Yubico Forum

Hi guys, an update for you all!

So I got sick of waiting for a solution from either Yubico or Microsoft, so I decided to look into the issue in earnest myself. I found a number of other devices with similar issues moving from Windows 8 to 8.1 - external USB 3.0 HDDs and some mobile phones were the most common. I came across a dodgy workaround here, which has now restored my Yubikey NEO functionality on my laptop:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2598155

Essentially this replaces the base USB port drivers (usbport.sys and usbhub.sys) with Windows 8.0 versions instead of the 8.1 versions. It's pretty dodgy, but it does work. The workaround no longer applies for the mobile phones thanks to MS KB2917929 but it does work for the Yubikey NEO.

Obviously modifying the default Windows drivers could have some unforeseen issues, but I haven't had any so far. YMMV.

TL,DR: replace usbport.sys and usbhub.sys with Windows 8.0 versions to restore NEO functionality in 8.1.

My neo generates OTP in Windows 8.1 just fine but it is not recognized by the Configuration/Personalization utilities.

Computer is Dell Latitude E6510
Chipset Mobile Intel® QM57 Express

More updates:

Problem persists in Windows 10 and with a newer Intel chipset (Intel 5 series). Exactly the same symptoms as previously described; can be fixed by using Windows 8.0 versions usbhub.sys & usbport.sys.

New workarounds:

1. You can get the NEO to produce OTPs by plugging another USB device in first (eg, USB thumb drive; mouse, etc) to the laptop.
2. Turning off the power saving features on the USB ports seems to resolve the issue also (eg, under Device Manager, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" in both Generic USB Hubs and USB Root Hubs)

This suggests to me that power management is the issue... because the ports are powered down before any devices connected, the NEO isn't recognised correctly when first plugged in. Having something else plugged in already or disabling the power management resolves. It's likely the Windows 8.0 drivers don't have the same power management as the newer versions.

I'll update if I find anything else. I don't know if the newer FIDO versions have this issue as I don't have one to test.

Thank you so much for that post. My little Asus T100T Win 8.1 machine worked perfectly with my yubikey Neo until last weekend when I did a Windows update, and then it started being recognized as a MS smart card reader and it would not function at all - although it worked on all my other machines (Windows and android). Turning off power management did the trick. Thank you again!