I've also experienced the same issues with external HDD being unreadable on the USB 3.0 ports. In my case the drives seem to work normally when I first start up Windows, but after a while the ports stop working correctly and Windows insists the drives need formatting. I do not get these issues using USB 2.0.
I'm currently experiencing other troubles with my USB 3.0 ports (namely total failure after a random length of time) as being discussed at en.community.dell.com/.../19353745.aspx but I'm pretty sure these are related.
A new driver (version 2.1.27.0) was released 2 days ago which you can download from Dell. It didn't fix my port failure problem but might help you.
I have bought a DELL XPS 702 laptop for 1.000 euro and I have run the same problem with USB 3.0 ports. I am really anoid that nobody from DELL answer to that problem. Driver updates do nothing at all. I ask DELL from this forum to make a refund to everyone or solve the problem.
We gave our money and we want our PC to work properly.
I have had similar issues with my XPS within a few months of using.
I originally was able to use my 3.0 ports with 3.0 products no problem, however, very shortly after they started failing.
I would be in the middle of using a 3.0 portable HDD and it would just stop. The computer mid-use would decide I had nothing plugged in. I would have to reboot and cross fingers that it would recognized. Half the time it wouldn't.
Mine never asked me to format my drive.
I went through uninstalls and re-installs of the chipset drivers. Updated and checked everything I could think of, including BIOS. It would solve the problem...temporarily. Then I'd go through the whole cycle again. This last time, for some reason, the fix seemed to stick for longer. I don't know why, maybe the newest driver had a patch. I've only been using 2.0 products in my 3.0 ports for the last few months, and as soon as went to use a 3.0 portable HDD the other day...the ports shut down again. Why make a 3.0 port if it rejects 3.0 products?!?!
I cannot even plug a 2.0 into the 3.0 and use it. It will power up whatever I plug in, but not register that anything is there. This would be fine, except my iPhone needs to be recognized to be charged...and anything else I plug in, doesn't need to be powered unless it's being read...which it can't do... So now I have two useless 3.0 ports, and one 2.0 port that has NEVER had any issues.
I recently ran, again, the diagnostic tools that Dell suggests on their website (Microsoft Fix It), and it will report I have an issue, tell me the fix, apply the fix, then report back that the fix didn't work, and I need to try something else...but won't suggest what. It seems to have either wiped my driver from my system now, or somehow my driver disappeared and that's what created the issue in the first place...So I'm off to once again manually install my USB Host Controller and Hub, and hope it sticks. Weeee!
------------------------------------
What else is there to do?
I have literally done everything under the sun, aside from replacing the actual components, to no avail.
When I called, Dell insists they've never heard of this problem...
-------------------------------------
My faith in Dell products has taken a severe nose-dive since purchasing a supposedly superior system to the Inspiron... I've had nothing but problems with my XPS (battery, usb, trackpad...)
Pretty sure my next purchase will not be another Dell...unless they figure things out.
It has been well documented that the Dell XPS has a hardware/firmware flaw on the XPS L501X and related models. This flaw is documented on Dell support forums like this one, and on C/Net. The only fix that appears reliable to me is a motherboard swap.
As a corporate buyer responsible for tens of thousands of Dell laptops, desktops, workstations and servers, I bought my XPS via the Employee Purchase Program, including the Platinum onsite hardware warranty/replacement. I just invested in a new 9-cell L-Ion battery from Dell. My onsite warranty expired in December of 2013, just 8 months ago.
I have tried installing the renesas electronics usb 3.0 host controller driver 1.0.20.0, which makes my Renesas USB devices appear to be NEC devices. OK with me. But the problem still exists. The problem is certainly related to the dual-purpose USB/eSATA port on the XPS. If I never use an eSATA device, I never have a problem. But why did I buy a $3,000 laptop (incl. warranty) if not to run huge fast external storage?
