External HD USB 2.0 freezes PC with PCI card

Hi,

I have an old Motherboard K7N420 Pro which only supports USB 1.1. Bought an external WD 60GB USB 2.0 hard drive and "happily" used the drive for backups etc via USB 1.1 Hub. Decided to get more up to date and bought a NEC chipset PCI USB 2.0 4 port card. Installed picking up Windows XP (SP1) drivers but whenever I try to copy data to the HD, the PC slows down and then freezes. Also tried a friends powered HD but same results. This is with the devices plugged into the PCI card ports (no HUB). I've seen loads of similar hits on the net but they don't seem to provide an answer. Any ideas? Should I uninstall all USB drivers and let Windows XP (now SP2) install all the drivers? In Device Manager I've got
USB root HUBs (x5)
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller (x2)
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (x2)

Cheers.

[stephenc]

do you have the latest 2.8 version of the BIOS for the mobo....might repair such glitches but won't necessarily get you true USB2 Highspeed

more importantly though, i'm presuming the PCI USB card has both internal connections (connected to your usb header on your mobo) and external connections (for your drive to plug into). Bearing in mind you've a USB 1.1 (or Fullspeed) controller on the board that will cause the USB 2.0 controller (or Highspeed) on the PCI card to run at Fullspeed so you won't really get the speed advantage surely. Q3 in the NEC FAQ.

USB 1.1: Low-Speed (1.5 Mbps:LS),Full-Speed (12 Mbps:FS)
USB 2.0: Low-Speed (1.5 Mbps:LS),Full-Speed (12 Mbps:FS),Hi-Speed (480 Mbps :HS)

[wfnuk]

stephenc, I think that you are getting confused. Your reply re the NEC FAQ is for a HUB which is used to increase the number of existing USB ports and does not relate to a PCI USB 2.0 controller.

[stephenc]

i see what you're getting at but just making the point that a USB2 hub attached to a USB 1 controller on the mobo will function at USB 1 speed....albeit the problem here is getting it to work at all

[wfnuk]

I think that the best course of action would be to uninstall all USB devices in Device Manager and then rebooting, letting XP 'do it's own thing' to reinstall the devices. If you have a USB mouse fitted, temporarily connect a PS2 mouse whilst doing this as a USB mouse will stop working whilst uninstalling.

If the problem still persists after carrying out the above, I suggest running Task Manager to see what, if anything, may be causing excessive CPU usage (which might be the cause of the PC slowing down and freezing).

Thanks for the replies. I'll let you know how I get on with the uninstalls.

Cheers.

[phillcahill]

Originally Posted by cobeyou

Hi,

I have an old Motherboard K7N420 Pro which only supports USB 1.1. Bought an external WD 60GB USB 2.0 hard drive and "happily" used the drive for backups etc via USB 1.1 Hub. Decided to get more up to date and bought a NEC chipset PCI USB 2.0 4 port card. Installed picking up Windows XP (SP1) drivers but whenever I try to copy data to the HD, the PC slows down and then freezes. Also tried a friends powered HD but same results. This is with the devices plugged into the PCI card ports (no HUB). I've seen loads of similar hits on the net but they don't seem to provide an answer. Any ideas? Should I uninstall all USB drivers and let Windows XP (now SP2) install all the drivers? In Device Manager I've got
USB root HUBs (x5)
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller (x2)
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (x2)

Cheers.

When the machine freezes up have yo utried removing the usb drive? if so does the system return or is it a complete lockup with reset required.

Does your PSU supply pleanty of power to the PC could it be the extra card is tipping it over the edge? Easy to try a bigger PSU borrow a friends.

Phill.