Faster download of Digital Camera Images - USB no good.

[mark_crame1]

Well, I have yet another problem. A while back, I bough a Canon

FS4000 scanner, which was so incredibly slow (like hours per scan) I

went and got a SCSI card and cables, and hooked that and my Epson

1640 up to it. Far better. Now, I am using a D30 more and more (and

saving some cash for the 10D) and have just tried a USB card reader

as a way of getting my images into my PC. Forget it. So.....

 

Does anybody have a recommendation for a faster card reader - ie

scsi, firewire etc. USB is a problem on my PC, and money is a problem

otherwise, so I am looking for a connection that is affordable, and

good enough to do the job quickly and easily. I'm in the UK, so any

stockists would be appreciated too.

 

Thanks. Mark.

[klix]

When you say USB, I'm guessing that you're referring to USB 1.1. Your upgrade paths: USB 2.0 or Firewire -- rated at comparable speeds - 480 (Mbps) for USB 2.0 and 400 Mbps for FireWire.

 

You also have the option of getting a USB2.0/FW combo card, a USB 2.0 hub or a FW hub, although cost for these options do ramp up.

[the_macman]

Maybe your card reader supports USB 2.0 and your computer doesn't... in

which case a $40 USB 2.0 card could, in theory, double the speed. If not,

many FireWire CF readers are available ($90 - $140) and since FireWire is

quite a controlled standard I don't think some are more recommendable than

others, as long as they have the right recent firmware version it should work.

[bobatkins]

Obviously your USB is badly screwed up. Works just fine on my FS4000 and on my CF card reader.

 

Have you tried adding a USB card to your PC rather than using any built in USB ports. Maybe you'd get better performance. Here in the US you can get a 4 port USB 2.0 card for $40. Works great. Doesn't speed up transfer from USB 1.1 devices of course.

 

If you're using anything from Win98 onwards, USB should not be a problem. If you are still using Win95 USB can be pretty flakey. In that case I'd upgrade the OS, preferably to Windows 2000 but even Win98 SE would be better.

 

You can get a brand new Dell PC with all sorts of bells and whistles for under $500 here in the US. Clone PCs can be had for under $400. That's a lot cheaper then even the cheapest D30 or the FS4000 and might even be a better investment than firewire and SCSI attempts to get around broken USB!

[mark_crame1]

Aha. Good point. Its USB 1.1, Win2K with twin 866 PIII's and 800mb RAM - the problem is my MSI mainboard doesn't like USB (apparently). USB doesn't work - I tried all kinds of stuff when I got the Canon scanner.

 

So basically, USB is a load of bollocks on this, so scsi card reader is one option, with firewire being another. Its down to cost. Anyone got any specific readers I can look at? It will be preferably a multi reader though. I have scsi card etc, would I need to buy a firewire card in addition to use a firewire card reader? I don't understand all this geeky stuff. I take pictures.

 

Cheers, Mark

 

(I used to be Mark Crame, but now i'm 30, so I am being more respectable).

[beauh44]

Yes Mark, it sounds like your USB is hosed - I have the Canon FS4000 and it scans a 35mm in a few minutes just fine with USB 1.X. Anyway, I thought I'd share something that might help - so far, I'm very pleased with it. It's the X's-Drive II. http://www.xs-drive.com/. The model I purchased is a 20 gigabyte laptop hard disk in it's own case. It has a CF and SM slot. The really nice thing is that it's about the size of 2 packs of cigarettes, side by side and it's battery operated when not plugged in. That means I don't have to take a laptop with me when I'm shooting digital. When my CF card fills up, I remove it from the camera, stick it in the X's drive and press the "Copy" button. That's it. It even shuts off by itself when it's done. Now... How do I get it to my PC?? It supports both USB 1.X and 2.X. The latter is pretty much the same speed as Firewire - altho' I have not tried the USB 2.x aspect of it because my PC just has USB 1.x connections. Once connected to your PC, it sees it just like another hard drive - which it is and can be used as such. With USB 2.x, you would be able to dump your cards, unattended, then transfer the data on the X's Drive's 20Gb hard disk at a pretty speedy rate. This model of X's drive doesn't have a screen to view the pics, but who cares? So far, I'm very happy with it and recommend highly. Best wishes . . . Beau..

[bobatkins]

Are there any parallel port to USB adapters (though that wouldn't exactly be fast..) Maybe SCSI to USB? Maybe Firewire to USB? Did you try a PCI USB card?

 

These days having a PC that won't support USB is a bit like having a car with no doors. Sure you can climb in through the windows but it's not much of a design "feature"! Pretty much everything comes with a USB connectivity these days and USB 2 is pretty fast. I'm running an external 40GB USB 2 hard drive and it's not slow!

[mark_crame1]

No doors? I agree. Idiots build me a computer for photographic work and give me something that can't use USB very well at all! Anyways, how about this:

 

http://www.neoseeker.com/Hardware/Products/sandisk_ultraimagemate/

 

and this:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006JIMG/ref%3Dbr%5Flf%5Fce%5Fh%5F%5F2/shopgenie/202-0962787-3227837

 

I imagine that the Firewire card just kinda screws in and gets plugged in to my PC, no? Best I get my mate to take a look. He understands all this stuff. Looks cheaper than a scsi card reader too.

[majid]

I have a MSI dual-PIII motherboard (694D Pro) that had problems with Matrox video cards in the past (at least under Windows, Solaris/x86 had no problems, surprisingly), and I never had any problems with USB, including transfers from my D30. Faulty USB support would be a major show-stopper in a motherboard by any reckoning.

 

You should check the MSI website for any firmware updates, and also install the VIA 4-in-1 drivers if you haven't already. You might want to review your BIOS settings, and reset them to defaults as a last resort.

 

A Firewire card reader is probably your best option otherwise, firewire HBAs can be found very cheap nowadays, but you are still better off attacking the root cause of your problems, and upgrading or replacing your motherboard if you can't. USB 1.1 might not be a speed demon, but it shouldn't take you more than a cup of coffee to transfer a flash card's worth of data.

[mark_crame1]

Yep, mines the 694D Pro too. I have the Via 4-in-1's loaded already as well. I don't know how to check my BIOS settings though, and wouldn't know if something was up with them either. Replacing the motherboard is not an option for me, so I think it will have to be firewire. Bugger.

[oskar_ojala]

Either an USB 2 or a Firewire add-on card with appropriate reader should be your best choice. FWIW, I've got an Asus mobo and my USB 2 works very smoothly for those 150 MB scans. Haven't tested my Firewire, though, but it came practically free.

[costas_lymbouris]

Mark,

 

Try searching the microsoft website for issues relating to Windows2000 and USB. There are also some general guides on the site like this one titled "General USB Troubleshooting in Windows 2000"

 

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;242062

 

If you want to get a cheap firewire or USB2 IO card in the UK, try

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/

 

Look under I/O cards. I see they have a "3 Port D-Link DRF-A3 FireWire card Retail inc. cable + software" for £11.15 including tax. I have D-link network cards and routers and they seem reliable.