Thinkpads Forum

Hey guys, need some advice:

A few months ago my T42 began tellingme that my USB key (a hi-speed device) was plugged into a non hi speed port. I've read that this can be due to a problem with the Intel controller, necessitating a new system board.

I called up IBM and sent the laptop to EasyServ (I have onsite but was heading out of town for a few days). They sent it back, having reimaged the hard drive and saying that the USB ports were working correctly. However, when I plug in the same USB key (note, this is the first time it is being plugged in since being reimaged) I still get the same error.

I had access to a friends T42, also newly reimaged (her hard drive failed so I had IBM send me a new one to replace it). Upon plugging in the USB key I recieve no error.

An attempted transfer of a 426MB file from HD to key took a little less than 5 minutes, while the same file on my T42 took roughly double. Using an external USB 2.0 drive, my friends laptop took a little over half a minute (~102mbps) to transfer the file while my laptop took about 8 minutes (~7.45mbps). Both laptops have 40GB 5400RPM drives.

Do you think this is enough to conclusively prove a problem exists with the USB ports on my laptop? How can I go about getting the technician to note that the system board should be replaced, as opposed to the techs running tests to determine whether it should be replaced.

Thanks,
Adam

I would do 2 different steps: 1) perform the following procedure and see it it recovers your performance. I looks like your devices are working, but windows can't recognize them as USB 2.0:

Unplug ALL USB devices.
Open Device Manager.
View, Show Hidden Devices.
Uninstall all devices under USB Controllers.
Uninstall all devices under Storage Volumes. Say no to any reboot prompts until you are finished. Also, if a Storage Volume doesn't uninstall, ignore it and move to the next one.
If you have a yellow ? with unknown devices, uninstall all of the entries there as well.

When this is done, reboot TWICE.

Reconnect the USB devices and see if they're recognized properly.

If the above doesnot resolve the problem then I would have them do a ONSITE ! repair. Have your friends T42 there and show them the difference.

Storage_man

In device manager USB2 controller, could you check the driver vendor in both thinkpads? It should be either Microsoft or Intel.

Both drivers and versions were the same.

I called up Tech support and explained the situation. They put a special note in the file so that it gets dealt with correctly.

--adam