Switch SW5-171 USB3.0 not working properly

A few months ago I got Acer Switch SW5-171 with Core i3, 128GB SSD and 4GB RAM. I haven't used its USB3.0 port before (only as USB2.0). A few days ago I tried to connect USB3.0 2.5" HDD 1TB WD Element1048. It started spinning and blinking, driver were installed and that's it. Device manager shows a message that the drive can't start even though it's spinning. Then I tried another USB3.0HDD and it also starts spinning, but isn't even detected by the system. Both HDDs work fine on a USB3.0 port on my Aspire V3. They also happen to work fine when connected to the keyboard dock's USB2.0 port on the SW5-171. If I disable USB3.0 from BIOS then they work in USB2.0 mode on the USB3.0 port just fine. I tried updating drivers, but they were the latest anyway. Tried reinstalling them a few times without success. Since this laptop came with Windows 8.1 and later updated automatically to Windows 10, ending up with some drivers broken, I decided that even though I fixed that, there might be something still not OK. I didn't have much on the SSD, so I moved all I need to the HDD in the dock and reinstalled Windows 10 and all drivers. No change in USB3.0 behavior unfortunately. I tried also to remove the dock and see if it is a power limit issue of some kind. Still no change. Then I went back for installing Windows 8.1 with all drivers and result is the same. I don't have any other USB3.0 devices to try, but I will ask some friends and see if I can get something else to try on that port. I am running out of ideas an would appreciate some good ones. I like that laptop (not with Windows 8.1 though Smiley Happy ), but I want to connect it to the network with cable and for that I need USB to Etherner adapter and the fast ones are USB3.0 (those that operate in 1GBit mode). WiFi is just not good enough for streaming Bluray video from my server, so that's why I want to use cable. Since this laptop is basically tablet, there is no Ethernet port.

Sorry for the long message, but I tried to explain the situation as good as I can. I hope I'll get some useful answers. Thanks in advance! Smiley Happy

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Penoff

After installing the less annoying Windows 10 back (getting rid of the more annoying Windos 8) I was browsing around some settings an ended up in some devices list (not Device Manager). Under USB3.0 to SATA adapter, which is used by the HDD in the keyboard docking, I saw a message saying that this device can perform faster if connected to USB3.0 port. This leads me to the conclusion that USB3.0 probably never worked on that computer and I just happened to discover it now. Looks like I will have to contact the on-line shop I bought it from I hope there is a service center in town so I won't have to send it somewhere and spend probably more than EUR50 for postage back and forth for something that was defective from the beginning.

I thought Acer improved over time, having a great Aspire V3 machine with top of the line components and no issues with it (besides a stuck red subpixel in one corner of the Full HD IPS display). In the past I had another Acer laptop (my first ever) whose mother board lost its USB2.0 controller and went for replacement. That one went for recycling in this March when the display turned red and was going completely dark randomly. But hey, that was 7 year old machine so it worked its price well.

Penoff

Spending quite some more hours trying possible solutions I come to the conclusion the hardware is fine, but the drivers are ****. Intel does not provide drivers for their USB3.0 controller and Microsoft provides some that are not working. Seem like Internet is full of complaints from all kinds of manufacturers of computers with this USB3.0 controller. I've had a crappy Intel driver before (WiFi driver which was causing random BSoD). Looks like they haven't learned their lesson and Microsoft doesn't care at all even though they are the driver provider.

I hope this will get fixed soon. That WiFi driver took them almost an year to update and fix. All that time people had to accept loosing their work with random BSoD followed by restart.

It's good they want to sell and make money, but such ignorance and lack of real support is slowly making users look elsewhere for alternatives. This might be the beginning of swithching to some sort of Linux for me.

If Microsoft continues to ignore their users' complaints and also make Windows more like malware than an OS, this is going to be the end of Microsoft.

I think I am done here. There is no solution to this USB3.0 problem currently. I'll have to live with USB2.0 and maybe try some Linux meanwhile.

grahamh

Did you ever solve this? I just got a GB ethernet adapter and it is just not even recognised when connecting it to USB3. It works on USB2 or through a USB2 cable connected to the 'USB3' port. Doesn't work on Windows 10 or Linux Mint.

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