oldgrey said:
I have an ASUS P4S8X mb with 6 USB2 connections. When I transfer data
across one of these connections the transfer speed is very slow. I
want to backup my system to an external Apricorn drive. Backups take
several hours. When I experiment with backing up to another drive on
the system the transfer times are about 5% of the USB transfer times.
Can some one post a piece of software that will allow me to see if
there is a problem with the USB2 connections. The transfer times do
not improve if all of the other USB lines are removed and only the
connection to the Apricorn drive is active.
Thanks.
http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.c..._frm/thread/680d19f36d372763/4ed82d1ea9965ad6
You need a Device Manager entry for USB that has the
word "Enhanced" in it. That implies the USB2 capability
is there.
http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm
Your motherboard has both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 ports,
so you have to select the right one.
If you still cannot get it to work, assuming this is
a problem with the chipset on the motherboard, you
could also try a PCI plugin USB2.0 card. You'll still
need Service Pack 1 to get USB2 drivers.
A USB2 card with a NEC chip would be the best choice.
You can see the "NEC" name on the picture of the PCI
card here.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116403
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/15-116-403-06.JPG
When you install WinXP SP1, if the Enhanced entry is
not in Device Manager, this page talks about a cleanup
procedure in Safe Mode. After the cleanup is complete,
and you reboot, chances are you'll see the Enhanced entry.
http://www.usbman.com/Guides/Cleanup Device Manager Safe Mode.htm
External USB to disk adapters, use a tiny bridge board.
A lot of these bridge boards have performance limitations.
Many of them will not run the IDE disk faster than 33MB/sec,
and some run slower than that (16MB/sec). One posting in
USENET I read, said that theoretically, when all the overhead
on USB2 is taken into account, you could expect a maximum of
57MB/sec (not the 60MB/sec based on the cable bit rate), but
the stinking bridge boards won't even get close.
That is why, when purchasing external enclosures, or products
like the Apricorn one, it pays to find _some_ kind of review,
that can verify the transfer performance. There are more
crappy bridge chips, than good ones, so finding a good one
isn't that easy.
Judging by your description, you could be using the USB 1.1
port, or haven't installed a Service Pack to pick up the
latest Microsoft drivers. Early in the life of USB2, I believe
the drivers were distributed separate from any Service Pack,
but now Microsoft ties the two together - no Service Pack,
no USB2 for you.
Paul
