The Asus P4PE is an Intel-based motherboard. It features four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, along with a on-board connector that allows for the installation of two additional ports. While USB 2.0-ready, the user must install the correct USB 2.0 drivers and may still experience problems when upgrading to Windows XP Service Pack 2. The Intel ICH4 chipset on the P4PE may also cause problems in Windows 98 or XP. Other issues arise from BIOS configurations and lack of support for USB keyboards.
ICH4 USB 2.0 Incompatibility
Asus P4PE owners with Windows 98 or XP installed may find a yellow exclamation point next to the USB port in the Device Manager. The yellow exclamation point may indicate that the computer has installed either the wrong driver or no driver at all. Users should install an updated driver that makes USB 2.0 compatible with the motherboard's Intel ICH4 chipset.
Selective Suspend Problem
Asus P4PE owners who use the Windows XP or Server 2003 operating systems may experience a problem with the computer being unable to read the USB port after the user inserts and removes USB devices "quickly and repeatedly." The user may have to engage in a number of steps in order to correct this problem, including scanning for hardware changes in the Device Manager and disabling and re-enabling the USB controller.
As a last resort, users may have to disable the Selective Suspend option, which means that all USB devices connected to the computer will continue to draw power while plugged into the USB port. Microsoft offers a "Fix It" automatic wizard that will modify the registry and disable Selective Suspend.
USB Reference Voltage
The Asus P4PE includes a USB Reference Voltage setting in the BIOS. The user can adjust the voltage to Low, Medium, High or Maximum. Some users have reported that configuring the voltage setting to "Low" enables the usage of USB ports that previously did not work, and allows higher-powered USB devices to work when they previously did not.
Wake Via USB Keyboard Problems
Asus P4Pe owners cannot use a USB keyboard with the wake-up via keyboard command feature. USB keyboards must use a USB to PS/2 adapter and connect through the PS/2 port in order to use this feature. Asus has not released a BIOS update that will support wake on USB keyboard command.
Windows XP Service Pack 2 Problem
Some Asus P4PE owners have experienced problems with the Windows XP operating system not recognizing USB 2.0 ports---only USB 1.1---after upgrading to Service Pack 2 (SP2). Users have had to uninstall the USB drivers, reboot, then allow Windows to reinstall the drivers in order to restore USB 2.0 functionality.
If this does not remedy the problem, the Asus P4PE owner must reinstall Windows XP.
Tags: Asus P4PE, Selective Suspend, Service Pack, yellow exclamation point, Asus P4PE, Asus P4PE owners