[Guide] 10.11+ USB changes and solutions

[zipb]

Thanks! Much appreciated. Can you be a bit more specific about Chrome hooking USB ports? I just had a look in the laptop FAQ and did a search but I came up with zero...

I think I found it: chrome://flags/#enable-webusb
And then disable. I've been unpleasantly surprised by all the crap used/installed by Chrome.
But I'm so used to it now, it's hard to switch.

 

[zipb]

Also, your ACPI setup does not accommodate _OSI("Darwin") in any way... (read post #1)

I've copied the SSDT-HACK.dsl text straight and pasted it in a new file in maciasl 1.4. When I click compile I get 3 errors and hence I can't save the .asl file...

What am I missing?

 

[RehabMan]

Also, your ACPI setup does not accommodate _OSI("Darwin") in any way... (read post #1)

I've copied the SSDT-HACK.dsl text straight and pasted it in a new file in maciasl 1.4. When I click compile I get 3 errors and hence I can't save the .asl file...

What am I missing?

You're using the wrong ACPI version. Must use ACPI 6.1. Check your MaciASL->Preferences.
Note: SSDT-XOSI.dsl

 

[zipb]

Ah. But it doesn't go higher than 5.1...
Is mr underwaters maciasl outdated?

 

[RehabMan]

Ah. But it doesn't go higher than 5.1...
Is mr underwaters maciasl outdated?

I have my own fork of MaciASL.
It is linked from my guide: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-patching-laptop-dsdt-ssdts.152573/

 

[dreamcat]

I finally got around to testing the USB on the Z170N Gaming 5 using macOS Sierra. I found no issues with either SunrisePoint SPT or AlpineRidge AR controllers with hot plugging of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0/3.1 devices. I haven't tried sleep and wake though and I haven't done any SSDT modifications to fix the UsbConnector properties and other stuff.

AR: 848 MB/s Read (USB 3.1 gen 2) from both the USB-C and the USB-A ports.
SPT: 425 MB/s Read (USB 3.0).

The USB-C port of the Z170N Gaming 5 is slightly recessed - the IO shield might block some USB-C cables by a fraction of a millimeter so that there is no satisfying snap when you insert a USB-C cable, and the expected resistance when disconnecting the cable is not there. One of my cables would not work because of that.

Well that is good news. Nice to hear. I don't suppose you can share with me your clover folder to compare to my one? My USB still isn't working right. Many thanks.

 

[dreamcat]

OK thanks joevt, and @RehabMan for your other suggestions about testing USB 3.0 speed. I will try those when it becomes possible for me to do so.

Hot Plug problem only applies to Thunderbolt devices. There should be no issue with hot plug of USB devices. If you're saying that you see an issue with USB, then I will try retesting.

For the speed issue, I would suggest using anything other than the dd command to test that, such as "AJA System Test Lite.app" or "BlackMagic Speed Test.app".

a) Yes I was wrong about the issue being related to hot-plugging USB on the Alpine Ridge. Have retested also with the USB device plugged in from power on. And didn't matter whichever (if it was hot-plugged or not), always still at USB 2.0 speeds.

b) The reason I am not very suspicous of the 'dd' command, is because it has no such issue whatsoever with this same device of mine on ubuntu 16.04... and yes, it is also a shame I have no other alternative USB 3.0 device to test with. Anyhow. If I do buy some new USB 3 device, it will probably be a 10Gb USB 3.1 Gen2 enclosure, for 2.5 inch HDDs. Probably from some ebay / china seller.

To me, I find it hard not to see that some other users have also said / reported same issue. With other similar gigabyte boards. I must have seen so far about 4-6 user in random places, on forum threads and blog comments. Who all said the USB 3.0 ports are at the slow 2.0 speed (just like me).

Anyhow thanks for the suggestions and help. I do appreciate it.

Another thing I might try is to look again at the BIOS setting for USB 3.1 power delivery. In case flicking that helps. I already just checked the box in CloverConfigurator (for enabling USB 3 power). So many things have tried so far. Its difficult to know what is left to try. So I go back and look again in the BIOS. For sure, XHCI is set correct. Just to see, there is only 1 other setting, for USB 3.1 power [on/off].

