add-on USB 3.0 not running at USB 3.0 speed

[Hyperloop]

I recently installed a mini PCI-E USB 3.0 card into my small form factor PC running Stretch. The card does work; I can connect devices to it and use them. The problem is that they will only run at USB 2.0 speed (480Mbps) and not at USB 3.0 speed (5Gbps) as they should. I'd appreciate help to pinpoint the problem and hopefully enable SuperSpeed.

This is the card I bought: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B07BJ45JXD. It might be a faulty/scammy product that only supports USB 2.0 despite the advertising. How would I go to find that out?

Output of lsusb -t (the USB 3.0 adapter does not appear in the list but the 7-3 hub directly connects to it):

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/:  Bus 05.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=uhci_hcd/2p, 12M
/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=uhci_hcd/2p, 12M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=uhci_hcd/2p, 12M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=uhci_hcd/2p, 12M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/8p, 480M
    |__ Port 3: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=usb-storage, 480M
    |__ Port 7: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M
        |__ Port 1: Dev 12, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=usb-storage, 480M

What should my next steps be?

[4D696B65]

From your link

Package includes:
1 X Mini PCI-E To USB 2.0 Converter Adapter Card (No retail package)
4 X Screws

[edit]

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lspci

Will tell you a bit more.

[Hyperloop]

1 X Mini PCI-E To USB 2.0 Converter Adapter Card (No retail package)

Well, it *might* just be a typo …

Here's the output of lspci:

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00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom Processor D4xx/D5xx/N4xx/N5xx DMI Bridge (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation NM10 Family LPC Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [ION] (rev a2)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 06)

Edit: If I could find out which chip the card uses I could find out online what its capabilities are. But so far I'm not seeing any specific hardware information.

[pylkko]

AFAIK there are double the amount of wires in USB3 cables and therefore also pins in the ports.

http://pinoutguide.com/Slots/usb_3_0_co ... nout.shtml


but the output of your lspci also only shows EHCI (USB2) and no xHCI (USB3)

[p.H]

The USB connector on the pictures is blue and has 9 pins, so it is USB 3. However, the page says :

Please note: The USB 3.0 connector on the adapter card actually works as the USB 2.0 signal

lspci shows only the motherboard Intel ICH7 chipset's USB 2 controller. So I suspected that this add-on board does not have its own PCIe-to-USB controller but is just a passive adapter using a motherboard USB controller port. I found this in Wikipedia :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Expre ... _Mini_Card

The host device supports both PCI Express and USB 2.0 connectivity

[Hyperloop]

The host device supports both PCI Express and USB 2.0 connectivity

That's an interesting find. Looks like I fell for some blatantly false advertising.

Follow-up question: Does the quoted specification mean that it's impossible for any mPCIe card to ever support USB3? Or are there cards that do and I just got the wrong one?

[p.H]

it's impossible for any mPCIe card to ever support USB3?

No. The card must embed its own PCIe-to-USB3 (xHCI) host controller.

[Hyperloop]

The card must embed its own PCIe-to-USB3 (xHCI) host controller.

You're right, I just found this one.

Only problem now is that my PC in need of USB 3 doesn't have any power connectors, so there's no going forward unless I find an adapter card that doesn't need the extra power.

Thanks for your help, guys.

[p.H]

Can't you take a +5V power supply from somewhere on the computer ?

[Hyperloop]

Can't you take a +5V power supply from somewhere on the computer ?

Probably not, and even if, I wouldn't be able to fit the 19-pin cable anywhere inside this machine.

[mafioso12]

Hi, the adapter worked for you "out of the box" or did you install any driver for it? I bought exactly the same adapter and it doesn't work. I don't even want USB3.0, I just want to run it. I'm using Open Media Vault 5.3.9 which is based on Debian so installation should work the same.

Thank you in advance

[sunrat]

OP hasn't visited since last post here. No they didn't get it working.

[mafioso12]

I know that they didnt get it working as USB 3.0 hub but It doesn't work at all in my computer. I just wanna know if there is possibility to install this adapter in linux.