win 2ksp4 usb 2.0 vs. Intel driver?

[mikesw]

I have win 2k Pro Sp4 with all the latest patches. However, Win XP SP2 with patches is about

6 times faster for a flash drive with USB 2.0 reading or writing it vs. Win 2K PRO SP4.

Is MSofts latest USB 2.0 driver that came with SP4 better than Intels USB 2.0 driver?

Whats considered the newest driver from MSOFT for USB 2.0 to speed up my data transfers?

Will Intel Application accelerator help in speeding things up ?

Anybody try open source or third party usb drives on Win 2K PRO? Who is the one to use

in this case?

[fdv]

I think in general you'll find that a OEM driver is usually preferable to a built-in Windows driver.

You cannot depend on MS doing the right thing in this department. For example, compare low-level drivers in 2000 with XP such as fastfat.sys or pcmcia.sys. Why won't MS update the 2000 drivers by issuing a rollup for 2000 that has the XP drivers? They won't, of course.

Do you have a link to the Intel generic USB driver? I'm interested in checking that out.

[jaclaz]

I have win 2k Pro Sp4 with all the latest patches. However, Win XP SP2 with patches is about

6 times faster for a flash drive with USB 2.0 reading or writing it vs. Win 2K PRO SP4.

Is MSofts latest USB 2.0 driver that came with SP4 better than Intels USB 2.0 driver?

Whats considered the newest driver from MSOFT for USB 2.0 to speed up my data transfers?

Will Intel Application accelerator help in speeding things up ?

Anybody try open source or third party usb drives on Win 2K PRO? Who is the one to use

in this case?

I think it must something else I only use on my machines Win2K, not necessarily updated to lates SP, and access and transfer to/from USB device is definitely faster than that I find on ANY of the (XP) PC's I find at my various customer's offices, usually way more fast/powerful than the laptop(s) I use.

I would be interested in more details from you (hardware, both of PC and USB device, antivirus/firewall/antyspyware you use, and so on)...

jaclaz

Edited April 10, 2008 by jaclaz

[krose]

USB function might only be as good as implemented in the hardware, in this case the southbridge. I have an XP laptop with an ATI Radeon Xpress 200M northbridge paired with the SB 450 southbridge. USB performance is not nearly as good as my Win2K desktop with Intel ICH9R southbridge. IIRC the SB 450 was known for crappy USB performance.

Edited April 11, 2008 by krose

[mikesw]

I think in general you'll find that a OEM driver is usually preferable to a built-in Windows driver.

You cannot depend on MS doing the right thing in this department. For example, compare low-level drivers in 2000 with XP such as fastfat.sys or pcmcia.sys. Why won't MS update the 2000 drivers by issuing a rollup for 2000 that has the XP drivers? They won't, of course.

Do you have a link to the Intel generic USB driver? I'm interested in checking that out.

I've been doing some research on my used PC. It's a Netvista 6794-21U. I have Win 2K Pro SP4 and with rolllup 1 plus patches running on it.

The chipset is Intel 845 (no other chipset letter variations). The controller is an Intel 82801BA/BAM device.

I have the latest Intel 845 chipset drivers installed. However, their documentation says that the controller software in

Win 2K SP4 rollup 1 is newer and to use that. The intel date on the controller is in FY 2000 ,but the SP4 is around Aug 2004.

However, it doesn't seem to matter which one I use in terms of upload/download USB speed. About one hour for 3.4 Gigs download.

So it's best to use the MSoft software instead of Intel.

The controllers installed are the PCI to USB Universal Controller software with the USB root hub from MSoft. Because the OS

doesn't see any EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface) devices in the computer, it doesn't load the MSoft or Intel controller software

for ECHI. As a result, I can't do USB 2.0, only 1.1 and below. Thus, this is the cause of my USB slowness although I thought the

guy I bought the computer from said it was USB 2.0.

Edited April 13, 2008 by mikesw

[cluberti]

I've been doing some research on my used PC. It's a Netvista 6794-21U...

...

...

As a result, I can't do USB 2.0, only 1.1 and below. Thus, this is the cause of my USB slowness although I thought the

guy I bought the computer from said it was USB 2.0.

According to the Lenovo support page on that model, it only shipped USB 1.1 sockets ( http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-39624.html ):

Intel 82801BA I/O Controller Hub (ICH2) for PCI 2.2 bus, ATA-100 EIDE, ethernet MAC, USB revision 1.1, Low Pin Count Interface

Four USB (two in front, two in back) [Ver 1.1]

[mikesw]

I've been doing some research on my used PC. It's a Netvista 6794-21U...

...

...

As a result, I can't do USB 2.0, only 1.1 and below. Thus, this is the cause of my USB slowness although I thought the

guy I bought the computer from said it was USB 2.0.

According to the Lenovo support page on that model, it only shipped USB 1.1 sockets ( http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-39624.html ):

Intel 82801BA I/O Controller Hub (ICH2) for PCI 2.2 bus, ATA-100 EIDE, ethernet MAC, USB revision 1.1, Low Pin Count Interface

Four USB (two in front, two in back) [Ver 1.1]

FYI, I'm posting the following info here for those with Windows XP SP2 (and soon to be SP3) just in case they

are experiencing this popup/tooltip message when they plug in a usb 2.0 device into a computer that is v1.1.

In my case, a friend of mine has an HP Pavillion 760C circa FY 2000 that has usb v1.1. After installing the latest intel chipset

driver software, he began experiencing the problems in this KB article although the device will work and we always

thought, yes we know its a usb 1.1 port on the computer. However, based on my other post whereby intel specifies

that one should use the latest service pack for the intel chips 845 for windows 2000 which would be the SP4 rollup

1 and above, that if one has an older intel chipset with their software installed giving the message below, that it is

best per the KB article to replace /upate the driver and specify the MSOFT controller software that comes in the

XP SP2/SP3 install to eliminate this error message.

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;312370

So, the bottom line is that although one installs and lets the OS search for the best hardware match, and to install that

software, that in some cases, MSOFT may be more up-to-date even if one has the latest intel s/w.

One question, although device manager shows numerous UHCI controllers for each USB port a computer may have, why is there only one EHCI controller shown instead of an equal number for all the USB ports that are v2.0?

What's the difference between the "Generic Hub' and the "USB Root Hub" and why aren't there an equal number?

Edited April 16, 2008 by mikesw