t you read what I posted before?

NO, it is NOT recommendable simply to install always the latest updates from Microsoft. That's something that's usually told to laypeople.

As a computer scientist, I can only urgently advise against such a naive approach, especially since Microsoft itself has repeatedly advised against various updates in recent months. I cannot imagine that INTEL and its employees do not pursue such information.

ad

"The fact that the problem does not occur when using Windows* 10 build 1903, it means that there is no hardware problem with the Intel® NUC itself, it indicates that the problem is actually related to software."

This deduction is not necessarily correct. Due to the close integration between UEFI and boot routines of Windows 10, it cannot be excluded that certain hardware-sided errors only occur in connection with certain system constellations (OS Build version etc.).

And as already mentioned: At the time of the NUC's launch there was no Windows 10 Build 1903. Consequently, the NUC MUST run correctly with the OS versions mentioned, which were current at the time of market launch. Since other PCs do not have the described problem on the USB ports with build 1803/6, it can therefore not only be due to build 1803/6.

ad

"It is great to hear that the problem got fixed when using build 1903 and what we recommend is to keep using that version. We completely understand that there are other issues with version 1903 and in that case, the best thing to do will be to get in contact directly with Microsoft to report those issues, to provide your feedback and for them to try to give some suggestions or possible solutions for this scenario:"

I understand that Intel wants to make it easy for itself, but of course it doesn't work that way. At least INTEL has to make sure that the NUC works properly on the build version that was current at the time of release. And this was not 1903!

This is already the result of the mere fact that no buyer of the INTEL NUC can be forced to use a different Windows build than the one he had at the time of the purchase of the NUC or bought for the NUC at that time. INTEL could hardly have tested the Windows 10 Build 1903 at the time of the NUC8i7HVK´s launch.

Whether the disadvantages of the Build 1903 for the NUC buyer are so great that he does not (yet) want to upgrade to this version can and must be decided by the NUC owner alone. Regardless of this, INTEL still has to ensure the proper operation of similar ext. USB models on the NUC backside even when using Build 1803/6 for the reasons mentioned above.

Kind regards

nuctestit

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi nuctestit, Thank you very much for your response and your feedback.

For Intel® the feedback provided by our customers is very important, that is why we will review this case further in order to try to find the best solution for this scenario.

We will do further research on this matter, as soon as I get any updates I will post all the details on this thread.

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi nuctestit, I just received an update on this matter.

Just to confirm, is the system not booting at all (not accessing the BIOS) or not booting into Windows*?

The reason why we ask this questions is because, if it is not booting into Windows*, then that will indicate that there is some sort of conflict between Windows* and the WD USB drives, could be related to the Windows* ISO image used for the installation, could be a problem with the drives or it could be also a compatibility problem between the components.

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[Alberto_R_Intel]

nuctestit, I just wanted to check if you saw the information posted previously and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[Alberto_R_Intel]

nuctestit, Since I have not heard back from you, we are closing the case, but if you have any additional questions, just reply back or post a new question.

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[nuctestit]

Hello,

I had already said everything above on the original subject.

Since today another problem has been added: The NUC8i7HVB can no longer be switched on. All problem solution variants recommended by INTEL, e.g. also a BIOS recovery (Jumper variant AND VirtualBIOS tried) do not lead to success. The NUC8i7HVB can no longer be switched on with the PowerON button. No matter if and which memory (RAM, SSD) has to be removed in this context, etc., the NUC8i7HVB will not work. And again searching here and the WWW shows up that I am not the only one with that problem.

I am extremely disappointed by this device!

The daily BlueScreen crashes are also extremely annoying, although the INTEL driver wizard keeps everything up-to-date and the Windows 10 64 Bit Prof. version is also up to date.

I haven't had such trouble with any ASUS VIVO MiniPC in recent years. If I already pay 3 times the price of an ASUS VIVO VM65N, I don't want to break my nerves and waste hours of my life searching for grotesque bugs.

I can only hope that in Germany there is a fast way to replace my terrible NUC8i7HVB PCs with a correct working one.

Many greetings

nuctestit

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello nuctestit, Thank you very much for your feedback.

Let me apologize for any inconvenience, we are sorry to hear that the issue persists and that now there is a new problem, where the Intel® NUC is not switching on when pressing the power key.

I sent you a private message to further assist you, please verify your inbox.

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello nuctestit, I just wanted to check if you received my private message and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[nuctestit]

Hello,

I already sent you yesterday all the information you asked for (serial number, my address etc.).

Please let me know how the exchange should take place?

For me it is important that the exchange takes place as quickly as possible.

Thanks and best regards

nuctestit

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello nuctestit, Thank you very much for letting us know those updates.

I sent you another private message, please verify your inbox.

Regards,

Alberto R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[PRom0]

I, too, have this problem. I use two external WD Elements drives and one Seagate. All have their own power source. However, all three plugged into the rear USB 3.0 ports on my NUC8I7HVK cause boot to fail and result in the POST message. It's somewhat ridiculous that the Intel admins on this board cite compatibility when the external drive business is entirely dominated by WD and Seagate. Designing a computer with incompatibility issues with, essentially, the entire external HD market is Intel's issue, not user error.

My theory is that the NUCs have a BIOS bug that believes these drives aren't self-powering and, thus, tries to feed them the requisite power but shuts down when it proves to be beyond the USB 3.0 spec for such large spin drives. One drive plugged in doesn't trigger this message. Two drives usually doesn't trigger this bug. Three drives plugged in always triggers this bug. So it's an issue of aggregate power draw from all of the ports. Another poster has encountered this problem:

https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P0000490Wr5SAE/nuc5i3ryh-fails-to-cold-reboot-with-external-usb-30-drives-attached

His solution was to go into visual BIOS and set the rear ports to "No Detect" during boot. It's an old post from the 5 series of NUCs, but this problem clearly still persists. I've implemented this solution (the drives will still load and appear once windows boots up). Once I've gone through enough bootcycles to say something conclusive, I'll update this post.

I regret buying this NUC. So many issues. So many headaches. Intel can expect a bill from any drive failures this thing manages to cause