Can't transfer large files to USB devices (updated)

[JonUK]

Updated : 29th August, please read the very bottom of this message too for Windows 8 experience.

Firstly I want to say a big thanks for the OC motherboard bundle, the majority I am very happy with, I love the speed of the CPU, the temp is fine, and noise is very low. I do have one problem though which for me is a very important one. I bought the machine for DVD and blu-ray authoring, and this also requires archiving to external devices on a daily basis. I can't copy anything over about 100 or 200mb to a USB device of any sort using any of the sockets, be it USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 or front or back sockets.

What happens is when I try and transfer a large file the hard drive destination either cuts out very soon and then the drive vanishes and says it is no longer at the location (and you hear the USB style beep-beep noise), or it will just slow right down to low broadband speeds of around 100KB to 200KB and then stay like that. When copying 4gb+ there is no way I can work with those speeds. It starts off fine, at 100MB/s, and usually USB 3.0 will go down to about 60MB/s minimum. There is clearly a problem of some kind somewhere. Obviously I understand transferring large files wouldn't of been tested during your test phase, there would have been no need, but I really need to sort this as that is the primary reason for me having this machine.

Copying from internal to internal works fine. Copying from external to internal seems to work fine most of the time, I had a couple of cut outs but that could be coincidence. So it seems the problem is from internal to external using USB.

These things I have tried...............

1. I have tried 4 different SATA external hard drives in 2 docking stations. These work fine when connected up to my other PC so I can rule them out of being faulty.
2. I have tried a USB stick, same problem.
3. I have tried all sockets, both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
4. I have tried a Gigabyte GA-USB 3.0 card just as a test, and the same happens, I am guessing this probably uses the same drivers.
5. I have formatted my SSD 4 times now and re-installed Windows 7 four times and same happens
6. I have tried both Windows 7 and Windows 7 Service Pack 1
7. I have tried to copy files as soon as Windows is freshly installed with only USB drivers loaded, to try and cut down on any conflicts, the same happens
8. I have tried to go via a USB hub
9. I have turned off the option for energy saving to turn off hard drives, I have turned off the USB suspend option
10. I have tried other file copying software
11. I have tried latest drivers from Gigabytes website (on some tests I formatted and installed with disc drivers, other tests I used website drivers)

So I am stuck what else to try really. You will know most of my spec from the order details, but on top of those items I have.............

RocketRaid 640 card (which was ordered at the same time) that connects to 4 hard drives in RAID 5 mode.
Coolermaster 700watt PSU
AMD Radeon 6670 HD
LG DVD-RW USB
Pioneer BD-R internal

If you don't have my other specs from the bundle then this is what I had (this is copied from invoice)..........

3XS Edge - Intel Core i7 3770K
3XS OCB Z77 Edge Core i7 3770K
Scan Overclocked Bundle Range
3XS-MODERATE-OVERCLOCKING
Intel Core i7 3770K s1155
BEQUIET BK017 CPU COOLER DRP2
GByte GA-Z77X-UD5H Z77 MoBo
16GB 4x4G CML16GX3M4A1600C9 LP
Hpoint RR640 PCIe x4 SATA3 RAID

If it makes it any better I can video what happens on screen when I try and copy large files and then post a link to the video file on youtube. My other PC which is a 6 core Phenom (which I also got from you guys a while back) works fine on a Gigabyte motherboard with external devices using same OS. So I am not sure what is the reason for the problem here. I have fairly good skill when it comes to computers I think, so I know I have tried the obvious, but perhaps there is a setting somewhere I am missing.

I am unsure if this a motherboard issue, drivers, a conflict, or a OS issue. As I say, I know the HDDs and docks and USB sticks work fine as I just connected them in to my other PC which sits beside this one. Used same software and OS and large files copied fine on that PC. Just for some reason not on this one.

By the way, if you have all the same parts lying around and want to try and emulate the problem, then the external docks I have are the "Sharkoon QuickPort DUO USB 3.0" (twin lead), and a "AKASA AK-DK02U3 DuoDock2S USB 3.0" (single lead). I probably bought them from you guys (Scan) in the past so you might have them lying about in stock as a test. I also tried a Sandisk 16gb USB stick converted to NTFS.

