Problems with new AIO and fans showing in iCue

I've recently changed out my case, cooler and fans and now have a H150i Pro XT, using the 3 fans that came with it, and 10 QL120's. However, both the AIO and one lighting node will randomly not be detected.

I have two lighting node core, one with 6 fans and the other with 4. They are both plugged into the usb headers on the commander pro. The QL fans double up with 4 splitters to get all 10 on the commander pro. The 3 AIO fans are connected to the AIO and powered separately. Each fan is rated at .3a with 3a in total across all fans. This is under the commander pro limit of 1a per port and 4.5a in total.

The commander pro and the AIO each have a usb 2.0 header on my motherboard. My motherboard is a Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha. All firmware and software is up-to-date.

The first time the AIO didn't show up iCue, I turned everything off and switched the AIO and the commander pro headers, to test if one of the headers was faulty. Upon switching, everything worked fine on next boot. The last two times the AIO hasn't shown up, I've found a Corsair device as "not connected" in usbdeview, uninstalling it and rebooting has brought it back.

One time a lighting node core wasn't detected, rebooting fixed it and it hasn't happened again.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or input people have.

The lighting node that didn't get detected once is now having new problems. It's slowly losing sync with the other node is frequently freezing, the leds are freezing.

I have an RGB off profile and if I switch to that, the fans in the freezing node stay lit. Except the bottom left quadrant of the first fan on that node, that responds just fine. Then randomly it'll resume the rgb pattern, but still out of sync. They also hold their colour longer than the others when rebooting, as opposed to changing to white. They flash sometimes too.

edit - I've done some troubleshooting. Am I right in saying that the lighting node core signal works in sequence and loops? The fan that had one quadrant working was in position 1 in the hub, unplugging it and moving 6 into 1 restored working order. The faulty fan is now unplugged from the node, but it's still losing sync with the other one.

Could that in anyway be causing my AIO problems?

It's hard to say. USB detection issues are difficult with both hardware and software possible causes. While a bad LED section on a fan (like you described above) would affect the lighting of all LEDs on that controller thereafter, each Core device and the XT are independent. One should not affect the other from the software side.

How are all these connected to the MB? Not too many boards have three internal USB 2.0 ports, but then maybe the Z170 is old enough they were't scrapping all those for the 3.0 internal hubs no one uses. My first check on most of these is going to be chipset driver status and individual ports. Does the XT work in one port, but not the other, etc. Since they seem to come and go for detection, there is also the possibility that something else is interfering. Are there any other notable USB 2 devices (besides KB and mouse) that might be high bandwidth?

Two Cores "losing sync". Is that with preset effects? Or custom stuff?

It's hard to say. USB detection issues are difficult with both hardware and software possible causes. While a bad LED section on a fan (like you described above) would affect the lighting of all LEDs on that controller thereafter, each Core device and the XT are independent. One should not affect the other from the software side.

 

How are all these connected to the MB? Not too many boards have three internal USB 2.0 ports, but then maybe the Z170 is old enough they were't scrapping all those for the 3.0 internal hubs no one uses. My first check on most of these is going to be chipset driver status and individual ports. Does the XT work in one port, but not the other, etc. Since they seem to come and go for detection, there is also the possibility that something else is interfering. Are there any other notable USB 2 devices (besides KB and mouse) that might be high bandwidth?

 

Two Cores "losing sync". Is that with preset effects? Or custom stuff?

The motherboard has two 2.0 ports and two 3.0 ports. For the 2.0, one has the AIO and the other has the CoPro. The 3.0 are being used for front panel USB slots, none of which are currently in use. Both devices work on both 2.0 ports. The loss of function seems to be random and as, when working, both devices function fine on both ports, it's a tough one. As for 2.0 devices, aside from standard peripherals, I have a monitor pass-through that has a Bluetooth receiver and a USB sound card on it. The receiver is only used for my xbox controller and I also have an additional K63 keyboard, neither of which are left on. The sound card has a small 3.5mm jack mic plugged in, which I haven't used recently.

I shall check to see if chipset drivers are up-to-date.

As for the cores, they're both running the ARC program. I'll change them to a simple 2 colour shift and see what happens.

OK, so the two Cores piggy pack through the Commander. Does the Commander drop out? There have been some other complaints about the Commander passthrough detection. Mostly this has been on AMD boards, but it is possible it's not entirely chipset related. I don't one want to tell you to go buy a $20 USB 2 hub for the Cores, but that is a possibility. However, that would not explain why the XT drops out as well.

The presets should stay in sync and have some measures to help that along. However, if one of the Core devices loses contact with the software for 0.5 seconds, it's going to throw it off by that much plus the recovery time, just like if you toggle/hide an effect for a second. However, two Arc settings on two Cores is like two different systems. They won't try to stay in sync. You can quickly reset the clock by switching to another profile and then switching right back. However, the faster the movement speed, the more likely you are to notice differences in the arrival/depart from the end point. Only the Lighting Link global effects will automatically sync through all devices. Unfortunately, the list of effects is limited.

OK, so the two Cores piggy pack through the Commander. Does the Commander drop out? There have been some other complaints about the Commander passthrough detection. Mostly this has been on AMD boards, but it is possible it's not entirely chipset related. I don't one want to tell you to go buy a $20 USB 2 hub for the Cores, but that is a possibility. However, that would not explain why the XT drops out as well.

 

The presets should stay in sync and have some measures to help that along. However, if one of the Core devices loses contact with the software for 0.5 seconds, it's going to throw it off by that much plus the recovery time, just like if you toggle/hide an effect for a second. However, two Arc settings on two Cores is like two different systems. They won't try to stay in sync. You can quickly reset the clock by switching to another profile and then switching right back. However, the faster the movement speed, the more likely you are to notice differences in the arrival/depart from the end point. Only the Lighting Link global effects will automatically sync through all devices. Unfortunately, the list of effects is limited.

I haven't had any problems with the CoPro, pass-through seems to be working just fine.

I had ARC on the slowest settings on both Cores and it had been synced up until today with the freezing. I've obviously removed the offending fan, but the sync problem is still there. I've updated my chipset drivers. I have the fans on a two colour shift now, so I shall wait and see what happens with that.

I appreciate you taking the time to answer.