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Community Newsletter: Q&A: 9/30/05 How to upgrade an old computer from USB 1.1 to 2.0
- 9/29/05 4:10 PM
A USB 2.0 card- example a card TigerDirect (online store)
by raykaczmarek - 9/30/05 7:24 AM In reply to: USB 2.0 Upgrade by nyislander27There a link to a USB 2.0 PCI card- read the information. (these a store --- buy a round)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=706730&CatId=511
USB 2.0 Cables too?
by gwhicks - 9/30/05 9:52 AM In reply to: USB 2.0 Upgrade by nyislander27This is a debatable question. If you have bought the cables in about the last year or so they are most likely 2.0 compatible. I have even used cables I got with a specific 1.1 device on a 2.0 setup and gotten speeds that seemed comparable to 2.0.
My suggestion? Try using your cables, if you have problems replace them, or if you think you aren't getting full speed replace them with newer cables.
Greg Hicks
USB SubSystems Fully Explained
by Shantar - 9/30/05 6:37 AM In reply to: Answer submitted by Greg H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
This article will hlep dispel many of the myths of USB Subsystems aka Universal Serial Bus (Connections).
First of all USB is like all things OS (Operating System) dependant. And OS systems are typically dependant on your CPU (Central Processing Unit) chip.
We must first look at the CPU types. All CPU chips can take on USB families but Celeron tends to restrict many operations not only USB but most other addons so we won't discuss Celeron. However the Pentium families love USB. the 386 and 286 families tend to have trouble finding the speeds required to keep up the the USB speeds.
First came USB 1.0 then came along USB 2.0 and now the new buzzword is "firewire".
Typically in the Pentium families you have to look at either having an existing USB port on your computer or at least an IDE slot on the motherboard.
If you have an existing USB port then you can simply add an external USB hub and a recommended 4 port hub is a good choice. If not then using an empty IDE slot you can add a USB card into your computer by opening up the case and inserting the card.
Now here can be the tricky part. Your OS will determine your next step. If your using winME then change the OS Immediately. winME is bug dependant and born to fail no matter what you do. 98SE will require drivers and the manufacturer of your new USB hub or card should have sent you a cd of drivers with the device. With winXP or winXP Pro don't worry about it, they come with your OS. With linux contact the manufacturer.
As a Digital and DATA researcher and consultant we have found the best manufacturer of USB and Firewire devices are linksys hubs external and Ultra for both cards and hubs. We chose these two manufacturers by both perfromance and cost. Typically Ultra will sell you from third party retailers either a 4 port card or hub or a 2 port firewire card for about 20 bucks.
The procedure of adding these are quite simple. If it's an external hub then just shutdown your system, plug it in, restart the computer and load the drivers if necessary and then reboot it once again to use it.
If it's a card then of course shut it down, unplug it and open the case. ( I like to do this on a carpet after I've sprayed it with frabreese or some other static killing spray. Insert the card into an open IDE slot, close the case and plug it all back on then load drivers if necessary (remember winXP should automatically see the device) then once the system is fully back up and running just reboot once again to use the product. (Reboots are a good thing, and with win98 and win98SE reboots fix many headaches).
NOTE: If in a win98 or win98SE environment you still have problems do what we call a "hard boot" which is simple, reboot to a safe mode, drop to dos and delete the *.swp file. (don't worry, the system will rebuild it on reboot). Then restart the system and go from there.
Of the six USB hubs and cards we've tested in the past few years we still recommend Ultra for both USB and firewire cards but for no brainer external hubs we still prefer linksys USB hubs but they are more costly so keep that in mind.
If you wish to find proven statistics that your USB or Firewire ports are working you can always go into the control panel then into your system icon and hardware settings in the device manager and verify your new hardware is there and working properly.
Submitted by:
Rick Shover
A.T.A. DATA RESEARCH SYSTEMS INC.
Replace an existing LAPTOP USB 1.1
by ProfessorGT - 9/30/05 6:38 AM In reply to: Answer submitted by Greg H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Okay, I've done the USB 2.0 card upgrade adding a front case drive slot plate w/two additional ports, some time ago, but now my challenge is to upgrade the USB 1.1 port on my newly acquired OLD Dell Lattitude 600 series laptop. My question is: If in fact the USB port connector is integrated into the motherboard itself (I don't know the answer to this yet), can a USB 2.0 ''upgrade'' be added let's say through a PCMCIA adapter, or am I out of luck because of the system's design? If anyone out there has any experience or info on this please let me know.
