Recoil 2023 13th Gen USB Issues

[Himjip]

Hi all,

Relating to the 2023 Core i9 13th Gen Recoil model, I'm experiencing a USB irregularity and I wanted to start a thread to see if anyone else was having the same problem.

Note that this issue was experienced prior to the BIOS update posted here and has not been solved in the update linked below. Also, all drivers from the PCS portal are in use on a clean install of Win11 pro, and various Nvidia geforce drivers have been tested with no difference between each.

Notice for owners of the 16" and 17" Recoil

Hello Everyone, Chris here, from the PCS technical team. We have heard that there is currently a freezing issue being reported with the 4080 and 4090 models of our 16" and 17" Recoil laptops. Our friends over at XMG have worked with the manufacturer to develop a BIOS with a fix for this and...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

The USB A ports are listed as being '3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports' in the spec - I find that the port on the left side can operate up to 10Gb/s while the other two USB A ports max out at 5Gb/s.

From testing, I get normal function from the two USB A ports on the right of the device

The single USB A port on the left seems very flaky though as does the USB C on the rear. I have my laptop set up to do file transfers to an external enclosure on the left hand side USB port as it transfers faster and the rear port is connected to an ultrawide display (USB C to DP).

I get very regular disconnections on the left most USB port, less frequent disconnections on the rear USB port but still enough to be noteworthy

I also regularly find that on booting Windows, the rear USB port quite often fails to initialise leaving just the inbuilt display functional

I have a secondary work laptop (Dell Precision) on a 12th Gen i7 with Nvidia A1000 discreet graphics that has none of these issues with the same peripherals by comparison. Very frustrating as you can imagine.

I'll continue to test and post any findings - it would be good to hear of similar experiences or constructive suggestions if anyone has them

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi all,

Relating to the 2023 Core i9 13th Gen Recoil model, I'm experiencing a USB irregularity and I wanted to start a thread to see if anyone else was having the same problem.

Note that this issue was experienced prior to the BIOS update posted here and has not been solved in the update linked below. Also, all drivers from the PCS portal are in use on a clean install of Win11 pro, and various Nvidia geforce drivers have been tested with no difference between each.

Notice for owners of the 16" and 17" Recoil

Hello Everyone, Chris here, from the PCS technical team. We have heard that there is currently a freezing issue being reported with the 4080 and 4090 models of our 16" and 17" Recoil laptops. Our friends over at XMG have worked with the manufacturer to develop a BIOS with a fix for this and...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

The USB A ports are listed as being '3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports' in the spec - I find that the port on the left side can operate up to 10Gb/s while the other two USB A ports max out at 5Gb/s.

From testing, I get normal function from the two USB A ports on the right of the device

The single USB A port on the left seems very flaky though as does the USB C on the rear. I have my laptop set up to do file transfers to an external enclosure on the left hand side USB port as it transfers faster and the rear port is connected to an ultrawide display (USB C to DP).

I get very regular disconnections on the left most USB port, less frequent disconnections on the rear USB port but still enough to be noteworthy

I also regularly find that on booting Windows, the rear USB port quite often fails to initialise leaving just the inbuilt display functional

I have a secondary work laptop (Dell Precision) on a 12th Gen i7 with Nvidia A1000 discreet graphics that has none of these issues with the same peripherals by comparison. Very frustrating as you can imagine.

I'll continue to test and post any findings - it would be good to hear of similar experiences or constructive suggestions if anyone has them

Hiya, can you post your full specs from the order page please?

 

[Himjip]

Hi - sure, see below

Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 17" Matte QHD 240Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1600)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24 Core Processor 13900HX (5.4GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair 4800MHz SODIMM DDR5 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 4090 - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
RAID
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Recoil Series Integrated 99WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
LIQUID METAL PERFORMANCE COOLING
Sound Card
Nahimic by SteelSeries 2 Channel HD Audio
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.3
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 4 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
RECOIL 17 SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00005]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi - sure, see below

Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 17" Matte QHD 240Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1600)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24 Core Processor 13900HX (5.4GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair 4800MHz SODIMM DDR5 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 4090 - 16.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
RAID
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Recoil Series Integrated 99WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
LIQUID METAL PERFORMANCE COOLING
Sound Card
Nahimic by SteelSeries 2 Channel HD Audio
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.3
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 4 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
RECOIL 17 SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00005]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Can you also upload screenshots of your optional updates page and device manager?

 

[SpyderTracks]

So it states this as the port specs:

1 x Thunderbolt™ 4 Port, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Por

Which would align with what you're saying about the left and right hand port speeds. Gen 2 is 10Gb/s

The one at the rear I believe is the thunderbolt port, although it uses a USB C interface, it's not a USB port although does support basic USB devices. Is the monitor you're attaching a thunderbolt monitor? Can you post the make and model of monitor?

