Focusrite Scarlett USB problem with x570 boards?

[ardweebno]

Hello all! I have a weird USB problem that I can't seem to overcome. I have a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 (3rd gen) with the USB-C interface and it acts super weird on both of my x570-based hacks. I have tried this on an ASRock x570 Taichi and an ASRock Phantom Gaming 4 and both show the same symptoms: external USB audio devices sound bad or become increasingly more distorted with use. I think the comming thread is this happens when connected to XHC* USB controllers.

Does anyone have confirmed success running a Focusrite Scarlett with the Focusrite Control app on an x570 system? If so, please reply back with your board and the USB controller connected to the Focusrite device.

Thanks!

 

[RyzeCooker]

Have you tried setting the PCIe generation to 3 (from 4/Auto)? I have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo with stuttering and distortion which went away after setting the generation to 3. I have never gotten Focusrite Controller software to detect the device under macOS, even though it works correctly.

 

[ardweebno]

Have you tried setting the PCIe generation to 3 (from 4/Auto)? I have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo with stuttering and distortion which went away after setting the generation to 3. I have never gotten Focusrite Controller software to detect the device under macOS, even though it works correctly.

Yes, that was actually the first thing I did. I have a suspecion that my specific problem is likely consistent with all x570 boards as they all implement the (3) XHC-based USB controllers built into the chipset. I have ordered a pair of PCIe USB cards (mac compatible) that are separate from the built-in XHC-based controllers. If the Focusrute (and by extension, the rest of my fleet of USB sound devices) works, this will lend some credence to that idea. I based this on findings that the only confirmed 3rd gen Ryzen hacks with working Scarlett devices (and USB sound devices in general) are either B450 or X470-based systems.

 

[Hbg1968]

My 3rd GEn solo seems to work okay. Gigabyte B450M

 

[RyzeCooker]

I have ordered a pair of PCIe USB cards (mac compatible) that are separate from the built-in XHC-based controllers. If the Focusrute (and by extension, the rest of my fleet of USB sound devices) works, this will lend some credence to that idea.

I'm very curious to learn of your findings. Might go that route as well. I hadn't realised beforehand the USB part of Hackintosh would be such a pain in the arse.

 

[ardweebno]

My 3rd GEn solo seems to work okay. Gigabyte B450M

And the "Focusrite Control" app works for you? If it does, that's one more datapoint for me that this is a x570-wide issue.

 

[ardweebno]

I'm very curious to learn of your findings. Might go that route as well. I hadn't realised beforehand the USB part of Hackintosh would be such a pain in the arse.

Normally USB just works. Every hack I've built has been just fine....except this x570 system. In fact, until this one I have never had to map my USB ports. Looking back I probably should have, but never felt compelled to do it since everything "just works". The USB cards will be here tomorrow and I will update the thread then.

 

[ardweebno]

I may have had a breakthrough with these audio problems. I'm still waiting on the USB cards to arrive, but I started wondering if the reason audio apps have the most problems could be somehow related to SMT. So, I disabled SMT in BIOS and was able to record over an hour of content in Logic Pro X without audio glitching. The Focusrite control app still does not work, but it does look like the glitching could be related to SMT. Try disabling SMT in your BIOS to see if it helps with the audio glitches.

 

[Hbg1968]

And the "Focusrite Control" app works for you? If it does, that's one more datapoint for me that this is a x570-wide issue.

Yes it does. Not at 1st, until i mapped my usb ports. I also had to change which usb port it was plugged into.

 

[ardweebno]

Yes it does. Not at 1st, until i mapped my usb ports. I also had to change which usb port it was plugged into.

Once again, it works on a B450 board, not x570!

 

[ardweebno]

I'm very curious to learn of your findings. Might go that route as well. I hadn't realised beforehand the USB part of Hackintosh would be such a pain in the arse.

Good news and bad news. I received both o the PCIe-based USB cards and both work under Catalina. The Focusrite Control app stil does not work, but the audio distortion problems appear to be gone. I was able to turn SMT on again without causing audio distortion. Also, I had to move everything off of the built-in USB ports and put everything on the new cards in order to achieve this.

