Dell forum: Dell XPS USB 3.0 Issues

These are build issues with the add on board that connects to the motherboard sometimes the add on board that carries the 2 (USB 3.0) board are defective or the cable is improperly seated either way complain to dell and get a new machine if the USB ports are showing up in device manager then its most likely a software issue and you need the latest drivers, it could even be a combination of both issues. Complain hard enough and they will listen ask to talk to a supervisor this is a known issue with many cases

Yes, I'm having the same issue and my computer is brand new. I've downloaded the Renesas but my external hard drives do not work consistently. I"m very upset and have already been on the phone with Dell for an hour trying to fix the problem. Should I ask for a new computer??? Reading all comments is upsetting.

Return units that are defective. Get another model. Skip USB 3.0 if it fails for you.

I find the best direction is return ASAP and not wait for the maker to fix it.
Bob

I posted that I was having problems with the USB 3.0 ports on my XPS L702X earlier in the thread.
Before I posted, I updated to:

BIOS A16
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller - driver version 2.1.27.0

Same as the "fix" you described.
Try an iPhone AND an iPad at the same time in the two USB 3.0 ports, maybe you have a different production series than mine, but for me this still doesn't work.

I emailed the problem to Dell and they still haven't got back to me.

I am really frustrated. Dell needs to get on it.
They blew it with this model and they need to make it right.

It works for me.. I have already updated bios, just install USB 3.0 Host Controller renesas driver to version 2.1.27.0, A03 and they working perfectly...

Thanks

This is a note that applies to all USB 3.0 hub and direct connections to external USB 3.0 drives. Hope this helps someone to not waste all the time I did in finding these good-as-its-going-to-get workarounds for my systems.

After 1.5 years of having USB 3.0 random disconnections to my WD external USB 3.0 drive (with or without a hub) on Windows 7,
I recently did research and experiments again to mostly solve these random USB 3.0 drive disconnections and random hangs during shutdown/startup,
also affecting a new laptop.

After applying items 1 and 2 below, these random disconnections are much more rare and so also are my related shutdown/restart hangs
(and if a hang occurs I know to do item 3 and the hang will be over for my system).

==============================================================================================================
Partial workarounds in a nutshell for all USB 3.0 hub/disk disconnection problems on Windows 7:

1) Do one time (each USB 3.0 disk): Ensure the USB 3.0 disk properties Policies has "Quick removal" selected for each USB 3.0 disk
(not "Better performance" which uses a Windows cache -- a bad idea if USB 3.0 disconnects at random).

2) Do one time (each year): Ensure the USB 3.0 Controller driver is up-to-date
(hint: don't ask Windows to find the latest driver for download -- it often won't -- instead ask google).

3) If Windows hangs on shutdown or startup, try this first to rule out USB 3.0 problems:
unplug some USB 3.0 cable from the disk along the path to the PC, wait until the system is fully up again, then plugin the cable.
To be proactive and prevent such a hang due to USB 3.0 being confused over what is connected,
make sure My Computer (ie. explorer) shows the USB 3.0 disk is connected before you do a shutdown/restart.

4) If at any time the USB 3.0 disk does not show as connected,
unplug some USB 3.0 cable from the disk along the path to the PC, wait 5 seconds, then plugin the cable.

==============================================================================================================
Potential workarounds that had no effect on Windows 7:

No effect: Setting in Control Panel->Power Options the USB Settings for your current power scheme to set "USB selective suspend setting" to Disabled seems to be a good idea, but appears to have no effect on the USB 3.0 disconnection problems.

No effect: disabled from Startup on my older laptop the process nusb3mon.exe (which does not exist on the newer laptop).

No effect: Microsoft workaround to add ForceHCResetOnResume to all USB Host Controller classes (using regedit):
google: One possible solution for the hub just disappearing

==============================================================================================================

Details for effective workarounds 1 and 2:

#1) HowTo: Ensure the USB 3.0 disk properties has "Quick removal" selected for each USB 3.0 disk

To avoid/reduce random disconnection of an external USB 3.0 drive connected to any USB 3.0 hub it seems important to make sure that the external drive properties is set to "Quick removal (default)" rather than "Better performance". Disabling the Windows 7 USB 3.0 write cache seems important for reliable connections and non-hangs on shutdown/restart, not to mention loss of data in some circumstances. To check or set this, do this:
-- Goto Control Panel->[System and Security->]Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Device Manager
-- Click Disk drives
-- Rclick "WD My Passport ... USB Device"->Properties (or whatever your external USB 3.0 drive is called)
-- Click tab Policies
-- If you see "Better performance" selected, then you should change this to "Quick removal (default)" to get more reliable USB 3.0 connections, thus turning off the Windows 7 write cache.

#2) HowTo: Ensure the USB 3.0 Controller driver is up-to-date

(Updating the driver solved one laptop's problem of the USB 3.0 drive always being disconnected after waking from a sleep/hibernate).

