USB configuration with an ASUS motherboard

Mark D. Kinter writes:  "The OS is Windows XP SP3 with all current updates.  The computer is Asus P5LD2 with Intel Duo Core and 4 GB ram.  Zadig is the XP version.  SDR# is the current version.   The motherboard has only USB 2.0 so I assumed that by turning on USB in the setup that I would have USB 2.0.  That assumption was wrong.

(DJT notes: there are two versions of USB 2.0, "hi-speed" which is 480 Mb/s, and "full-speed" which is only USB 1.1 speeds.  For more information, please see here.  The newer USB 3.0 is SuperSpeed at 5 Gb/s.)

Under the USB configuration tab in the setup menu are 4 more tabs.

1. USB Function
2. Legacy USB support
3. USB 2.0 Controller
4. USB 2.0 Controller Mode
5. BIOS EHCI Handoff

 The choices under 1. Are Disabled/Enabled.  I enabled it.

The choices under 2. Are Disabled/Enabled/Auto.  I used Auto.  Auto is supposed to recognize legacy devices and act appropriately, but if not, I guess that's why the enable tab is there.  I understand that this function also interacts with #4.

The choices under 3. are Enabled/Disabled.  I chose Enabled.  This seems redundant with #1.

(DJT: perhaps this switches between 2.0 and 1.1?)

The choices under 4. are Full Speed/Hi Speed.  I understand that High speed is more stable than Full speed so that's what I chose.

(DJT: No, hi-speed is 480 Mb/s and what you need for an RTL dongle, full-speed is just too slow at 12 Mb/s.)

The choices under 5. are Disabled/Enabled.  I chose Disabled.  I understand this is a function of the OS and that XPsp3 takes care of this.  I understand that if this is disabled, that #2 must also be disabled, but I don't know it that's true.

My system runs very well now, and I have no plans to experiment.  Your mileage may vary.