I notice in BIOS by the way you have a profile saved for STOCK and OC. If I returned the bios to default settings just as a test will re-selecting the OS one afterwards make the bios identical to what it is now ? I didn't want to select it without asking. Just thought it may be a good test to set back to default just to see. Everything looked fine though in bios so I would be surprised if it is anything in there. Also would updating the bios to latest one wipe the saved profiles ? As I think there is a newer version out now. Also is it worth trying out Windows XP ? I think I might have my old copy lying around somewhere, I have formatted and installed Windows 7 four times over the weekend for testing, so another time with a different version won't be much added hassle. Obviously only if you can't think of anything else first. Naturally I wouldn't be able to stick with XP if it worked, but it would show us if it is just down to Win 7.

Finally, in Device Manager I have "Base System Device" in a yellow exclamation mark (the only item that is). What could that be ? I can't think what I have installed that it could be. I don't have a printer on that PC, no memory card reader that I know of. In the properties it says "Location PCI Bus 2, Device 0, Function 1".

If you have any help or advice it it would be greatly appreciated, because I can't leave the PC like it is as it totally removes the use I have for it, which was authoring and archiving.

Thanks !!

Invoice No : E1891234

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P.S : Since I wrote this I have tried "Stock" on the bios profile, this does not make any difference to the problem, meaning it is likely not due to overclocking. I have also since tried to limit the ram in Windows to 3.5gb by using a command prompt instruction, just in case I had too much ram, this didn't help either.

P.P.S : I just remembered I didn't get a wireless antenna with the motherboard, should I have ? I think I saw it mentioned in the manual.

UPDATE 29th August : I have installed the trial version of Windows 8 as a test, this OS comes with its own drivers installed (unlike Windows 7 which needs the driver disc or online download before anything works on this new motherboard). I have not needed to install any additional drivers. I have found that the built in motherboard USB 3.0 sockets still have the same speed problem. However, in Windows 8 with its own drivers the separate USB 3.0 card from Gigabyte that I bought (so not part of the motherboard in any way) works at full speed. Yet, however, this card suffers from the same speed problem as the motherboard sockets when used in Windows 7. So what does this denote ? A driver issue given the Windows 8 one might be different ? Also the USB 2.0 sockets now work too, even the ones built in to the motherboard (front and back), which don't on Windows 7. So this leaves the USB 3.0 sockets on the motherboard that still don't work in either win7 or win8. However I can't stick with Windows 8 as I only just paid £110 for Windows 7. Also, the motherboard 3.0 sockets still don't work right, and Windows 8 is crap for desktops. But this test might help some experts understand the reason. So sadly the problem still stands, for Windows 7, none of the USB sockets work at full speed, while Windows 8 partially improves the situation but doesn't solve.

EXTRA UPDATE - An hour later from above update : After the above happening, I installed the "Intel Management Engine Interface" for the motherboard from the Windows 8 page on Gigabytes website (as it is a Windows 8 ready motherboard), I didn't install any other drivers as I was going to check speed after each driver was installed, this was the first one I downloaded to try. I suddenly found all sockets ran at full speed, including the USB 3.0 ones on the motherboard. Sadly though, after I rebooted, it was back to them not working. Not sure of the reason for that.

Sorry for all the updates but I felt everytime I made progress or eliminated something then I should mention it. Hope others see this as useful in case this happens to them too. If anyone from Scan can advise what I can do to sort this for Windows 7 then I would be most appreciative. What will be strange though, but also interesting, is if Scan test this identical model motherboard, and copy a large 200mb plus file, using Win7, to an external device via USB and finds it works.

[pctech2012]

Hi Jon

You shouldn't need to do this but it may show up if the overclocking is causing the issue and push on the troublehsooting process for you.

Switch on your system and quickly press Delete on your keyboard to access your BIOS.

Have a look round for a load profile option, you should find an overclocked and a non overclocked profile, select the non overclocked one and and then select Save and Exit.

Your system will reset and Windows will load, when everything settles try to copy your files again.

[technodean]

can you copy from usb stick to another usb stick or hard drive. Install teracopy, see if that makes a difference.

