disk usage 100% when transferring files from SD card reader

[fneumeier]

I'm experiencing 100% disk usage when transferring a bigger amount of files from an external SD card reader (USB) to the SSD. The transfer starts with high speed, then drops to zero (while disk usage is 100%), kind of freezes for between a few seconds and a minute or more, then speed goes up for a while with the disk usage going down, just to freeze again a few seconds later (see screenshot attached). Hence: Transferring files takes forever.

What I've checked already: disk health, card reader (bought a new one, just to be sure), tried different USB ports, activated TRIM for the SSD, applied quite a few registry hacks and other tips I found when searching for solutions to this issue.

The SSD is an Intel 660p - is it, maybe, a general issue of this type of SSD and buying another one would solve the issue? If so, what kind of SSD will solve the issue?

Thanks and kind regards

Franz

[erico]

How close to the maximum storage capacity is the SSD?

Transferring files from an SD card to a laptop is always going to be perceptibly slow.

That is just the nature of SD cards, especially when transferring large files, such as videos.

[fneumeier]

190 of 475 GB of storage space is available, but the issue showed up also up when the disk had even more free space.

I'm aware that transferring files from an SD card can not be not super fast. But what I'm experiencing is a total stand-still, zero transfer rate, not just slow transmission. I'm transferring image files, so the file size is 3 to 5 GB each, though it seems the issue appears only when I'm transferring a bigger number of files, like 500 or so.

It looks like there is some buffer or something that fills up and as soon as it is full, the SSD can't take any more files until it has worked through the cued files, then opens up the throttle for a while until it is full again, transfer rate goes to zero, and so on.

That's why I started to think it might be an issue with the SSD (while health checks don't show any issue), i.e. it might be a general issue with this type of SSD; I've found some hints in that direction but honestly the descriptions of this were way too technical for me to understand. It had something to do with specific architectural differences between different types of SSDs or so.

[erico]

No.

SD cards are just super slow, unless there is some other issue with your operating system or you chose a slow card.

Not all SD cards are created equally.

What is the specification of your SD card. You can take a digital image of the card so I can see what you have.

For my Mavic 2 Air DJI drone, I use Extreme versions of micro SD cards.

[fneumeier]

well, the transfer rate is much, much higher when I use the same SD card with the same SD card reader on my desktop PC ...

[erico · Accepted solution]

Your desktop PC probably has more memory installed and possibly a processor with higher specifications.

Nope. I see you have a Core i7 and 16GB of memory.

Are you using a USB type A port or a Type-C port to connect to the laptop with the adapter?

I see your laptop has a 1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C™ port. That is the port you should be using.

[fneumeier]

Here is a comparison between the issue on my laptop (top) and my desktop PC (bottom); same SD card, same SD card reader, both Windows 11 and SSD disk drive; on the desktop the SSD even is pretty much at capacity (90 of 930 GB available).

The huge difference is that on the laptop the SSD is at 100% almost all the time and data transfer freezing while on the desktop indeed the SD card is determining the transfer speed while the SSD is under 5%.

[erico]

I notice that you still have not answered my question.

[fneumeier]

I'm using the type A port and tried out all ports available, with the same issue no matter which port I use.

Okay, sorry I did try out all type A ports as the card reader is type A. I'll give the type C a try ...

[fneumeier]

unfortunately, still the same issue even when using the type-C USB port (same card reader, with an adapter type-A to type-C). reading speed from the SD card is faster, but writing speed to the SSD is still extremely slow to zero, as before. To me this really looks like an issue with the writing process to the SSD.