Zbook 15 USB ports are 2.0, not 3.0?

[torrmundi]

Hi,

My Zbook, marked as Product #G5M24EC#ABA, has 3 USB ports marked as "SS" (superspeed, aka USB 3.0). The sole USB port without "SS" is the rear port.

I have tested the ports with a Passmark USB3 test plug, and it reports a 4 USB ports as supporting 480 Mb/s, rather than the USB 3.0's 5 Gb/s.

Device Manager shows that there is USB 3.0 hardware inside:

- Intel USB 3.0 Root Hub, driver v2.5.1.28, 8/8/2013

- Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller, driver v2.5.1.28, 8/8/2013

Why aren't any ports providing USB 3.0?

Thanks!

[banhien]

Hi,

The device itself may have a question mark too. It says:

• Super Speed USB3.0 ports connected to the motherboard: 2.4Gb/Sec.
• High Speed USB2.0 ports connected to the motherboard: 300Mb/Sec.
• High Speed USB2.0 ports connected to a typical PCI card: 150Mb/Sec.
• Full Speed USB2.0 or USB1.x ports connected to the motherboard: 8Mb/Sec.
• Full Speed USB2.0 or USB1.x ports connected to a to a typical PCI card: 6Mb/Sec.

Where is 480 Mb/s coming from ?

Regards.

[torrmundi]

Banhien,

I'm not sure where you get your speed numbers from.

USB 3.0 specification states in the glossary at the beginning:

USB 2.0 low-speed: 1.5 Mbps

USB 2.0 full-speed: 12 Mbps

USB 2.0 high-speed: 480 Mbps

USB 3.0 Superspeed: 5 Gbps

The Zbook manual states that the ports are USB 3.0.

Regards,

/John

[torrmundi]

Ah, I think I may see the problem.  The Passmark USB 3.0 test plug is reporting (upon initial plugin) the speed mode of the port, not an actual test result. Yes, the actual speed test result will be lower, depending upon the PCI bus capability among other things. A benchmark test I ran gave a 1 minute average loopback throughput of 284.1 Mbps.

[torrmundi]

A colleague of mine investigated drivers for the Zbook 15. The one we both had is the latest that is offered through Intel's detection tool: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/

Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller, v2.5.1.28

Intel USB 3.0  Root Hub, v2.5.1.28

Oddly, HP's web page does not offer ANY USB drivers for the ZBook 15! See:

https://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdHome/?sp4ts.oid=5387801&spf_...

He then located a driver on a Russian site with this filename: 65482_mb_driver_intel_usb3_8series.exe.

He reports it has solved the same issue that I have (480 Mbps mode, with actual test results of ~285 Mbps). His transfers between USB 3.0 HDD's have increased from 11 MBytes/sec to 100 MBytes/sec.

So it definitely appears to be a driver issue.