-- Goto Control Panel->[System and Security->]Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Device Manager
-- Click Universal Serial Bus controllers
-- For each USB 3.0 Controller (probably only will be one) -- look for all names that match ...USB...3...Controller...
-- Rlick on that controller name, then click Properties
-- Click tab Driver
-- Find the "Driver version" number which we'll refer to as DRVVER (eg. 1.0.19.0 or 3.0.226.3)
-- Also find the driver name (we'll refer to as DRVNAM) which is at the top of that Driver tab
(eg. "NEC Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller" or "Fresco Logic xHCI(USB3) Controller FL1000 Series")
-- Do _not_ click Update Driver unless this is an Intel driver, since other brand drivers will probably not be found this way
(Windows cannot find updates for most non-Intel brand drivers, and its "no updates available" message is misleading)
-- Now google for DRVNAM (without the quotes) followed by "driver update" or "driver download"
(eg. google: NEC Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller driver download)
-- Now be careful: only download and install (then reboot) a driver version greater than DRVVER (your current version)
and which exactly matches your driver name DRVNAM. When you verify your driver version is the latest, you are done.

==============================================================================================================

I have been fighting with Dell about a defective xps 1645 for about a year, to which they sent me an L702x as a replacement. I am here,so obviously I am suffering from the same issues as everyone else here. Additionally, my space bar needs to be smashed dead center to work. For good measure they threw in a TV Tuner that isn't recognized by windows. I have posted a very lengthy post about it on my blog if you care to read it. Its at http://guerrillagear.net/?p=148.

It was honestly too long to rewrite here, so I will not even try. There is also information on who to contact to get a little better results from Dell. I encourage everyone to contact the arbitration company and file complaints, as Dell has seriously went downhill in the last few years. This sucks for me, because I was a serious fan of their laptops up until the recent past. It seems like they seriously do not care if people are happy, not realizing that it is alienating personal customers as well as those of us in enterprise positions which purchase alot more than single units. I have made technical recommendations in the past to buy pallets of computers for thousands of unit rollouts.

Long story short, I have contacted them about the issues that I am having, and they are telling me that a motherboard swap will remedy EVERYTHING. I'm sorry but I am not the average customer who is happy with a placebo. I also work from home which affords me the ability to online chat with them on a daily basis. I prefer the online chat as I now know that I NEED the written transcripts of the conversations. This is after multiple accounts of them saying "we have no record of that conversation". Knowing full well that they are looking at the notes where they proceeded to lie to me.

I'm not going to blame the Indian CSR's as they are just doing their job, which is to pacify all of us that keep bothering them with our problems. Dell does't realize that there are consumer laws in place to protect us from that "we have your money, now go away" mentality.

I will cut my rant short, as I have a long blog post about it, and I encourage anyone serious about getting satisfaction to read. Hope we can all get functional machines sometime soon.

I have just ordered the Dell XPS 17 with the 256 SSD drive. I was not aware there were all these problems. I have a call into Dell and hopefully i still have time to cancel my order. My present computer is a 17 inch Acer 7730G travelmate and i can honestly say i have not had one problem with it in the 4 years i've had it. It's just its getting old and has XP pro so i thought it was time to get a new one. I may have to get another Acer. Can anyone advise me if Dell has rectified their problems with the XPS 17 or is it still on going. I'm not an computer expert so i don't need any hassles from defective equipment. I've tried to contact Dell but not having much luck. It's funny i sure didn't have any problems getting hold of them when it was time to spend my money though
Thanks

If you look around you see many other makes with USB 3.0 issues. It appears to be imperfect. Yes it works for some but I can't count on it.
Bob

So, after hours on chat, 2 new motherboard and daughter boards, I finally got my issue fixed.

I had to send my laptop to Dell Depot. It came back and I now have no issues. Apparently, the USB 3.0 ports are brand new to Dell. The bugs are not worked out in the 3.0 ports. So, a new laptop won't necessarily fix the issue. The fix requires access to a lot of motherboards and a lot of daughter boards to get the 3.0 port to work properly.

Unfortunately I can not speak to their speed, but my mouse and head set have not randomly died since the laptop returned from Dell Depot.

Good luck everyone.
DELL XPS1702X - windows 7

You had a disk management issue, most people on this thread are having major data transfer issues related to poor architecture of the system leaving the USB 3.0 ports underpowered and therefore unusable. I jumped through these software, driver, and configuration hoops with DELL and the only thing that rectified the issue was replacement of the mother and daughter boards. It now works like a charm. The DELL tech and phone support was very prompt once we had spent half a day on the phone ruling out software issues.

Why not give them the service tag? It's like calling in your car for repair and not having the details.
Bob

I have this problem too and it has been ongoing for several months.

I have waited patiently for each bios and driver update and replaced them hoping it will make a difference.

Dell have replaced my daughter board though it made no difference at all and the company they hired gouged and bent my keyboard.

My computer is a L702X and while it has run incredibly well in every other respect, this one issue has completely ruined my experience and made using it for work nigh on impossible. Unless Dell do something exceptional to rectify the situation, I will not be buying another one or recommending them to any of the companies with which I am associated.

The computer worked fine for the first couple of months, then portable drives started failing for longer and longer periods.

Nothing I or anyone else has done has changed the computers functionality and I've really had a guts full.

I can't get work done and that effects me and my income directly. That is not good enough.

It is entirely unacceptable that this product was marketed the way it was only for it to fail so spectacularly.

"High performance" laptops do not fail like this.

I agree with other users that Dell should front up, take responsibility and rectify this situation by rightfully replacing faulty merchandise. The units should never have been shipped in the first place with such a major flaw.