Dell has 30 days to contact me at +1.269.350.4767 regarding a free onsite motherboard replacement or I will be converting me, my family, my friends, my employers, my future employers, and everyone I know to Apple products. I spent all day on the phone being transferred and hung up on by Dell. I also am now denied the option for web chat support since I'm out of warranty. After buying millions of dollars of your product. I don't know whether I'm more disgusted or disillusioned.
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
•
3.5K Posts
0
September 28th, 2011 09:00
Rohtw
If you are not already familiar with the thread please check out the following link
en.community.dell.com/.../19353745.aspx
You should get a better idea on the issues found with the USB 3.0 drivers and ports on XPS 15s.
TB
rohtw
5 Posts
0
September 29th, 2011 08:00
Hi Terry, Thanks for your suggestion.
I've downloaded the NEC USB 3 driver ver.1.0.20.0 from the site.
I uninstalled the existing driver, restart laptop, installed the NEC driver, restarted the laptop again.
Both the Left and Behind USB 3.0 ports work but the speed of file transfer from the USB 3.0 portable hard drive is about 30 to 37MB/s.
Moreover, there is a message that suggest to connect to a USB 3.0 super speed port for faster file tranfer.
Also, when I did a file transfer using a USB 2.0 portable hard drive, the speed is about 20 to 28MB/s.
In the end, although I can use all 3 ports, I believe the ports only act as USB 2.0 ports.
This is at least better than before. Thanks again.
When will Dell release an updated driver?
rohtw
5 Posts
0
October 16th, 2011 04:00
Hi Everyone,
Is anybody out there willing to share a solution or does anybody know if Dell has an update coming?
thanks
JP9000
1 Message
0
October 16th, 2011 05:00
Hi rohtw,
I've also experienced the same issues with external HDD being unreadable on the USB 3.0 ports. In my case the drives seem to work normally when I first start up Windows, but after a while the ports stop working correctly and Windows insists the drives need formatting. I do not get these issues using USB 2.0.
I'm currently experiencing other troubles with my USB 3.0 ports (namely total failure after a random length of time) as being discussed at en.community.dell.com/.../19353745.aspx but I'm pretty sure these are related.
A new driver (version 2.1.27.0) was released 2 days ago which you can download from Dell. It didn't fix my port failure problem but might help you.
rohtw
5 Posts
0
October 18th, 2011 04:00
Thanks JP9000. I will try.
rohtw
5 Posts
0
October 18th, 2011 06:00
Hi All,
I've updated to the latest driver but ended up with mixed results.
After installing the update - ver 2.1.27.0, I did the instructions as "Posted by alanchanhk
replied on18 Oct 2011 1:11 AM". (Sorry, I don't seem to be able to paste the link here)
The rear USB 3.0 port could now read the USB 3.0 portable HDD but everytime I did a copy to or from the drive, the connection disconnects.
As for the USB 3.0 port on the left side, it still won't read the drive at all.
Both ports works OK if I plug in a USB 2.0 drive and the USB 3.0 HDD works like a USB 2.0 HDD when plugged into the right USB 2.0 port.
It seems that using the "NEC USB3 _ 1.0.20.0" version is more stable - at least all 3 ports work as a USB 2.0 ports.
thanks
Christos Ntovas
2 Posts
0
May 6th, 2012 08:00
Hi everyone.
I have bought a DELL XPS 702 laptop for 1.000 euro and I have run the same problem with USB 3.0 ports. I am really anoid that nobody from DELL answer to that problem. Driver updates do nothing at all. I ask DELL from this forum to make a refund to everyone or solve the problem.
We gave our money and we want our PC to work properly.
Do not buy a DELL PC. I am talking to everyone!!!
Jayester
4 Posts
0
July 22nd, 2013 02:00
I have had similar issues with my XPS within a few months of using.
I originally was able to use my 3.0 ports with 3.0 products no problem, however, very shortly after they started failing.
