Is it really usb 2.0?

[munson1947]

Does anybody know how to determine if a usb 2.0 pci card is really functioning at usb 2.0 speed or at usb 1.1 (with a usb 2.0 device)? Is there any way of quantifying the speed via software or something else?
I recently installed a 5 port usb 2.0 pci card and the ports install as "VIA USB Univeral Host Controller" under the Univeral Serial Bus Controller category in Device Manager but a item called "Via USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller" appears in that same USB Controller category with a yellow exclamation point over it.
I am thinking that the ports mau have been installed as 1.1 ports and that the 2.0 function is not working. I have reinstalled drivers and used the setup file on the software supplied with the card and even put the card in a different computer to check it but that yellow exclamation point keeps apppearing. Under properties for this devise I get the message, "The device cannot start (code 10)"
Any ideas on verifying thhe speed or what is happening in device manager with "VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller"?
Thanks

[BipolarBill]

What brand and model of USB card is this? VIA hasn't released any USB 2.0 controllers that I'm aware of. They are all currently NEC controllers.

[munson1947]

It is a generic usb controller with a via vt 6202 chip. See the following:



VIA's VT6202 provides USB 2.0 at 480 Mbps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
posted 12:03pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001 - submitted by Rick C. Hodgin
NEWS
VIA today announced a new USB 2.0 host controller offering bandwidth of up to 40 times previous USB controllers. The VT6202 offers "advanced power management and functionality features to support greater bandwidth requirement peripherals such as higher resolution video cameras, and next-generation scanners and printers." The VT6202 is a multi-functional PCI device offering bandwidth in the 480 Mbps range (about 42 MB per second under ideal conditions, faster than most hard drives). The VT6202 places the USB 2.0 bandwidth slightly above current FireWire (IEEE 1394) levels of around 400 Mpbs. VIA's press release includes this text: "Manufactured by TSMC using a 0.22 micron CMOS process, the VIA VT6202 root hub consists of four downstream facing ports and legacy support for all downstream facing ports, providing the PC user with multiple peripheral options utilizing the exceptional bandwidth of USB 2.0." Follow this link to read the whole press release.




USER COMMENTS 11 comment(s)
So... (2:53pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
Why do we need firewire? - by Harry
Because... (3:22pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
IEEE 1394a [or v2 or whatever it's called], emerging now, is twice as fast as the vanilla standard. - by JJ Brannon
Question (3:43pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
Rede-ing duh numbahs, I missed it if this release says that the ports run totally independently or not - my concern would be that using a "legacy" (USB 1) device on one of the ports would limit ALL of the ports to "legacy" speed. Any info, anybody?
[I still like the Orange card that has Firewire AND USB2.] - by rdn
rdn (4:18pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)

I wondered that too. I haven't found anything to corroborate my theory, but if I read between the lines, it seems to indicate that each channel is entirely separate. I think that, provided it was hooked up to its own channel, only that one would be slowed down. The rest would remain at max speed.

- by Rick C. Hodgin
HA, it's too bad (4:32pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
Too bad that WinXP doesn't support this standard. You can bet a Service Pack will out for this at some point.

So, has anyone loaded XP? How much disk space does it use?

I bet it is SOOOO bloated! - by The Scavenger
Thanx, Rick (4:50pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
Yeah, it would seem like that would be the only way for them to go, but I've had similar thoughts on other products before - that led to disappointments! [Doh!]

The press release does say that the card version has 4 ports and 2 interface cores - maybe the cores run 2 ports each, and each core's ports would then have to run at the same speed. Since they stuck to the same part number for the "board mount" version, maybe it also has 2 cores, 4 ports, and works the same way.

[The "board mount" version would be more critical - with a separate card for USB2, you could always use the original USB ports on the mobo for "legacy" stuff.]

[I would get a "warm, fuzzy" feeling if they actually spelled out such details in their press release.] - by rdn
firewire (5:29pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
when will firewire come down in price and replace IDE inside it sounds so much better and great lower end substitue for SCSI i hate when i try to transfer over my ide drives and they eat up cpu time and **** i love my scsi drives how they transfer faster. firewire looks liek it kicks usb as a bus interface anyway protocal wise - by firewire all the way
Re: Scavenger (6:23pm EST Thu Sep 27 2001)
i run WinXP...havent froze yet. Runs really good. Does Linux support USB2.0? - by De@d St0p
hmm (2:13am EST Fri Sep 28 2001)
i thought USB 2.0 was suppost to be 540 mbps? oh well. they should have released this years ago, 10mbps is too slow for anything, hence why 100mbps netowrk cards were developed. - by Synonymous
Usability (10:07am EST Fri Sep 28 2001)
USB is fine for my Olympus digital camera via Sandisk SmartMedia uploads, my Graphire Pad pen tool, my APC-UPS Smart Backup, my Logitech webcam, my Canon S600 inkjet, and my Microtek V6UPL scanner.

These save IRQs and 12mbps is working fine with that load.

I plan to have a USB keyboard and Firewire port for a DV camera/video editing unit with my next computer. - by JJ Brannon
usb 2.0 support available in XP (3:39pm EST Tue Feb 05 2002)
fyi usb 2.0 support is now available for windows xp.

enjoy - by msguy




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post your comment
Subject:
Comment:
Name:


Comments are limited to 2000 characters, and are posted immediately. If comments are posted that are outside of the Comment Guidelines, they may be deleted. Comments do not represent the views of Geek.com. If you feel that the comment system is being abused, please let us know at admin@ugeek.com.


