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Can't get USB 3.0 speed

L

larrymoencurly

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Messages
1,635
I have a PCI-E Renesas/NEC card that won't give USB 3.0 speed with old Seagate GoFlex drives, but it does with other drives. But the GoFlex does give USB 3.0 speed when plugged into the controller built into a motherboard that uses the same Renesas/NEC chip.

I've tried 2 of those GoFlex drives, 2 Seagate USB 3.0 cables, Windows XP 32-bit and Windows 8, and 3 different motherboards (only one has a built-in USB 3.0 controller). I suspect a driver problem, but versions 1.17 and 2.39 act the same.

Any ideas? The controller chip on the card has the version 4.0.1.5 firmware, but I've had no success flashing it to the newest 4.0.2 because the GUI Windows version flasher just freezes halfway (many people have reported this), while the command line Windows version complains about the chip being version 3 and the firmware being version 4.
 
larrymoencurly said:
I have a PCI-E Renesas/NEC card that won't give USB 3.0 speed with old Seagate GoFlex drives, but it does with other drives. But the GoFlex does give USB 3.0 speed when plugged into the controller built into a motherboard that uses the same Renesas/NEC chip.
Click to expand...
By "won't give USB 3.0 speed", do you mean that it only negotiates to HighSpeed (2.0) and not SuperSpeed (3.0)? Or is it just a "slow 3.0"?

Is there a difference in firmware version between those 2 chips? (I assume that neither is the new 720202.)
I've tried 2 of those GoFlex drives, 2 Seagate USB 3.0 cables, Windows XP 32-bit and Windows 8, and 3 different motherboards (only one has a built-in USB 3.0 controller). I suspect a driver problem, but versions 1.17 and 2.39 act the same.
Click to expand...
Maybe, try a recent (v3.x) LiveLinux to help triangulate on your driver suspicions.

Another thought is to upgrade the firmware on the GoFlex. I came across a posting (last post @ [link]) where that solved a different Renesas/GoFlex problem.
 
These are old "FreeAgent GoFlex Desk" drives, like STAC2000106, probably 1st generation GoFlex.

The speed tops out at 35MB/s when the Seagate GoFlex is plugged into the PCI-E controller with Renesas/NEC 70200AF chip, and Windows gives a message about the storage device being able to operate faster if it's plugged into a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port. A Bytecc USB 3.0 enclosure attached to that controller runs at roughly triple the speed, as does the Seagate GoFlex when it's plugged into a mobo controller based on the exact same type Renesas/NEC 70200AF chip (even has the same firmware 4.0.1.5). Uninstalling the USB 3.0 controller from the Device Manager or uninstalling the driver software doesn't help.

I can't find a firmware upgrade for the GoFlex, and I've had no luck flashing the 70200AF chip from 4.0.1.5 to 4.0.2. because the Windows GUI flasher freezes midway, and the command line Windows flasher, W200FW35.EXE, complains about my 70200AF chip being version 4 instead of version 3.
 
Any chance that the on-motherboard NEC/Renesas (that does give you USB3 speeds with these GoFlex drives) is using a driver supplied by the motherboard maker (and not the Windows driver)??

If not, then the only difference between the working and non-working combos is that the working uses the on-mobo chip vs. non-working using the add-on card's chip. In this case, and especially since these GoFlex are probably using early-gen bridge chips, the pertinent difference could be a timing anomaly. Such a timing issue could (ultimately) be "triggered" by the driver, and derive from the particular design/structure of that driver.

That is a perfect scenario where trying a totally different driver with the same exact hardware combo can be enlightening. That was why I suggested to try with a Linux kernel of the current (v3.x) vintage (mature USB3 driver).

I'm not implying that you should USE Linux (vs Windows); just that it gives you the opportunity to confirm your suspicion about Windows driver being your culprit. And, having evidence of your "problematic" hardware combo functioning properly in a non-Windows environment can be very helpful in getting MSFT or Renesas (to at least consider) addressing their glitch.

If, however, you get the same results from the Linux experiment, you're probably f*'d. [Score: ... Murphy! :) ]
 
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