That's what I'm trying to figure out. I don't run a physical iLok key, but I do use their iLok software.
Been following all the discussion on USB issues but didn't want to comment as firstly I do not have a Designaire Z390, and secondly I know there is nothing more unhelpful than people filling a thread with "it works for me"... But with the discussion turning more to suspect audio gear and now in particular iLok I thought I would chime in briefly.
My current build is based off Stork's My Hero 2 using the Asus Hero X Z370 board with my own port limit SSDT I created and thanks to the geniuses in this thread I now also have thunderbolt on a board I never thought possible! I am still on the latest version of Mojave for plugin and audio interface compatibility and can honestly say I have never had a single USB issue since the day I put the build together. Like everyone else I absolutely hammer the USB ports and never notice any change or drop in performance / lagging and have never ever experienced any kind of freeze.
I permanently have connected over USB the internal bluetooth cable for my wifi card, apple keyboard which has an iLok2 permanently attached in one of the hubs, iPhone lightning cable for iPhone Sync or iPad with Avid Control, creative HD webcam, USB thumb drive with Waves and Plugin Alliance licences, Novation Launchkey controller keyboard (bus powered), WD Elements external backup hard drive, and often anything from 1-4 other external hard drives either SSD in USB3 chases or portable / flash drives. I even keep a battery charger plugged into one of the USB ports not in my SSDT just to draw power and keep my old magic mouse batteries topped up and ready to swap!
My audio interface is an old digidesign 003 running on a firewire card, and I also hook up some old external firewire drives once a month just to let them sync to a cloud backup. The interface will need replacing when I finally move up to Big Sur (may as well skip Catalina now) and I am still undecided on whether to go the UAD thunderbolt route or something with USB-C like the new Audiofuse Studio. Either way I have the TitanRidge Card now so will always make sure the audio is on its own bus - From the very earliest days of computer recording that was pretty much a basic rule until we got thunderbolt 2. Never run your audio files and interface in the same chain!
I have also noticed people talking about other builds having USB problems. This is my 2nd Hack, my first being an old P55 i7-860 rig which I thrashed from 2010 up till 2018 with various upgrades and overclocks, going from Snow Leopard right through to High Sierra and never once did I ever have USB issues on that system. Making sure that all the port names were correctly defined in Clover it was absolutely rock solid with my iLok and other devices. In fact that machine is still in use now after I sold it on.
As I said at the start it isn't really that helpful people saying "my machine works" but all I want to get across is that for over a decade I have been using iLok authorised plugins as well as using a flash drive to run the licences for others and have not had a single issue once with the software or system instability and my Hacks have always been a main work machine and not a hobby build. That also goes for real Macs in pro studios from the old G4s with iLok1 right up to the latest MacPros. The iLok software and licensing system has always been very stable and never once through thousands of sessions have I come across USB freezes as have been described here. Hope in some way this helps people work out what the cause for them actually is.
