Any diff in USB 3.0 Port on front or back of computer?

[Steven_Caldwell]

My System is a Dell Precision Tower 5810 running Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit.

I have a couple of older WD My Book Essential External 2 TB Hard Drives.
This is the WD Drive before the current My Book came out.

When I connect either WD My Book Essential External 2 TB Hard Drives to the 1 USB 3.0 Port on the front of the Tower, my System does not recognize that it is attached.

When I instead connect it to either of the 3 USB 2.0 Ports on the front of the Tower, my System does recognize that it is attached.

WD told me to try a USB 3.0 Port on the back of the Tower.

I did that & Viola, my System now recognizes that it is attached.

Since the WD My Book Essential External Hard Drives do support USB 3.0 I would of course rather use a USB 3.0 Port for the additional speed.
But, there are only 3 USB 3.0 Ports on the back of the Tower and I use all three (2 Monitors and the UPS).
I had to disconnect my UPS to be able to use that USB 3.0 Port.

I researched my problem and there seems to be conflicting opinions as to whether or not it matters if you use a USB 3.0 Port on the front or the back.

[jasoncollege24]

Hi,

Technically speaking, there really shouldn’t be a difference, unless Windows 8.1 Pro didn’t install USB 3.0 drivers for your front side USB ports.

Do other devices work in the front USB 3.0 ports? (Mouse, keyboard, etc)

[DarrenHill]

The ports at the rear may well be directly connected to the boards of the computer, whereas the ones at the front are more likely to be on cables. The voltage drop across those cables may be the key factor if they are not of good quality.

[jasoncollege24]

Would that voltage drop really make that much of a difference, if the drives have their own power supply?

[DarrenHill]

@jasoncollege24

Would that voltage drop really make that much of a difference, if the drives have their own power supply?

Generally I would say no, but it’s the only real difference hardware-wise between front and rear USB ports. If the cable quality is poor though I guess it could perhaps cause some data loss across it, but that’s getting a bit unlikely.

[Steven_Caldwell]

Started poking around under Device Manager

Under the Serial Bus Controllers, I have 2 USB Root Hub & 1 USB Root Hub (xHCI)

Both of the USB Root Hub did not have the “Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power” checked
But, the 1 USB Root Hub (xHCI) did have that checked

So, I unchecked that, restarted my Tower 5810 and now the WD My Book Essential External Hard Drives are recognized as a Drive in “This PC” when they are connected to the 1 USB 3.0 Port on the front of the Tower.

So, after restarting my Tower 5810 I went back under Device Manager.

I have 2 Generic SuperSpeed USB Hub
Both of those had that item checked - so I unchecked both of them.

I have 4 Generic USB Hub
But only 2 had that item checked - so I unchecked both of them.

I restarted my Tower 5810 again.

QUESTIONS

Why would some have the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” and not the others.
I have just had this Tower 5810 since late Sept 2015 & I assure you, “I” did not set those that way.

Did I mention I hate all forms of “Power Saving” & always set everything to stay on 100% of the time (i.e. No Sleep, Hibernation, etc.)
I do turn off my Tower 5810 totally off every night - so that is enough power saving for me.
Besides, the electrical rates around here are extremely low anyway.

And, I have found (like in this case) that Power Saving settings have a tendency to “conflict” with some operations.

What is the difference(s) between a USB Root Hub and a USB Root Hub (xHCI)
I plan on researching that as soon as I post this.

Is there any reason why the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” canNOT remain Unchecked all of the time?

[jasoncollege24]

That’s a question I can’t answer for you. Hopefully someone else can help. Glad to see you’ve got it working though.

[Matrixation]

So, yes…there is a difference in the USB ports in the back of the computer as compared to the ones in the front. Before getting technical, you actually CAN USE a POWERED USB 3.0 hub in the front ports and connect the WD drive to that.

So, because the back USB ports are soldered directly to the motherboard, they can deliver the maximum amount of voltage above the operational threshold. I don’t know what exactly is the required threshold for operation but whatever it is, the cables that connect the motherboard to the front USB ports have a high enough resistance such that the voltage drop isn’t sufficient enough for the drive to show up in your My Computer windows yet it is enough to power the device on. It seems a little odd that computer manufacturers use such shoddy cables in the first place.

So, if you want to use the front USB ports, you WILL NEED a POWERED HUB to run the EasyStore WD drive and others. As a side note, not all WD drives have this issue. I just bought an 8TB Easy Store WD External Drive in Dec 2017 and I had this issue but I also own about 5 other 3TB WD MyBook drives and they work on an any port. I don’t know if this is going to be a standard but I guess the reason WD opted for this is to decrease the amount of failed backups and returns, as well negative feedbacks due people connecting the WD drives to lousy hubs and worn out front ports of computers. I didn’t think they would go so far to create a voltage threshold for operation. I mean…wow WD, really? All you had to do was ask us to use the rear ports for mission critical backups instead of implementing a circuit to fail connectivity. Sheesh!

Anyway, I am not a technician and I do not claim to know anything about WD’s technology. The information I have provided was by suggestion of a “qualified” WD technician…whatever that means, reading the troubleshooting notes provided to him by WD.

If you want my opinion, I think WD implementing voltage thresholds is a load of rubbish. Just let me use whatever port I want. Quit putting restrictions otherwise you will become an Apple company.