USB1 or USB/2?

"Bob I" wrote in message

> Look for the word Enchanced in Device Manager. No enhanced, no 2.0
>

Not necessarily correct. Not all high speed USB2 drivers contain the word
'enhanced'. If the word 'enhanced' appears in the USB devices then they
support High speed mode. If the word 'enhanced' does not appear, then they
may still support high speed mode.

> me DEL @yah.net wrote:
>
>> How do I tell if my USB's are 1 or 2? How do I tell which are 1 or 2
>> (assuming some are, some aren't)?
>> How do I tell if my external HD is running 1 or 2?
>>
>> Thank you
>> yessir
>
 >> Stay informed about: USB1 or USB/2? 

me DEL @yah.net wrote:
> How do I tell if my USB's are 1 or 2?
> How do I tell which are 1 or 2 (assuming some are, some aren't)?
> How do I tell if my external HD is running 1 or 2?
>
> Thank you
> yessir

They don't make it easy. You can start by looking at
some examples here, but really, it can take quite a
lot of fiddling to get a conclusive answer of what
is in the computer in the way of chips and support.

[URL="http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm"]http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm[/URL]

Let's take just a portion of an example. In this example, there
are actually two chips. The Southbridge on the motherboard,
controls up to eight jacks. The PCI USB2 card with NEC chip
on it, controls up to four jacks. I've re-grouped the text
from the Device Manager entries, to split it according to
the chips.

[URL="http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checki4.jpg"]http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checki4.jpg[/URL]

Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2 <-- USB1.1, two ports, Southbridge
Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D4 <-- USB1.1, two ports, Southbridge
Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D7 <-- USB1.1, two ports, Southbridge
Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24DE <-- USB1.1, two ports, Southbridge
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller <-- USB2.0, eight ports, Southbridge

NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller <-- USB1.1, two ports, PCI card
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller <-- USB1.1, two ports, PCI card
NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1) <-- USB2.0, four ports, PCI card

Now, to understand what the entries mean, this is a drawing of
just the Southbridge entries. The things on the left, are
"stacks of two USB jacks" you might see on the back of the
computer. The things listed in Device Manager, are the
five logic blocks on the right of the figure. So what Device
Manager shows, is *not* the jacks themselves. Notice how
my figure has five logic blocks, and each jack has a
switch, to switch between USB1.1 or USB2.0 operation.
The decision to use one of the other, is negotiated during
device installation (i.e. plug in the USB peripheral and
the driver decides whether both ends can do USB2.0). The
switch symbol in my diagram, has been set so all jacks
are currently connected to USB2 peripherals. If something
USB1.1 was plugged in, like a USB keyboard, the switch would
flip to the other position.

+------------------+
| |
| X -------------------------------+-- USB2.0 logic block
| / | | (controls eight jacks)
| USB -------- | |
| Jack | |
| X ------+ |
+------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
| X ------+ |
| | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack \ | |
| X -------------------------------+
| | |
+------------------+ |
|
+------------------+ |
| | |
| X -------------------------------+
| / | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack | |
| X ------+ |
+------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
| X ------+ |
| | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack \ | |
| X -------------------------------+
| | |
+------------------+ |
|
+------------------+ |
| | |
| X -------------------------------+
| / | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack | |
| X ------+ |
+------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
| X ------+ |
| | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack \ | |
| X -------------------------------+
| | |
+------------------+ |
|
+------------------+ |
| | |
| X -------------------------------+
| / | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack | |
| X ------+ |
+------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
| X ------+ |
| | |
| USB -------- | |
| Jack \ | |
| X -------------------------------+
| |
+------------------+

So that is what you're seeing in Device Manager.

In terms of the kinds of computers you can find

1) Computer with only USB1.1 ports. The USB release number
may not have been mentioned in the documentation at all.
Sometimes that is the only hint we get, they're USB1.1 .

2) Computer with two USB1.1 jacks, two USB2.0 jacks. The
Southbridge is USB1.1, and an add-on chips soldered to
the motherboard, gave USB2.0 jacks. I term these "transition"
computers, where the Southbridges weren't ready to provide
USB2 yet, so they added a separate chip. The user is responsible
for figuring out which jack is which on the back of the computer.
They aren't labeled.

3) Modern computers have only USB2.0 jacks on them, coming
from the Southbridge.

Any of those three categories, could have a PCI USB2
card added to the computer. And that is what the USBMAN
examples may be including above, is having a PCI USB2 card
in the computer as well as the regular Southbridge entries.

The same thing is happening with the USB3 standard. At least
one computer right now, is using an add-on chip soldered
to the motherboard, to give USB3 interfaces. So we're actually
in the middle of a transition again, as USB3 capability is
gradually added to computers. The only downside of USB3
right now, is the nature of the jack and cabling design,
which is a little bit strange. But based on the question
you're asking, that'll be a topic for another day.

HTH,
Paul
 >> Stay informed about: USB1 or USB/2? 

"M.I.5¾" wrote in message

>
> "Bob I" wrote in message

>> Look for the word Enchanced in Device Manager. No enhanced, no 2.0
>>
>
> Not necessarily correct. Not all high speed USB2 drivers contain the word
> 'enhanced'. If the word 'enhanced' appears in the USB devices then they
> support High speed mode. If the word 'enhanced' does not appear, then
> they may still support high speed mode.
>
I was under the impression that if 'Enhanced' didn't appear that it was
definitely NOT USB2.0, but could be USB1.1, which was (and is) still a lot
faster than USB1.0. But I may be wrong; it wouldn't be the first time, and
certainly wouldn't be the last
 >> Stay informed about: USB1 or USB/2? 

