External disk (or USB 2.0 ports) on motherboard Gigabyte can't make HD image

predragjasic

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Nov 22, 2014
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I will enclose here my complaint which I send to motherboard maker Gigabyte, regarding USB external hard disk problem. Please read it and if anybody knows how to solve this, thanks.
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My computer has 500GB external hard drive connected to USB 2.0 port(s), which is extremely slow. Drive is Transcend StoreJet. No drivers exist for it. It works perfectly for other I/O operations like copy, paste, delete,etc. When I try to make hard disk image with any program, and store it on Transcend Store Jet, speed starts with 50MB/s but drops to nearly zero in few minutes. It is the same with any program. Disk image would take more than one day to complete, if it completes at all. Actually, I never managed to finish image with any disk imaging software. I tried all usual software for that: Paragon, Aomei, Acronis, EaseusToDo, Drive XML, etc. Are there any USB or other drivers which are responsible for this issue? Can Gigabyte be serious regarding its costumers and provide them solution in order to use USB ports for most important thing (backup)? In this case, making disk image is totally impossible. USB 2.0 ports have speed ?f 480 Mbit/s, theoreticaly. This is far cry from situation here. So, USB ports on this Gigabyte configuration is totally useless for image backup on external USB hard disk. Clearly, there is serious bug which can cause loss of data - worst outcome in computer use for your customers. NOTE: all disks, internal HDD and external USB are checked multiple times and they do not have any errors. Hard disk has 500GB, only 137GB is occupied. BIOS can see USB disks. It is upgraded to version 5. It is on Safe Default Setting. Computer was in service few days ago and they did't diagnose any faulty component. Would you please URGENTLY send me information how to solve this problem via my mail [REMOVED BY MODERATOR FOR SECURITY REASONS]. Please feel free to ask me for further questions if needed. But this issue has to be solved URGENTLY!
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Solution

sharnthor

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Dec 8, 2012
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Hi predragjasic

1. What OS are you using?
2. What antivirus or internet security sofware are you using?
3. What is the size of the "backup" that you want to make?
4. Am I correct in saying that your Transcend portable HDD is 500GB?
5. Which Transcend StoreJet are you using? There are quite a few out there? Also perhaps how old is this portable HDD?
 

predragjasic

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Nov 22, 2014
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Windows 7 64bit
I tried with and without it - same result
Internal HDD has 137GB of 500GB. USB HDD is empty - 500GB.
USB HDD is 2 years old.
This is onswer from their tech. support:
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Dear Customer,

First of all, many thanks for your letter.

Transfer speed may varied by file system, file numbers, plug-ins, different platforms, and etc..

1.Please check the following steps first to ensure sufficient power.
Check the Device Manager or use Disk Management to see your Hard Drive exists or not.
Make sure that the data-cable is connected to your computer's rear USB ports and the AC adapter is connected to your StoreJet.
Make sure that both ends of the cable, or both data&power cables are connected to your computer's rear USB ports.
Avoid using USB hubs, extension cables or other USB devices, as they often do not supply sufficient power for external hard drives.
Also try on another computer, cable, and adapter to see if the problem relates to the computer or not.

2.Please check the following steps first to ensure sufficient power.
Check the Device Manager or use Disk Management to see your Hard Drive exists or not.
Make sure that both ends of the cable, or both data&power cables are connected to your computer's rear USB ports. (on USB2.0 platform)
Avoid using USB hubs, extension cables or other USB devices, as they often do not supply sufficient power for external hard drives.
Also try on another computer, cable, USB port and adapter to see if the problem relates to the computer, cable, USB port and adapter or not.

3.Please try to re-install this external hard drive.
Please refer below link and try to re-install.
http://www.transcend-info.com/Support/FAQ-589

4.You may want to run the "CHKDSK" command to check if there is any problem in your HDD.
Please refer to the link for more information.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265/en-us

5.Please refer to the following link for the information and try to recover your HDD:
http://www.transcend-info.com/Files/Manual/HDD_Bad%20_SOP.pdf
NOTE: The device’s data will be deleted after formatting. Please back up the data before doing the format tool.

