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[datdude]

Is this slow or normal?  It seems slow, but I have a modern laptop which I assume has usb 2.0.    To transfer 2 gigs of data it takes like an hour.

[Magic_Randy]

Sounds very slow to me.

I sync to 5th generation 80gb iPods.   I'm using a laptop with all of my media on external hard drives.  My transfer speeds are slow compared to reports from other people.  And my transfer speed is still 4-6 times faster than yours.  I'm not sure if the Nano results can be compared with the bigger iPods.

[datdude]

Sometimes it goes down to 0.3 for a while.

It has pretty much always been this way since I got the ipod, and I have tried on the other usb ports with the same results.  I even tried the Optimize performance option in windows and that did nothing.

The only other thing I can think of trying is using itunes and seeing if it is any faster.

[datdude]

Apparently under Device manager my usb controller does not say 'Enhanced' so I guess that means I don't have usb 2.0?

[Magic_Randy]

I don't see enhanced under my devices, but I know I have USB 2.0.  I'm looking at my USB Root Hub.

Anyway, your transfer speed, IMO, is way too slow.  It may be the Nano itself, as it uses a flash drive instead of the hard disk on my bigger iPods.  But it still appears too slow.  Apple has 8gb Nanos.  That would require an overnight sync if your transfer speeds are the norm.

I suggest you try to narrow down the problem.  It does not hurt to try iTunes, just to benchmark it against MC.  If the speeds are similar, all it tells you is the problem is not MC.  My guess is that MC is just fine and the problem is somewhere else.

I've had slowdowns similar to yours in the past and the culprit was my virus checker.  This was the primary reason I totally eliminated Norton products from my PC.  So you may want to disable any virus checkers to see if that helps.  You could also disable any spyware checking to see if that helps.  If your not running any virus checkers or spyware checkers, that may also be your problem (your PC may be infected or filled with spyware).

If you have access to another PC, that's another way to benchmark if the problem is with your PC setup.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Maybe someone else with a Nano could report their transfer speeds.

Maybe glynor has some suggestions on how to trouble shoot the PC.  I think he knows a lot (at least a lot more than me) about this subject.

[datdude]

Thanks, I will do that.

[mlefebvre]

Is it possible that you have MC set up to transcode the files before sending them to the iPod? If that is the case, then that transfer speed is normal. The good thing is that MC keeps a cache of all transcoded files to re-use them the next time you want to send them to the iPod. This way, the transfer is very fast.

You may want to try this test:

1- Synch a couple of hundred songs to the iPod.
2- Initialize the iPod from MC (this will erase everything in the iPod!)
3- Do the same synch again.

The second time should be many times faster.

Michel.

[datdude]

I tried that and it makes no difference to the transfer rate.

[datdude]

Just tried my buddies pc and it jumped to 3.5 mb per second.  It's not my viurs checker, but probably some sort of configuration problem with my hardware, who knows.  I guess I'll just go out and get a pcmcia usb 2.0 card.

[JimH]

Sometimes USB 2.0 ports run at USB 1.0 speeds.  I've seen this several times.  It may be a Windows bug.  Try a google search.  You might get lucky.

[Magic_Randy]

Just tried my buddies pc and it jumped to 3.5 mb per second.  It's not my viurs checker, but probably some sort of configuration problem with my hardware, who knows.  I guess I'll just go out and get a pcmcia usb 2.0 card.

That rules out MC as the issue.  I was confident that would be the result.

This also rules out the Nano as an issue.  I didn't think the flash drive would be that slow, but at least this confirms it.

You could still have a problem with the virus checker.  Even if you turn them off, it does mean they are really off.  What kind are you using?

Another thing you could do is open task manager.  Go to processes and sort it by CPU usage.  Then kick off you sync and see what task manager tells you.  I've had experience of real slow syncs and was able to identify the culprit by looking at the CPU usage.  Certain processes, like virus checkers, may suck a lot of resources when I/O heavy/suspicious tasks (like syncs) are running.

Of course getting a USB 2.0 card may also solve the problem, but if the culprit is something else you may be wasting your money.

Good luck...

[bob]

Sometimes USB 2.0 ports run at USB 1.0 speeds.  I've seen this several times.  It may be a Windows bug.  Try a google search.  You might get lucky.

I've seen this lots of times. The usb device fails to negotiate properly with the usb2 protocol and drops back to usb1 speeds which is EXACTLY what you are getting. Sometimes just changing usb ports on the same machine will fix it. It is a driver bug or hardware glitch on the PC.

BTW, you should see a "standard ENHANCED PCI to USB host adapter" in device manager (or a vendor supplied ENHANCED device driver). If you don't, you probably have USB1 running but not USB2.  You may need a MOBO specific driver if it's onboard. Just because the hardware is usb2 doesn't mean there is a working usb2 driver in your system.

[datdude]

I've tried switching back and forth between the Laptops recommended drivers and Intel's latest drivers with absolutely no difference in speed or in the naming of the USB controller in device manager.  It doesn't list enhanced.  I guess I should contact the manufacturer and ask why this is the case but I am out of warranty so I probably won't get much support.  I did try the pcmcia card for fun and I am able to get 3.5 mb/s transfer.  It was on $25 so I probably will stick with that unless there are any other ideas.

Thanks for all the help though.

[InflatableMouse]

Look in your BIOS for USB 2.0 options. Mine has something like hispeed and full speed. hispeed is faster than full speed 

[datdude]

Look in your BIOS for USB 2.0 options. Mine has something like hispeed and full speed. hispeed is faster than full speed 

Thanks.  My bios sucks, I don't think I have ever seen an option for usb, but  I will check when I get a chance.

You would thinkg 'Full' Speed would mean its using the entire bandwidth.

[511PF]

I've seen the same problem on multiple PCs.  I know my USB ports run at USB 2.0 speeds because I'm using a thumbdrive with ReadyBoost on Vista.   (I have a Nano v1).  I figured they just used really, really slow flash memory.

[ChrisRainman]

I had massive speed problems and now found out the reason. Maybe this should be the first thing to check.

When synching a larger number of files you don't notice simultaneous conversions. While uploads are shown in the progress bar the conversions run somewhere below. So, after disabling the conversions the speed improved massively. Of course, I leave the conversion as after finishing all of them the speed gets fast again. Then, it's more rhan 4 MB/s.

I would assume this is a frequent reason. It could be avoided if the status information (bottom left window) would contain an additional text row to indicate simultaneous running conversions!