Question 1

Does this controller work during the boot process? I have a computer that the onboard USB ports have burned out and need to find a USB controller that will work during the boot process to enable the keyboiard. This is necessary to access the Bios, Boot Order Screens, login screen, OS installation screens, and to allow booting from a USB Stick for installation. The ones from Tekrepublic that I purchased from Newegg aren't capable of any of that.

Accepted Answer

Donal,

I haven't tried the keyboard but I have a Razer optical mouse and two portable drives hooked up to it and it comes up without any problems. Hope this helps.

Question 2

Is this compatable with my 2010 Mac Pro?

Accepted Answer

It requires a PCIe x1 slot, I am unfamiliar with macs or their motherboards, but I'd guess you have them. It shouldn't need software to run.

Have to ask a Mac guy I guess

Question 3

Is this card half height or full height?  Thank you!

Accepted Answer

As can be seen in the oblique rear view photo of the Rosewill RC-229U4 PCI-Express 2.0 x1 USB 3.0 Controller Card that was provided by Newegg, there are four USB3 connectors on the rear panel plate, so the spacing requires this card to be more-or-less a 2/3 height. I have a two port card in another computer that IS actually 1/2 height, so if you have space problem inside your case, this might solve any height problem. Be aware that this card also has a micro-SATA power connector on the rear edge that must be connected to the power supply. The card comes with an (old style) Molex power connector to micro-SATA conversion/extension cable, but if all of your available power connectors are micro-SATA you may have to buy an extension as well as having the space to connect it to the card. Once connected and the proper driver is installed (file is on the included CD), the card works well.

Question 4

How do I install linux drivers really need these ports to work?

Accepted Answer

Depends on the Distro. You need to have a fairly new release that is using the 3.2.0.4 kernel or newer. If you have an older kernel you'll more than likely need to update the kernel or upgrade to a newer Linux release. Ubuntu based distros from 12.04 on should have no problems with it. For the most part any distro released since 2012 should have a new enough kernel that supports this card (the drivers are built into the kernel). Your best bet is to check what kernel you have then go to the support site for your specific distro to find out how to update the kernel if needed or how to get this card working.

Unfortunately, a large segment of people who would need (or want) this are running older hardware and therefore stand a good chance of running older or lighter distros that won't support it.

Question 5

Doesn't PCIe 2.0 x1 only support 500MB/s (4Gb/s)? That means you won't be able to get full data rates on even one of the USB 3.0 ports...

Accepted Answer

On 8-24-13 I installed a new 4-port Roswell (Texas Instrument Driver) USB 3.0 card. My Old 2-port USB 3.0 card (BT-PEU310) was removed that never was faster than 2.0.
You may be right with your statement above, but I seem to be doing OK with the Roswell USB 3.0 card. I have not been receiving those messages, "Your device would operate faster if you chose a 3.0 port" lately.

Type	PCI Express to USB Card
External USB Ports	4-port USB 3.0
Data Transfer Rate	Up to 5.0 Gbps
Operating Systems Supported	Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP and Linux

Rosewill RC-229U4 - PCI-Express 2.0 x1 Controller Card with Four USB 3.0 Ports

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Model
Brand	Rosewill
Model	RC-229U4

Item#: N82E16816132045