Subj : USB 3 Issue?
To   : Ky Moffet
From : Barry Martin
Date : Fri Jan 17 2020 09:36:00


Hi Ky!


 > I have a bleck tester and a blue tester.  The black gives more
 > information at a glance: V, A, some other stuff I don't recall right
 > now; the blue one cycles between V and A.
 KM> Blue sounds like mine. Obviously I need that black one too. :D

Time to go shopping!  I think I bought mine from AliExpress but don't
recall.

One thing I did was got a short (6") extension cable.  The blue one was 
upside-down to the port, or at least on the original computer (has been 
updated).  Just left the cable on.


 > Plugged the Kingson 16 GB USB 3.0 into the black tester: 4.96 v, 0.10 A,
 > front left USB 3.0 port.
 KM> Friend says Kingston flash drives 16GB or above are nothing but
 KM> trouble and commonly lock up the system. Nowadays I stick to
 KM> Sandisk so have avoided this problem.

Ah great!  Bought several Kingston Data Travellers - 16 GB.  The good 
news is they (or at least the couple I've used so far) seem to be fine. 
Generally Sneakernet, so numerous inserts/ejects.

I had problems with a certain set of ADATA thumbdrives -- 16 GB (of 
course! <g>).  Purchased several in blue and black, then went back to 
get some more of the yellow and black.  Should be the same, just a 
different coloured case.  All but one or two of the yellow ones failed: 
I could reformat a few then those eventually locked and refused to be 
corrected: tried several utilties.  


 > Little later plugged the blue tester in: freeze!  FWIW the black tester
 KM> Whoops!

The freeze problem seems to be random: known good device will suddenly 
cause a lock-up; reboot, plug-in, no problems.
                                                

 > BIOS's readings:
 >         CPU     47øC
 >         MB      25øC
 >
 >         CPU     1.296 v (FX-8320)
 >         3.3v    3.240v
 >         5v      4.992v
 >         12v     12.097v

 KM> A little borderline but not terrible.

And I don't recall what brand the PSU is but a higher-rated brand and
higher capacity -- Thermaltake 750W comes to mind but won't guarantee.



 > Some time late inserted the Kingston thumbdrive into the port directly
 > (no meter) and <screech!>.  Same port as did the measurement earlier;
 > have inserted and removed this thumbdrive from the same port many times
 > before (and a couple times since).  <shrug>
 KM> If you have a weak PSU, might be it only freezes if there's also
 KM> some other activity drawing power. Does it actually screech??!
 
No but my mind does!  

I've also had the lock-up/freeze with a powered USB 3.0 hub.  Thought 
maybe that was faulty so swapped that with a different one.  Plus the 
new hub has seven ports and the old only had four.  Components could 
still be the same.  OTTOMH not recalling specifics but it also locked up
as I recall thinking to myself "well that didn't do any good".  The wall
wart for the USB hub and the computer itself are plugged in to the same 
UPS so should be an issue with ground loops.


                        ¯                          ®
                        ¯   Barry_Martin_3@        ®
                        ¯                 @Q.COM   ®
                        ¯                          ®


.... If there are no more bugs, the program is obsolete.
--- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47
 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA

--- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462
 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1)

.