SP120 RGB PRO fans disconnecting from icue

[zultan]

hi. I have this sp120 rgb pro fans kit that is driving me nuts.

It worked for a (very little) while then i started to have issues.  the issue is that the controller stops responding and disappears from icue.

it happened with icue 3 and still happens now with icue 4.

to have the controller working again i have to unplug it and re plug it again.

at first I thought it was because of a usb splitter I bought (not powered). so i bought another powered splitter (NZXT).

again the controller worked for a while then I got the same problem.   so I moved the lighting node core to the motherboard.

it worked for a couple of months and now again I have the same issue.  I can't keep on opening the case and unplug the controller.

I would like to have an advice from @DevBiker @LeDoyen @c-attack about it.

I have just returned my ls100 kit and now I don't know if I should return my fans too.

I don't have a lot of time as my warranty is going to expire soon

thank you

[c-attack]

Disappearing?  Do you mean the device (controller) drops in and out of CUE?  Or do you mean the fan individually drops out (speed or lighting)?

 

This is on a Z390 Asus board?

[zultan]

12 hours ago, c-attack said:

Disappearing?  Do you mean the device (controller) drops in and out of CUE?  Or do you mean the fan individually drops out (speed or lighting)?

 

This is on a Z390 Asus board?

thank you for your reply.   I mean that the controller disappears (drops out and never comes back) from the control panel and the

fans revert to hardware mode (rainbow).

to have the controller back again i have to unplug it and re plug it into the motherboard.

the motherboard is an asus maximus X hero z370.  every usb device plugged into any port is working fine except the lighting node core.

the problem is that the workaround can last for a day just like 5 minutes. it's very annoying. the fans itself are working but

i don't want to keep my fans forever on rainbow.  also doing cable management again to return the fans will be a mess.

what a waste of time. I paid good money for this kit and  I'm quite disappointed. this would be the second corsair product failing even before the warranty period is over. (mostly never worked well)

I would need to replace my old keyboard and i was thinking to buy a corsair one but i'm not so sure anymore. 😞

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by zultan

[c-attack]

So it could be a problem either on the device end (bad box, wonky cable, any physical defect) or it could be on the motherboard end, either physical or software. There were never any problems with Z370/Z390 on the chipset USB like with later AMD boards, however that’s the easier path to proving the device is not working as it should unless there is some obvious physical defect. 
 

1) Try to re-install the current motherboard chipset drivers from the motherboard downloads page or from Windows. Probably not it, but it takes little more than a restart and is one of the more certain troubleshooting steps. (Don’t bother with this.  Doesn’t really fit the facts in this instance.)
 

2) Any other software that might affect this function?  Other RGB software may interfere in communication and lock up the device making it drop out of CUE. 
 

3) You already tried splitters, hubs, and different USB ports so it really can’t be the MB side port (physical). However, that leaves open the bad device side plug/cable and if this has been going on for a long time across multiple CUE versions, Windows installs, etc., then that seems to be the most likely root cause.
 

The unplug and reconnect fix suggests a device level problem rather than the bad cable or plug with usually pops in and out. This seems to need a signal to turn on again. Are you ever able to get it back by restarting the Corsair Service through the CUE settings?

Edited February 26, 2022 by c-attack

[DevBiker]

How much do you have on your USB ports on the system, overall? (Not just what we are talking about here)

How much RGB do you have, overall? (Not just what we are talking about here)

What power supply do you have?

Are you running any other software that may connect to those devices? HWInfo is a common culprit but it doesn't usually impact the LNC nor does the entire device typically disappear from iCUE so I don't think that's it but there may be some other RGB app that's messing with it.

[zultan]

1 hour ago, c-attack said:

So it could be a problem either on the device end (bad box, wonky cable, any physical defect) or it could be on the motherboard end, either physical or software. There were never any problems with Z370/Z390 on the chipset USB like with later AMD boards, however that’s the easier path to proving the device is not working as it should unless there is some obvious physical defect. 
 

1) Try to re-install the current motherboard chipset drivers from the motherboard downloads page or from Windows. Probably not it, but it takes little more than a restart and is one of the more certain troubleshooting steps. (Don’t bother with this.  Doesn’t really fit the facts in this instance.)
 

2) Any other software that might affect this function?  Other RGB software may interfere in communication and lock up the device making it drop out of CUE. 
 