"SC Tom" wrote in message

>
> "M.I.5¾" wrote in message

>>
>> "Bob I" wrote in message
>
>>> Look for the word Enchanced in Device Manager. No enhanced, no 2.0
>>>
>>
>> Not necessarily correct. Not all high speed USB2 drivers contain the
>> word 'enhanced'. If the word 'enhanced' appears in the USB devices then
>> they support High speed mode. If the word 'enhanced' does not appear,
>> then they may still support high speed mode.
>>
> I was under the impression that if 'Enhanced' didn't appear that it was
> definitely NOT USB2.0, but could be USB1.1, which was (and is) still a lot
> faster than USB1.0.

You are wrong on three counts.

Not all drivers include the word enhanced, so the absence does not indicate
that a USB system does not support high speed mode.

As far as a PC is concerned, USB1.0 is exactly the same thing as USB1.1, so
there is no speed gain whatsoever. The difference related solely to
peripheral devices and tightened up the signal timings as some devices
didn't actually work under USB1.0.

The USB2 spec. included the high speed mode, but any PC or peripheral that
does not feature a high speed mode can still be a USB2 compliant device as
it is not an obligatory requirement.
 >> Stay informed about: USB1 or USB/2? 

"Paul" wrote in message
> me DEL @yah.net wrote:
>> How do I tell if my USB's are 1 or 2? How do I tell which are 1 or 2
>> (assuming some are, some aren't)?
>> How do I tell if my external HD is running 1 or 2?
>>
>> Thank you
>> yessir
>
> They don't make it easy. You can start by looking at
> some examples here, but really, it can take quite a
> lot of fiddling to get a conclusive answer of what
> is in the computer in the way of chips and support.
>
> [URL="http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm"]http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm[/URL]
>
> Let's take just a portion of an example. In this example, there
> are actually two chips. The Southbridge on the motherboard,
> controls up to eight jacks. The PCI USB2 card with NEC chip
> on it, controls up to four jacks. I've re-grouped the text
> from the Device Manager entries, to split it according to
> the chips.
>
> [URL="http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checki4.jpg"]http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checki4.jpg[/URL]
>
> Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2 <-- USB1.1, two
> ports, Southbridge
> Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D4 <-- USB1.1, two
> ports, Southbridge
> Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D7 <-- USB1.1, two
> ports, Southbridge
> Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24DE <-- USB1.1, two
> ports, Southbridge
> Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller <-- USB2.0, eight
> ports, Southbridge
>
> NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller <-- USB1.1, two
> ports, PCI card
> NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller <-- USB1.1, two
> ports, PCI card
> NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1) <-- USB2.0, four
> ports, PCI card
>
> Now, to understand what the entries mean, this is a drawing of
> just the Southbridge entries. The things on the left, are
> "stacks of two USB jacks" you might see on the back of the
> computer. The things listed in Device Manager, are the
> five logic blocks on the right of the figure. So what Device
> Manager shows, is *not* the jacks themselves. Notice how
> my figure has five logic blocks, and each jack has a
> switch, to switch between USB1.1 or USB2.0 operation.
> The decision to use one of the other, is negotiated during
> device installation (i.e. plug in the USB peripheral and
> the driver decides whether both ends can do USB2.0). The
> switch symbol in my diagram, has been set so all jacks
> are currently connected to USB2 peripherals. If something
> USB1.1 was plugged in, like a USB keyboard, the switch would
> flip to the other position.
>
> +------------------+
> | |
> | X -------------------------------+-- USB2.0 logic
> block
> | / | | (controls eight
> jacks)
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack | |
> | X ------+ |
> +------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
> | X ------+ |
> | | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack \ | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | | |
> +------------------+ |
> |
> +------------------+ |
> | | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | / | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack | |
> | X ------+ |
> +------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
> | X ------+ |
> | | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack \ | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | | |
> +------------------+ |
> |
> +------------------+ |
> | | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | / | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack | |
> | X ------+ |
> +------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
> | X ------+ |
> | | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack \ | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | | |
> +------------------+ |
> |
> +------------------+ |
> | | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | / | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack | |
> | X ------+ |
> +------------------+ +-- USB1.1 logic block |
> | X ------+ |
> | | |
> | USB -------- | |
> | Jack \ | |
> | X -------------------------------+
> | |
> +------------------+
>
> So that is what you're seeing in Device Manager.
>
> In terms of the kinds of computers you can find
>
> 1) Computer with only USB1.1 ports. The USB release number
> may not have been mentioned in the documentation at all.
> Sometimes that is the only hint we get, they're USB1.1 .
>
> 2) Computer with two USB1.1 jacks, two USB2.0 jacks. The
> Southbridge is USB1.1, and an add-on chips soldered to
> the motherboard, gave USB2.0 jacks. I term these "transition"
> computers, where the Southbridges weren't ready to provide
> USB2 yet, so they added a separate chip. The user is responsible
> for figuring out which jack is which on the back of the computer.
> They aren't labeled.
>
> 3) Modern computers have only USB2.0 jacks on them, coming
> from the Southbridge.
>

Any high speed USB port *has* to include the legacy fast and slow speeds as
well. It is technically incorrect to refer to high speed capable ports as
'USB2' because non high speed capable ports can also be USB2 ports as the
high speed mode is not an obligatory requirement of the specification.
 >> Stay informed about: USB1 or USB/2?