What in 8th generation Intel CPUs prevents USB devices from working that do work with 7th gen Intel or current AMD CPUs?

[izoard53]

Hi,

I'm a member of a tech support team. Our company produces analytical devices. With our machines we deliver latest gen Windows 10 Pro PCs.

Currently we have a detrimental issue with one of our product models that do not work anymore since we switched from 7th gen to 8th gen Intel processors in the PCs that control the machines. The devices contain a camera connected via USB, which doesn't produce images with our software consistently in the 8th gen PCs.

To sum up, the configuration in both PC types is identical, Windows 10 is identical with the same set of updates. In the previous 7th gen the device worked flawlessly right out of the box without any adjustments to Windows system config.

The only difference in hardware is that the new PCs have an i5-8400 CPUs with B360 chipset, while the previous PCs had i5-7400 CPUs with B250 chipset.

The test PC we have that comes with a latest gen AMD Ryzen Pro 5 CPU also showed no issues and worked just fine.

I checked everything from Windows 10 owner/user/admin privileges down to BIOS settings. Nothing ever seemed to work.

What puzzles me most is: I can get the camera to work by keeping Windows busy, e.g. by telling it to change writing permissions in a certain set of folders (rightclick on folder>properties >> uncheck write protection>apply). As long as the progress bar is still there, I can get the camera to scan correctly. As soon as the dummy write protection task is completed, the camera can't produce images anymore.

I'm totally out of ideas. Please help!

Thanks

[izoard53]

No idea, anyone?

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello izoard53,

Thank you for posting on the Intel communities.

We are still working on your inquiry, so please allow me more time to do some research and provide you with an accurate response to your case.

On the meantime, please provide the following information:

• Please run the Intel® System Support Utility to have the details about the drivers installed: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows- 

1. Click the menu where it says summary to change to Detailed View. 
2. To save your scan, click Next and click Save. You can save the file to any accessible location on your computer. 
3. Please attach the document to the next post. 

Note: Please run the system report on the new PC and one of the previous PCs.

Best Regards, 

Abigail G 

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation. 

[izoard53]

Dear Abigail,

thanks for your reply. Please find attached the summary files taken from the current i5-8400 and an older i5-7400 that we still had in the workshop. For your comparison I have also taken the summary from the alternative AMD-based PC that we got from our supplier for testing.

Here we use these PCs for our customers, but reports from my tech support colleagues in other international subsidiaries of our company that use different PCs from other manufacturers to ship with our products also show exactly these issues with other 8th gen Intel CPUs.

At the moment we only have two options from our PC supplier, the 8400 Intel or the AMD. We have always used Intel PCs in the past and would also like to keep it that way. But since we experience these kind of problems since the 8th gen switch - and we don't even know if the 9th or 10th gen Intel PCs we will get in the future will also show these issues, the only solution for us would be to switch to AMD. We want to avoid this, of course, but we have to deliver our products to our customers, in fully functional condition.

Thank you for your support!

Kind regards

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello izoard53,

Thank you for the information provided, please complete the following steps/information:

• I am noticing that your system BIOS is no up to date. Could you complete the BIOS update to M1UKT43A? In case you need assistance to complete the BIOS updates please contact the motherboard manufacturer. Please check the link below for the downloads available: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/cr/en/products/desktops-and-all-in-ones/thinkcentre-m-series-desktops/thinkcentre-m720s/downloads

• I was able to see that the Windows* version installed is the Build 17763 (1809. Is there any error that doesn't allow you to update the OS? If there are no problems, please test updating your operating system.
• Is there any other USB device having the same issue? Please test connecting to the same USB port.
• Are you using any HUB on the system?
• What is the brand and model of the camera? Also, you mentioned that you need a software to use the camera, could you please provide the name and version of this software?

Best Regards, 

Abigail G 

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation. 

[izoard53]

Abigail,

Yes, the BIOS update was released this week, but on the PCs I updated until today nothing changed. In some cases the PCs don't have the latest Windows build yet, and the PC I took for the summary just so happened to be one of them. I have already tested the issue on PCs that had the 1903 update along with the latest BIOS update, but no change. The PCs don't use USB hubs, they have a total of eight onboard USB ports, but there is no difference regarding the camera issue (I tested all of them).

Today I tested something else on one of the PCs. The camera manufacturer offers an SDK viewer software for the camera (just to show what the camera is seeing). When I installed it, it automatically installed a newer driver along with it (visible in the Device Manager). After doing so, our proprietary machine control software just quits as soon as the camera is accessed (apparently because it needs the integrated driver). But in the SDK the camera works fine and shows an image. Now comes the strange part: When I open our software again while leaving the SDK running, the camera works as it should in our software as well! And now it becomes even more strange: After uninstalling the SDK again completely, including the new driver (!), so I'm back with the fall back driver that is integrated in our software, I can still access the camera just fine, despite rebooting Windows multiple times!

I have yet to confirm this on other PCs after the weekend, but maybe this gives you a hint, or at least is a clue to what is happening here. This obviously is no solution, but merely a workaround - I can't have all of our customers install and uninstall an SDK before they can start using their expensive analyzers... Of course they expect them to work right out of the box.

Despite all of these findings, I'm still wondering why this only happens on the 8th gen CPUs. I don't have do or fiddle around with anything on the previous PCs, so it can't be the driver alone. What could it be and what could we do to circumvent this?

Thanks, and kind regards!

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello izoard53,

Thank you for the information provided.

In order to have more details about the system and the set up that you have, please provide me with the following information:

1. Please provide me with the camera's brand, model and the part number is possible.
2. Please provide me with the software name, and version that you are using.
3. In order to make sure about the status of the processor, please run the following report:

• Please run the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool to check if we get any error presented on the processor: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool 

1. After running the test, please go to the "file" tab. 
2. Click on "View results file". 
3. Save it as a text document and attach it to the next email. 

Best Regards, 

Abigail G 

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation. 

[izoard53]

Abigail,

please find the result files from the 7th and 8th gen PCs attached.

I can confirm the workaround from my last post, I have tested it on three different 8th gen PCs. Once again I want to stress that I don't have to do any of this in the other CPU generations, so I'd like to focus on this aspect.

Thanks!

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello izoard53,

Thank you for the response and the information provided.

We are working on your case with the information that we have collected on your case. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Best Regards, 

Abigail G 

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation. 

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello izoard53,

Thank you for waiting for our response.

There are no known issues with 8th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors regarding USB compatibility or driver problems. For this reason, we will send you an email to request further information that can help us to address this issue. It is worth noting that this seems to be a compatibility issue with your setup.

Best Regards, 

Abigail G 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

Under Contract to Intel Corporation.