Can you add USB2 functionality to a USB1 machine?

[furball]

UPDATE....

So.... I get home today, and decide to play with the HD...

I drag a 300MB file from my computer, to the USB2.0 drive... under 1 minute!

I drag the 300MB file from the USB 2.0 drive, to somewhere on my desktop. 189 minutes!?

I proceed to do a checkdisk..... It took the utility over 5 minutes to even get the the x% checked part... And it found no problems... (20GB Maxtor)

WHAT'S GOING ON??!?!

Any ideas? This HD is starting to act like DSL... great download speed, horrible upload speed?! :mad:


=====

Here's the situation...

Old motherboard that has USB1.1 built-in, no USB2.0, no firewire, running Windows XP, and 1.4G Celeron with 768MB RAM.

So I went to TigerDirect and purchased a USB2.0/FireWire PCI card, and installed it...

Am I supposed to get USB2.0 speeds whenever I plug USB devices into the controller? (obviously, USB devices plugged directly into my mobo will still be USB1)

It doesn't seem to be working..... Speeds are super slow...

I've specifically used the extension cables that case with it, so I know they're USB2.0-compatible.

Is there a tool that can tell you how fast your USB device is connected at?

(I realize USB devices that are USB 1.1 cannot be 'made' faster just because the port is USB2.... )

I bought a USB 2.0/FireWire external HD enclosure, and it takes 30 minutes to transfer a 50MB file :mad:

--- UPDATE ---

This is what I'm playing with....

Zonet 4 USB 2.0 Port & 3 Firewire Port PCI Combo Card (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1026753&CatId=0)
http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/Z165-1080-ir.jpg

Ultra 3.5" Mini Portable USB 2.0 / Firewire External Hard Drive Enclosure (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=31389&CatId=1204)
http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/U10-2816-main.jpg

[Cafe_333]

No you cannot add usb2.0 functionality to a usb1.x port. Any usb2.0 devices (provided they are downwards compatible-most but not all are) will just downclock itself to usb1.x speeds. As for measuring the speeds, why bother with any 3rd party app? Just clock the time it takes to transfer say a 2-5MB file and divide that into seconds to figure out how many MB/s you get. But if you're looking to calculate Mbits per second (Mbps) then that's a different story.

EDIT: oh whoops, lol I thought I read 'hub'.... thus I wrote about the port... :D Scratch the above, you should be getting usb2.0 speeds with a pci usb2.0 controller card.... clearly it's time for a visit to the coffee machine and wake myself up for the day.

[WiZZLa]

Yes, you should be getting USB2.0 speeds provided you plug the device into your new usb2.0 controller card, although not the advertised speeds.
Your system may be a bottleneck. What happens when you use firewire instead? If it's still slow, then your system is the bottleneck. Also, does XP say "this device will not transfer at the fastest...." when you plug in a USB1 device?

No you cannot add usb2.0 functionality to a usb1.x port. Any usb2.0 devices (provided they are downwards compatible-not all are) will just downclock itself to usb1.x speeds.
He should be able to get those speeds from the controller card tho.

[Nubee]

I never had to use a pci usb2 card before and never encountered a pc with one so I just have to guess if the card came with drivers and did you installed them? If you can exchange the usb2 card with a firewire one instead, it'll be way faster and less cpu usage :)

edit: I didn't notice that the card you bought had a firewire port as well, so why not try it as others have suggested and see if there is a change?

[willy]

You're gonna to need something like this ... Any USB 2.0 PCI cards will do. There are different brands/models with 2 ports up to 5 (4+1). Some higher-end cards also come with Firewire ports too. Take your pick.

http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/A225-3012-P.jpg

[Nubee]

You're gonna to need something like this ...

http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/A225-3012-P.jpg

I think that's what he bought at TD and still not getting USB2 speed

[itsmypostoffice]

You're gonna to need something like this ... Any USB 2.0 PCI cards will do. There are different brands/models with 2 ports up to 5 (4+1). Some higher-end cards also come with Firewire ports too. Take your pick.


that's correct, this is the only method of upgrading your mobo to usb2.0, for laptops you'd use a pcmcia adapter. it's no hassle and the performance is quite good.

xp should detect usb2.0 right away and you can test this by plugging in a regular usb1.1 peripheral --> a popup will inform you that your regular usb connection will not perform at usb2.0 speeds. although drivers updates aren't required, you should check your hardware manager to see if your new card is being recognized.

[Nubee]

that's correct, this is the only method of upgrading your mobo to usb2.0, for laptops you'd use a pcmcia adapter. it's no hassle and the performance is quite good.


he already bought a USB2/firewire pci card as he indicated on his post

[Nyte]

Are you sure the correct drivers are installed for it?

[willy]

he already bought a USB2/firewire pci card as he indicated on his post
Oh, missed that ... So it looks to me it's got to be driver issue.

Hmmm .... Do we need SP1 for USB 2 ? I forgot ... Let me search ...

UPDATE > I think it does ... http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=312370


So the question now is .... Do you have WinXP SP1 (or higher) ?

[hightech]

Plug a 2.0 device into a 2.0 plug should net 2.0 speeds

The issue becomes if the adapter is actually set for 2.0

Case in point: Went to pc village and got a firewire and usb combo card. Had issues under Windows XP and Windows 2000 to get devices to work at 2.0 speeds. Replaced the card with a different VIA chipset and things worked out just fine.

[Amourek]

Check your device manager. If USB 2.0 is working properly it should say USB Enhanced Host Controller - or something to that effect. If you're running XP, you need at least SP1 or higher.

[sleepyguy]

Try to get PCI USB 2.0 cards with the NEC chipset... i've had issues with VIA ones... although the 4in1 generally helps..

[furball]

Yes, I see Enhanced Host Controller under USB in Device Manager.

To Clarify:
- I bought a PCI combo card that has USB2.0 and FireWire. I haven't figured out how to use FireWire... it just doesn't work. And the only FireWire thing i have is the HD enclosure (it's both USB 2.0 and FW)
- When I connect the USB devices, XP does *not* say that it's in USB Slow mode, that it will work faster in Hi-Speed port, blah blah.....
- The PCI card I have has a VIA chipset....
- NO drivers are required for both the enclosure, or the PCI card... WinXP detects it.....

- Question, how long does it approximately take to transfer 50MB over USB 2.0? 100MB? (Assuming 1-5 files totalling the 50/100MB 'transaction'.... not 10000000 tiny files)


Check your device manager. If USB 2.0 is working properly it should say USB Enhanced Host Controller - or something to that effect. If you're running XP, you need at least SP1 or higher.

[furball]

This is what I'm playing with....

Zonet 4 USB 2.0 Port & 3 Firewire Port PCI Combo Card (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1026753&CatId=0)
http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/Z165-1080-ir.jpg

Ultra 3.5" Mini Portable USB 2.0 / Firewire External Hard Drive Enclosure (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=31389&CatId=1204)
http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/U10-2816-main.jpg

[furball]

bump... See the original post at the top... There's an update...

Help please. :confused:

"So.... I get home today, and decide to play with the HD...

I drag a 300MB file from my computer, to the USB2.0 drive... under 1 minute!

I drag the 300MB file from the USB 2.0 drive, to somewhere on my desktop. 189 minutes!?

I proceed to do a checkdisk..... It took the utility over 5 minutes to even get the the x% checked part... And it found no problems... (20GB Maxtor)

WHAT'S GOING ON??!?!

Any ideas? This HD is starting to act like DSL... great download speed, horrible upload speed?! "