Two WD drives not achieving full SATA speed

WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0
WDC WD20EADS-55R6B0

The two drives listed above are connected to SATA 6gps ports (using SATA 6gbps cables supplied with my mainboard), however WD Dashboard software claims they are connected at SATA Gen1 speed (1.5gbps) despite the drives being SATA Gen2 capable.

Mainboard is MSI Tomahawk B450 w/ Ryzen 5 2600 CPU. According to mainboard documentation, all SATA ports are 6gbps.

Using Windows 10 latest updates, latest AMD drivers supplied by my motherboard, latest Dashboard software, latest BIOS.

Anyone have any suggestions to bring these to full SATA Gen2 speed? Thanks

those disks are rather old models so they are not nearly as fast as modern 18TB helium disks etc.

Try Crystal Disk Report and see what it has to say, post the results with the copy command into a reply


CrystalDiskMark 8.0.0 x64 (C) 2007-2020 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World: https://crystalmark.info/

  • MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]
  • KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes

[Read]
SEQ 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 69.236 MB/s [ 66.0 IOPS] <119556.54 us>
SEQ 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 67.957 MB/s [ 64.8 IOPS] < 15416.52 us>
RND 4KiB (Q= 32, T= 1): 0.491 MB/s [ 119.9 IOPS] <259366.70 us>
RND 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 0.216 MB/s [ 52.7 IOPS] < 18854.27 us>

[Write]
SEQ 1MiB (Q= 8, T= 1): 69.258 MB/s [ 66.0 IOPS] <119154.29 us>
SEQ 1MiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 69.058 MB/s [ 65.9 IOPS] < 15132.77 us>
RND 4KiB (Q= 32, T= 1): 0.827 MB/s [ 201.9 IOPS] <142345.63 us>
RND 4KiB (Q= 1, T= 1): 0.837 MB/s [ 204.3 IOPS] < 4705.17 us>

Profile: Default
Test: 1 GiB (x5) [D: 91% (1698/1863GiB)]
Mode: [Admin]
Time: Measure 5 sec / Interval 5 sec
Date: 2020/11/22 19:25:00
OS: Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 19042] (x64)

That’s just one of the disks, other disk is in use at the moment. Not sure what speeds to expect?

Or did you mean Crystal Disk Info?


CrystalDiskInfo 8.8.9 (C) 2008-2020 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World: https://crystalmark.info/

OS : Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 19042] (x64)

Date : 2020/11/22 19:27:44

– Controller Map ----------------------------------------------------------

  • Standard SATA AHCI Controller [ATA]
    • WDC WD20EADS-55R6B0
    • WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0
    • KINGSTON SUV400S37120G
  • Standard SATA AHCI Controller [ATA]
  • Standard NVM Express Controller [SCSI]
    • WDS500G2X0C-00L350
  • Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller [SCSI]

– Disk List ---------------------------------------------------------------
(01) WDC WD20EADS-55R6B0 : 2000.3 GB [0/0/0, pd1]
(02) WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0 : 2000.3 GB [1/0/0, pd1]
(03) KINGSTON SUV400S37120G : 120.0 GB [2/0/0, pd1] - ki
(04) WDS500G2X0C-00L350 : 500.1 GB [3/2/0, sq] - nv


(01) WDC WD20EADS-55R6B0

       Model : WDC WD20EADS-55R6B0
    Firmware : 01.00A01

Serial Number : WD-WCAVY1359170
Disk Size : 2000.3 GB (8.4/137.4/2000.3/2000.3)
Buffer Size : 32767 KB
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 3907029168
Rotation Rate : Unknown
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ----
Transfer Mode : ---- | SATA/300
Power On Hours : 58923 hours
Power On Count : 11080 count
Temperature : 34 C (93 F)
Health Status : Good
Features : S.M.A.R.T., AAM, NCQ
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : 8080h [ON]
Drive Letter : D:

– S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 200 200 _51 000000000000 Read Error Rate
03 138 134 _21 000000002763 Spin-Up Time
04 _67 _67 __0 0000000081B6 Start/Stop Count
05 200 200 140 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 100 253 __0 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
09 _20 _20 __0 00000000E62B Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 __0 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0B 100 100 __0 000000000000 Recalibration Retries
0C _89 _89 __0 000000002B48 Power Cycle Count
C0 200 200 __0 00000000010A Power-off Retract Count
C1 145 145 __0 0000000285E1 Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 118 _91 __0 000000000022 Temperature
C4 200 200 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 200 200 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 200 200 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000003 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
C8 200 200 __0 000000000000 Write Error Rate

– IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 427A 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 2020 2020 2057 442D 5743 4156 5931 3335 3931 3730
020: 0000 FFFF 0032 3031 2E30 3041 3031 5744 4320 5744
030: 3230 4541 4453 2D35 3552 3642 3020 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 0000 2F00
050: 4001 0000 0000 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0110
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 1706 0000 0044 0040
080: 01FE 0000 746B 7F61 4123 7469 BE41 4123 407F 00D0
090: 00D0 0000 FFFE 0000 8080 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 88B0 E8E0 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 5001 4EE2
110: AE4E BE86 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 401C
120: 401C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0029 0000
130: 0000 0000 0000 16DF 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
140: 0000 0000 0004 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 303F 0000 0000 0000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
220: 0000 0000 101E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 44A5

– SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 2F 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 27
010: 00 8A 86 63 27 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 43 43 B6
020: 81 00 00 00 00 00 05 33 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 2E 00 64 FD 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 32
040: 00 14 14 2B E6 00 00 00 00 00 0A 32 00 64 64 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 32 00 59 59 48 2B 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32
070: 00 C8 C8 0A 01 00 00 00 00 00 C1 32 00 91 91 E1
080: 85 02 00 00 00 00 C2 22 00 76 5B 22 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 32
0A0: 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 30 00 C8 C8 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 32 00 C8 C8 03 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 08 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 84 00 60 9F 01 7B
170: 03 00 01 00 02 FF 05 D0 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 01 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F8

– SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 33 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 03 15
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 8C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 00 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 00 00 09 00
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 00 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D


(02) WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0

       Model : WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0
    Firmware : 51.0AB51

Serial Number : WD-WCAZA1119882
Disk Size : 2000.3 GB (8.4/137.4/2000.3/2000.3)
Buffer Size : Unknown
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 3907029168
Rotation Rate : Unknown
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ----
Transfer Mode : ---- | SATA/300
Power On Hours : 52331 hours
Power On Count : 11075 count
Temperature : 30 C (86 F)
Health Status : Good
Features : S.M.A.R.T., AAM, NCQ
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : 80FEh [OFF]
Drive Letter : G:

– S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 200 200 _51 000000000000 Read Error Rate
03 172 167 _21 0000000018F7 Spin-Up Time
04 _71 _71 __0 000000007498 Start/Stop Count
05 200 200 140 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 200 200 __0 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
09 _29 _29 __0 00000000CC6B Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 __0 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0B 100 100 __0 000000000000 Recalibration Retries
0C _89 _89 __0 000000002B43 Power Cycle Count
C0 198 198 __0 0000000006A3 Power-off Retract Count
C1 166 166 __0 0000000195F0 Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 120 _93 __0 00000000001E Temperature
C4 200 200 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 200 200 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 200 200 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
C8 200 200 __0 000000000017 Write Error Rate

– IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 427A 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 2020 2020 2057 442D 5743 415A 4131 3131 3938 3832
020: 0000 0000 0032 3531 2E30 4142 3531 5744 4320 5744
030: 3230 4541 5253 2D30 304D 5657 4230 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 0000 2F00
050: 4001 0000 0000 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0110
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 1706 0000 0044 0040
080: 01FE 0000 746B 7F61 4123 7469 BC41 4123 407F 00C1
090: 00C1 0000 FFFE 0000 80FE 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 88B0 E8E0 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 5001 4EE2
110: AFB0 0C67 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 401C
120: 401C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0029 0000
130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
140: 0000 0000 0004 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 3035 0000 0000 0000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
220: 0000 0000 101E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 EFA5

– SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 2F 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 27
010: 00 AC A7 F7 18 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 47 47 98
020: 74 00 00 00 00 00 05 33 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 2E 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 32
040: 00 1D 1D 6B CC 00 00 00 00 00 0A 32 00 64 64 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 32 00 59 59 43 2B 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32
070: 00 C6 C6 A3 06 00 00 00 00 00 C1 32 00 A6 A6 F0
080: 95 01 00 00 00 00 C2 22 00 78 5D 1E 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 32
0A0: 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 30 00 C8 C8 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 08 00 C8 C8 17 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 82 00 5C 94 01 7B
170: 03 00 01 00 02 FF 05 6E 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 01 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 70

– SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 33 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 03 15
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 8C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 00 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 09 00
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 00 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 AD

Thanks, I see that your hard disks have been use for over 10 years based on the operating hours shown.

Given the age of the disks I am strongly suggesting a new 4TB or maybe 8TB hard disk and consolidate your files and then get a second disk for redundant copies of important data.

Install the AMD chipset driver so that disks will run at native speeds better.

I did purchase a new disk already. I am preparing to copy my data from these drives, but was hoping to get them running at full speed before I go through the long process of backing all this data up. I have installed the latest AMD chipset driver already.

Do you or anyone else have any other suggestions?

Due to the age of the old disks it may be slow going to copy data. Patience is a virtue.

More RAM can help up to a point, I have 32GB of RAM installed which reduces swap file usage substantially

I use enterprise class disks that are helium filled but they have their own issues.

I’m just concerned because the WD Dashboard software appears to be saying the drives are connected at SATA gen1 speed, yet capable of SATA Gen2, so I’m wondering what I can do to bring them up to full gen2 speed, if you have any further suggestions. Thank you.

Crystal Disk Report was not able to detect that. Are you using the motherboard SATA connectors or are you using a SATA card?

As noted in my original post, using motherboard sata connectors, all SATA 6gbps capable, along with SATA cables supplied by the motherboard which are 6gbps capable.

Could it be possible there’s an error in the reporting by WD Dashboard?

Given how old your disks are I am amazed they still work. I suggest copying all data off of them and retire them.

The disk drives are probably too old for the modern IDENT format