NUC13 i5-1340P issues with transfering files via USB

[modeerf]

Hi, I hope this is the right section for this thread.

I've been using a NUC13 as my main PC for about two years.

Every 2 or 3 months I take a backup to external HDDs, muy total data is 6Tb stored in two SSDs in the NUC.

A month ago I started the backup routine, and I started getting errors in the middle of the transfer like "cannot find the USB device" etc and the speeds where flactuating from 200MB/s down to 10MB/s and vice versa.

I've tried every single USB port, several docking stations with several HDDs, several external USB HDDs and SSDs with the same result.

My system has the latest firmware and drivers and runs on Win11.

After weeks of testing and troubleshooting, the only way to actually take a backup without interruptions is to use a hub that significantly drops down the speeds to 10-20MB/s but that's ridicilous.

Honestly, I am seriously thinking of building a small desktop and ditch the NUC altogether.

Any suggestions, advice etc would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @modeerf ,

We understand your frustration with the USB transfer issues on your NUC13 i5-1340P. 

To help resolve this, please try the following steps:

1. Check Device Manager:

• Check for unknown devices: If Windows doesn't recognize your USB device, you might see an "Unknown USB Device" in Device Manager.
• Update drivers:
  Press Windows key + R, type "devmgmt.msc" and press Enter.
  Locate and expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers".
  Right-click on "Unknown USB Device" and select "Update driver".
  Choose "Search automatically for updated driver software".

2. Check USB ports: 

• Verify port functionality: Try plugging your USB device into a different USB port. If it works on another port, the original port might be damaged.
• Reinstall USB port drivers:
  Follow step 1 to open Device Manager.
  Locate and expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers".
  Right-click on each item and select "Uninstall device".
  Restart your computer and the drivers will be reinstalled automatically.

3. Reinstall USB device drivers:

• Uninstall old drivers: Follow the first part of step 2 to uninstall all items under "Universal Serial Bus controllers".
• Restart your computer: Restart your computer and the USB drivers will be reinstalled automatically.

Thank you.

[modeerf]

First of all, thank you so much for the reply.

#1 is N/A as there are no unkown USB devices shown

Same thing goes with #2 since I have already tried every single USB port with differwent HDDs/SSDs.

I went with #3 but this doesn't seem it solved the issue.

I am copying a huge amount of data via USB from the internal SSD to an external HDD as we speak, the copy started with the expected speed and then it dropped to USB 1 speeds.

The HDD, SSD, docking station etc they are all tested to death and they operate just fine. USB3 is the used port.

Also, no antivirus running right now...

This is a huge file so at some point, maybe after 10 minutes or 2 hours, the copy will fail (the device will show as disconnected etc.)

[MasterC]

Please take into consideration that if you are expecting to transfer terabytes of data at high speeds in one sitting, take into consideration that excess heat becomes a major factor. Not sure which drive is getting too hot, but if you say at lower speeds it's fine, then it's evident that one or more drives are overheating. You could try to increase the air circulation or blow a fan over the drive, otherwise break up the process into sessions with a break in between. 

[modeerf]

Sorry, but this cannot be the case.

I own this system for 2 years or so, I do this routine every 2-3 months, nothing has changed.

In fact the ambient temp is 22C so it's way cooler than when first the issue appeared.

Either the USB controller is giving the ghost, or I really don't know, that's why I made this thread.

[MasterC]

As you mentioned, the drive is fine at lower speeds, so it sounds like it can work without fault so long as you keep the speed (and therefore heat) down. If you cannot transfer large amounts of data quickly via USB then you could consider backing up to a local NAS, you can still get fast speeds through the network. In any case, please continue this conversation in ZenTalk so that it could help others with the same question, this is the ROG Forum. Thanks.