 

[joevt]

OK thanks joevt, and @RehabMan for your other suggestions about testing USB 3.0 speed. I will try those when it becomes possible for me to do so.

a) Yes I was wrong about the issue being related to hot-plugging USB on the Alpine Ridge. Have retested also with the USB device plugged in from power on. And didn't matter whichever (if it was hot-plugged or not), always still at USB 2.0 speeds.

b) The reason I am not very suspicous of the 'dd' command, is because it has no such issue whatsoever with this same device of mine on ubuntu 16.04... and yes, it is also a shame I have no other alternative USB 3.0 device to test with. Anyhow. If I do buy some new USB 3 device, it will probably be a 10Gb USB 3.1 Gen2 enclosure, for 2.5 inch HDDs. Probably from some ebay / china seller.

dd could be implemented very differently between Linux and macOS, or at least the devices are. Did you try rdisk instead of disk in the dd command?
http://serenity.ee/post/82120938429/mac-os-dd-with-devdisk-vs-devrdisk

I'll wait for you to retest using "AJA System Test Lite.app" or "BlackMagic Speed Test.app" before making any other suggestions.

 

[dreamcat]

dd could be implemented very differently between Linux and macOS, or at least the devices are. Did you try rdisk instead of disk in the dd command?
http://serenity.ee/post/82120938429/mac-os-dd-with-devdisk-vs-devrdisk

Horryay! Yes, it is this ^^. Your suspicion was correct. I was using '/dev/disk'. And that was the only reason for the reported slow speed. With your suggestion about trying rdisk instead, it works absolutely fine. 251 MB/sec for the SSD. And 38.4 MB/sec for the hard drive.

# ssd
ga-z170x-g3:Desktop root# dd if=/dev/rdisk3 of=/dev/null bs=1m count=100
100+0 records in
100+0 records out
104857600 bytes transferred in 0.398002 secs (263460043 bytes/sec)


# hdd
ga-z170x-g3:Desktop root# dd if=/dev/rdisk3 of=/dev/null bs=1m count=100
100+0 records in
100+0 records out
104857600 bytes transferred in 2.603999 secs (40267913 bytes/sec)

# comparing to before (wrong way) - '/dev/disk'
ga-z170x-g3:Desktop root# dd if=/dev/disk3 of=/dev/null bs=1m count=100
100+0 records in
100+0 records out
104857600 bytes transferred in 7.420993 secs (14129861 bytes/sec)

OK so what about the USB 3.1 type A port? Lets see.... its now getting 250MB/Sec for the ssd. And 38.7MB/sec for the HDD. Same performance as the main motherboard USB ports. Success!

=======

Sorry the reason I could not try with those other apps you said was just because (in the name of better security) couldn't remeber my AppleId / couldn't login to download them from the App Store... And the reason had (incorrectly) used '/dev/disk' device was basically the way the device shows up / is displayed in 'diskutil list'. Ah well sorry. Have learned to know better for next time.

Furthermore, removed the XOSI .aml thing, since it didnt seem to have any obvious / noticeable effect. Cleaned up some other simple matters that were causing those ACPI error found in my boot log. Boot time has improved. So all in all, pretty much everything is good now. Just except for:

* Booting with multiple-monitors on HD530 (different thread for that), which has no proper fix anyway.
* Broken sleep. Which usually cannot be fixed anyways. But its not important for desktop.

Many thanks for all of the help. Not possible for me without these excellent assistance, and also related community guides / tutorials.

 

[joevt]

251 MB/sec for the SSD. And 38.4 MB/sec for the hard drive.
OK so what about the USB 3.1 type A port? Lets see.... its now getting 250MB/Sec for the ssd. And 38.7MB/sec for the HDD. Same performance as the main motherboard USB ports. Success!

Good news. 250 MB/s seems slow for an SSD though. That's like SATA II speed (SATA 3 Gb/s) instead of SATA III speed (SATA 6 Gb/s). Did you say what kind of SSD or drive enclosure it was?