 

[Himjip]

See below as requested

It's worth noting that the disconnection issue is also experienced in a Win PE environment as well as in Win11 desktop.
The Macrium rescue environment (PE booting from a USB stick) suffers these same disconnections, usually mid-way through restoring or creating an image of the system disk. The USB stick is created from the full client being installed in Windows and hence uses the same USB drivers when loading the PE environment.

 

[SpyderTracks]

It's worth noting that the disconnection issue is also experienced in a Win PE environment as well as in Win11 desktop.

That's a very good point, that would suggest a hardware issue conclusively.

I'd be looking at an RMA, doesn't matter if it's affecting other people or not although of course it's always good to find out if it's a systemic issue on this chassis or not, it shouldn't be behaving in that way, suggest some sort of power issue perhaps.

 

[Himjip]

I'm inclined to agree - my mind was drawn to thinking this could be a consequence of low power/signal delivery over the affected USB ports or something along those lines.

The reason I'm asking for other's experiences is this is already an RMA'd laptop - the first one of the exact same spec was having the 13th Gen/40-series Nvidia nvlddmkm issues. The RMA seemed to sort that out but both of them have these USB reliability problems.

I wanted to see if this USB issue was also widespread and something affecting series/model at large

 

[SpyderTracks]

I'm inclined to agree - my mind was drawn to thinking this could be a consequence of low power/signal delivery over the affected USB ports or something along those lines.

The reason I'm asking for other's experiences is this is already an RMA'd laptop - the first one of the exact same spec was having the 13th Gen/40-series Nvidia nvlddmkm issues. The RMA seemed to sort that out but both of them have these USB reliability problems.

I wanted to see if this USB issue was also widespread and something affecting series/model at large

Did you report the USB issues in the other RMA?

 

[Himjip]

It was previously mentioned in numerous emails pertaining to the first device but isn't exclusively mentioned in the first RMA notes.
I've since emailed support relative to the second device reitterating that this is still an issue - I'm waiting to hear back on that.
I appreciate your thoughts on this

 

[SpyderTracks]

It was previously mentioned in numerous emails pertaining to the first device but isn't exclusively mentioned in the first RMA notes.
I've since emailed support relative to the second device reitterating that this is still an issue - I'm waiting to hear back on that.
I appreciate your thoughts on this

Keep us posted, and best of luck, I’d be really interested what come from this and if anyone else is experiencing the same issues

 

[Sakki]

Might be worth looking at this,

https://www.reddit.com/r/XMG_gg/comments/13brj28

The Recoil 17" corresponds with the Neo 17, and the USB drop-out issues sounds the same as yours which is caused by a missing thermal pad on the PCH.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Might be worth looking at this,

https://www.reddit.com/r/XMG_gg/comments/13brj28

The Recoil 17" corresponds with the Neo 17, and the USB drop-out issues sounds the same as yours which is caused by a missing thermal pad on the PCH.

That's looks like it corresponds pretty well.

@Himjip You can add a thermal pad yourself without affecting warranty if you want to. I'd personally recommend Thermal Grizzly pads, they're extremely effective and not expensive, you can pick them up at Amazon and most component stores

BUT I would definitely raise it with PCS in any case, even if just to make them aware and put it on your file. They may request that they do the work to maintain warranty, or give you the go ahead to do it yourself if you feel comfortable, but either way, it's best to make them aware.

 

[Himjip]

@Sakki , @SpyderTracks - Guys, thanks so much for this - good to see it's a known issue and not just down to my way of working

I've raised the issue with PCS and will reply back with the outcome

 

[jonnyka]

hey man

"I also regularly find that on booting Windows, the rear USB port quite often fails to initialise leaving just the inbuilt display functional"

I have exactly this too with my recoil 17, I'll try the thermal pad solution

 

[GulApa]

Hey there. I too have been experiencing the initalization issues you mentioned. I own a recoil 16" with almost the same configuration (only the SSD's are different) and I have my audio peripherals connected to the USB ports on the right. Each time I boot my PC, I need to disconnect and reconnect the USB cables to make the PC recognise the peripherials. The issue does not occur with my USB sticks. I might try the thermal pads but I might need another month for that to happen...

 

[Himjip]

Quick update

I've not tried the thermal pad modification yet so no news on that although I did find this useful download link to the equivalent model on XMG's website

***link removed, other SIs drivers and software may be different to PCS and can cause major issues, always seek driver updates from PCS unless they give you authorisation orherwise***

 

[Limpduck]

Just to note for anyone finding this although only the first bunch of orders should be affected, i also had this issue and went through a number of thunderbolt and usb hubs before finding out it was a overheating issue. PCS sent me a heat pad that i installed and have not had a single issue since. I use an external kb+mouse via a usb switch and had regular disconnects / usb driver failures.