USB 2.0 and Firewire Write Delay Problems
Hi,
I bought my 3G 30GB Ipod a month back and happily uploaded tons of songs using USB 1.1 port on my Dell Inspiron 2650 laptop running Windows 2000 Professional SP 4.
Frustrated by the upload speed I bought a PC firewire PCMCIA card (ST Labs make, off ebay) but it started giving me Write Delay errors (also experienced by others, as I read in various other posts on this forum). A lot of replies on this forum convinced me that it is due crappy Firewire card after which I made a decision to buy a "good" USB 2.0 card (foregoing Firewire altogether to be on the "safer" side) and that too Adaptec USB2Connect PCMCIA (1420A), supppsedly a good one.
But, again, to my horror, I am getting the same Write Delay errors. This happens when *nothing* is installed on my machine. By that I mean, no IPod software, no Musicmatch, no EphPod software.. nothing.. I just plugin my Ipod to USB 2.0 port and Windows 2k happily detects it as an external drive. But when I try to copy files manually to Ipod, using it as a drive, it hangs after 5-6 seconds (when only 5-6 mp3 have been transferred) giving "Write Delay" error. Nothing of this sort happens if I connect to inbuilt USB 1.1 port.
Since this happened with both USB 2.0 card as well as Firewire card, I've come to a conclusion that the problem is associated with the PCI bus on my laptop whose latency I can't change (there is no option in BIOS). What should I do? Someone please suggest.
Thanks
[1511 byte] By [
gsbhatia] at [2007-11-9 14:20:46]
# 1 Re: USB 2.0 and Firewire Write Delay Problems
I was having the same problems, and after searching through these forums I believe it to be a firewire issue. It was said that changing the latency timer can help alleviate this, but I can find no such way to change that in the bios. I'm guessing some have that option and others dont. I guess the best thing to do is buy another firewire card, but I still have a question.
If my firewire card is indeed bad, when did it go bad? I had used this firewire connection for a couple months now with not a single problem. I got to this point because my ipod was screwing up some songs, aka, the song would play for a few seconds and then go silent, but still act as if it were playing the song. I restored my ipod and began to upload my mp3s again, but with no such luck (only gets through 5 or 6 mp3s before i get a write failed error). IF my firewire connection worked flawlessly before, what causes it to not work now, and is there a way to fix it?
# 2 Re: USB 2.0 and Firewire Write Delay Problems
hey, this is also happening, with me (PC User), i've had my firewire card for a few weeks and its was working fine, also my ipod was working flawlessly, however a day ago i tried to upload some songs to my ipod and it crashed halfway throught with a "Write Delay Error". I've tried reformatting it etc, i've tried it on other PC's and even tried reformatting it on a mac!
However i still cannot get it work and am considering getting it repaired via warrenty (PC world, anyone know how long it will take?). I'll let you know what happens, if you fix it please post back and tell me how too!
carter at 2007-11-15 17:06:01 >
# 4 Re: USB 2.0 and Firewire Write Delay Problems
Hey Carter, congrats bud for getting ur Ipod fixed
I got mine fixed by upgrading the BIOS and PCI bus software of my Dell Inspiron notebook from Dell website. Now it uploads songs at a blistering speed to my Ipod not only through my expensive Adaptec USB 2.0 card but also thru my super-crappy Firewire card. Couldn't be much happier.
# 5 Re: USB 2.0 and Firewire Write Delay Problems
I've been having the same problem. I sent it back to apple, and they basically sent it back to me without doing anything. I'm guessing now it's my Dell.
Can you tell me which bios version you downloaded? Where'd you get software to upgrade your bus? I also have an Inspiron notebook...
Thanks!
