[AT] computer problems

[Larry D. Goss]

The actual USB ports that you see on the outside of your computer are at
least one tier down from the Host or Root Hub.  They could be two or
three tiers down.  They have to be.  That's part of the mandated
standard.  The host MAY be on the card that your technician is putting
into your computer, Cecil, but if it is, and the old host is not
disabled or removed, then you will continue to be running at "USB 1.0
full speed" rather than "USB 2.0 high-full speed."  If your computer has
its internal communications with modem, keyboard, mouse, tablet,
integrated pointing device, internal hard drive, floppy drives, PCMCIA
slot, CD and/or DVD drives, or a whole host of other devices, via a USB
host that is running at the 1.0 standard he's going to have a devil of a
time giving you USB 2.0 speed.  You can't tell what the internal
communication standard is just by looking at it.

The big drawback to USB is that any system can have one and only one
host.  If your OEM host is USB 2.0 that has been hamstrung by having a
USB 1.0 card inserted on the motherboard, then you'll be in luck and be
able to simply have the output card replaced.

What kind of connector does your OEM mouse have on it?  If it's a USB
"A", then I doubt that you'll get a simple changeover to USB 2.0.  If
it's the round pin bus-mouse connector, then you may luck out because
that would mean that the internal communications MAY not have been
controlled by the USB host.

BTW, USB ports and hubs can be daisy-chained to a maximum of 127. 

This is more than you wanted to read about this topic.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Cecil E
Monson
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 7:42 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] computer problems

> USB or Firewire, but not both at the same time.  It's a Western
Digital.
> I figure any time the price on storage drops below $1 per Gigabyte, it
> has to be a bargain.  I can remember when it was in the neighborhood
of
> $1 per byte!


	I discussed upgrading the USB 1.1 ports on my desktop computer
while the computer guy has it and he is going to give me, for a very
reasonable price, 3 USB 2.0 ports and 2 Firewire ports in a slot on the
rear of it. He told me it will be ready tomorrow late morning. I could
have had just the USB upgrade to 2.0 for a couple bucks less money but
figured it was wise to go with Firewire while I was at it. For one thing
some cameras and I suspect some scanners will be using Firewire before
long.

	I also bought an external DVD/RW+R plus a whole list of other
options at a deep discount at Staples two weeks ago. This DVD writer
also writes the two layer DVDs, as well as standard CDs. It only uses
USB 2.0 which was a disappointment when I tried it on my desktop until
I found out it could be upgraded. I certainly hope I'm set for now.

Cecil

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