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    USB 3.0 trouble.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by Trith, May 30, 2012.

  1. Trith

    Trith Notebook Enthusiast

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    I picked up a 7200 RPM 750 GB drive to store some extra data on for my m14x r2 and also got a external caddy for it. The external caddy claimed to be fully USB 3.0 capable, and the SATA drive fit with no problem..however when I plug it in to any USB port, I always get a message that this device could perform faster if I had usb 3.0 on my laptop....uhmm..I though it did already, I even installed the drivers for it after I fresh installed the OS, and the device manager says I have 2 USB 3.0 ports..yet the drive says I don't. Any thoughts?
     
    Trith, May 30, 2012
    #1
  2. iPhantomhives

    iPhantomhives Click the image to change your avatar.

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    On your m14x...
    Left USB Port is 2.0 , Other 2 Right is 3.0.
     
    iPhantomhives, May 30, 2012
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  3. Trith

    Trith Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah but I'm getting the message on all three.
     
    Trith, May 30, 2012
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  4. iPhantomhives

    iPhantomhives Click the image to change your avatar.

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    try check external caddy cables , sometimes connector will effect the speed too.
     
    iPhantomhives, May 30, 2012
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  5. shak541

    shak541 Notebook Consultant

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    hey man.. i got the same issue! my drive used to get like 100MBPS before and things were fast as can be! now im only getting 30MBPS... same drive.. same port.. only difference is i reinstalled windows from scatch :( anyone have ideas? In my case its not the drive or the drivers.. as i did install the drivers and tried to reinstall a few times.. still slow speeds :(
     
    shak541, May 30, 2012
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  6. Nivaku

    Nivaku Notebook Evangelist

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    Hmmm please someone correct me if I'm wrong but the cable itself should affect the speeds like if you have a USB 2.0 cable compared to a USB 3.0 cable. The USB 3.0 cable has blue connectors (from the one's I've seen)

    Thanks in advance
     
    Nivaku, May 30, 2012
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  7. iPhantomhives

    iPhantomhives Click the image to change your avatar.

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    That's the good hint, but not really sure about those cable , I got the blue cable and it runs with 3.0 speed.
     
    iPhantomhives, May 30, 2012
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  8. Ferrari353

    Ferrari353 Notebook Evangelist

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    USB 2.0 cables are different than USB 3.0 Cables and as such, won't deliver USB 3.0 speeds (only 2.0 speeds).

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
     
    Ferrari353, May 30, 2012
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  9. shak541

    shak541 Notebook Consultant

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    yea in my case i have the USB 3.0 cable and everything was fine before.. best way to tell aside from the color... is that USB 3.0 has.. 5 extra pins at the back... plus the .....4 pins for USB2.0 :p hope that helps.. not sure why my usb 3.0 isnt working after a clean install :(
     
    shak541, May 30, 2012
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  10. CGSDR

    CGSDR Alien Master Race

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    A sorta dumb question.. Have you install the Renesas USB 3.0 Driver?
     
    CGSDR, May 31, 2012
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  11. Trith

    Trith Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes the 3.0 driver is installed and shows up in device manager. I think the problem may be the cable and a little operator error. I actually discovered that for some odd reason the cable wasn't plugging in all the way to the slot on the laptop, and if i pressed hard it slid fully into place and the error message went away...not sure if it was giving 3.0 speeds but it was certainly fast while using Reflect to back up 360 gb of drive space to an image last night, took about 10 mins or so to do all three volumes.
     
    Trith, May 31, 2012
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  12. shak541

    shak541 Notebook Consultant

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    in my case... yes the driver is installed properly.. also i just tested the drive on my moms asus laptop with USB 3.0 and it works at USB 3.0 speeds... so its just my laptop.. fresh install of windows 7 with SSD and all drivers installed.. everything is flawless but USB3.0 and thats something i really need :(
     
    shak541, May 31, 2012
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  13. shak541

    shak541 Notebook Consultant

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    ok so i figured it out.. i hooked up my old laptop drive to this cable and all and it still stayed at usb2 speeds.. then proceeded to hook it back up to my actual external hdd and bend the cable the other way and it works... guessing it was defiantly either the cable is somehow damaged or the plug wasnt in right before any of the other like 50 times i tried plugging it in or twisting the cable :S
     
    shak541, May 31, 2012
    #13