Here's the deal. I've got a WD My Book Essential Edition 500GB. It's got a USB 2.0 connection, but I don't like it's speed. I wanna connect it to a firewire 400 port. (I know that usb actually has 8 mb/s more bandwith, but I've got more that one USB device connected, and that effectively divides your bandwith by the amount of devices connected right?)
But the thing is, I'm not sure if it would work, wether it actually would be faster and if there are any USB -> 1394a wires (it has a USB type b connector, the type you find in printers). Can anybody help me out?
Western Digital external HDD
Pasha the Mighty
Kattar
It wouldn't.
Even if the Firewire is faster, you're limited by the slowest technology in the link, the USB in this case.
Even if the Firewire is faster, you're limited by the slowest technology in the link, the USB in this case.
Pasha the Mighty
umm, not really, cuz the usb is actually faster. It's just the bandwith that's divided in like 4 parts. In theory, it should work, but i want to be sure.
Kattar
Ha, true. Was thinking of the old USB vs. Firewire.
But yeah, more devices connected on the USB bus will divide the bandwidth. It has a lot to do with what else is connected as well.
What else do you have on the hub?
But yeah, more devices connected on the USB bus will divide the bandwidth. It has a lot to do with what else is connected as well.
What else do you have on the hub?
Pasha the Mighty
Bluetooth reciever for mouse and keyboard, Wireless internet thingy and a webcam
Kattar
Wow...I don't think that adding a HD to the will help any then.
Have you always run the HD off the hub with all that on it?
Have you always run the HD off the hub with all that on it?
Pasha the Mighty
since I got it yes, and i've always kicked myself for not taking the time to understand how to just build one into my computer so i would have saved (some) money and would have a better performance. It was really slow from the start, and I regularly defrag it diskeeper '08, it says i have it on 100% performance.
Pasha the Mighty
I was wrong about the speed of usb 2.0, it's (theoretically)480 mbit/s, which is 60 MByte/s. Firewire 400 is 400mbit/s, which is about 50 MByte/s
Kattar
Well, the hub is going to be the major bottle neck. You're never going to reach that maximum, since it's a theoretical one. And you have other things connected into the hub, which will lower it significantly.
If you can, especially with a hard drive, run it on it's own USB port. You will probably see a significant increase. Or runs it off the Firewire port, as you wanted to earlier.
That should help quite a bit.
If you can, especially with a hard drive, run it on it's own USB port. You will probably see a significant increase. Or runs it off the Firewire port, as you wanted to earlier.
That should help quite a bit.
Pasha the Mighty
I knew the hub was a bottle neck... I have it for over a year, and it's pretty slow. But is it actually possible? And are there any firewire-> usb-b connectors? And I read something about a tetrahub somewhere, which is supposed to increase your USB speed. Anybody know anything about that?
Kattar
Tetrahub is here:http://www.everythingusb.com/hardwar...4-Port_Hub.htm
Can't find anything about firewire -> usb-b connectors.
Can't find anything about firewire -> usb-b connectors.
Aerian_Skybane
Firewire to USB and USB to firewire connections do not exist, as they are separate technologies based upon different principals. Best I had it explained to me was because of the interconnecting capacity. You can connect multiple Firewire devices in serial, but USB must be (relationally) connected in parrallel dataforms.
Of course, pure technological systems aside, thats the largest difference between them. You would have to buy a hardware converter (not cable) to switch USB to firewire (but not vica versa), but unfortunately, those are rare, if they are even produced anymore.
Do you only have two USB ports on your computer? Each one should have a separate power source and separate hub connection. Are you using an external hub "splitter"?
Of course, pure technological systems aside, thats the largest difference between them. You would have to buy a hardware converter (not cable) to switch USB to firewire (but not vica versa), but unfortunately, those are rare, if they are even produced anymore.
Do you only have two USB ports on your computer? Each one should have a separate power source and separate hub connection. Are you using an external hub "splitter"?