I would be in the middle of using a 3.0 portable HDD and it would just stop. The computer mid-use would decide I had nothing plugged in. I would have to reboot and cross fingers that it would recognized. Half the time it wouldn't.
Mine never asked me to format my drive.
I went through uninstalls and re-installs of the chipset drivers. Updated and checked everything I could think of, including BIOS. It would solve the problem...temporarily. Then I'd go through the whole cycle again. This last time, for some reason, the fix seemed to stick for longer. I don't know why, maybe the newest driver had a patch. I've only been using 2.0 products in my 3.0 ports for the last few months, and as soon as went to use a 3.0 portable HDD the other day...the ports shut down again. Why make a 3.0 port if it rejects 3.0 products?!?!
I cannot even plug a 2.0 into the 3.0 and use it. It will power up whatever I plug in, but not register that anything is there. This would be fine, except my iPhone needs to be recognized to be charged...and anything else I plug in, doesn't need to be powered unless it's being read...which it can't do...
So now I have two useless 3.0 ports, and one 2.0 port that has NEVER had any issues.
I recently ran, again, the diagnostic tools that Dell suggests on their website (Microsoft Fix It), and it will report I have an issue, tell me the fix, apply the fix, then report back that the fix didn't work, and I need to try something else...but won't suggest what. It seems to have either wiped my driver from my system now, or somehow my driver disappeared and that's what created the issue in the first place...So I'm off to once again manually install my USB Host Controller and Hub, and hope it sticks. Weeee!
------------------------------------
What else is there to do?
I have literally done everything under the sun, aside from replacing the actual components, to no avail.
When I called, Dell insists they've never heard of this problem...
-------------------------------------
My faith in Dell products has taken a severe nose-dive since purchasing a supposedly superior system to the Inspiron...
I've had nothing but problems with my XPS (battery, usb, trackpad...)
Pretty sure my next purchase will not be another Dell...unless they figure things out.
PaaV4
1 Message
0
July 30th, 2013 07:00
Well i had problems with usb 3 ports too. Steps who helped me where
1) Uninstall all renesas usb 3 drivers.
2) go here www.station-drivers.com/.../renesas.htm and download latest PD720200a drivers and firmware.
3) install firmware / restart
4) install drivers
5) run the utilty in Start Menu\Programs\Renesas Electronics
6) check the box which says disable power manegement.
7) Enjoy your usb3
Raghuveer
1 Rookie
•
11 Posts
0
November 11th, 2013 04:00
Hey, guys I too have same laptop and facing same problem did you guys get any solution.
dthinkr
1 Message
0
August 31st, 2014 15:00
It has been well documented that the Dell XPS has a hardware/firmware flaw on the XPS L501X and related models. This flaw is documented on Dell support forums like this one, and on C/Net. The only fix that appears reliable to me is a motherboard swap.
As a corporate buyer responsible for tens of thousands of Dell laptops, desktops, workstations and servers, I bought my XPS via the Employee Purchase Program, including the Platinum onsite hardware warranty/replacement. I just invested in a new 9-cell L-Ion battery from Dell. My onsite warranty expired in December of 2013, just 8 months ago.
I have tried installing the renesas electronics usb 3.0 host controller driver 1.0.20.0, which makes my Renesas USB devices appear to be NEC devices. OK with me. But the problem still exists. The problem is certainly related to the dual-purpose USB/eSATA port on the XPS. If I never use an eSATA device, I never have a problem. But why did I buy a $3,000 laptop (incl. warranty) if not to run huge fast external storage?
Dell has 30 days to contact me at +1.269.350.4767 regarding a free onsite motherboard replacement or I will be converting me, my family, my friends, my employers, my future employers, and everyone I know to Apple products. I spent all day on the phone being transferred and hung up on by Dell. I also am now denied the option for web chat support since I'm out of warranty. After buying millions of dollars of your product. I don't know whether I'm more disgusted or disillusioned.
Have a nice day. I certainly am not.