Problem with Verbatim USB 3.0 portable drive and USB 3.0 port

[lumzi23]

Bought a brand new Verbatim Store 'n' Go Portable HDD. It was to be my first taste of USB 3.0 on my (nearly) year old gaming system. When I connected it had a couple of problems.

1. The first USB 3.0 port (front side) I connected it to kept connecting and disconnecting. So I moved to another.

2. This second (front side) port seemed to work but when I tried to transfer a file it was quite slow.

3. Eventually my computer stopped failing to recognize the drive.

4. Attempts to format or error check the drive when connected to the to the blue USB 3.0 port failed.

5 When I transferred to the USB 2.0 port to error check and format, both worked in in disk management.

6. I also downloaded the USB 3.0 drivers from the Intel site.

7. I think I may have connected something poorly when I initially built the system, however upon opening the system I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It is my first build so I could be wrong. As far as I know there is only one fairly large connector that connects to a blue USB thingy on my motherboard. The cable is usually blue but mine is black but I was under the impression that this is not unusual. My motherboard is the P8Z77-VLX from Asus and my case is the Cooler Master 690II (RC-6N2A-KNN5, I believe).

(Extra: I also should not that drive shows up as a Toshiba in the device manager. I confirmed by disconnecting and reconnecting it. Also when the drive seems to work normally on USB 2.0 now.)

(Extra 2: OS is Windows 7 64bit and the USB 3.0 ports in the past have worked fine as USB 2.0 ports. The problem [to my eyes] seems to be a USB 3.0 thing specifically)

(Extra 3: I can't seem to find how to enable USB 3.0 in the Bios. I see stuff about USB 3.0 legacy mode and 'Intel USB2.0 EHCI controller' but no USB 3.0 on switch. I have the most recent version of my Bios.)

It is also worth mentioning that the drive dropped a couple of times while still its packaging.

If any assistance could be provided it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[carwiz]

Start by installing the drivers that came with your ASUS motherboard. Why would you install Intel drivers?

If you don't use a USB3 interconnect cable, you won't get USB3. ALL USB3 cables will have a blue insulator at the plug whether the cable itself is black, green, red, pink or whatever--It's a standard.

Make sure the front panel is capable of USB3. Just because you connect it to a USB3 hub doesn't mean it becomes USB3.

 

[lumzi23]

Start by installing the drivers that came with your ASUS motherboard. Why would you install Intel drivers?

If you don't use a USB3 interconnect cable, you won't get USB3. ALL USB3 cables will have a blue insulator at the plug whether the cable itself is black, green, red, pink or whatever--It's a standard.

Make sure the front panel is capable of USB3. Just because you connect it to a USB3 hub doesn't mean it becomes USB3.

I installed the drivers that came with my motherboard initially but it didn't work (which were labelled Intel in any case). The I installed the Intel drivers (I think) then I installed the latest drivers from Asus' website. Just to be sure I have now reinstalled the USB driver that came with my mobo. Still doesn't work.

Also, the mouth of the USB cable is blue. I have confirmed it.

The front of my case has blue USB ports if that is what you mean (sorry I don't know the tech lingo all that well ).

 

[MilesAhead]

I would ask someone to plug in their USB 3.0. If it works it might be the drive. I don't trust "sliding guts" drives. I got a Verbatim due to the price. But inserting into a tight connector kills my thumb. Plus I think sliding guts is too fragile. I like AData USB 3.0 "gray tube" for physical design.

 

[lumzi23]

I would ask someone to plug in their USB 3.0. If it works it might be the drive. I don't trust "sliding guts" drives. I got a Verbatim due to the price. But inserting into a tight connector kills my thumb. Plus I think sliding guts is too fragile. I like AData USB 3.0 "gray tube" for physical design.

I don't know anyone with a USB 3.0. In fact this drive I have is the first one I have probably ever handled.

Edit: I had contacted Verbatim and they gave a firmware updater but it could find the drive. I have now asked them if it is possible to install the firmware needed some other way. I don't know if that is the problem. I'll keep you posted.

Also, about my bios question. Is it unusual not to see an on button for USB 3.0 in the bios?

 

[MilesAhead]

Then try your drive on another PC. Go to the library if need be. If it won't take the update chances are it's dead doornail. Those things aren't very sturdy as they are made as cheaply as manufacturer's can devise.

 

[dsperber]

I have four Verbatim Store 'n' Go 2TB USB 3.0 drives in use on two desktops and a laptop. I use them for my backups. I've also installed five more of them on other machines for friends and family. They are wonderful, and reliable (no matter what manufacturer's SATA-III drive is inside them), and they are the only such external drives I will buy. I especially appreciate the "Green Button" software that spins them down after 10 minutes of inactivity. I also like the ON/OFF rocker switch on the case, something which is absent on other external USB drives I've seen (e.g. one from Hitachi).

I have two in use on my ASUS P8Z77-V Pro motherboard machine (one's a Samsung drive inside, and the other is a Seagate), plugged into two of the stock rear USB 3.0 ports (with the blue tongue). Note that I'm not using the special-purpose USB ports (e.g. for flashing BIOS), but rather the standard USB 3.0 ports. Nary an issue.