Pasha the Mighty
I have six ports, and I use 4 of them, that's why my bandwith is being split. How about I buy a cheap (not crappy) USB pci card with 1 or 2 ports, and use it for my HDD only. That would increase the speed right?
Kattar
No, I thought you were using an external USB hub. External hubs are a terrible idea - don't use them. Each port probably has it's own controller and therefore, dedicated bandwidth.
So that shouldn't be a problem so much.
So that shouldn't be a problem so much.
Tachyon
Why not just buy and fit an internal HDD (500GB drives are dirt cheap these days) and use the external as a back-up drive? An internal drive will be way quicker than using a HDD via a USB connection.
Pasha the Mighty
I know it's quicker, but I don't need another drive. A storage drive and a normal drive for my programs is enough. I'd just like it to be a bit quicker.
If each port has it's own dedicated bandwith, that's a part of the total bandwith, right? Wouldn't it then be faster if it had it's own pci card?
If each port has it's own dedicated bandwith, that's a part of the total bandwith, right? Wouldn't it then be faster if it had it's own pci card?
Tarun
You can speed it up a great deal by converting it to NTFS.
Start > Run > cmd
Start > Run > cmd
Code:
convert.exe <YOUR USB DRIVE> /fs:ntfs
Pasha the Mighty
It came as fat32, but I formatted it the moment I got it
Dark Kal
What's the RPM on the HD? Why exactly do you want it to go faster? I hardly think the USB port or any USB hub you might be using are the problem. If you connect the external drive directly to your PC it will be at it's optimal configuration. Buying an internal USB hub will hardly change anything (other than your loss in funds).
Pasha the Mighty
the rpm on it is 7200. The reason i want it to be faster is that it reacts kinda slow. It will speed up the HDD if it had it's own pci card, I think, because that way it can use the full 60MBytes/s, so the transfer speeds should be faster
Dark Kal
It won't make a difference but hey it's your money.
Could it be that your motherboard only supports USB 1.1?
Could it be that your motherboard only supports USB 1.1?
Quaker
Have you actually tried connecting only the hard drive to see if it would be any faster if it wasn't "sharing" the bandwidth? That is, temporarily, disconnect the web-cam and the wireless internet, and replace the wireless keyboard & mouse with any old wired ones, and see if you actually get more speed out of the HD.
Edit - and, good point, does your computer have USB 2 ports?
Edit - and, good point, does your computer have USB 2 ports?
Pasha the Mighty
It's a 1 and a half year old pavilion, so I'm sure it supports USB 2.0, but i've not tried disconnecting the other devices yet. I'll give it a shot.
Tarun
USB has three rates as of this date. There is a fourth coming that is "super speed" and thus is experimental.
USB signals are transmitted on a twisted pair data cable with 90Ω ±15% impedance, labeled D+ and D−. These collectively use half-duplex differential signaling to combat the effects of electromagnetic noise on longer lines. D+ and D− usually operate together; they are not separate simplex connections. Transmitted signal levels are 0.0–0.3 volts for low and 2.8–3.6 volts for high in Full Speed and Low Speed modes, and +-400mV in High Speed (HS) mode. In FS mode the cable wires are not terminated, but the HS mode has termination of 45Ω to ground, or 90Ω differential to match the data cable impedance.
USB uses a special protocol to negotiate the High Speed mode called "chirping". In simplified terms, a device that is HS capable always connects as an FS device first, but after receiving a USB RESET (both D+ and D- are driven LOW by host) it tries to pull the D- line high. If the host (or hub) is also HS capable, it returns alternating signals on D- and D+ lines letting the device know that the tier will operate at High Speed.
Though Hi-Speed devices are commonly referred to as "USB 2.0" and advertised as "up to 480 Mbit/s", not all USB 2.0 devices are Hi-Speed. The USB-IF certifies devices and provides licenses to use special marketing logos for either "Basic-Speed" (low and full) or Hi-Speed after passing a compliance test and paying a licensing fee. All devices are tested according to the latest spec, so recently-compliant Low-Speed devices are also 2.0 devices.
