After much diagnostic mucking I realize my portable drive problems are due to the USB 3.0 ports on this motherboard. It seems all the prior threads on DX79SI USB 3.0 problems die around the beginning of 2013 with no solution. I am having all the problems mentioned in previous posts, in particular:
1) boot hanging for 20 seconds on "58"
2) if I leave my WD Elements or Passport drive plugged in to USB 3.0 port (front or rear) when I reboot I get a yellow bang in Device manager for the USB 3.0 controller with the error message "device cannot start". Uninstalling the device and scanning for hardware changes fixes it.
If I use the USB 2.0 port....no problems at all just slower speed of course.
I have tried BIOS 525 (which says fixes the problem), 537 (just because I had it) and 594. No difference. I have the latest 2.1.28.1 Renesas drivers.
This problem has been around for years has anyone ever fixed it? (without buying a new USB 3.0 card!).
DX79SI, 3820 processor
16 Gb RAM
Windows 7 Pro x64
WD drives are the only USB 3.0 devices.
Thanks,
Matt