3) You already tried splitters, hubs, and different USB ports so it really can’t be the MB side port (physical). However, that leaves open the bad device side plug/cable and if this has been going on for a long time across multiple CUE versions, Windows installs, etc., then that seems to be the most likely root cause.
 

The unplug and reconnect fix suggests a device level problem rather than the bad cable or plug with usually pops in and out. This seems to need a signal to turn on again. Are you ever able to get it back by restarting the Corsair Service through the CUE settings?

I won't talk here about when the device never worked well on windows 7. it's an old os.

but now it's not working well even on windows 11 and latest icue version.   it's a very fresh win 11 installation from scratch.

so i don't think it's a driver problem.  I have armoury crate installed but I don't really use it. It's there just for having my mobo and vga

listed in icue control panel.  anyway armoury crate would never control the lighting node.

now that you talk about the cable... well I tried to move gently the cable close to the controller and the node is plugging/unplugging.

it seems this is causing the issue.   I would never imagine this could be the reason.

the node is sitting there on the bottom of the case and I swear I never bent or squeezed or pushed / pulled or anything that could 

damage the cable.  this is expensive stuff and I always treat my hardware with care.

That's even more disappointing.   i just wonder why the controller is unplugging even standing perfectly still?

Now I think I really have to return the kit and go through the annoying cable/screws removing part.

[zultan]

22 minutes ago, DevBiker said:

How much do you have on your USB ports on the system, overall? (Not just what we are talking about here)

How much RGB do you have, overall? (Not just what we are talking about here)

What power supply do you have?

Are you running any other software that may connect to those devices? HWInfo is a common culprit but it doesn't usually impact the LNC nor does the entire device typically disappear from iCUE so I don't think that's it but there may be some other RGB app that's messing with it.

hi dev. thank you too for helping me.

i have a corsair RM850i psu.  i don't have so much rgb, just the three sp120 rgb pro. and the H150i pro pump.

the ls100 has its own power source.  a couple of led on the vga and a couple on the asus mobo.

as i wrote to C-attack I just realized that slowly moving the cable close to the controller box is probably causing the issue.

I always managed the hardware with care and now that I think about it it never worked well but I was blaming ports and splitters.

I'm going to contact amazon on monday.  I hope they will not complain (usually they never do) as I have recently replaced the ls100 that was

turning off too.  hardware is getting too fragile. they both haven't reached the two years warranty time.

do you think I can do anything by myself to fix the problem without bothering amazon?

 

[DevBiker]

Based on the details that you provided in the last messages to @c-attack, it would sound like an issue with the cable. It would be bad crimps on the USB connector or it could be a bad solder on the board. With the proper skillz, you might be able to fix this but it's not something for the average user (it requires crimpers and/or soldering as well).

My questions were looking to see if it might be a power issue but that sounds unlikely. Note that with the LNC, it only uses 5V power ... and all USB devices also use 5V power. I suspect that we're seeing issues pop up due to the general weakness of that PSU rail and voltage drops due to load but that wouldn't seem to be applicable based on the new information that you provided.

[zultan]

43 minutes ago, DevBiker said:

Based on the details that you provided in the last messages to @c-attack, it would sound like an issue with the cable. It would be bad crimps on the USB connector or it could be a bad solder on the board. With the proper skillz, you might be able to fix this but it's not something for the average user (it requires crimpers and/or soldering as well).

My questions were looking to see if it might be a power issue but that sounds unlikely. Note that with the LNC, it only uses 5V power ... and all USB devices also use 5V power. I suspect that we're seeing issues pop up due to the general weakness of that PSU rail and voltage drops due to load but that wouldn't seem to be applicable based on the new information that you provided.

thank you again for your support. you are one of the few ones trying to help out people here.

I know why you asked about my psu. anyway I think there must be something wrong if a 150€ 850W psu can't handle a few leds.

so what should people buy?  1000w psu for three led fans?

I don't think I can fix the controller by myself.  Me and soldering are walking on opposite ways.

many thanks for your precious advice.  I don't like to return devices without being 100% sure it's defective and not my fault.

 

[c-attack]

You should be able to replace the LNCore alone through the Corsair RMA process without needing to remove the fans. That may be a better short term alternative than a full return, although the local option may be faster.  

[zultan]

i think that returning the kit to amazon will be blazing fast (excluding the fans removal procedure) and free compared to contacting corsair directly.