No special drivers whatsoever are required. Plug in the drive, and assuming your Windows 7 is behaving properly it should automatically install whatever it wants to install... which is actually a Microsoft driver for the external USB drive. The USB 3.0 Root Hub is supported by Intel drivers (as part of the chipset support) but this should have been configured as part of the Win7 installation and device discovery when you built your machine. I did opt for an ASUS Turbo Boost USB 3.0 driver myself when installing the ASUS software after Win7's install, which came from ASUS and I think is supposed to improve performance even further.

If things are working properly and you plug it into a USB 2.0 port and the device is correctly recognized, Windows will tell you that you can get better performance if you plug it into a USB 3.0 port.

Don't know what else to say, other than that I've never had any problem with these drives. Also, I've even installed them on older machines (including WinXP) where I've had to install a Transcend TS-PDU3 PCIe USB 3.0 adapter to use them optimally. Again, not a problem.

 

[MilesAhead]

It might be helpful if the OP posts a link to the product he's talking about. "Store 'n go" seems to cover a lot of ground.

 

[lumzi23]

Portable Hard Drive 500GB USB 3.0 Black | Store 'n' Go

This is the one.

Edit:
@ dsperber I don't know what the problem is. A part of me is wondering if the issue is with my system.

edit @ miles: I have tried it on my laptop on the USB 2.0 ports and it seems to be working fine. I had also tried it earlier. I don't recall if I found any issues.

 

[MilesAhead]

It is also worth mentioning that the drive dropped a couple of times while still its packaging.

Tough to rule out damage unless you try it on another machine.

 

[lumzi23]

It is also worth mentioning that the drive dropped a couple of times while still its packaging.

Tough to rule out damage unless you try it on another machine.

Sorry, I edit my prev post. I tried it on another machine (my laptop on usb 2.0 [no usb 3.0]) and it seems fine.

Edit: It might be difficult to find a USB 3.0 machine but I will hopefully find one and test it.

 

[dsperber]

Portable Hard Drive 500GB USB 3.0 Black | Store 'n' Go

This is the one.

That is not the variety I use.

I use the 2TB versions... available here in the USA.

 

[lumzi23]

Portable Hard Drive 500GB USB 3.0 Black | Store 'n' Go

This is the one.

That is not the variety I use.

I use the 2TB versions... available here in the USA.

Yeah, mine is different from that one. Mine is a lot thinner.

Edit: I noticed that quite a lot of people seem to have a similar issue. It has something to do with 'eXtensible Host Controller" and the usb cables.

 

[dsperber]

Portable Hard Drive 500GB USB 3.0 Black | Store 'n' Go

This is the one.

That is not the variety I use.

I use the 2TB versions... available here in the USA.

Yeah, mine is different from that one. Mine is a lot thinner.

Obviously the hard drive inside is different for the 500GB version vs. the 2TB version. Yours could also be a 2.5" style whereas mine could be a 3.5" style.

Anyway, I honestly don't think the problem lies with the drive (unless you damaged its USB 3.0 functionality fatally somehow when you dropped it, which seems impossible to believe).

Edit: I noticed that quite a lot of people seem to have a similar issue. It has something to do with 'eXtensible Host Controller" and the usb cables.

Don't know. The drive comes with a USB 3.0 cable, and I've always used them without incident.

As far as Intel xHCI mode, the BIOS in my P8Z77-V Pro has "smart auto" as the default setting, which enables the feature as "optimized". I've not changed it from its default.

Dunno. I've used that 2TB version for the past few years without any problem whatsoever, in numerous different desktop and laptop machines some with built-in USB 3.0 capability and some where I had to add that PCIe USB 3.0 adapter card.

Sorry... can't help you with any more ideas.

 

[lumzi23]

That is not the variety I use.

I use the 2TB versions... available here in the USA.

Yeah, mine is different from that one. Mine is a lot thinner.

Obviously the hard drive inside is different for the 500GB version vs. the 2TB version. Yours could also be a 2.5" style whereas mine could be a 3.5" style.

Anyway, I honestly don't think the problem lies with the drive (unless you damaged its USB 3.0 functionality fatally somehow when you dropped it, which seems impossible to believe).

Edit: I noticed that quite a lot of people seem to have a similar issue. It has something to do with 'eXtensible Host Controller" and the usb cables.

Don't know. The drive comes with a USB 3.0 cable, and I've always used them without incident.

As far as Intel xHCI mode, the BIOS in my P8Z77-V Pro has "smart auto" as the default setting, which enables the feature as "optimized". I've not changed it from its default.

Dunno. I've used that 2TB version for the past few years without any problem whatsoever, in numerous different desktop and laptop machines some with built-in USB 3.0 capability and some where I had to add that PCIe USB 3.0 adapter card.

Sorry... can't help you with any more ideas.

It's cool. I have tried changing my xHCI to 'enabled' from 'Smart Auto' but it did nothing. Others who had Renesas (sp?) controllers instead of intel were able to change in by disabling USB 3.0 power management functions in some Renesas utility program (I think it was a utility program at least). I can find no such option for my intel.