 

[RyzeCooker]

Hm, well on the bright side, at least you managed to iron out one important thing. I have one of those cards on order as well. Will see if the Focusrite Control app does anything on my board when I move it over. Not holding my breath based on your experience.

 

[ardweebno]

Hm, well on the bright side, at least you managed to iron out one important thing. I have one of those cards on order as well. Will see if the Focusrite Control app does anything on my board when I move it over. Not holding my breath based on your experience.

One bit of weirdness I did see while installing the USB cards.... The cards are 1x PCIe cards, but you may be tempted to install them in an open x8 or x16 slot. I did this at first and noticed I had tons of USB bus resets in the system log. The system ran suggishly the entire time the card was installed in a x16 slot. My only open x1 slow is right below the GPU (which I wanted to avoid due to airflow concerns for the GPU), but after I put it in a proper x1 slot, everything cleared up and the system was snappy once again.

 

[ardweebno]

HOLY HELL THIS HAS BEEN FIXED!
...by replacing the x570 TAICHI motherboard.

As a test, I bought a different x570 motherboard and tried it with my existing EFI. The board I purchased is a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite (non-wifi) and the damn thing works with the existing EFI as-is. I literally did not touch a thing. Just replaced the motherboard, put everything back together and it booted up. All of my sound problems are gone. Even the built-in audio seems to be working without garbeled audio. That being said, I still could not get the Focusrite control app to work, so I reinstalled one of the PCIe USB cards I purchased previously, connected the Scarlett 4i4 to one of the USB-C ports AND IT FREAKING WORKS!

I really should not be so happy having it work and not knowing why, but given the mystical black art that is hackintoshing, I'm not going to think to hard about and risk breaking it.

One more thing.... I have historically had sketchy, tempremental Bluetooth support, even though I'm using an Apple natively supported mini-PCIe Broadcom card. After replacing the motherboard, my bluetooth is glitch-free everytime. I can even unlock my system with Apple Watch now!

 

[Hbg1968]

HOLY HELL THIS HAS BEEN FIXED!
...by replacing the x570 TAICHI motherboard.

As a test, I bought a different x570 motherboard and tried it with my existing EFI. The board I purchased is a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite (non-wifi) and the damn thing works with the existing EFI as-is. I literally did not touch a thing. Just replaced the motherboard, put everything back together and it booted up. All of my sound problems are gone. Even the built-in audio seems to be working without garbeled audio. That being said, I still could not get the Focusrite control app to work, so I reinstalled one of the PCIe USB cards I purchased previously, connected the Scarlett 4i4 to one of the USB-C ports AND IT FREAKING WORKS!

I really should not be so happy having it work and not knowing why, but given the mystical black art that is hackintoshing, I'm not going to think to hard about and risk breaking it.

One more thing.... I have historically had sketchy, tempremental Bluetooth support, even though I'm using an Apple natively supported mini-PCIe Broadcom card. After replacing the motherboard, my bluetooth is glitch-free everytime. I can even unlock my system with Apple Watch now!

Good to hear it has worked.
PS, all I was showing was worked previously for me that worked, and hopefully the same proces might help, as It did for me.

 

[RyzeCooker]

Chiming in with another success. Bought a cheap 25 euro Inateck card earlier this week. Installed it with no issue. Focusrite Control immediately recognised my Scarlett Solo. Thanks for your test run, ardweebno!

 

[Hbg1968]

Chiming in with another success. Bought a cheap 25 euro Inateck card earlier this week. Installed it with no issue. Focusrite Control immediately recognised my Scarlett Solo. Thanks for your test run, ardweebno!

Hi, is this a usb pci card?

 

[RyzeCooker]

Yes, a simple pcie card, this one. It draws power from the slot, so no need to add power or anything.

 

[Hbg1968]

Yes, a simple pcie card, this one. It draws power from the slot, so no need to add power or anything.

Awesome. I found this One whiten searching this beans on Amazon. No mention of MacOS, but it does have usbc.

 

[RyzeCooker]

Ah, that's a good idea. I just wanted to be 100 percent sure it'd work.