Copying file to USB 3.0 external HDD using usb 3.0 hub connected to USB 2.0 hangs after a few hundred MB/a few GB

[Barteks2x]

I have a SATA 2.5'' HDD in USB 3.0 enclosure (compatible with 2.0), when I connect my USB 3.0 hub with external power supply to one of my USB 2.0 ports and connect the HDD to that hub everything seems to work until I try to copy any bigger file to it.

It always hangs at some point, regardless of the operating system (windows XP, windows 7, linux (debian)). After waiting a long time linux shows "IO error". It doesn't really disconnect, it just starts working really slowly, even showing contents of eny directory takes a few minutes when it happens. The same HDD works fine when connected directly to the same USB 2.0 port as the hub, and when connected through the hub to USB 3.0 port (in my laptop, my PC has no USB 3.0 ports and very few working USB 2.0 ports).

I did a full disk scan using HDTune and it showed no errors.

The only revelant thing that shows on google is my question on superuser, with 0 answers.

I can't connect my HDD directly to any USB port because I don't have any free working ports left on my PC, so I always have to disconnect something. And even then some ports just refuse to give enough power for the HDD.

Is there anything I can do to fix the problem? Is it some expected incompatibility or is it faulty HDD enclosure/USB hub? Both are still under warranty.

Edit: can it be related to the hub not being OTG compatible? (I have no idea what it actually means)

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there Barteks2x,

Have you tried to connect the hub to all the USB ports.
In case the issue persists and if the drive works just fine when attached directly, then I believe there is something wrong with the hub. I/O(input/output) errors, in many cases, could is connection related.

The USB hub has power separate power supply right? So, this kind of rules out a possible power related issue.

I believe it will not hurt to go to your MOBO's website and update your drivers. Yet, I believe that the hub is causing this. You can contact the manufacturer.

I assume you've tested both your drives and they are in a healthy state.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[Barteks2x]

Hi there Barteks2x,

Have you tried to connect the hub to all the USB ports.
In case the issue persists and if the drive works just fine when attached directly, then I believe there is something wrong with the hub. I/O(input/output) errors, in many cases, could is connection related.

The USB hub has power separate power supply right? So, this kind of rules out a possible power related issue.

I believe it will not hurt to go to your MOBO's website and update your drivers. Yet, I believe that the hub is causing this. You can contact the manufacturer.

I assume you've tested both your drives and they are in a healthy state.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

I thought I already explained everything.

I tried all USB ports I have, it works fine when connected directly, but not when using the hub, unless the hub is connected to USB 3.0 port.

Regarding updating drivers - it happens on all operating systems including linux (linux has builtin drivers, everything is up to date, kernel version 4.6.0-1-amd64), and it works fine when connected directly to USB 2.0 port. The drive is in healthy state.

So if this is something with the hub, it must be a problem with USB 2.0 compatibility - it works fine when the hub is connected to USB 3.0 port. And for some reason I can't find the issue when using dd to copy the file (dd if=input/file/location of=output/file/location bs=1M, tries with file up to 19GB).

So thanks for help, if it's issue with the hub there is nothing I can do.