[JonUK]

Thanks for the advice. Just checked the STOCK profile, loaded Windows 7 but still have the same problem, but at least we can almost safely rule out the overclock being to blame, unless STOCK is changed in some way that was forgotten/missed. I have also tried to limit the memory down to 3GB just in case it was too much memory. Same problem still. Any idea if upgrading the bios will wipe the profiles ?

technodean, I can copy from an external drive to an internal, and I can copy 2 internal drives together, the only thing I can't do is copy large files from a drive to an external drive. I can copy smaller files, such as 50mb, to an external drive, it is just when I started to reach around the 100mb and upwards mark that it goes wrong. Oh and I can't copy external HDD to external HDD either. I don't have a big enough file on a USB stick to test if that works copying to another external device, but I know I can't copy to it because I get the same error.

I tried Teracopy, that also gets stuck and slows down to KB's during transfer. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[technodean]

Only other idea is if you have a spare sata hard drive, is install it straight to the motherboard and try to copy the file to that, if that works then try to copy the file from the single hard drive connected to the motherboard to usb. But if it doesn't copy from the raid array to the drive then it might mean one of the drives or the raid card is at fault.

[JonUK]

Hi. I have 9 HDDs inside, 1 is a SSD, and the other 8 SATA drives. 4 of them are connected to a RAID card to make 1 big RAID5 drive, the other 4 are all just simple SATA drives connected to the motherboard. All the internal ones work when copying between themselves. None of the drives copy to a external drive, not even those from the RAID card. All external drives have been tested by me as working by me just moving the USB lead out of the back of the i7 and putting it in to my 1090T that is sat next to it.

[technodean]

I'm as lost as you now, hard when something is not in front of you. the next thing to try is unpluging the case usb's from the motherboard then trying to copy the file via the rear usb. maybe you have a broken wire or one of the pins is touching the other and is shutting down the transfer.

[JonUK]

Yeah sadly I have tried everything I can think of, without knowing the real techy stuff buried deep within command prompt or admin sections, such as buffers and all that. I have tried multiple USB leads and tried every USB socket, it oddly happens on both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 and even with a USB 3.0 card (but I think it shares same drivers as motherboard as both are Gigabyte, I have removed this though to check if it works any differently). I have got through many PCs in my time and often dealt with archiving large files but never had this problem before. To a lot of people no one would ever notice as not everyone transfers externally or larger than 100mb files, my parents for instance would be none the wiser if they had this issue on their PC, just that I need to transfer large video files, so I instantly noticed. Thanks for your trying to help by the way.

[technodean]

No worries, sorry I couldn't help, lol, i'm in the middle of transferring 1.4tb to a new usb 2.0 hard drive as I had to send my seagate 2tb 3.0 one back for a similar problem to you in which it would disconnect itself during transfer, common fault with the seagate drive though. Good luck.

[technodean]

As I see from your listing showing your invoice i.e 3xs build, check this post out and check out the replys from 3 on http://forums.hexus.net/scan-3xs-sys...d-morning.html

[JonUK]

As I see from your listing showing your invoice i.e 3xs build, check this post out and check out the replys from 3 on.......

Thanks for trying. Sadly though from what I could see from that post that is about the front panel only, mine is about every socket, including the back ones actually built in to the motherboard.

[pctech2012]

Did you try putting it in the none overclocked profile?

[JonUK]

Did you try putting it in the none overclocked profile?

Yes, didn't make any difference, but we can at least rule that out.

[pctech2012]

I'm beginning to wonder if your PSU isn't supplying a steady power feed to the component.

I'll sort my flickr account out and post some screengrabs of where you can see the USB power draw in real time in Windows this evening (I'm running XP at work so cant do it here)

[JonUK]

Thanks mate, that would be good I never knew you could see the power draw in Windows before.

I am unsure if Scan are looking at this thread themselves too, as I haven't had a reply on here from them. Do I need to contact support direct ? Also my email to Gigabyte is still unread (it shows the status) for 4 days now. I am not sure if I will ever sort this. It would be great if someone with the same motherboard could do a test with a large file via the USB 3.0 ports, just so I can see. Also I really want to try the latest bios but am afraid I will lose the overclocked profiles so not sure what to do about that.

[pctech2012]

Prob wont be till about 7.

I'm surprised noone from Scan has replied yet, have you contacted them via their website to open a case with technical support as I have a feeling this might require their attention