Poweredge 400SC USB Ports

Same here. And Device Manager in Win XP Pro indicates the same thing.

So the 400SC has "USB 2.0" we're told, but only one slot in the back is really HiSpeed USB?

What's this all about?

Hi,

   I have a 400SC also running Win XP Pro.  I've used SiSoft Sandra STANDARD edition to check out the USB ports.  It looks like there are 4 USB controllers, each configured to use 2 USB ports (for a total of 8) all at version 1.10 (STD USB version).  There is, however, an enhanced USB 2.0 controller (as you have listed) that uses 8 ports...

  I have tested each USB port (6 in the back and 2 in the front) on the 400sc and they are all run STD USB 1.10...  I do not know why (or even how) one could connect the enhanced USB controller to the current USB ports.  Since the system has the support for the enhanced USB 2.0, I'd really like to be able to use it...

Anyone have any ideas?

Anyone from DELL?  Thanks all for your help!

Very interesting information.

Can somebody tell me which of the ports (looking at the back) is USB 2.0 and which four is USB 1.1.

 

I am, of course, assuming that there are indeed 4 USB 1.1 and 1 USB 2.0 as stated earlier in this thread.

Hi,

The PowerEdge 400 SC has 6 accessible USB ports (+2 inaccessible in front of system). All 6 ports offer low speed (1.5Mbps), full speed (12Mbps), and high speed (480Mbps) USB transfer rates.

The PowerEdge 400 SC's ICH5 chipset has 4 USB 1.1 controllers. Each controller is mapped to a physical connector containing 2 USB ports. The full speed 12Mbps bandwidth is shared between the 2 ports connected to the UHCI USB 1.1 controller. To support USB 2.0, the ICH5 also has an EHCI 2.0 controller, which connects to all ports. The high-speed bandwidth of 480Mbps is shared between all 6 ports.

When a USB device is plugged in, the ICH5 will detect its maximum speed and automatically route the appropriate port to either the EHCI 2.0 controller or one of the UHCI 1.1 controllers. High-speed devices will route to the EHCI controller, while full-speed and low-speed devices will route to one of the UHCI controllers. The PowerEdge 400 SC implements a unique combination of cable and I/O panel that supports all speeds, whether they be USB 1.1 or 2.0.

That is a great explanation of the USB design in this server.

However, why are at least some of us experiencing only USB 1.1 rates through most slots and getting the popup warning re: "Hi-Speed USB device in a non-Hi- Speed hub" when connecting a known good 2.0 device?

Any relationship to the intermittant lack of the network connection, particularly on startup, that I've recently begun experiencing? I know the latter topic may deserve its own thread, but it could be chipset related so I noted it here. The "network cable unplugged" popup shows on startup, and the network usually starts working a little later on its own. I'm in Southern California so I don't think it's warmup related - and it shouldn't be.

Is there any logical explanation for these quirks, or did I just get a bum board?

Hi kimchitoo,

The anomolies on the USB could be attributed to the chipset driver or for pre SP3 Win2000 the USB driver. OR connecting a USB 1.1 and 2.0 devices on adjacent ports. I note in your previous post you are running Windows XP. Unfortunately, XP was not validated on the PowerEdge 400 SC platform so there are no specific drivers developed for these devices.

The "network cable unplugged" popup could be infrastructure related. If you have a switch with Spanning Tree Protocol enabled, this is common. There could be up to a 45 second delay in connecting through that switch.

I would recommend running the 32 bit diagnostics on the system to confirm the hardware:
Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version), PowerEdge 400SC, A1223
FileName:  ED122300.exe [3 MB]
Release Date:  11/20/2003
http://support.dell.com/filelib/format.aspx?releaseid=R67654

I would suggest using the Windows Server 2003 drivers for the chipset and Network Interface Adapter. They would be closest in compatibility with Windows XP.

System BIOS, English, PowerEdge 400SC, A04
FileName:  BR68334.exe [608 KB]
Release Date:  11/24/2003
http://support.dell.com/filelib/format.aspx?releaseid=R68334

Intel 875P Chipset , Driver, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, PowerEdge 400SC, v.5.0.1.1015, A01
FileName:  PE400scA01.exe [1 MB]
Release Date:  7/2/2003
http://support.dell.com/FileLib/Format.aspx?ReleaseID=R60270

Intel PRO Family of Adapters, Driver, Windows Server 2003, v.7.0, A01
FileName:  Intel_LAN_70_W2K3_07.exe [7 MB]
Release Date:  11/24/2003
http://support.dell.com/filelib/format.aspx?releaseid=R68022

Mark,

You mentioned an anomoly with the USB hub that can occur "when USB 1.1 and 2.0 devices (are connected) on adjacent ports"..

I believe I'm having this problem with my 400sc/xp sp1, patched with the 4 files... I have a 160Gb external USB 2.0 drive that worked fine until I added a Virgin USB MP3 player next to it... now, I cannot get the motherboard to autodetect the USB 2.0 drive.

I've validated the drives functionality on another machine.
I've removed them from the device manager.
I've turned off the USB emulator and port via the bios.
I've done a system restore to a known working date.
I've reinstalled the USB 2.0 drivers.
I've reinstalled the infinst_enu-1.exe file.

Please advise.

Thanks,
John