usb hdd enclosure

[saimike]

i bought a really cheap-ass usb hdd enclosure (some no name brand with french all over it) to use with my 80gb wd hdd.

1. while it is supposed to be usb2.0, i dont seem to be getting anywhere close to 480mbps.

2. when i drag and drop a whole wad of files into it, it sometimes throws me an error message halfway through ... and it takes a long time to get to that halfway too.

3. if i drag 1 file or only a couple i dont get the problem

4. i dropped a directory of 10-20 mp3 into it, and it seems to do some sort of delayed write.

anyone know why this is happening?

 

[DBSX]

Are you sure you are hooked up to a USB 2.0 port on your computer? Also, there is a setting (assuming you are using XP) for removable drives to optimize them for quick removal that disables the delayed write (I think - at least once I properly set it for my removable drives, I stopped getting delayed write errors). If you right click on the removable drive and go to properties, then click the "Policies" tab, you can set your drive to "Optimize for quick removal". See if that helps.

\Dan

 

[Cerb]

Open it. What's the chipset? BTW, if it is ALi, just throw the thing away and get a nicer one.
Cypress is alright, Prolink and NEC should be very good. Also, see how hot it runs. If it's not ALi, it could just be overheating.

1. 480mbps is on a good day, with superconductors, going from Intel or SiS (both have extremely fast and compatible USB host controllers) to Intel or SiS on a perfect hand-made cable, and not counting overhead. Newer chips can get to 300+mbps, though.

2. Ew...

3. Odd.

4. Check the device properties. Sometimes Windows will use delayed write on USB, sometimes not. If it is the case, turn it off.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

How do we find out which chipset the enclosure is using (if it's not printed anywhere in the manual or physically on the hardware)?

 

[Zepper]

How do we find out which chipset...

Open it up and look for the big chip on the PCB - may need magnification to read the mfr's name on it.

.bh.

 

[Doh!]

Sounds very normal to me if the enclosure is using one of the older chips. If it's one of the cheapest model you've bought, it's normal.

Check here for more info.

http://www.tangent-systems.com/support/delayedwrite.html

 

[Zepper]

Also, if you've been plugging it into the front panel USB ports, try plugging it into the mobo mounted ports. The case wiring can be substandard too. Antec has a lot of cases out there that are supposed to be 2.0 but aren't.

.bh.

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Also, if you've been plugging it into the front panel USB ports, try plugging it into the mobo mounted ports. The case wiring can be substandard too. Antec has a lot of cases out there that are supposed to be 2.0 but aren't.

.bh.

Thanks for the Antec front USB info! :thumbsup: