Is it OK to connect multiple hard drives to the PA248Q's USB 3.0 HUB?

marth051

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Mar 23, 2013
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Basically I bought an Asus PA248Q for my laptop and it has a USB 3.0 hub built in. The laptop I am using is an Asus G53SX.

Having two external USB 3.0 hard drives I naturally wanted to connect them both via the USB hub in my new monitor. Since the laptop only has one USB 3.0 port this set up worked out nicely for me.

My issue is that while using one or the other hard drive my computer will give me a message saying that the files I am working with are no longer present on the disk. Then whenever I try to open a file on that drive I get this issue. After checking the disk Windows says the file system is RAW and can't be read. This freaked me out but when I reboot the computer the hard drives both work fine. The problem will return at random times, usually when transferring files in large amounts between my computer and the drive.

The problem isn't permanent but I am worried it suggestive of a greater problem with the USB HUB or the way that I am using it.
 

marth051

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Mar 23, 2013
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One of them is a Seagate Expansion drive and one is a Western Digital My Book Essential.



 

marth051

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Mar 23, 2013
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I am using Windows 8 (I have since found out this is not "recommended" by Asus but I am not sure of what problems this might cause). When connected they both have different Drive letters (I: for the Seagate and F: for the Western Digital). The problem does not occur when I have one of the drives plugged into the USB 2.0.

 

marth051

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Mar 23, 2013
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So it turned out I did not have a driver for the monitor installed. Windows just installed a generic one so I updated the driver to the official Asus version and now it shows up in my Device Manager as Asus PA248Q rather than the "Generic PnP Monitor. Hopefully this will solve the problem.

I let windows install all my updated so I didnt go and get the USB 3.0 driver from intel but when I checked for it just a minute ago I could only find the "eXtensible Host Controller Driver" and Windows 8 was not a supported operating system.

Fingers crossed that the new Asus driver will do the trick! Dumb of me not to have done this already! Thanks so much for your help!
 

TerranTerrance

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Jun 10, 2013
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The issue is with the USB hub inside the monitor ~ they used a Genesys Logic USB 3.0 hub that is not compatible with Windows 8, hence the issue. Specifically, the Genesys USB 3.0 hub does not properly support Link Power Management which is enabled in Windows 8 by default. You should go to device manager and Disable the option to power down the USB 3.0 hub when it is not in use.

Alternatively, you can just plug the monitor into a USB 2.0 port for your computer and let the hub work in USB 2.0 mode.

The third option is to get a USB 2.0 Standard A to Standard B cable and connect your laptop to the monitor that way. You will lose USB 3.0 performance but at least the hub will work.