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#1
Have my usb wires gone bad?
I have an Alienware 17 r5 i9 laptop and two external hard disks which are Transcend storejet 25h3 4tb and WD my passport 2tb. I have been connecting both external hard disks to the right usb port of the laptop for quite some time and everything is ok. The right usb port is usb 3 and I get 100 mb/s when I copy files to and from both external hard disks. When I connect the WD external hard disk to my Alienware laptop then the laptop makes one beep and then the led light of the external hard disk blinks for a bit and then the laptop beeps again and the external hard disk is connected. There is a short time between both beeps.
https://i.imgur.com/Ttqqw3z.png is the usb wire that I use with the Transcend external hard disk. I count 5 pins in the usb wire head. https://i.imgur.com/NV3cbUj.png is the usb wire that I use with the WD external hard disk. I count 4 pins in the usb wire head. https://i.imgur.com/4unzNOS.png is the right usb port and it's a usb 3 port. Also the left usb port is usb 3.
I installed a new nvme ssd in my laptop and I installed Windows 10 22H2 and I have been using my laptops for a few weeks. All was ok in those few weeks and the laptop detected both external hard disks when I plug them into the right usb port and I am getting 100 mb/s when I copy files to\from the external hard disks.
Yesterday I noticed that I can't get more than 40 mb/s when I copy files to\from the Transcend external hard disk when it's plugged into the right usb port and that happened with both usb wires. I can get 100 mb/s if I plug it into the left usb port.
Also suddenly the WD external hard disk is misbehaving when I plug it into the right usb port. The laptop will beep once and then the led light of the external hard disk blinks for a bit and then either nothing happens and the external hard disk is not detected or the laptop beeps again and the external hard disk gets detected after a delay and I can't get more than 40 mb/s when I copy files to\from it. If I use the usb wire which has 5 pins in the right usb slot then the laptop beeps twice fast in a row and the external hard disk is not detected. The WD external hard disk works ok in the left usb port and I can get 100 mb/s when I copy files to\from it. Also the WD external hard disk works ok in my other laptop.
It doesn't make sense that both usb wires spoiled on the same day. It looks like the right usb port is misbehaving and it's behaving like it's a usb 2 port instead of a usb 3 port. I looked in to it and I saw that it's a common issue and usb 3 ports are behaving like usb 2 ports.
What do I do?