Figuring out USB

[Judy G. Russell]

Okay... let's see here. I seem to be unable to get better than 10-12 Mbps (USB 1.1 speed) with a new external hard drive and it's driving me buggy. (Okay, buggier.)

I am trying to figure out if I have USB 2.0 support on this computer. I checked in device manager and what I see is shown in the attached image. If I'm reading this right, then I should have USB 2.0, yes?

This puzzles me because I just attached a Belkin USB Tetrahub and it has lights to indicate the speed of all devices and of the connection to the computer. It reports that (a) the connection with the computer is high speed (480 Mbps) and (b) the external hard drive is high speed (480 Mbps).

So... what else do I look at???

[Mike]

IIRC, your computer is more than a couple of years old. If so, then likely the USB ports in the computer aren't USB 2.0. However, you can buy a USB 2.0 card and plug it in. That's what I had to do.

[Judy G. Russell]

Unless my memory is really failing me, this system dates from 2002 or later, the USB 2 protocol came out in 2001, and I think the attached shows I do have USB 2, no?

[Gary Maltzen]

So... what else do I look at???
In the Device Manager
select View->Devices by Connection
What does the tree containing the Maxtor USB look like?

--my AMD 2600+ system
:-Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
: :-USB 2.0 Root Hub
: : :-Maxtor One Touch
: : : :-Maxtor One Touch USB Disk
:-Standard OpenHCD PCI to USB Host Controller
: :-USB Root Hub

Note: The presence of USB2.inf merely indicates that you have the software to support USB2 hardware...

[Judy G. Russell]

It looks like it ought to be USB2, darn it all! (See attached.)

[Judy G. Russell]

BTW, I am a little slow but I do eventually catch on. I can now say most definitively it is NOT a problem with the Maxtor drive or the Retrospect Express HD software generally. I installed the software on my new XP notebook and ran a full 1.9Gb backup with verify in 10 minutes. 477.1 MB/minute (455.3 copy, 501.1 compare). I can't do better than 150MB/min on the desktop, and usually much slower. So the problem is the desktop... somewhere...

[sidney]

Judy, if you plug a USB 2.0 drive into a USB 1.1 port, Windows XP will pop up a balloon saying "A HI-SPEED USB device is plugged into a non-HI-SPEED USB hub". Since you don't see that warning you can be sure that the diak drive is plugged into a 2.0 port. However, if the printer has a 1.1 interface and is plugged into a 2.0 port on the same hub as the disk, I think it will slow down the disk to 1.1 speeds. Try unplugging the printer and see if it makes a difference.

-- sidney

[Mike Landi]

You definitely have USB 2.0.

I wonder if you have a cable in the mix that is not 2.0 compliant?

[Mike Landi]

What type of printer do you have hooked up? I see "USB Printing Support" on the list.

[fhaber]

Listen to Sidney. A 1.1 device sharing a hub *can* slow everything down. USB2 cables are not essential, in my experience, under 10'. (USB-anything cr*ps out at 3 meters, just as the spec says, for any cable.)

Bottom line: get a card, if you have a slot. Look for "NEC chipset." They're the most reliable. Hubs are great for playing around. Root hubs (on a card) are for work.

[Judy G. Russell]

Thanks to everybody who helped me figure this out. It turned out that the chipset drivers needed updating. I found the chipset update from Intel, installed it, and VROOOOOM!

The speed changed from:

Performance: 150.9 MB/minute

to:

Performance: 777.6 MB/minute (772.9 copy, 782.3 compare)

[Mike]

Judy's desktop is running Win2K Pro, which doesn't have the alert.

At least, mine doesn't.

[Mike]

Woohoo!

[Gary Maltzen]

Awright! Scribbling 'chipset driver update?' on the infinite notecard...

[Mike Landi]

Performance: 150.9 MB/minute

to:

Performance: 777.6 MB/minute (772.9 copy, 782.3 compare)

Well done, Lady!

[Judy G. Russell]

I'd have never stuck with this if you guys hadn't been there holding my hand. Thanks!

[Judy G. Russell]

I'd have given up a while ago if you guys hadn't been there cheering me on with this. Sigh... this is all soooooooo much harder than it was with a 40Mb HD and DOS 3...

[Mike Landi]

I'd have given up a while ago if you guys hadn't been there cheering me on with this. Sigh... this is all soooooooo much harder than it was with a 40Mb HD and DOS 3...

<g>

I hear ya'.

...off to check my new Dell for the latest drivers... <g>