Large data transfer over USB 3 stalls.

Sqrly · 20 Jan 2021

I recently bought a...

"Rosewill USB to SATA USB 3.0 to Hard Drive Adapter Cable Converter for 2.5 3.5 Inch Hard Drive Disk HDD and SSD Support UASP SATA III with 12V 2A Power Adapter"

... because I have a lot of old SATAII hard drives and I like to back up old files on them, games, pics, my Star Trek TV collection, etc etc.

I'm using one of the (blue) USB 3 slots in the back that's built right into my MSI Intel Z87-GD65 Mobo.

If I try to copy over a large amount of data in one shot the transfer ends up stalling part way through.

(media files, 1-2gb in size in excess of 50gb total lets say (because honestly I'm not sure what the threshold is))

The transfer rate drops down to bytes/s. I can pause it and then cancel the transfer. If I do several smaller seperate sequential transfers, everything works fine.

I just recently had the same issue using a ...

"SanDisk 128GB Extreme Go USB 3.1 Flash Drive, Speed Up to 200MB/s (SDCZ800-128G-G46)"

... in the same USB 3 port.

When it stalled, I had to pause then cancel the transfer. Eject the device then remove and plug it back in. Then the transfer rate would be fine again.

Does anyone know why this happens or how to permanently fix it?

Large data transfer over USB 3 stalls.-winver.jpg

ignatzatsonic · 20 Jan 2021

I had a similar issue that was cured by changing the chipset INF utility.....I reverted to the most recent one supplied by my motherboard manufacturer.

Plankton · 20 Jan 2021

The transfer rate drops down to bytes/s. I can pause it and then cancel the transfer. If I do several smaller seperate sequential transfers, everything works fine.

This would be a good indicator of some kind of limitation.

I too, use all my old SATA HDD's just like you but I use one of these. A HDD docking station. And I've not had an issue with 100 GB file transfers.
Wavlink ST334U-Red Updated Hard Drive Docking Station - Newegg.com

Pejole2165 · 20 Jan 2021

Other than driver/ chipset updates (and to some extent BIOS if it states improved IO support), you could try turning off caching (switch to quick removal policy) to see if it improves transfer stability and also check for overheating drives (maybe run a small fan directed at the drive housing).

Megahertz · 21 Jan 2021

As you have a desktop, why don't you connect the old SATA II hard drives to an internal power and SATA port?

spunk · 22 Jan 2021

As stated, installing the drive internally will eliminate any transfer issues. You should also install TeraCopy If for any reason the transfer stops or is interrupted, when you start it again, it picks up where you left off. There are other features too, like giving you the choice to overwrite an existing file with the same name, or renaming it, or just copying over the newer data and keeping the old.