Flush USB 3.0 Expresscard Adapter

[Coruja]

Where did you buy it? I got mine from Dell during their boxing week sale and got ZERO service from them, no info, no returns... "Sorry, this is not a Dell product... Call the manufacturer".
You got a point; they do sell a card for the eGo, IIRC. Otherwise go for the Shentek, 34mm card, NEC/Renesas chipset and extra power port.

I got my Iomega from Amazon.ca - I expect they'd refer me to Iomega for problems.... It definately seems it doesn't like the AKE adapter or how it interacts with my DELL. The Iomega drive works fine to a single USB2.0 port - no disconnects at all and it only needs one port connection and runs fine at 25-30MB/s.

The replacement cable from Iomega (allegedly 'the right cable' for the drive) is just the same as the one it came with - a Y-cable with a USB3.0 AND a USB2.0 end.

Behaviour is the same as with the original cable, although it's gotten worse. Now invariably almost immediately I try to copy to/from the drive it disconnects saying the drive location does not exist. It's odd that it's worse - at first I quite happily copied a lot of data to/from the drive with only the odd disconnect - no it's totally unuseable via USB3.0

No such problems with the Seagate GoFlex, so I'd recommend this at the mo if anything.

So, Iomega Ego + USB3.0 AKE expresscard/34 + DELL = no go at the mo.

[83bj60]

I got my Iomega from Amazon.ca - I expect they'd refer me to Iomega for problems.... It definately seems it doesn't like the AKE adapter or how it interacts with my DELL

Ahh... Compatibility issues! These things can be notoriously difficult to diagnose and resolve, that's for sure! It's not too surprising when you realize your AKE is in fact a Fresco Logic, whereas mine is a NEC/Renesas

The Iomega drive works fine to a single USB2.0 port - no disconnects at all and it only needs one port connection and runs fine at 25-30MB/s.

Indeed, I had the same experience

The replacement cable from Iomega (allegedly 'the right cable' for the drive) is just the same as the one it came with - a Y-cable with a USB3.0 AND a USB2.0 end.

Behaviour is the same as with the original cable, although it's gotten worse.

With both cables connected?

Now invariably almost immediately I try to copy to/from the drive it disconnects saying the drive location does not exist. It's odd that it's worse - at first I quite happily copied a lot of data to/from the drive with only the odd disconnect - no it's totally unuseable via USB3.0

Bummer... I guess it's time to return the drive... or the adapter!

No such problems with the Seagate GoFlex, so I'd recommend this at the mo if anything.

I have 4 Iomegas, one failed (DOA), but the three others work fine, although one of them, a 1TB, is quite noisy and tends to click at times (no errors otherwise). They are all Samsungs internally...

I have an older 1TB drive I got really cheap (at the time) from Walmart, turns out it is a WD inside. This drive has been a real workhorse. Not one single SMART warning, and it's been schlepped atround quite a bit... I've always have had good experiences with WD drives... Seagate is also good, there is an 80GB Seagate in my old Win98 machine, super quiet (even now!) fluid drive. Just don't try to start it when it's very cold, though, it simply won't (ie don't start it right away if it's been in cold storage, let it get to room temp)

So, Iomega Ego + USB3.0 AKE expresscard/34 + DELL = no go at the mo.

I'd say Iomega eGo + Dell PC + Fresco Logic based USB 3.0 card = no go .. Why don't you try getting a NEC based card instead and see if that helps?

[damaph]

So I just recieved my 34mm AKE USB 3.0 expresscard. Here are some benchmarks. This is with a 2TB Hitachi 5k3000 in a Sunbeamtech USB 3.0 enclosure.

[83bj60]

So I just recieved my 34mm AKE USB 3.0 expresscard. Here are some benchmarks. This is with a 2TB Hitachi 5k3000 in a Sunbeamtech USB 3.0 enclosure.



I would say that this confirms that the AKE card does indeed run full speed USB 3.0.

