Installing a DMA card in the game PC
Seat the board, run the USB cable to the right port, and check that both PCs see the card before you move on to firmware.
Short answer
Shut down and unplug the game PC, then seat the card fully in a free PCIe or M.2 slot with clearance beside the GPU. Screw the bracket down and run a USB 3 cable from the card's data port to a rear USB 3 port on the second PC. Boot the game PC first and confirm the card enumerates before you install any driver.
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How to install the card, step by step
The whole install takes ten minutes if nothing is in the way. Do not skip the shutdown, because seating a PCIe card while the PC has power is how boards get destroyed.
- Shut the game PC down fully and unplug its power cable from the wall
- Hold the power button for five seconds to drain any residual charge
- Open the side panel and pick a free PCIe slot with room beside the GPU
- Touch a bare metal part of the chassis to ground yourself before you handle the board
- Line up the card's PCIe fingers with the slot and press straight down until the card is fully seated
- Screw the bracket to the case so the card cannot tilt out when the cable pulls on it
- Route the USB cable out of the case with enough slack that nothing pulls on the socket
- Close the case, reconnect power, and boot the game PC on its own first
Warning
Why a partly seated card looks like a driver problem
In a first build, mistaking a partly seated card for a driver problem is the single most common misdiagnosis. A board sitting a millimetre high still lights up and still accepts a USB cable, yet the second PC reports "device not found". Before you touch a driver, reopen the case and confirm that the card is fully seated and the bracket is flush.
How to connect the USB cable
Follow these steps in order, because a mistake here makes every later step report a false failure.
- Find the card's DATA port, which is the FT601 side and usually the one further from the PCIe fingers
- Use a USB 3 cable rated for data, ideally the one supplied with the board
- Plug the other end into a REAR motherboard USB 3 port on the second PC
- For the first test, avoid front-panel headers, unpowered hubs, docks and extension cables
- Boot the game PC, wait for Windows to reach the desktop, and only then boot the second PC
Which PC boots first, and why?
The game PC's PCIe slot powers the card and its BIOS enumerates it, so the second PC can only see a device that already exists.
- 1. Game PC
- Powers and enumerates the card over PCIe
- 2. Second PC
- Sees the card over USB once it is already alive
- On a hang
- Full shutdown of the game PC — not a restart — then cold boot
- Never
- Unplug the USB cable while the reader software is mid-read
Tip
Why doesn't a restart clear a hung card?
When a card stops responding, a Windows restart on the game PC often does not clear it, because the slot never loses power. Instead, shut down fully, wait five to ten seconds and then power on, which resolves the overwhelming majority of hung-card reports. Make this a habit early, because it will save you several support tickets.
Common questions about installing the card
Does the card need extra power?
No, these boards draw all the power they need from the slot, so there is no PCIe power connector to attach.
Which slot should I choose if I have several?
Choose the slot with the most physical clearance and the easiest cable route, because airflow and access matter while lane count does not.
Can the cable run through a case cutout?
Yes, if nothing pinches the cable and there is slack at the card end, because tension on the USB-C socket slowly breaks a board.
The card's LEDs are on, but the second PC sees nothing. What should I do?
Work through it in order: make sure the cable is in the data port, not the flashing port, and swap to a known-good USB 3 cable. Next, move to a different rear USB 3 port, install the FTDI driver on the second PC, and then cold-boot the game PC.
Sources
This procedure comes from bench work, so the advice on seating a card, clearances, screw order and boot order is based on doing it rather than on a published document.
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