USB audio+mic and gamepad not working at startup. Why is that?

So I have an oldish Steelseries Siberia 350 USB headset and a very new MSI Force G20 gamepad controller, both of which work perfectly well when in use. Except both devices stop working with Windows when the computer reboots or cold starts. All my other USB devices (memory sticks, keyboard, mouse) work perfectly without any issues. If I unplug the affected devices, and replug them back in again, then the issue is resolved, until next reboot.

Is there any reason for this? For the life of me I cannot work it out what is going wrong. Both affected devices are USB 2.0 devices connected to the computer via USB 2.0 ports.

Additional Info

I have had the Steelseries 350 for sometime. It worked flawlessly on Windows 7, and then this issue started occurring on Windows 10, and I never got to the bottom of the problem. I assumed it was because the headset was old, but read on and I'll explain.

Then I built a new Windows 11 machine with a new processor and motherboard. The Windows 11 was achieved by clean installing the Windows 10 key on a newly formatted stick, and then upgrading to Windows 11 immediately afterwards.

The new motherboard+CPU, Windows installation and Win 11 upgrade never cured the issue. So I still suspected the age of the headset.

Then, a few months ago I bought the MSI Force G20 gamepad controller, and it too exhibited the same symptoms: works fine when in use, and then stops connecting on reboot. The MSI device has flashing LEDs on front. From my understanding, when it is properly connected only two of the LEDs flash. Which LEDs flash depend on whether wireless or wired connection is used. I only use wired. However, when not connected to PC, then all four LEDs flash until a connection is established or the device goes power saving. And that is what I am seeing: I see all four lights initially flash indicating power but no connection. If I unplug it and plug it back in to the same port, then the two LEDs flash, and it is fine again. (Because the gamepad has a battery, it is a job to tell whether the power is from USB or from the battery, when the issue occurs.)

Well, the problem cannot be the age of the headset if the new gamepad also exhibits same issue. Sounds fair?

That is not the end of it. Next, I try a test where I plug in a problem device during the bootup sequence. If I plug in the device during the BIOS splash screen phase, it works as expected after Windows has loaded. How about that? It cannot even be a Windows problem, if plugging in during boot fixes it. On two separate motherboards, from two different manufacturers (Asrock and MSI), I get the same problem.

The two identified common denominators that affect the systems (Win 10 and Win 11) are:

1. affected machines are both AMD machines, while the earlier *working* Windows 7 machine was Intel. So is AMD a problem with USB 2.0 devices? Surely is it that simple? Any other suggestions?
2. USB 2.0 used on USB 3.0/3.1 motherboards. Is that an issue? They are supposed to be backward compatible, but the power ratings, at least, are different. Currently haven't seen any posts from posters with the same issue with their headsets and gamepads, so why me?

iko22 said:

Currently haven't seen any posts from posters with the same issue with their headsets and gamepads, so why me?

Click to expand...

As to that question, two computers on the dealers shelf are alike until sold and put into use then there is at least one thing different between the two computers so the combination of devices could be causing the problem. One thing I'd try is using a USB Hub and both devices plugged into it. I have a Win10 on an AMD Phenom II X4 965 without any issues with USB 2 and USB 3.

Have you tried turning ERP (Energy-Related Products) in the BIOS? This turns the USB power off when PC is shutdown. Being freshly powered up, they might work. I had an issue with a LED temperature monitor and it hated being left on and caused image problems. By turning Erp on, it booted up fine. Just thinking aloud.

Berton said:

As to that question, two computers on the dealers shelf are alike until sold and put into use then there is at least one thing different between the two computers so the combination of devices could be causing the problem. One thing I'd try is using a USB Hub and both devices plugged into it. I have a Win10 on an AMD Phenom II X4 965 without any issues with USB 2 and USB 3.

Click to expand...

Excellent idea. I tried my USB hub. But it made no difference, unfortunately.

That is encouraging to hear about the AMD processor. Although yours is AM3 socket whereas both mine were/are AM4 socket Ryzen with a different chipsets. For each computer, I bought the components separately and built my own. I suppose there is room for error on my own part although I don't go out of my way to customise anything. I did squint at the UEFI settings but there is room I overlooked something in there.

thecaretaker said:

Have you tried turning ERP (Energy-Related Products) in the BIOS? This turns the USB power off when PC is shutdown. Being freshly powered up, they might work. I had an issue with a LED temperature monitor and it hated being left on and caused image problems. By turning Erp on, it booted up fine. Just thinking aloud.

Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Not heard of that one before. Where in UEFI would that be (approximately)? I looked on the Internet for info, and Wikipedia said that ERP compliant products would have the CE marking, and my oldish Headset does actually have the CE marking according to the box. So maybe not actually a problem. Unless Wikipedia is wrong or inaccurate. I am still interested to find out because I'd never heard of Energy-Related Products before.

ERP should be in the Power section of the UEFI firmware (aka BIOS). Your issue is because these devices are not properly identified (and as a result not properly initialized) after a restart or cold boot. If you replug them they are configured properly and work. The ERP setting should work, otherwise you have to unplug/replug them. To avoid that you could buy a USB hub with switches and connect the affected devices there, so you can switch it off and back on to make them work without repluging.

Yes, but why are devices now not identified on boot? They worked perfectly well without any ERP setting on Windows 7+BIOS machine. Problem only occurred in UEFI+Win10/11. Yes, USB hub with switches is a good idea. I'll check out the UEFI when I get time, and report back. At the moment I am tied up with other things.

Eureka! Windows 7 machines didn't have "Fast Boot", so they did a full device initialization. Your Windows 11 uses "Fast Boot" so not always all devices are properly initialized. Try disabling "Fast Boot" or similar in UEFI firmware (aka BIOS).