The actual throughput (around 2006) attained with real devices is about two thirds of the maximum theoretical bulk data transfer rate of 53.248 MB/s. Typical hi-speed USB devices operate at lower speeds, often about 3 MB/s overall, sometimes up to 10-20 MB/s.
So unless you are using USB 1.x devices you're already getting the full speed.
- A Low Speed (1.1, 2.0) rate of 1.5 Mbit/s (187 kB/s) that is mostly used for Human Interface Devices (HID) such as keyboards, mice, and joysticks.
- A Full Speed (1.1, 2.0) rate of 12 Mbit/s (1.5 MB/s). Full Speed was the fastest rate before the USB 2.0 specification and many devices fall back to Full Speed. Full Speed devices divide the USB bandwidth between them in a first-come first-served basis and it is not uncommon to run out of bandwidth with several isochronous devices. All USB Hubs support Full Speed.
- A Hi-Speed (2.0) rate of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s).
Experimental: - A Super-Speed (3.0) rate of 4.8 Gbit/s (600 MB/s). The USB 3.0 specification will be released by Intel and its partners in mid 2008 according to early reports from CNET news. According to Intel, bus speeds will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0 due to the inclusion of a fiber optic link that works with traditional copper connectors. Products using the 3.0 specification are likely to arrive in 2009 or 2010.
USB signals are transmitted on a twisted pair data cable with 90Ω ±15% impedance, labeled D+ and D−. These collectively use half-duplex differential signaling to combat the effects of electromagnetic noise on longer lines. D+ and D− usually operate together; they are not separate simplex connections. Transmitted signal levels are 0.0–0.3 volts for low and 2.8–3.6 volts for high in Full Speed and Low Speed modes, and +-400mV in High Speed (HS) mode. In FS mode the cable wires are not terminated, but the HS mode has termination of 45Ω to ground, or 90Ω differential to match the data cable impedance.
USB uses a special protocol to negotiate the High Speed mode called "chirping". In simplified terms, a device that is HS capable always connects as an FS device first, but after receiving a USB RESET (both D+ and D- are driven LOW by host) it tries to pull the D- line high. If the host (or hub) is also HS capable, it returns alternating signals on D- and D+ lines letting the device know that the tier will operate at High Speed.
Though Hi-Speed devices are commonly referred to as "USB 2.0" and advertised as "up to 480 Mbit/s", not all USB 2.0 devices are Hi-Speed. The USB-IF certifies devices and provides licenses to use special marketing logos for either "Basic-Speed" (low and full) or Hi-Speed after passing a compliance test and paying a licensing fee. All devices are tested according to the latest spec, so recently-compliant Low-Speed devices are also 2.0 devices.
The actual throughput (around 2006) attained with real devices is about two thirds of the maximum theoretical bulk data transfer rate of 53.248 MB/s. Typical hi-speed USB devices operate at lower speeds, often about 3 MB/s overall, sometimes up to 10-20 MB/s.
So unless you are using USB 1.x devices you're already getting the full speed.
Pasha the Mighty
I didn't really understand your post, but before i bought the HDD, I checked the WD site, and they said it was capable of up to 480 mbits/s. So are they lying?
Dark Kal
You probably do have a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed external drive then. Like Quaker said remove the other USB devices and see what happens.
Kattar
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Pasha the Mighty
I didn't really understand your post, but before i bought the HDD, I checked the WD site, and they said it was capable of up to 480 mbits. So are they lying?
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Tachyon
Same as "up to 24MB" broadband fro example, because it's marketed as "up to" they can argue that even 1MB on your line is within the contract.
Tarun
No, they're not lying. 480 Megabits = 60 MegaBytes
A USB Hi-Speed (2.0) has a rate of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s).
A USB Hi-Speed (2.0) has a rate of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s).