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Dell USB 3.0 ports?
Hi I recently bought a Dell XPS 14z. Happy with it overall but I am still a bit sure about the advertised USB 3.0 port that is supposedly has. My issue is that these ports are usually blue compared to the old black USB 2.0 ports. However my XPS 14z has two black ones. One which has the standard USB symbol (the three pronged one) and the other has this same symbol with the letters "SS" next to it (not USB 3.0). I don't have any USB 3.0 peripherals to check whether it is but this has made me question whether this is actually a USB 3.0 or not?
Can someone from Dell please confirm if this is correct and why it is not blue like the standard USB 3.0 should be.
krishbish
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April 14th, 2012 07:00
@ejn63
What you have said is right, it is where it should be. However please see this in the section marked "Connectors" in the link below and many other websites. They all state that the USB 3.0 should be blue.
en.wikipedia.org/.../USB_3.0
ejn63
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April 14th, 2012 07:00
If you look at the quick start guide, the USB 3.0 connector is the one right next to the network port.
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
There is no standard that dictates a color be attached to a specific USB port type.
hackandgeek
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April 14th, 2012 09:00
Hi,
The one which says SS is USB 3.0 and SS stand for Super-speed, so USB port right beside network port is your USB 3.0 SS
And you question about blue and black ports, its really doesn't matter because laptop manufactures can change the color because its not standard
You computer has one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0.
Take Care
hasii
6 Posts
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April 17th, 2012 09:00
Yeah. I tried connecting a Flash Voyager 32gb USB 3.0 flash drive in the SS port. I have an K350 wireless mouse/keyboard dongle attached to the 2.0 port. Whenever, I plugin the Voyager my mouse/keyboard combo freezes up. If I reverse the dongle and flash drive things work great.
Seems like there is a problem somewhere. I ran Dell's PC Doctor diags twice On the whole system and just on the USB ports. It reported everything fine.
So don't know if it is the flash drive or the port. But does not look good
Nickmeerkat
1 Message
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June 27th, 2012 12:00
I have also bought the Dell XPS 14z and have the same problem, my IT guru says it is a driver issue, but dell don't list the driver on their website yet.
hasii
6 Posts
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June 27th, 2012 13:00
That was my guess also. I check the Dell web site for updates periodically. Sad since it a super nice system and this essentially ruins using my USB 3.0 stick with it. Hopefully, we get an update soon.
uanb88
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March 26th, 2013 17:00
To both @Nickmeerkat and @hasii you may have better luck finding drivers over here if you are comfortable poking around ftp.dell.com/Browse_For_Drivers
BBogFL
1 Message
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May 16th, 2013 08:00
Krishbish,
I noticed this was an old post, but had the same question. What I found was that if you look at the top of the USB port, you will see that a USB 3.0 port has more metal connectors on the top of the port itself. Mine has 5 for the USB 3.0 ports (x2), and 4 for the USB2.0 ports. While I agree the standard is a blue colored port, it appears that Dell manufactures USB 3.0 ports in black. I hope this helps. My only outstanding question is that while I see the port difference, when I use my USB 3.0 Seagate external hard drive, I sometime receive a "this device can be enhanced by using a higher speed USB port" or something similar to that. I looked in device manager and see a USB 3.0 extensible controller, so I believe that I have USB 3.0, apart from the message I get. Due to the fact that the actual port connectors are more in number, and the fact that I have USB 3.0 reflected in device manager, and the fact that the outside of the case shows super speed (ss) next to the ports, I guess I can put my issue to rest. I do see a difference when performing a backup, if I use a USB 2.0 port, so in theory, I'm just dealing with a same color (black) issue. I do wish Dell would make the port color blue, but as hardware changes over time, the connector and software controller information is better to rely on that the color of the port.
Hope this helps,
BBogFL