mkk

This noname USB 3.0 SATA dock was doing fine together with my NEC USB 3.0 interface card until someone asked me if the dock was backwards compatible with USB 2.0. - I guess, but I haven't tried it yet, was my response. Then later when I tried it, verified that it was working with USB 2.0 as well over the same USB 3.0 cable (dock only has a USB-B 3.0 port). But after that it does not register with the actual USB 3.0 interface card anymore. Or what I percieve to be more likely, there is some confusion inside Windows 7 that has it believing the dock is no longer a USB 3.0 device. The USB 3.0 card runs fine with other USB hardware although I have nothing else 3.0 at the moment.

So I hunt around on the net for an hour and end up in the registry finding a lot of interesting keys under the \CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\ and \USBSTOR\ keys where every USB related identification seems to be stored. But all the contents there is completely protected and cannot even be taken over through the take ownership routine in the registry. (almost the same as for files, which I'm doing often enough) Back in Vista I was in there changing stuff for other reasons but now in Windows 7 there seems to be another level of protection. Some underlying keys cannot even be viewed.


So the registry seems a dead end. I'll switch the card to another slot some day, but the card does not seem to be where the problem lies. Any ideas are appreciated.







And be careful connecting any USB 3.0 docks to USB 2.0 ports...

OldBuzzard

Some things I'd try, not necessarily in the order listed:

1. Reboot the system with the USB device unplugged, OR plugged into the 3.0 port. If one way doesn't work try the other.

2. Try a system restore to a point BEFORE you plugged it into a 2.0 port.

3. If that's an add on USB 3.0 card, try uninstalling it and the drivers in Device Manager. If that fails, try physically removing and then reinstalling.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Veridian3

And the silly but worth pointing out suggestion... make sure it is fully inserted. There are two rows of pins on USB 3.0 connectors, only when it is fully inserted do both sets make contact.

mkk

Thanks for the suggestions. I had to try recreating the problem after it seemingly solved itself before writing back. If anything just maybe some of the maneuvering with System Restore helped in the end, though if it did not until I had performed an "undo" of the backtracking operations to earlier dates. Might have juggled the driver a little, though a longshot. Likely this was more of a fluke or a sign that something in my system isn't 100.00% right. Future will tell but now I can switch seamlessly between the USB 2.0 and 3.0 interfaces without issue.

Anyway in general I really need to learn to consider System Restore more often. For too long during the Windows XP days I was typically running with it disabled. Especially nowadays when there is automatically an undo-point (since Vista) made at restore moves. If only it was possible to dedicate space on another drive for system drive restore files, I'd easily give it a hundred gigs to play with.

blibbax

System restore has saved my @$$ more than once, but I can imagine it being a pain if you're using an SSD as the OS drive.

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