Read More News






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Get the Specs
AMD - Athlon Duron Athlon XP Morgan Hammer
Intel - Celeron Pentium III Pentium 4 Itanium
PowerPC - G3 750CX 750CXe G4 G5
Transmeta - TM5600 TM5800
Other Chips - Processor Specs Chipset Specs

Compare Chip Prices - at iBuyer
Check out the: CPU TOP 10

Latest Hot Chip Prices
Athlon XP 2000+: $174.90 - 2100+: $226.90
Celeron 1.2 GHz: $73.00 - 1.3 GHz: $79.00
Duron 1.2 GHz: $61.00 - 1.3 GHz: $75.00
Pentium 4 2.2 GHz: $388.00 - 2.4 GHz: $532.00


...or check here
Athlon (TBird) - 1.4GHz box 1.4GHz oem
Athlon XP (box) - 1800+ 1900+ 2000+ 2100+
Athlon XP (oem) - 1800+ 1900+ 2000+ 2100+
Athlon MP (box) - 1600+ 1800+ 1900+ 2000+
Duron (box) - 1GHz 1.1GHz 1.2GHz 1.3GHz
Duron (oem) - 1GHz 1.1GHz 1.2GHz 1.3GHz
P4-478-256K (box) - 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0GHz
P4-478-512K (box) - 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4GHz
Pentium III (box) - 1GHz 1.13 1.20 1.26GHz-512K
Celeron (box) - 1GHz 1.1GHz 1.2GHz 1.3GHz
Order Crucial DDR/SDRAM - Get FREE 2-day shipping
SDRAM - PC100 PC133 PC133VC PC133 SODIMM
DDR SDRAM - PC1600 PC2100 PC2700
RDRAM - PC800 PC800-ECC

Home | Welcome | Survey | Newsletters | Site Map | Contact Us
What's New | Advertise | Search | Privacy | Shopping

© 1996-2002 Geek.com - All rights reserved.




Geek News
• Proposed stiff penalties for whois misidentification
• The future of Apple
• Oracle #2 in databases
• Dell's Latitude X200 mininotebook
• Signs of the times: high-tech on eBay



ChipGeek
• DRAM prices seem to be stabilizing at $2.50
• Quicks: Optical chips, P4 review, C3 933, DDR 400
• P4 DDR333 support from Intel
• Thoroughbred tested
• AMD's Global Consumer Advisory Board



PDAGeek
• Upgrade to the Treo and save
• SPUG is now SPUG.net
• Casio E-200 tops list
• The HP 57x plot thickens
• Caligrapher 6.3.1



Mac Section
• Out of OS 9 ashes, Jaguar comes to life
• Apple files lawsuit against Sorenson
• Apple provides roadmap for Shake
• Jaguar to be shown at Apple WWDC
• Apple Quicksilver auction on eBay



GameGeek
• Beta testers needed
• Doom III
• Have game will hire
• MacLean novels heading to a PC near you
• WCG champs meet in Taipei

[munson1947]

In reading the above info I think that USB 2.0 only works with Windows XP and I am running Windows 2K. I would still like to know how to measure the speed.
Thanks

[BipolarBill]

I would appreciate it if you would tell me what brand and model of card this is, if only to help me understand your issues. I am the "Senior Technical Advisor" at USBMan (http://www.usbman.com/forum/index.html) and I know a thing or two about this stuff.

Offhand, I'd say that a trip to Windows Update will get you the correct drivers for the Enhanced controller. Without that, you only have USB 1.1.

Please don't paste whole web pages in here.

[munson1947]

Sorry about all the junk I only meant to send the blurb about the Via chip. I knew I screwed up after I sent it. The card is a generic card I bought from Nova Computer Corp via PriceWatch. Below is all the info the Nova site has. The box does not identify a brand nor a model. The only identification on the card is the VIA chip VT6202 Thanks for the help! I'll check Windows update and the VIA website. Do you know how to measure your speed and know if your running at 1.1 or 2.0

GENERIC 5-PORT USB 2.0 PCI CARD
Manufacturer GENERIC
Product Model Product Number
Regulatory Approval CE,FCC Country of Origin Taiwan Warranty By Manufacture


Notes/Specifications -Upgrade To USB 2.0 Interface
-4-ports Extension 1-ports internal
-Windows XP Compatible

[BipolarBill]

As stated, you'll need to get the Enhanced controller drivers to even start testing because the other controllers are version 1. All ports on the card are routed according to what you connect to it. If you're using a USB 2.0 drive, try copying a 100MB file to the drive now and once again after you obtain the drivers for the enhanced controller. You'll see a big difference - ~100 sec. vs. 5 sec.

As far as Pricewatch is concerned, don't bite on low price. Although the VIA 2.0 may well be fine, VIA has a really bad track record where USB controllers are concerned. You don't wanna even know about it....:(

[BipolarBill]

I have your drivers:

http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/others/VIAUSB2V2_0_2.zip

USBMan (Jeff Roberts) would like you to post any more issues over at his forum (http://www.usbman.com/forum/index.html). He has the ear of VIA and you would likely get an answer from the engineers at VIA - on USB 2.0 issues only (calm down boys!).

[munson1947]

Thanks a lot for the help. Everything is working now.
Bob Munson