Actually your graph indicates that it flatlines at around 75MB/s, whereas it should look more like this, if it is actually letting the drive run full speed:




Same drive on USB 2.0 shows like this, notice how it is limited by the USB 2.0 interface:



BTW, the downward spikes are caused by a regular process running in the background, that I haven't identified yet

[damaph]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Do you think that the expresscard is the most likely reason for this?

[Coruja]

Ahh... Compatibility issues! These things can be notoriously difficult to diagnose and resolve, that's for sure!

With both cables connected?


I have 4 Iomegas, one failed (DOA), but the three others work fine, although one of them, a 1TB, is quite noisy and tends to click at times (no errors otherwise). They are all Samsungs internally...

I'd say Iomega eGo + Dell PC + Fresco Logic based USB 3.0 card = no go .. Why don't you try getting a NEC based card instead and see if that helps?

Thanks for your thoughts '83bj60' - much appreciated and your clarification is correct; not a problem with AKE expresscards per se, but the Fresco Logic (FL) one, and only specifically in my machine with the Iomega. And yes, that's with both cables connected and not, so it doesn't seem to be power related.

The FL card and the Seagate drive and my machine seemed to like each other fine.

I've got another machine with an expresscard port 54 - an older HP Dv6 - so I'll give it a try in this.

I can't really mark the Iomega down on this evidence and I'll probably keep it and try another card like you say at some point - it's works fine via USB2.0 but it would be nice having it run at it's potential. It's early days for my foray into USB3.0 territory yet

[83bj60]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Do you think that the expresscard is the most likely reason for this?

No, because it's happened on my Toshiba laptop as well, last time no later that last night.

Because it had first happened shortly after I had updated the firmware on one card, and after it started doing the same on the non updated card afterwards, I thought maybe my drive was flaky, but I have since replaced the cable so this time, I looked more into it, and a clean reboot with the card out cleared it up.

Have a look at this:



and this, after a clean reboot without the expresscard:

[damaph]

No, because it's happened on my Toshiba laptop as well, last time no later that last night.

Because it had first happened shortly after I had updated the firmware on one card, and after it started doing the same on the non updated card afterwards, I thought maybe my drive was flaky, but I have since replaced the cable so this time, I looked more into it, and a clean reboot with the card out cleared it up.

Ok, I already had the latest drivers for my expresscard and the latest firmware for my enclosure so I tried restarting without the expresscard in, but I got the same results. Are you using the 54mm with the NEC chipset or the 34mm with the Fresco Logic chipset? I wish I had another computer with USB 3.0 so that I could test if it was my expresscard or my enclosure.

[83bj60]

Ok, I already had the latest drivers for my expresscard and the latest firmware for my enclosure so I tried restarting without the expresscard in, but I got the same results. Are you using the 54mm with the NEC chipset or the 34mm with the Fresco Logic chipset? I wish I had another computer with USB 3.0 so that I could test if it was my expresscard or my enclosure.

I am using the AKE 54mm dual port ExpressCard USB 3.0 Adapter, NEC/Renesas chipset, comes with power inlet and USB 2.0 power supply cable.

It is pictured here with the Iomega eGo Blackbelt 1TB USB 3.0 cable attached, the AKE card USB 2.0 port Power Take Off cable (whcih I don't really need since the Iomega already has its own USB 2.0 power take off cable) and part of the Iomega eGo Blackbelt showing on the right. On the top left, my other AKE card, with the indentations I made for more secure attachment to USB cables. Connections are solid enough that I can actually pull the card out of the slot without assist if I want, simply by pulling the attached cable



Tests showing the odd transfer speed flatlining were done with the drive connected to both the AKE ExpressCard adapter and the Toshiba Satellite p205 port; I have not seen this behaviour with the HP EliteBook 8730w laptop.

[shakennstirred]

my 54mm AKE USB 3.0 expresscard finally came today
only took 30 days delivery lol
oh well its here and installed now