USB3 problem with NP550C

I have an NP550P5C-T01US running Windows 7-64 Home Premium, and a Western Digital My Passport USB3 hard drive. The WD drive isn't recognized by either USB3 port, even as a USB2 device. A USB2 device, such as a thumb drive, IS recognized as such by the UBS3 ports, and the WD is recognized by the USB2 ports, but with the message that it could run faster if connected to a USB3 port.

I can get a USB3 port working again by booting the computer with the WD drive already plugged in. But I have to reboot again in the same way to get the other USB3 port working. Then both work for a while, but then a day or two later they've stop working.

Device Manager says everything is there and working.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Is there a way to get the USB3 port to repair or reset itself?

 

On further testing - a reboot without a device connected to the port makes the port non-functional again. So the second reboot to get the second port working makes the first port stop working.

However, while the port is working, I can eject the WD drive, and plug it in again, and it works fine - so long as I don't reboot with the port empty.

 

What type is your USB 3.0 host controller (Device Manager will tell you)?

If it is the Renesas then there have been several firmware updates during the past year. The Advanced page in the controller properties in Device Manager will give a firmware version. Compare the first two digits with the lists here and see if there is something newer.

Also on the Advanced page make sure that the Power Management is disabled.

John

 

Thanks for the reply. All the USB controller stuff is Intel, not Renesas.

Another interesting thing. With the WD USB3 drive plugged into a USB3 port, and not being recognized, if I then plug a USB2 thumb drive into the OTHER USB3 port, suddenly BOTH are recognized.

 

Here's the support page for the Intel USB 3.0.

If you haven't done so already, check the power management settings. Plugging in another device seems to trigger a wake-up.

John

 

Intel appears to have USB3 drivers that are several generations newer than Samsung has. Why wouldn't Samsung keep up with these as part of Software Update? Is it just assumed that I should update to the newest Intel drivers, or is there a risk doing that?

 

Are you using SW Update to check for updates or looking on the website? Samsung have stopped updating the downloads on the website. That said, Samsung are very bad at keeping SW Update's database up-to-date for older models of computers and that seems to include anything with Windows 7 (that's my own experience).

Driver updates normally go smoothly. If they don't then there's the roll-back driver facility in Device Manager. If you use Intel's driver update utility (it's on that page I linked to) then it should find the right driver update for you (and probably a few more).

John

 

I'm using Samsung's Software Update. Well, maybe I'll give Intel's update utility a try.

And I think you were right about the power settings. It was set to permit shutting USB down for power saving, and I changed that, and it appears to work now.

 

Here's my hypothesis: The flash drive is a dumb piece of electronics and tries to take power once plugged in, which wakes up the hub. The Passport is more intelligent(?!) and doesn't try to draw power until it senses that power is available (insufficient power is bad for the hard drive) and since it isn't trying to draw power it doesn't wake up the hub. Hence the need to turn off the power management.

A driver update may still be worth trying since it could improve compatibility and/or performance.

John