Usb1 & Usb2

[darthshearer]

Firstly What are the differances?

Secondly If I upgrade my USB1 drivers to USB2 (If possible) will it interfere with any of my peripherals that are currently on my USB1 connection?

Thanks all

 

[Jonty]

Hi darthshearer

The difference between USB 1.1 and USB 2 mostly comes down to speed. Whereas USB 1.1 wasn't designed for particularly high data transfer rates (12Mb/s) USB 2 has a maximum theoretical transfer rate of 480Mb/s. This means transferring information from, say, external hard drives, digital video cameras, MP3 players etc is far faster with USB 2.

All USB 2 devices are backwards compatible. So, for example, if you bought a USB 2 PCI expansion card, you could still plug in your old USB 1.1 devices and they would work as normal (but obviously they wouldn't be able to take advantage of the speed increase).

Kind Regards

Edit ~ If you haven't already, you'll need to update to Windows XP service pack one (SP1) in order for USB 2 to function correctly

 

[lovedaddy]

Didn't I hear somewhere that he ISO had changed reciently for MB manufactures, basically making USB 1.1 into USB2. Cannot remember where I heard it, or what have you.

 

[Jonty]

You're right, lovedaddy. Sadly I'm not too sure where we stand at the moment, but here's an article from The Inquirer . . .

The Inquirer
... the USB Forum is pulling the wool over all of our eyes by re- labelling version 1.1 of the [USB] standard, version 2.0.
But that puts the cat among the pigeons, because there already is a version 2.0, so the USB Forum is calling one version "Full Speed" and the other "Hi Speed".

The difference between "Full Speed" and "Hi Speed" is that one is faster than the other, but if you buy a product labelled USB 2, you might find you've got the one with the lower speed rather than the higher speed.

The trouble is that apparently some companies have sold version 1.1 USB devices, now renamed USB 2, as USB 2, when they're really 1.1

It's all rather bizarre, so you're best bet is to check the maximum data transfer rates. If it's hovering around 480Mb/s then you've got a 'genuine' USB2 device. You'll often find that 'combo' products, which support USB 2 and Firewire, will be using the 'genuine' USB 2 standard.

Kind Regards

Edit ~ Apparently it's not so confusing if the packaging is correct

 

[(Shovel)]

Yeah... though we wont be able to trust PC Manufacturers to label it right.. heh.

So basically... Going at full speed is slower than going at high speed.... what genius thought that up?

And is it really too much for the "general public" to cope with labels like "2.0"?? OK, sometimes (like with AGP) it gets converted into a speed equivilence (2.0 was 4x, 3.0 is 8x etc) but as we all know, plain english sucks for putting facts across. I refuse to believe that the general public outside of Barrysworld Tech Forum are too stupid to understand the concept of "2.0 is bigger than 1.1". Cause remember, bigger always equals better*, therefore, no problem.








*With the notable exceptions of the Radeon 9600, Geforce FX 5200, and Windows ME

 

[xane]

One of the main problems I have found with USB 1.1 is that the older motherboards and cards that supported it use a variety of dodgy chipsets, and consequently there are a few different drivers in all O/S to cope with them, it took quite a while before everyone settled on a standard.

I have some older motherboards with integrated USB, my trusty Abit BX6v2 (i440TX) never caused a problem and I actually managed to fudge USB support in Windows 95B for it. My Asus P3V4X (Apollo Pro133A) on the other hand had really flakey USB and I needed to buy a separate card to get most devices working.

USB 2.0 has cemented that standard, not only backwards compatible with all incarnations of USB 1.1 but a unified driver for Windows XP too.

I did get a USB 2.0 card, it was really funky with red LEDs inside that lit up the case

 

[Embattle]

VIA chipsets had a long period where they seem to have trouble with USB deivces.

This is typical and basic stupidity on the part of the USB Forum, they need an arse kicking.