Loss of SATA connections

[Hoods]

ICit2lol Just for interest's sake, I rang PC CaseGear this morning and checked with them - they confirmed what I thought, that an external hub won't deliver USB3 via a USB2 port - which is all I have on my MB. They suggested a Silverstone card. Meanwhile, I have reinstalled everything and my system appears to be healed after a few crazy things happening. Not a bad thing. I will mirror this installation then try the Astrotek again, and if it plays up no big deal.

 

[essenbe]

Hoods, for future reference, when you install Windows, ALWAYS unplug all hard drives except the one you are going to install Windows on. It can save you a lot of grief, and I suspect you have more than you think. That being said, if you get a USB 3.0 PCI or PCIe card, you can have USB 3.0. However, I would consider an eSATA extension. You will get much faster speeds with eSATA than with USB 3.0 and it has other advantages too. However, just remember, with a USB hub, you are running several USB devices through 1 port, which means you will not get full speed out of any of the devices on the hub, unless you use them one at a time, which sort of defeats the purpose of the hub.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

ICit2lol Just for interest's sake, I rang PC CaseGear this morning and checked with them - they confirmed what I thought, that an external hub won't deliver USB3 via a USB2 port - which is all I have on my MB. They suggested a Silverstone card. Meanwhile, I have reinstalled everything and my system appears to be healed after a few crazy things happening. Not a bad thing. I will mirror this installation then try the Astrotek again, and if it plays up no big deal.

No my mistake mate should have checked before but that board does not support 3.0 USB anyway though I am surprised that the 3.0 hub isn't back compatible. I also notice too that SATA is limited to 3Gbs for that board too. So my suggestion would be a 2.0 hub as I still think getting internal cards to work after my little experience is not worth it.

Apologies again for not being a little more vigilant re the board.

 

[Britton30]

The hub would be backwards compatible mate and would run at USB 2.0.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

The hub would be backwards compatible mate and would run at USB 2.0.

Hmm well I thought I was right I don't know why PCCG told Hoods that??

 

[Britton30]

The hub would be backwards compatible mate and would run at USB 2.0.

Hmm well I thought I was right I don't know why PCCG told Hoods that??

They told him the same thing in different words. They didn't say it wouldn't function at all, but that a USB 3 hub can't deliver USB 3 speed on a USB 2 connection.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

The hub would be backwards compatible mate and would run at USB 2.0.

Hmm well I thought I was right I don't know why PCCG told Hoods that??

They told him the same thing in different words. They didn't say it wouldn't function at all, but that a USB 3 hub can't deliver USB 3 speed on a USB 2 connection.

My mistake I read it as it would not run form a 2.0 port

 

[Hoods]

They told him the same thing in different words. They didn't say it wouldn't function at all, but that a USB 3 hub can't deliver USB 3 speed on a USB 2 connection.

Oh how words can confuse. That's what I was trying to say, but obviously not very well. Sorry for any confusion! (PC Casegear confirmed it - they're good guys to deal with and where I get most of my stuff.)

I thought that a " hub" was just an extension for increasing the number of your existing USB ports, and assumed that such a thing would run at USB2 speeds if it was plugged into a USB2 port.

For the record "he" is a near-70-yr-old granny.

 

[Britton30]

Hello Granny! I'm a 65 year old Grandpa.

 

[essenbe]

Hello Granny! I'm a 65 year old Grandpa.

I'm a Grandpa too, but 1 up on him. Experience and treachery will beat youth and enthusiasm every time.

 

[Britton30]

Yup, my youth and enthusiasm has been beat.

 

[Hoods]

Well!!! Oldies rock! (When they remember how.)

 

[essenbe]

There are plenty of us here.

 

[Layback Bear]

I can remember most everything sooner or later.
The later seem to be leaps and bounds ahead of sooner.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

They told him the same thing in different words. They didn't say it wouldn't function at all, but that a USB 3 hub can't deliver USB 3 speed on a USB 2 connection.

Oh how words can confuse. That's what I was trying to say, but obviously not very well. Sorry for any confusion! (PC Casegear confirmed it - they're good guys to deal with and where I get most of my stuff.)

I thought that a " hub" was just an extension for increasing the number of your existing USB ports, and assumed that such a thing would run at USB2 speeds if it was plugged into a USB2 port.

For the record "he" is a near-70-yr-old granny.

Hmm 67 yo Granddad here Hoods and yes I get all my gear from them too as they are on the money when it comes to price if you compare them to a lot of the others. Mind you the shipping rates are getting a tad on the expensive side

 

[Hoods]

@essenbe, you said ...

if you get a USB 3.0 PCI or PCIe card, you can have USB 3.0. However, I would consider an eSATA extension. You will get much faster speeds with eSATA than with USB 3.0 and it has other advantages too.

Can you elaborate on that, please? Not anything I'm familiar with and none the wiser for Googling it. I can't see what plugs into the sockets of the PCIE card -- looks like sata sockets??

I have a 3TB Hitachi USB3 drives, and some smaller USB3 self-powered portables. How would I connect these using a sata extension, and did you mean a sata pcie card? TIA for any enlightenment.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hoods have a read of these because I was also wondering if the external required power in addition to the data route laptop - Does eSATA require power source? - Super User look at the pics of the ports - I didn't know there were different ones to be honest.

The last paragraph in this says some interesting stuff too. Comparing eSATA vs. USB 3.0 | PCMag.com

If you are looking for the cards - Controller Cards

I suspect these would be the powered types but did not look that closely .

 

[Layback Bear]

I don't know if this will help but I will explain how my eSATA works. This is what I use.

http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707189

Option 1. Using eSATA on a external SSD Enclosure I plug in my eSATA cable into the Enclosure and motherboard for data transfer and also have to plug in another cable to a USB 3.0/2.0 port for power to the Enclosure.

Option 2. Just plug in the seperate USB 3.0/2.0 cable from the Enclosure to a USB 3.0/2.0 port on the computer. Nothing else. The USB 3.0/2.0 supplies power and data transfer.

 

[essenbe]

@essenbe, you said ...

if you get a USB 3.0 PCI or PCIe card, you can have USB 3.0. However, I would consider an eSATA extension. You will get much faster speeds with eSATA than with USB 3.0 and it has other advantages too.

Can you elaborate on that, please? Not anything I'm familiar with and none the wiser for Googling it. I can't see what plugs into the sockets of the PCIE card -- looks like sata sockets??

I have a 3TB Hitachi USB3 drives, and some smaller USB3 self-powered portables. How would I connect these using a sata extension, and did you mean a sata pcie card? TIA for any enlightenment.

At the time I made that comment we were talking about USB Hubs. That wouldn't apply to a USB PCIe card. A hub just extends and gives more ports. But, it plugs into 1 USB port on the computer. So, if you had 4 USB ports on a hub and it plugged into 1 port on the computer, that port it plugs into (on the computer) is only capable of a certain speed. So, everything plugged into the hub has to share the speed of the USB port it plugs into(on the computer). A PCIe card with several ports will supply ample bandwidth and is completely different than a hub. I hope that explains it better.

 

[Hoods]

Thanks a lot for all your input, boys.

I think I'll stick with a USB3 card. I mean my old Etron card worked absolutely fine, until it didn't...I can afford to try a couple of different cards until I find something that my system likes. They are cheap enough, and, after all, I've just saved He Who is Rarely Obeyed pots of money...I was in the market for a new PC but this old duck runs so sweetly 99.999% of the time (the computer, I mean!) that I don't see any point in retiring her just yet and I'd rather spend the allotted $$ on a laptop. I will report on the Astrotek when I've put it back in.