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External hard drive Toshiba Canvio 2 TB slow and white led instead of blue

Q

qwak

Joined
May 21, 2020
Messages
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Maybe some problem with the plug? I have two identical ones and tried the two cables and no difference. Also tried in various laptops.

There seems to be no errors as in the screenshots is seen.

It used to transfer and write at above 100 MB/s and now it's around 30 MB/s as if it was a USB 2.0 but it is a 3.0

The led has gone from blue to always white (as white is the color for 2.0).

I made some photos in the inside of the plug (connector?) but I don't see anything broken or bended. All seems fine.

Any clue?

Imagen 003.png


Imagen 005.png


Imagen 006.png
 
How fragmented is the drive?
 
Different types of files transfer at different speeds. I have several external drives. Some files will transfer at 200+ mbps, others at a fraction of that speed. Also, the USB chipset and drivers affect performance as well.
 
TheLostSwede said:
How fragmented is the drive?
Click to expand...
Zero. I formatted it and copied the files again in it and fragmentation is zero.

bobbybluz said:
Different types of files transfer at different speeds. I have several external drives. Some files will transfer at 200+ mbps, others at a fraction of that speed. Also, the USB chipset and drivers affect performance as well.
Click to expand...
No, this is not the case. It was above 100 always and now it's 2.0 speeds. Plus the other drive is identical and still goes 100 MB/s
 
Possibly a faulty controller in the external housing defaulting to the slower speed.
Only way to tell is open them and swap the drives and housings.
 
Caring1 said:
Possibly a faulty controller in the external housing defaulting to the slower speed.
Only way to tell is open them and swap the drives and housings.
Click to expand...
Can this be solved?

The key question is why is it downgraded to a 2.0 functioning, white led and exactly 2.0 transfer speed, instead of the usual 100MB/s of 3.0
 
Open up the drive and then take the controller off. Hook up power to drive and a cable to mb and test.
 
I have that same issue recently. I connected through my Hp 8460p and led was blue on the USB 3.0 port. Hmm I even connected to the main port on the pci-e card that has 2 ports but nope was still white
 
theFOoL said:
I have that same issue recently. I connected through my Hp 8460p and led was blue on the USB 3.0 port. Hmm I even connected to the main port on the pci-e card that has 2 ports but nope was still white
Click to expand...
No solution found?
 
The problem is not with OS, controllers etc. it's the Toshiba Canvio itself.

It is SMR (shingled Magnetic Recording) SMR is slow (like 3 MB/s !) by design.
Avoid SMR and use CMR (PMR is almost a synonyme, but ask for CMR anyway).
nascompare has a list of CMRs and SMRs, seems that WD Elements of 8TB and higher are CMR (smaller are SMR!!)


SMR is fast at reading, so is suitable as (hopefully never ever touched again) backup, if you have the time to fill it (4 TB = 2 weeks ;-)

To the admin: Please RESIST the urge of closing "old" topics. Thanks.
 
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