USB SD Card Reader Issue

Question

I have a Kingston MobileLite G4. I have encountered a problem with the front usb port on my case or motherboard not sure. I have to plug in the mobilelite g4 a couple times to get the computer to recognize it then it gives me a message "This Device can perform faster" USB Mass storage. Which is strange because I am 100% sure I'm plugging into usb 3.0 port and the mobilelite g4 is usb 3.0 device. The problem only happens in front usb ports of the case. When I plug the mobilelite g4 in rear usb 3.0 ports I don't get Device can perform faster message. I never had a problem before with the usb 3.0 port until now recently. I tested speeds benchmark crystal disk the speed results are slower now. I tried using usb 3.0 extension cable and it still would not work. Seems nothing can give the mobileite G4 enough power. I tried updating to latest usb 3.0 drivers still no luck :(

Answer 1

It's very likely to be an issue with your front USB cabling. In many cases, the front USB ports (even if they say they are USB3) do not actualyl use cable that is suitable for transmitting at that speed without serious waveform propagation issues.

It's not likely an issue with your motherboard, but rather the USB 3 controller auto-negotiating with the frontend device to a lower speed in the face of extreme interference.

Aside from all that, interference can come in other forms. Dirty contacts, for example. That's another common culprit, causing high resistance in the electrical connections and throwing off the well-balanced reactance required for the filters to work properly on the data circuit (causing interference and specifically phase shift at high speeds).

Make sure it's all clean. Make sure your cables are plugged in all the way into the motherboard, and guide your cable away from electrically loud components within your case (as the likelihood of that front USB cable being well-shielded is pretty low).

Using a USB extension cable will only make this potential problem worse.