Think USB 1.1 ports are really USB 2.0 - help please?

I've been trying to find out if our USB ports are USB 2.0 capable and if so, how to change them from running as USB 1.1. Our XP Pro machine says they are low speed ports when we plug USB devices in.

Now if I've understood what I've found out during my research, installing the motherboard (mobo) chipset drivers will allow the ports to be USB 2.0 (if they actually are USB 2.0 capable) but I will then have to update at Windows Update - is this the way it works? And does anyone know if they really are USB 2.0 capable? We need to get them running as USB 2.0 if that's possible so that we can install and run my son's new MP4 player, which wants a minimum of XP SP2 and USB 2.0.

Our drivers page at Dell should be: http://supportapj.dell.com/support/...=PLX_PNT_P4_GX240&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

Under chipset, it lists two drivers.
Is at least one of these drivers right or not? (I used Belarc and Everest to try and find out what I needed to know and I'm concerned that they may not be the right drivers, and that I need earlier versions.)
How do I know which one to install or do I install both?
If I install both, does it matter in which order?
If I only install one, how do I know which one?

Manuals can be found here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx240/en/index.htm

And if someone could just give me some general info on how to know which onboard things on a mobo are affected by what mobo drivers, I'd appreciate that. Sometimes it's quite straightforward, such as the Via 4-in-1 mention sound but other times it doesn't seem so straightforward to know what goes with what - is that about the explanation of how to work it out?? :-D

SPECIFICATIONS
Dell Optiplex GX240 P4 1.7Ghz
XP Pro 5.1.2600 SP2

Motherboard ID <DMI>
Phoenix BIOS (05/28/02)
Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 24425.1.2600.0
Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 24445.1.2600.0
Hardware ID USB\ROOT_HUB&VID8086&PID2442&REV0012

Intel(R) 82801BA LPC Interface Controller - 2440 5.1.2600.0
Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM SMBus Controller - 2443 5.1.2600.0
Intel(R) 82801BA/CA PCI Bridge - 244E 5.1.2600.0
Intel(R) 82845 Processor to AGP Controller - 1A31 5.1.2600.2180
Intel(R) 82845 Processor to I/O Controller - 1A30 5.1.2600.0

North Bridge Properties:
North Bridge Intel Brookdale i845
Revision 03
Package Type 593 Pin FC-BGA
Package Size 3.75 cm x 3.75 cm
Core Voltage 1.5 V
In-Order Queue Depth 12

South Bridge Properties:
South Bridge Intel 82801BA ICH2X
Revision / Stepping 12 / C0


Thanks!!

 

just to get an idea, my p4 machine, only the 2 usb ports on the back, directly connected to the motherboard were usb2.0. The ones in the front of the case, and the 4 that were in a pci slot (plugged into the mobo, not a pci card) in the back were only 1.1

 

Go to the Device Manager, tick the radio button at the top that says view by connection then expand the entry headed pci. If your mobo has USB2 capabilities you will see and entry which says something like Enhanced USB Controller.

Some of your ports may only be USB1 ports but if you connect any usb device it will be shown in the Device Manager (as per above comment) and you fathom out which ports are USB2 (if you have any). USB port speeds cannot be changed. By that I mean that if your mobo has USB1 ports then you cannot change them to USB2. The only way to add USB2 functionality to a mobo equipped with USB1 ports is to buy a pci USB2 add-in card.

I am not sure which mp3 player you have acquired but the stated requirements are not cast in stone. One of my children has an ipod nano with stated minimum requirements of XP SP2 but it works without any issues on SP1. If memory serves me right, I also ran it on a pc which only had usb1 and whose only downside was that the transfer rate was slowwwwwwwwwww.

Good Luck

 

Sometimes its as simple as entering the bios and checking to see if your motherboard is set to use usb as Legacy or Enhanced. Use Enhanced if you can.

Your motherboard drivers have nothing to do with the Microsoft Update Site. As a matter of fact I would never trust MS to update any drivers for my PC, only critical or updates for the OS. Do not download any MS updates for your other devices like motherboard or graphics or sound, MS gets these wrong on nearly every attempt to geuss at what you need. They list C-Media drivers for my sound on one of my PC's but my sound is nVidia, when I first setup the system, with out thinking I let them update the sound drivers and I ended up have to format and reinstall, but it still lists C-Media for that board, Idiots!

 

I just looked at an Everest report - one I saved about a year ago - for my system. If I look at Peripherals, under Summary, I see USB controllers listed, both USB1 and USB2, which is correct for my system (ECS K7S5A PRO motherboard).

 

Thats not 1.1 and 2.0 thats the numbered channels, chan 1 and chan 2

 

:confused What? No, it's USB. Here's that portion of the report:

Peripherals:
Printer Canon Bubble-Jet BJC-2000
Printer Canon Bubble-Jet BJC-3000
Printer hp deskjet 5550 series
Printer Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
Printer PDF995
Printer PrimoPDF
USB1 Controller SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller
USB1 Controller SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB2 Controller VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB2 Controller VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device American Power Conversion USB UPS
USB Device USB Printing Support
Battery APC Battery BackUP

 

I still don't think USB1 means 1.1 even though thats what the chipset supports. Or that USB2 means 2.0 even though thats what it says after it. USB1 is one channel and USB2 is another, each controlled by a different chipset (Via/Sis or Via enhanced) any 1.1 device can work on a 2.0 channel but a 2.0 device is not supported on a 1.1 channel. That means that your 2.0 devices will only work on the Via enhanced 2.0 connections that are more than likely on the back of the machine directly off the motherboard unless you have an extra usb card installed. And if enhanced mode is not set in the bios, then all your usb ports are running at 1.1.

Heck I could be wrong, as a matter of fact I am alot of the times, but I have seen USB1 and USB2 marked on motherboards that only supported 1.1 before 2.0 even came out. They were for hooking up additional usb connections from the case or to the back slots (you know the type, it is a metal bracket with the usb ports on it but it doesn't plug into the pci slot it just takes up a slots space and has wires that connect to the motherboard, they come with the board when you buy it).

 

I'll refrain from using the word "channel" here because I have not seen it previously is discussions of USB capabilities of motherboards. And, you and I seem to be getting into a separate discussion here and departing from the original post's question.

But, regarding my system, my motherboard was designed to support USB 2.0 in back but only USB 1.1 in front. This could easily be verified by connecting a known USB 2.0 device into a front USB port. Depending on the device, Windows would display a message saying this device will perform faster on a USB 2.0 port.

I have since converted those front ports by installing a PCI USB card that provided two additional USB ports on back and also had connector pins for the wiring for the front USB ports, allowing me to convert them to USB 2.0.

 

Forgot to mention: Everest provides much more info on USB, further down in the report.

 

Just as added background regarding Everest. I have just had a look at mine and have several entries of USB1 and one entry of USB2 (Enhanced Host Controller).

Interestingly as regards the entry for USB2, I noticed that the USB symbol at the start of the entry on the relevant line (ie fork shaped symbol) was clearly a dark shade of pink whereas the symbol on the USB1 entries were all in dark grey.

As has already been stated USB2 must be enabled in the bios otherwise a USB2 board will only run at USB1.