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    External USB 3.0 Hard drive, Running W/ 2.0 Speeds

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by reviewthis, Sep 13, 2011.

  1. reviewthis

    reviewthis Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello all,

    I have a dell XPS L502X. I have an external hard drive, it is the "Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 3.0/2.0 Ultra Portable External Hard Drive (Black)", here is a link on Amazon:
    Amazon.com: Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 3.0/2.0 Ultra Portable External Hard Drive (Black): Electronics

    It used to work fine, now when I plug it in to one of my USB 3.0 ports I receive the following error message:

    [​IMG]

    The problem has been on and off, but now, I only ever get USB 2.0 transfer speeds with my USB 3.0 external hard drive.

    You can see that all my drivers are working correctly and the USB 3.0 host controller is operational.

    [​IMG]

    I do not currently have another USB 3.0 external drive I can use to troubleshoot the problem.

    Any ideas?

    All help is greatly appreciated!
     
  2. concat

    concat Notebook Consultant

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    You have two USB 3 ports, and one USB 2 port.

    The USB 2 port is the one on the right side of the laptop. You're not using that one are you?

    Also found this:

    From the Start menu click

    All Programs/Renesas Electronics/USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver/USB 3.0 Host Controller Utility

    Approve if prompted for permission to open the utility

    then check the "Disable USB 3.0 power management functions" option
     
  3. madmattd

    madmattd Notebook Deity

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    There is a USB 2.0 port on the left AND the right side, the USB 3 are on the back, just to clarify what Concat is saying. I'll assume you know this and have the drive plugged into one of the blue-lined ports in back (blue means USB 3 in most any motherboard right now).
     
  4. concat

    concat Notebook Consultant

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    Hmmm my mistake. I thought the left and back were both USB 3.0...?
     
  5. alaariadh

    alaariadh Notebook Enthusiast

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    u need to install Western Digital driver from windows update to run this hard through usb 3
     
  6. reviewthis

    reviewthis Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you very much, this helped.

    All I did, was uninstall the driver in device manager, unplugged the external hard drive, plugged it back in, and it reinstalled through Windows Update.

    I notice that transferring files from the external drive to the computer is still USB 2.0 speeds, but when I transfer from the computer to the hard drive, it is blazing fast.

    Any ideas?

    Thank you very much!
     
  7. reviewthis

    reviewthis Notebook Enthusiast

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    Disabling this had no effect on the issue. Thank you though.
     
  8. choccclate

    choccclate Notebook Enthusiast

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    you are right. the one on the back and the left are usb 3.0
    the one on the right is 2.0
     
  9. madmattd

    madmattd Notebook Deity

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    My bad, I'm thinking of the l702x... :eek:

    Glad you got it sorted.