USB3 Problems - Can any one help?

[Jessica]

Hi Guys,

Can any one help?

I have an Asus P6X58D-E motherboard with two USB3 sockets on the rear. It’s works fine except when I plug 2 USB3 external drives in at the same time. The drives work fine, but only the first drive I plug in seems to work the other drive is dead. It doesn’t matter which drive I plug in first (in either socket) only the first drive plugged in works.

My two external hard drives are My Passport 2TB.

Thanks

 

[Ranger4]

Are these external hard drives self powered or are they powered from the USB 3 port. If they are powered by the USB port it's possible together they are drawing too much power for the USB to support so it's shutting down.

You could look at getting a HDD caddy that is self powered for your HDD's as an alternative.

 

[Jessica]

Yes, both external hard drives are USB powered. How do I get around this? I know I could plug one of the drives into a USB2 socket, but the transfer rate is down to just 31.7MB/sec.

I have to copy over 1.8TB of data!

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Ranger4]

You could look at a USB 3 hub that has a dedicated power supply, that is, it has it's own power supply & does not rely on the computer for power. They also have multiple USB outlets on them as well.

As I am in Australia there is not much point in me advising you where to buy such an item. If you have a good computer shop nearby, you call in & talk to them about it & they should be able to advise you & also supply it, if it suits your needs.

 

[Jessica]

I’ve bought a 7 port powered hub to overcome my problem. The thing is, it doesn’t work all the time as it should.

The hub is plugged into one of the 2 USB 3 sockets on the back of my computer. Now, sometimes when I boot-up Win7 gives me a message in the bottom right of the screen saying that this device will perform better if plugged into a USB 3 socket.

This doesn’t happen all the time, like 1 in 3 boots. Is there a way to refresh the USB 3 sockets?

Can any one help?

Thanks

Jess

 

[Ranger4]

Have a look in Device Manager, accessible through Control Panel, & have a look through all devices & see if you hub is listed, particularly in the USB Controllers section, right click on it & see what options are listed. There may be a driver update that you could try.

Get back here if you have any problems or need more info.

 

[Jessica]

Thanks for the help.

This is what I see. What exactly am I looking for?

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/Screendump/USB Controllers_zps9ocouvau.jpg

Please let me know.

Jess

 

[Layback Bear]

If I had 1.8 TB of data to transfer I would use the Sata ports on the motherboard.
All you would need is a extra cable.

 

[Ranger4]

That's a good suggestion from Layback Bear. Are you sufficiently familiar with computers to be able to open the case & connect a couple of cables to the motherboard & hard drive.

You have mentioned copying over 1.8Tb. Is this from your main operating system hard drive or from one of the 2 external hard drives to the other.

 

[Jessica]

The data is on one of the two 2TB ‘My Passport’ external hard drives and I need to copy the data to the second external hard drive to keep a backup. I tried plugging them both in to my computer but a power problem stopped me, hence the new powered hub.

I could of course copy all the data to an internal hard drive and then back onto the second hard drive. I just thought is was easier and quicker this way. I like the idea of have both drives online at the same time so that I can copy data off my C: to both external drive for safe keeping.

I just don’t understand why Win7 (or my hardware) thinks the external drives are USB2.

Thanks

Jess

 

[Ranger4]

Is the USB hub you bought a USB 3 one. If it's a USB 2 then it will only operate at USB 2 speed even though it is plugged into a USB 3 port.

 

[Jessica]

It's USB 3.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help me. I'll have to wait until it's recognised as USB3 then copy all the data in one sitting.

Cheers everyone.

Jess

 

[Ranger4]

Thanks for getting back. That is certainly one way around the problem & good luck.