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Amilo 1650G slow usb problem

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Amilo 1650G slow usb problem

Postby FoxxB » Thu May 15, 2008 7:38 am

Hi,

I just bought an external hdd drive connected to USB port and I'm really dissapointed with transfer speed - not more then 3MB/s... I check the drive with another laptop and it was MUCH faster (ca. 20MB/s) so looks like it's my usb port problem. I guess it is running in USB 1.1 mode and I cannot do anything about it.

On board I've got RS480 ATI based mainboard and I also see that there is Enhanced USB Controller (for USB2.0) so it is not hardware problem. I also saw a post on some forum that somebody tested an external drive with A1650G under Linux and the speed was ok.

Any ideas how to solve it? Drivers or BIOS update? I run Win XP pro SP2. BTW there are no settings for that in BIOS. Does anyone has 1650G and can check the transfer speed?

TIA,
Foxx
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Postby hikaru » Thu May 15, 2008 7:59 am

If it was USB 1.1 you wouldn't have more than 1,5MB/s. So the interface works with 2.0.

As far as I know, there are two possible reasons for your problem:
1. If you have any virus scanner running, deactivate it for testing and try again.
2. If the drive is USB-powered and you only connect it to one USB-port it may not be sufficient. Connect it to an external power source or use a Y-USB-cable to connect the HDD to a second port.
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Postby FoxxB » Fri May 16, 2008 5:11 pm

Thanks for advise. I've tested both - disabling antivir and I bought a powered USB hub and still only ca. 3MB/s. Do you think that copying from NTFS (pc) to FAT32 (ext drive) could be a problem? I also checked the hdd mode but it's both UDMA... any more ideas? Are there any updates of drivers for this chipset? At fujitsu there are but from 2005 and at ATI there is nothing. Damn, I'm pissed!

What's even more strange I found out that when I copy FROM the USB drive it's ca 7MB/s...
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Postby hikaru » Fri May 16, 2008 5:54 pm

The file system shouldn't matter. But sometimes Windows does strange things with FAT32-drives bigger than 32GB. Maybe a switch to another file system can solve your problem.

The chipset drivers shouldn't be the problem. Mine is not newer than yours and I have 20MB/s with my external HDD.

I still think that it is some Windows-service that scans the data transfer and slows down the connection.
Can you please try another operating system (some Linux-LiveCD)? If you reach a significantly higher transfer rate with it, we can exclude a hardware problem.

Maybe it would be helpful to know which external drive it is.
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Postby FoxxB » Sun May 18, 2008 12:13 pm

Looks like you're right - it's a windows issue... I checked the drive with Linux and it was ca. 20MB/s which is quite what I expect.

Any more ideas what to check or change?

BTW the drive is WD Elements 160GB.
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Postby hikaru » Mon May 19, 2008 8:45 am

How is the HDD powered?
Do you use an own power pack for it or just the USB-port?
If you power it via USB, do you use a Y-cable to connect it to a second port?
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Postby FoxxB » Mon May 19, 2008 9:25 am

HDD is USB powered and I use usb HUB (powered) for that. Today I will test it with Y-cable. But with the hub I checked it under Linux and transfer was 20MB/s, so it's definitely a Windows issue... What in Win can slow down the transfer???
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Postby hikaru » Mon May 19, 2008 12:23 pm

Windows runs a lot of services. It is a gamble to tell which one it is exactly. The only way to find it out I know is to deactivate one after another and test again.

If you have a USB-hub in between this could also cause touble. I don't know why it happens with Windows but not with Linux.
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Postby FoxxB » Tue May 20, 2008 8:38 am

I switched off some of the strange services and also turned on buffering for this USB drive and I got 8-9MB/s - so twice as before. Still not 20 MB/s but now it's 'accptable'...
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