Upgrade for Laptop to USB 2.0
by dherbert - 9/30/05 8:18 AM In reply to: Replace an existing LAPTOP USB 1.1 by ProfessorGTJust yesterday, I upgraded my Dell Latitude 820 with a PCMCIA card that has 3 USB 2.0 slots. The card was $35 at Circuit City. Plug in, turn on, works like a charm. Just make sure you have an available PCMCIA slot. I had to do this in order to talk to the new iPods, which surprisingly are not USB 1.1 compatible.
-Doug
Update for Dell Laptop
by oppegro - 9/30/05 4:31 PM In reply to: Upgrade for Laptop to USB 2.0 by dherbertWhat brand did you buy? I have a Dell Inspiron 2650 laptop that's just old enuf to have USB1.1. So I bought at Amazon what I thought was a USB2 card, put it into the slot on laptop side, but laptop still doesn't recognize my new ipod photo. But it was recognized on someone else's laptop that I tried.
versatile solution for laptops
by jhb045 - 10/1/05 7:16 AM In reply to: Replace an existing LAPTOP USB 1.1 by ProfessorGTWe have a few old Inspiron and Latitude (CPX) laptops. We bought one USB 2.0 PC card (on ebay --- didn't cost much) with four ports. This lets us swap it around from laptop to laptop, depending upon which one might happen to need it at any given time (for backups to external HD, camera downloads, etc.). For most other purposes, like moving stuff to and from flash drives, we're really ok with the old 1.1 port. The only disadvantage of this solution is that the card is so large that it doesn't allow simultaneous use of a wifi card. The solution to this problem was to buy a USB-WiFi card. This was a bit steep, but we only needed one of them -- just for whichever PC happened to be using the USB 2 adapter.
Hope this helps! -
jo
usb 2.0 card that can be combined with a gprs card
by t.gerritsen - 10/2/05 2:06 AM In reply to: versatile solution for laptops by jhb045I got the same sort of problem with my usb 2.0 card. It is so large at the end that it cannot be combined with my gprs-card in the slot next to it on my Dell laptop. Does anybody know of a usb card that has the thick part on the under side of the card? Or some other (not too expensive) alternative?
PCMCIA USB 2.0 Card
by ProfessorGT - 10/3/05 6:17 PM In reply to: Replace an existing LAPTOP USB 1.1 by ProfessorGTThenks for all the replies to my post. I found a nice card on ebay that will solve my issue. I did some searching, and found that there are quite a few out there, but they are all basically the same.
Happy Hunting!
Keep it simple!
by u2in99 - 9/30/05 6:41 AM In reply to: Answer submitted by Greg H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Very nice, was that the college course? Here is the quick and simple instruction for the person asking about usb 2.0.
1) If you have a machine you wish to add usb 2.0, first determine by opening the case with the ac plug
fully disconnected, that you have two or more empty pci (white usually) slots in a row available and free.
2) If you do, take your unit to Staples or CompUSA and have an aftermarket usb 2.0 card added to the system. 3)If you feel competent to do it yourself, be sure to insert the card fully and follow proper procedures regarding static electricity.
4)win xp will usually install plug and play but win me or 98 2nd ed. will need a driver that should come with the aftermarket card. Cost of card determined by number of slots usually choice of 2 or 4
-all the best.
Capitalization of Letters Make Reading Easier
by LindaSegal - 9/30/05 11:21 AM In reply to: Keep it simple! by u2in99"win me" also is a sentence.
Upgrading to USB 2.0
by jjdetjr - 9/30/05 6:46 AM In reply to: Answer submitted by Greg H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The readers should be warned that some motherboarde with USB 1.0 cannot be upgraded to USB 2.0. I have two boards (a Soya and a Tyan) that support Super7 processors (AMD K6-2 550 Mhz) and neither will support USB 2.0 cards.
bios upgrades and usb2
by nance459 - 9/30/05 1:56 PM In reply to: Upgrading to USB 2.0 by jjdetjrsometimes there are bios upgrades that allow the upgrade on older boards, did you check the manufacturer site for it?
Bios Upgrade for USB 2.0 support
by jjdetjr - 10/3/05 6:23 PM In reply to: bios upgrades and usb2 by nance459Unfortunately Tyans response was no such luck. I appreciated Tyans frank response.
USB 2 upgrade
by zimstock - 9/30/05 6:53 AM In reply to: Answer submitted by Greg H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
How does all of this apply to a Thinkpad latptop?
Thanks
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