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Hardware - Support => Hard Drives and SSDs => Topic started by: T1125P on December 03, 2017, 07:57:31 PM

Title: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 03, 2017, 07:57:31 PM
Hi all. I'm transferring files from my Dell E6330 Laptop to my USB drive. In windows I get anywhere from 120-130mbs constant. Now this is transferring to a 7,200 RPM drive. I do have an SSD which sometimes is a bit faster transferring files. Now the problem is, on my laptop the transfer rate goes below 30mbs for the same files I transfer to my Windows PC. The laptop has USB 3.0 ports and I'm using a Corsair 360GB SSD so my transfer rate should at least be near 100mbs. Is there anything with Linux Lite I can do to speed up the transfer?


Thanks
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: Jerry on December 04, 2017, 03:15:08 AM
What file format is on both the source and the destination? It also depends on the file type/s that you are transferring.

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Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 04, 2017, 05:33:07 PM
Hello, I'm transferring a 64GB video .mkv file. I took a pic of my speed right now.  https://ibb.co/dEczqG
File format you mean? My USB stick? It's exfat and the SSD is ext4 format.

Thanks
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: TheDead on December 04, 2017, 06:11:37 PM
It could be that the USB3 driver is not working and defaults back to USB2/USB.
I do not have any LL machine with USB3 to check but, just an idea.
And just in case... install all Linux Lite Updates and check if drivers are available.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 04, 2017, 06:32:12 PM
Thanks I will do that. Also, when it first transfers it starts at over 100mb/s and then it drops.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 04, 2017, 08:33:35 PM
Tried the updates speed stays the same. Hmm, would there be any other 3rd party drivers for USB 3.0?
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: Jerry on December 04, 2017, 10:15:24 PM
Insert the USB. Open a terminal:

Code: [Select]
df -h
get the drive letter of your USB. Then do:

Code: [Select]
sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sxx
where sxx is your USB. Report back the results.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 05, 2017, 12:01:43 AM
Thank you this is what I come up with.: https://ibb.co/kKpokG
Where it says PATRIOT that is my 256GB USB.
The speed seems right but I don't understand why it drops off so low while it's transferring.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: Jerry on December 05, 2017, 12:11:54 AM
Speed is fine. I don't think you can get sustained speeds with a file that size.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 05, 2017, 01:04:55 AM
Thank you, I will do some more test with smaller files and see how it works.

Thanks again.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: Jerry on December 05, 2017, 01:11:48 AM
You could also make your USB ext4 file system. Then test ext4 to ext4 under USB 3.0
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 05, 2017, 08:31:25 AM
Hello, actually I didn't think of that I will surely test out the ext4 file system on my USB and see how fast the speeds are thank you.
Reason I use exfat is because I transfer files from my Linux PC to my Win 7 PC :D  I just came across a program that lets you read the ext file systems in Windows, it's called Ext2Read, so if the speeds do improve I will use this program to transfer my files instead of exfat.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: trinidad on December 05, 2017, 10:51:27 AM
Couple of suggestions I would add to this. The fastest way to transfer huge files from a Linux box to a Windows 7 box is to use grsync via ethernet. Also .mkv files are a kind of universal container file which can contain differing OS information and meta-data depending how edits are made and simple things like Windows fonts can slow down or mess up transfers between Linux and Windows. Add grsync to Windows 7, and a commander style file manager, and then ethernet the Windows box to the Linux box.

If you are going to continue using USBs between the transfers format to ext2, and install ext2fsd to Windows 7 and a commander style file manager. Still 64G is an awfully big container file for a run of the mill consumer style (Windows 7) box to copy from Linux no matter how you do it and meta-data changes and editing quirks can mess with transfers.

*Important* I believe ext2fsd will work fine in Windows 7 64bit mode as long as the USB being accessed is formatted to ext2. There are issues with 64bit mode in newer Linux OSs on ext4 file transfers.

TC   
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 05, 2017, 03:17:06 PM
Thanks for the input. Hmmm, I think I will try your suggestion to trinidad. First I'll try ext4 and see if there are any issues. If there are issues I will use ext2 file system and see how that works. I think I will just try that method, being I don't want to run Ethernet cable right now :D. If speeds do improve then I will leave whatever file system gives me the best results.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 05, 2017, 09:00:53 PM
Tried ext4 , ext2, then tried to transfer a smaller 5GB file all the same speeds, average 17.5mb/s. I was thinking if I install Wine and download the USB 3.0 drivers from Dell would that work? Would it install correctly? A shame Dell has no Linux support on their site for my model of Laptop.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 07, 2017, 10:40:42 PM
OK I can confirm 100% that the issue with USB 3.0 speeds is with Ubuntu  16.04 which LL 3.6 is based on. After installing Win 10 in order to update my BIOS I copied and pasted a 80GB file. Speeds were locked at 140+mb/s. Then I downloaded Ubuntu 17.10 64bit. Tested it out the same way copied a 80GB file and the speeds are locked as well at 140+mb/s. Also like to add this is with the exFat file system on Win 10 & Ubuntu.  Hmm, I wonder is there anyway to fix this ?
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: supergamer on December 07, 2017, 11:03:23 PM
I would bet it has to do with kernel drivers for a newer kernel. If possible try the 4.10 kernel series (hwe ones).
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 07, 2017, 11:31:04 PM
OK thanks a lot I will look into that.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 08, 2017, 12:07:20 AM
I have fixed the slow USB 3.0 issue by actually installing 4.13 Kernel. This is what worked for me hopefully it will help others:

To get the Kernel 4.13 from the command console, run the commands below one by one:

For 64-bit OS:

cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.13/linux-headers-4.13.0-041300_4.13.0-041300.201709031731_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.13/linux-headers-4.13.0-041300-generic_4.13.0-041300.201709031731_amd64.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.13/linux-image-4.13.0-041300-generic_4.13.0-041300.201709031731_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

for 32-bit OS:


cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.13/linux-headers-4.13.0-041300_4.13.0-041300.201709031731_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.13/linux-headers-4.13.0-041300-generic_4.13.0-041300.201709031731_i386.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.13/linux-image-4.13.0-041300-generic_4.13.0-041300.201709031731_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb
After installed these .debs, restart and enjoy!

Screenshot of my USB 3.0 speeds now:  https://ibb.co/jbObQG
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: supergamer on December 08, 2017, 12:24:01 AM
Glad the kernel updated fixed this issue. It should be noted that the kernels are also in Install/Remove packages from the menu. Did you happen to try the 4.10 series and see if that fixed things or just went up to the 4.13 for good measure.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: Jerry on December 08, 2017, 12:31:33 AM
Lite Tweaks hosts all our kernels up to and including 4.14 under Kernel Installer.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 08, 2017, 01:20:34 AM
supergamer I just jumped to 4.13 and installed it. I figured the higher the Kernel the more features it has :D
Thanks Jerry I did not even think to look there. Not a Linux expert yet haha, but trying to learn as much as I can and loving it.
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: TheDead on December 08, 2017, 03:34:54 PM
Gratz!

Nice that the problem was solved... but strange that a 5 year old USB3 controller had to wait until now for kernel support.
Maybe it's a patent issue or something. Was beginning to feel sorry for (indirectly) suggesting the 6330, phew! ;)

Cheers!
Title: Re: Slow USB 3.0 Speeds
Post by: T1125P on December 08, 2017, 07:54:23 PM
Hmm, actually I read that USB 3.0 support was supported in Linux from 2009 on. It could have been an issue with my USB 3.0 controller and the older Kernels. At least it's good now, and the E6330 is so fast with LL, everything just opens in  a snap.