6.If the problem still exist, kindly take the product with the receipt back to the original retailer and ask for a repair or replacement service.
Service mail: service-tw@transcend-info.com

For more product FAQ, please refer to the following link:
http://tw.transcend-info.com/redirect.asp?exid=1202

If you have any question, please feel free to let us know.
We'll be eager to service you to the best of our ability.

Best Regards,
ALI_WEI
Application Engineer, Tech Support Department 3
Email : ali_wei@transcend-info.com
 

sharnthor

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Dec 8, 2012
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Hi predragjasic

You haven't mentioned yet which StoreJet you have?

The fact that the service agent refers to your hard drive needing a power supply, leads me to believe that this is in fact a desktop hard drive and not portable as stated?

I don't believe this is a power issue though, nor a USB issue. Something, most likely software, is holding up the read/write speeds of this hard drive.

Are you using the back USB ports or front? That does make a huge difference sometimes.

Also, are you using a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port on the desktop pc?
 

predragjasic

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Nov 22, 2014
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I am using Transcend StoreJet with no ext. power supply. It's USB 2.0. I changed 3 cables - honestly I am not sure they are all made for this kind of USB. Currently Y cable both in back of PC. What makes me crazy is a fact that slow transfer is within windows and when I use specialised programs from CD (boot from CD to Linux, Like Clonezilla).
 

sharnthor

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Dec 8, 2012
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Yeah, that indicates software again.

Okay, try this...

Insert the HDD into the desktop. Do you know how to remove the drivers from your pc? Complete uninstall drivers?

Start - Control Panel - Device Manager
- Disk Drives, find your portable and double click on it. Porperties window pops up
- Select driver, then uninstall.

Once this is done, remove your HDD and restart Windows
Once back in Windows, re-insert the drive and see what happens. This should eliminate the driver issue.

If this does not work, you'll have to go into Windows Safe Mode and run the software from there and see if that works.
Upon start-up of your desktop, keep pressing F8 continuously(this is generally the standard) until you get a windows load menu. Just select "Windows 7 - Safe Mode" from this menu and let the PC start up.

If the latter works, that would indicate that it's most likely software holding it back ie. Antivirus, Internet Security etc...
 
You don't say which model of motherboard you have, or what processor it uses, which makes diagnosis a little difficult. But I can assure you that Gigabyte boards, in general, have no problem imaging to external disk drives. I suspect your problem is related to the drive or the imaging software that you are using rather than the motherboard.
 

sharnthor

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Dec 8, 2012
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Agreed, it can very well be IS or AV software also.

Start somewhere and try some things. In Safe mode, if it doesn't work there, then the chances are very good that your drive is busted. Or just the pc board inside the casing.
 

predragjasic

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Nov 22, 2014
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Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate, Service Pack 1, 64 bit
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X3 445 Processor, AMD64 Family 16 Model 5 Stepping 3
Processor Count: 3
RAM: 8189 Mb
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6570, -2048 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 476928 MB, Free - 317115 MB; E: Total - 476937 MB, Free - 472131 MB;
Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd., GA-78LMT-S2P
Antivirus: COMODO Antivirus, Updated and Enabled
 

sharnthor

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Dec 8, 2012
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Hi

Have you tried this yet?

Yeah, that indicates software again.

Okay, try this...

Insert the HDD into the desktop. Do you know how to remove the drivers from your pc? Complete uninstall drivers?

Start - Control Panel - Device Manager
- Disk Drives, find your portable and double click on it. Porperties window pops up
- Select driver, then uninstall.

Once this is done, remove your HDD and restart Windows
Once back in Windows, re-insert the drive and see what happens. This should eliminate the driver issue.

If this does not work, you'll have to go into Windows Safe Mode and run the software from there and see if that works.
Upon start-up of your desktop, keep pressing F8 continuously(this is generally the standard) until you get a windows load menu. Just select "Windows 7 - Safe Mode" from this menu and let the PC start up.

If the latter works, that would indicate that it's most likely software holding it back ie. Antivirus, Internet Security etc...
 
Solution