Dell Precision M6500 - USB 3 Ports

I have a Dell Precision M6500, which has two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports. The USB 3.0 ports work fine when I connect a wireless mouse receiver, but when I attach an external hard drive to either of these ports, the computer cannot recognise the drive.

Can anyone suggest what might be causing this problem?

Thanks

 

Thanks, User32 - do you know where I can find the USB3 drivers?

 

Not all M6500 have USB 3.0, only later models had it offered, so watch out for that.

support.dell.com

 

I've installed the NEC USB 3.0 xHCI driver from the Dell site, but still cannot see the external drive when connected. Are there any other drivers I could try?

 

At least in theory, shouldn't USB3 hosts and peripherals be backwards-compatible?

I assume the drive powers up normally? If so, do you have any replacement cables you can try?

Does that particular external drive work, with another computer?

 

The drive does not power up when connected to the USB3 ports, but works fine on the USB2 ports. My USB wireless mouse receiver works fine on the USB3 ports. Could this be a problem with power supply from the USB3 ports?

 

I was wondering about the fact that USB 3.0 is available there. Because the datasheet says there are direct USB lanes from the IbexPeak–M south bridge. But according to Intel specs, it doesn't support USB 3.0. So obviously Dell built in that external NEC USB 3.0 controller to implement that support. So because the controller is external, you cannot boot from it. It's all because we have BIOS, not UEFI that can search for other external controllers.
Would like to have USB 3.0 built-in in my M6400 as well