WD My Book 10 TB USB3 recognized as USB2

[WebMaximus]

I have a WD My Book 10 TB USB3 disk which has worked flawlessly for 5 years but the other day, I noticed how the performance was really poor compared to what I'm used to.

I also noticed in Windows Device Manager under the section Universal Serial Bus controllers how I have an entry called 'Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed) with a yellow exclamation mark. I've also seen a popup from Windows telling me the last device I connected could not be correctly recognized or something along those lines.

I've tried plugging it in to a different USB3 port but same issue. When connecting a USB 3 thumbstick (tried 2 actually) to the same ports, they both work perfectly normal with great performance.

This to me tells me there something wrong with the WD external drive but I'm still a bit puzzled. Because I downloaded a software from WD called Drive Utilities and using that software, the disk is correctly identified and is also reported to work with no issues found.

When looking in Nirsoft USBDeview, I can see how the WD disk under USB version is reporting 2.10 even when it's a USB3 disk. When plugging in the USB3 thumbsticks, they both are reporting USB 3.

The only thing I haven't been able to try is replacing the cable. Which sadly isn't that easy since it's a USB 3.0 A to microB cable. Not the type of cable you have laying around. Or at least I haven't.

Not really sure what to do at this time. I guess buying a new cable is the cheapest option vs buying a new drive in this size. Still a bit annoying having to spend money on a new cable if it turns out the cable isn't the issue here.

Any suggestions of other things I could try before trying to find a new cable or a brand new disk?

 

[Corday]

In Device Manager uninstall all Universal Serial Bus Controllers (Drivers). Shut down and as they reinstall themselves, see if the problem is solved.

 

[WebMaximus]

Tried what you suggested but still same issue I'm afraid after restarting my computer. Or not really a proper restart but had to press the hard reset button when Windows presented a dialogue where it told me a restart was required. This since both my mouse and keyboard are connected via USB. Meaning when removing the USB controllers, I pulled the carpet under my feet.

This is what it looks like after the restart and Nirsoft USBDeview is still reporting the drive as being connected via USB 2.10.



And this is what it looks like in Nirsoft USBDeview

 

[Corday]

Unplug all USB and again shut down and restart computer. If still no good, right click the Unknown USB device in Device manager and scan for hardware changes. If still no good your Western Digital drive or it's cabling is going bad. Test on another computer.

 

[WebMaximus]

Already tried what you suggest and at this point, I think it's a hardware problem. Either with the cable or the drive as said.

I will start getting myself a new cable and worst case, I'll get a new drive.

Thanks anyway for trying to help.

 

[WebMaximus]

Replaced the cable and now the drive is connecting as USB3 again with a transfer rate of around 140 MB/sec rather than 35 MB/sec.

Problem solved!