Thank’s for the new firmware addressing lots of issues. But one issue is still in place, unfortunately. And that’s the main issue for me:
The copy process of an inserted SD-card is still way too slow.
In my tests I found copy speed from 1.4 MB/sec. to maybe 10 MB/sec. at best. That’s poor speed. Especially for backup on the road. Is there any way to improve copy speed?
I have exactly the same setup and SD card as you, and I see 10MB/s pretty consistently. Maybe a little more. 12MB/s for short periods.
I haven’t used the SD card copy on firmware 1.04.06 yet though. I have always used firmware 1.03.13 up until now.
Some time back someone who pulled their MPW apart concluded that the SD card reader is actually a USB 2 device, and is connected to the MPW main board using a USB 2 chip. If that is correct, and it seems likely, then I don’t expect any significant speed increases above that.
USB 2 should support 60MB/s, but in the real world it usually only supports a sustained speed of 20MB/s. Also, the MPW does some sort of validation of the copy, as we would want it to, which means it doesn’t do a straight copy, but Reads-Writes-ReadsBack-Verifies. So a maximum speed of 10MB/s makes sense.
What doesn’t makes sense is creating a wireless plus USB3.0 hard drive for on the road backups, and using a USB 2 card reader and associated chip. It is a bit of a fail on WD’s part.
Did not know this, Rod, about USB2 card reader inside. Agree, kind of a shabby way to do it. Fortunately for me, I haven’t much use for the built in card reader, although it is pretty handy for upgrading firmware, and that is my preferred way to install it.
