Yubico Forum

I purchased a Yubikey 4 and then a replacement. I've tried to use both keys on different computers and I get the same result with both keys.

On one computer, only slot 1 works. When I hold the button down longer for slot 2, I just spits out slot 1. The same thing happens with both keys. However, if I use a USB port on the back of the computer, both slots work just fine.

On another computer, slots 1 and 2 work just fine. However (again on both keys) U2F doesn't work on the front USB ports. However, U2F does work on the USB ports on the back of the computer.

Basically, it's not a defective key (unless all Yubikey 4's have a bug) as I get the same results with two different keys. Also, something different happens with different computers (but again, exactly the same for multiple Yubikey 4's).

It would seem that there's some compatibility bugs with the Yubikey 4. This is a HUGE problem because if I'm expected to use this key to lock up my devices or secure my passwords/accounts and the key doesn't work reliably, I'm locked out.

I've attempted to solve this problem with Yubico tech support with no solution. Is anyone else having odd problems like this? It's $40 for a piece of plastic that probably costs $0.50 to make. As it is now, it's about worthless as I need to crawl under my desks every time I need to use it as it only seems to work reliably from the rear USB ports.

Tim

After a lot of trial and error, it seems that the YubiKey is not 100% compatible with all USB ports. Or, more specifically, the YubiKey is only compatible with Intel-based ports. So, if you have an AMD processor, you probably don't have Intel USB ports, and therefore you will have problems with your YubiKey.

Yubico is blaming the USB hardware/drivers and considering the case closed. However, the problem still remains, you may have no way of authenticating if you happen to be using a computer with a certain manufacture of USB port.

Maybe I'm just lucky that the two computers I use both don't work with the YubiKey and the keys work for everyone else in the world. But, I'm guessing that's not the case. Yuibico seems to think this is so rare that they don't care to resolve the problem. However, I can't believe I'm so lucky to have a 100% failure rate and the problem isn't more wide-spread.

So now the solution from Yubico is to always carry a USB extender with me so I can extend a USB port from the rear of the computer to access my YubiKey. So much for a small device you attach to your key chain!

If you see me, I'll probably be on my hands and knees under a desk pressing a button so I can log on. Ridiculous.


Tim