Linux Lite Forums
Hardware - Support => Hard Drives and SSDs => Topic started by: TMG1961 on October 18, 2015, 10:13:07 AM
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Can somebody explain to me what is going on? I have 2 usb 2.0 sticks..32 and 64gb, both formatted as fat32.
When i use them on laptop and copy or paste something to them it is extremely slow. It starts and then after 10-15 seconds it stops, sometimes for 10-15 seconds but it can last 5-10 minutes, nothing happening then, both sticks show activity but nothing is copied or pasted over to them. After some time it starts again and then the same over again after a few seconds. You should think that when it starts you see the amount of data transferred being changed but no, it just picks up were it stopped. Looks like linux is running out of breath when transferring files and needs to take a break before being able to continue.
The speed is also extremely slow, i got max speed of 2Mb/sec if i am lucky, most of the times i don't even get 1Mb/sec.
At the moment i am trying to copy 15GB of pictures and video to the 64GB stick..speed..215kB/sec..says it will take 20 hours
Stopped the copy because the speed dropped to 15kB/sec. I dont know what is the problem, but i only have it with both sticks in linux, i even installed a fresh copy of windows and both sticks worked at 28Mb/sec without stopping.
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Well, My copies take longer from computer to usb than from usb to computer.
I find it also depends on the usb stick being used (Make and model and read and write speeds)
The usb port being used also sometimes makes a choke point difference.
The size of the file and file type also slows things down. 4 gig .mkv is one good example usb 2.0 that chokes
So lot's of reasons why this can be happening.
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PS. My external 1TB toshiba hard drive copies real fast. Faster than pen drives. I do not know why but it seems hardware is the choke point.
So the laptop hardware might be a usb 1.1 port you plugged into. Some laptops come with both.
lusb -v will say if any are usb 1.1
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This article on Ask Ubuntu may help.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/397249/system-freezes-unresponsive-unusable-when-copying-large-file-to-usb
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I had a similar experience with SD Cards, Internal & External via USB3
Just like them, USB sticks will suffer the vagaries of speed, type, make.....
Here's what I found from my tests. (https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/off-topic/(information)-sd-cards-are-'not'-created-equal/msg7564/#msg7564)
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According to the specification i should have 3 usb 2 ports.
When i do lsusb i get:
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 064e:c107 Suyin Corp. HP webcam [dv6-1190en]
Bus 001 Device 014: ID abcd:1234 Unknown
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 045e:0029 Microsoft Corp. IntelliMouse Optical
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
I did read the links but most of it i don't understand.
when i do hdparm i get: Timing O_DIRECT disk reads: 48 MB in 3.01 seconds = 15.96 MB/sec
But when i copy something i get speeds of 2-3 Mb/sec at best.
I
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lusb -v will say if any are usb 1.1
Good advice by rokytnji (as usual :) ), small typo:
lsusb -vit is
:)
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Read here about File Transfer Speeds USB speeds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive#File_transfer_speeds), and this is using USB 3.0
According to your lsusb, you have USB 2.0/1.1, so it will be even slower.
So your 215kB/sec is actually quite good, sadly :( :(
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I have been googling a bit on how to do the file copy different and found the rsync command. So its running now for about 1,5 hour and its almost done with transfering 15GB of photos and videos to the usb stick.
I am not really good at all the commands you can use in terminal, am glad that i even know the terminal exists ;D
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O.K... Glad you are the way...
I use "FreeFile Sync (http://www.freefilesync.org/)" to do things like this... I used it all the time in Windows, now on Linux.
Install instructions at the bottom of this page for 14.04 based distros (http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-freefilesync-6-14-on-ubuntu-14-10-ubuntu-14-04-and-derivative-systems/).
It allows you to select Folders/Files in a Source location and Copy or Synch to a Destination.
You can define settings and save them, so you can have different setups for different copy/synch jobs.
This is one profile I use to keep all my install notes up-to-date on my LL USB boot stick.
If during an install I amend my notes on the USB stick, I just run this again on my main PC to sync the changes back.
(http://i.imgur.com/2KbT0Bo.png)
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Thanks Wirezfree, i will have a look into that program
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Hello!
I'd also try seeing which port(s) are USB 2.0, and which are USB 1.1 by making speed tests on transferring files. That will tell you which ports to use for best performance.
For those with ancient 1.1-only laptops and/or only one USB port, they make USB 2.0 PCMCIA cards. I have one that adds two USB 2.0 ports, and a jack to plug in an external power source.
Here's a link to one that adds two USB 3.0 ports. It is CardBus Express, but they make Express to PCMCIA adapters:
http://www.dx.com/p/2-port-usb-3-0-pcmcia-express-card-adapter-for-laptop-93061 (http://www.dx.com/p/2-port-usb-3-0-pcmcia-express-card-adapter-for-laptop-93061)
I just may pick up one of these myself...
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
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If you decide to add a usb hub for external devices such as hard drives or dvd drives it is always best to get a hub that has it's own power supply. Adding unpowered usb hubs can cause problems with external HDD and data loss, if you are pulling to much power from the port it is attached to.
More Info on usb power problems in the following link.
https://community.wd.com/t/how-to-eliminate-potential-problems-on-usb-powered-drives-and-keep-them-healthy/7709