NUC11TNKi5 USB-C to DVI adapter

[jamesg990]

I bought a NUC11TNKi5 a few days ago and have installed all the Intel drivers in the NUC 11 Pro kit dated 2021-03-08.

I have four monitors and have just bought two USB-C to DVI adapters to connect the NUC to my two DVI monitors. These adapters are working and pass the correct signal to the monitors, but whenever they are plugged in, I get a USB malfunction message every few seconds.

In Device Manager, the screen is refreshing every 15 secs with "Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed)" appearing in the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" group. In the "Universal Serial Bus devices" group, I have two "USB 2.0 BILLBOARD" entries. The USB disconnect/connect sounds are also being triggered at this rate.

I get the same behaviour with no USB-A devices plugged into the NUC.

The adapters are these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adapter-Thunderbolt-Compatible-MacBook-Samsung/dp/B0768RFQ83/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Can I change a setting somewhere to stop this behaviour? If I send these adapters back and get different ones, I don't want to find out that the NUC11 has the same problem with all of them.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, James.

[n_scott_pearson]

It sounds to me like there is something wrong with the adapter being used. Instead of exclusively presenting a graphics device, it is somehow presenting a USB device as well.

I understand you have two of these adapters installed. You need to figure out which one is failing and test with only the other installed. Unplug both adapters and wait 10 seconds. Now plug one of the adapters into one of the USB-C ports. Unplug the adapter, wait 10 seconds and then plug the adapter into the other USB-C port. Record whether anything goes wrong. Unplug the adapter and switch to the second adapter. Do the same, trying it in both ports.

Looking at the results, if there is one adapter that suffers the problem while plugged into both ports, it is bad and needs to be replaced. If there is one USB-C port that suffers the problem while either adapter is plugged into it , then you have a bad USB-C port and will need to get the NUC replaced.

Hope this helps,

...S

and then plug one of them back in. RecordIf the same problems occur, you know that the adapter and the port it is plugged intothe adapter that is plugged in may be the culprit. Switch to the other adapter and see if the problems occur with it. If none, and there were with the first adapter

[jamesg990]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the diagnostic advice.

Trying all combinations:
- Adapter #1 only in Thunderbolt port #1
- Adapter #1 only in Thunderbolt port #2
- Adapter #2 only in Thunderbolt port #1
- Adapter #2 only in Thunderbolt port #2
- Adapter #1 in Thunderbolt port #1 and Adapter #2 in Thunderbolt port #2

All combinations give the same USB malfunction message.

I tried one of the adapters in the USB-C port of my laptop. This works correctly and gives no USB malfunction message.
I tried one of the adapters in my iPad Pro. This also works correctly and gives no USB malfunction message.

From a quick search around the subject, USB 2.0 billboard is for failure reporting when devices cannot enter alternate mode. My device is obviously entering alternate mode as I'm getting the image on my monitor.

I've turned off the USB device connect/disconnect sounds and unchecked the Windows setting "Notify me if there are issues connecting to USB devices". This makes the NUC usable now, but it's clearly doing unplug/plug every 15 secs when I look in Device Manager.

What's my next step?

[n_scott_pearson]

Before anything else, I would sure love to see what happens with a more-normal USB-C-to-DP or USB-C-to-HDMI adapter installed. Barring that, I can think of only two possibilities, driver issues or hardware issues. Driver issues could be the result of incorrect/inappropriate driver being installed, problem with F/W version (unlikely for new product). For hardware issues, there is always the RMA path, but I would like to see ICS see if they can reproduce this issue (even if it is with another adapter).

@Ronny_G_Intel - can you have someone look at reproducing this? I don't have one of these NUCs as yet.

...S

[Maria_R_Intel]

Hello jamesg990, Scott.

Thank you for posting on the Intel Community.

We will be glad to check this internally. Please provide us with the below reports:

Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) 

• Download the Intel SSU https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-
• Open the application and select "Everything" click on "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View". 
• Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View". 
• To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save". 

With the displays connected, provide the Intel* Graphics Command Center report:

>Go to the Intel Graphics Command Center

>Support

>System Diagnostic

>Generate report.

>Attach the report file.

Best regards,

Maria R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jamesg990]

Hi Maria, 

Files attached. Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, James.

[Maria_R_Intel]

Hello jamesg990,

Thank you for the information.

We will proceed to check this internally, please expect an update soon.

Best regards,

Maria R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi everyone,

Hi @jamesg990, Can you please send a screenshot of the error message that you are getting? Is this message: "Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed)"  appearing only in device manager?

You said that this behavior is also happening with no USB-A devices plugged into the NUC. Can you please confirm that if you have a regular HDMI monitor attached to the system and no USB-C device connected that you still get the same error message?

I dont recommend cable adapters, especially not for graphic devices and Display Port via USB-C to DVI are very far apart technologies and not only that but there are some adapter brands and product qualities that is very risky to guarantee functionality. See below our Multi Graphics set up recommendation table:

Regards,

Ronny G

[jamesg990]

Hi @Ronny_G_Intel,

Here's the Windows pop-up that appears every 15 secs, unless "Notify me if there are issues connecting to USB devices" is unchecked:

Here's Device Manager:

In Device Manager, "Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed)" appears for 15 secs. Then it disappears for 15 secs. Repeat forever.

When I have a regular HDMI monitor attached to the system and no USB-C device connected, I don't get the error message. I only get the error message when one or both of the USB-C to DVI adapters are connected to the NUC.

I just retested after removing all USB-A devices. I can confirm it makes no difference to the behaviour whether or not any USB-A devices are connected to the NUC.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

James

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi jamesg990,

Thanks for the additional information.

Let me run this issue by the Product Team and check if they have any recommendation but I have to tell you that we have very limited support for this type of integration using adapter cables.

I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Ronny G

[Ronny_G_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hi jamesg990,

I think I mentioned before that I dont have the same type of cable adapters for testing so I asked the Product Team to check on this issue and they observed the same issue with a BENFEI adapter. They also tested another Type-C to DVI adapter (Cable Matters, model 201019) and it worked just fine, this was the only equivalent adapter other than the BENFEI model that they had available for testing.

I would recommend that you try a different adapter Brand and even better if you can try 2 x HDMI cables + 2 x UGREEN HDMI to DVI adapters (model 20124). These are validated and known to work or the Cable Matters, model 201019 that we tested.

I hope this helps,

Regards,

Ronny G

[jamesg990]

Hi Ronny,

Thanks for the feedback and for confirming the fault.

I sent back the BENFEI adapters and bought two USB-C to HDMI adapters (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TD515P2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) which work correctly on the NUC11 with some HDMI to DVI cables.

Thanks again

James

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi James,

Thanks for letting me know that you found a solution for this issue.

Regards,

Ronny G

[n_scott_pearson]

@Fabiola,

It is definitely true that not all USB-C ports support DisplayPort Alt. Mode. For the laptop you mention, I cannot find anything in the documentation that would indicate that the USB-C port actually provides this support. You may need to use a HDMI-to-DVI dongle.

...S