# USB 3 Disk is only recognized as usb 2 device



## DerHandwerk (Aug 9, 2014)

Hi everybody,

I have some troubles with my new USB 3 Disks. I have two brand new USB 3 disks (mybooks from Western Digital) attached to my machine running FreeBSD 10.0.


```
uname -a
FreeBSD kirk 10.0-RELEASE FreeBSD 10.0-RELEASE #0 r260789: Thu Jan 16 22:34:59 UTC 2014     root@snap.freebsd.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64
```

My problem is that both disks are only recognized as USB 2 devices although they are connected to the USB 3 ports. I have verified my suspicion with usbconfig:


```
usbconfig
ugen0.1: <XHCI root HUB 0x1b6f> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen1.1: <UHCI root HUB Intel> at usbus1, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen2.1: <UHCI root HUB Intel> at usbus2, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen3.1: <UHCI root HUB Intel> at usbus3, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen4.1: <UHCI root HUB Intel> at usbus4, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen5.1: <EHCI root HUB Intel> at usbus5, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen3.2: <product 0x0189 vendor 0x8086> at usbus3, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON (0mA)
ugen0.2: <Elements 107C Western Digital> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (26mA)
ugen0.3: <Elements 107C Western Digital> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (26mA)
```

As far as I understand this output bus 0 is USB 3 (spd=SUPER) but my disks at 0.2 and 0.3 are still connected with USB 2 speed (spd=HIGH).

Here is some additional info regarding the USB controller:


```
pciconf -vl
...
xhci0@pci0:4:0:0:	class=0x0c0330 card=0x70231b6f chip=0x70231b6f rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Etron Technology, Inc.'
    device     = 'EJ168 USB 3.0 Host Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
...
```

I would be very pleased if someone could give me a hint.

Greetings

DerHandwerk


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## Uniballer (Aug 10, 2014)

I have a half dozen of those disks, and they work fine for me as USB3 devices on various supported controllers.  But only on the ports on the motherboard (the case ports are only USB2).  For example:


```
xhci0@pci0:5:0:0:	class=0x0c0330 card=0x84881043 chip=0x10421b21 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'ASMedia Technology Inc.'
    device     = 'ASM1042 SuperSpeed USB Host Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
```

Do you have any other devices that should work in USB3 mode to try on your hardware?


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## DerHandwerk (Aug 10, 2014)

No I have just these two disks, but I have connected them to my MacBook and there they are connected as USB 3 devices.


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## Uniballer (Aug 10, 2014)

Right.  I wasn't questioning the WD MyBooks ability to run as USB3 devices.  I am assuming that the USB3 support for your controller is not working right, whether due to software issues or hardware implementation or connector issues, or whatever.  And I don't see anything in the USB driver support in 10-STABLE that is likely to help you.

One option might be to buy a cheap USB3 controller on ebay.  I paid $6.99 in March, 2014 for a cheap Chinese 2 port PCIe x1 card with the NEC chipset and it works fine.  Sometimes it is impossible to tell what chipset is on the Chinese boards.  An example where the chipset is known is the Startech PEXUSB3S11 (I see this on ebay now for $9.99 with free shipping in the USA).


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## Uniballer (Aug 11, 2014)

FYI, if you can see a good picture of the board showing the PCIe chip you can recognize the NEC chipset, or a clone of it, as "D720200F1".  I have seen this chip on pictures of the previously mentioned Startech board, the Rocketfish RF-P2USB3, and various no-name cards.  Good luck.


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## mghorashi (Apr 11, 2017)

Two years later, I have the exact same issue. running FreeNAS Corral (FreeBSD 11).

Did you ever find a solution for this?


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## Chris_H (Apr 20, 2017)

As Uniballer seems to have alluded to; could it be a bad connector on the external connectors? Something that comes to my mind, from past experiences. Is that USB _cables_ are *notoriously* flakey. Meaning; a USB cable is not a USB cable, is no... Anyway, all cables are NOT alike. Many, if not MOST of them are constructed as cheaply/inexpensively as possible -- it's about PROFIT, not your experience. 
Anyway. Experiment with different cables you have available. _Length_ is also a potential problem. The voltage/wattage from the USB ports aren't very high, and the longer the cable, the higher the impedance (resistance). So more times than not, the shorter, the better. Hubs; every device you attach to the parent USB port requires more power (uA). Hubs suck power, unless they are externally powered. Last, but not necessarily last; the PSU (power supply). It's a good idea to try and get a power supply that has a higher rated wattage output than you imagine you need -- they also get weaker, as time goes by. So sometimes even replacing it with like power rating will cure problems like this. As (USB) cables go; splurge, and get an expensive one. It's cheaper than buying/trying several new cables until you get one that works 

HTH

--Chris


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