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User profile for user: Kavan Sidhu
Kavan Sidhu Author
User level: Level 2
330 points

Mini a little slow?

My PC just died. So I treated my self to a new Mini 1.66 2gb ram. And my dad got a new Mac Book Pro Core Duo. Not even 2 duo. Just regular Duo same as my mini.

But the mini seems slow. They both use 2.5 size HDs and both are core duo. Not even 2 duo. And the laptop even only has 1.5GB of ram. 512mb less than my Mini.

But I was copying form my USB 250gb HD to the Mini almost 3gb and it said about 1 hour. But the laptop said 5 minutes with the same folder.

Why would the laptop be any faster. Same processor and HD type and less ram.

Unless the mini is IDE and not SATA yet. But the laptop is IDE isn't it. Or have 2.5's started comming in SATA also.

Thanks,
ivnj

Posted on Mar 23, 2007 1:16 PM

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11 replies
User profile for user: AndyO
AndyO
User level: Level 6
17,064 points

Mar 23, 2007 1:24 PM in response to Kavan Sidhu

Did the mini actually take longer to copy the 3Gb of data? I ask because when the Finder opens up the copy process, it estimates the projected time based on the speed of transfer at the outset, and then adjusts that as the transfer takes place if speed of data varies. Consequently, the estimated time at the outset is often different from the time it actually ends up taking. Given that USB rates are entirely dependent on processor activity since USB is not controlled by a dedicated chip, it means that the busier the host system on other tasks, the longer a data transfer takes.

If the transfer DID take that long, are you using any hubs or other devices?

Oh, and yes, the Intel minis use SATA hard drives.
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User profile for user: Boece
Boece
User level: Level 5
6,264 points

Mar 24, 2007 8:03 AM in response to Kavan Sidhu

the issue was the usb hub I was plugging the external HD into

It would have been good to have mentioned that the HD was plugged into you mini via a hub earlier in this conversation.

Eliminating hubs from the equation is the first step in normal trouble-shooting.

But it is a 2.0 hub so why?

Possible answers:

1) Bad quality hub
2) Not enough power on the hub
3) A USB 1.1 device also plugged into the hub pulling everything down to 1.1.
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User profile for user: AndyO
AndyO
User level: Level 6
17,064 points

Mar 26, 2007 4:21 AM in response to Kavan Sidhu

I had to reinstall everything.


There are very few circumstances where a complete reinstall is necessary, and it seems that this was not really one of them!

But the issue was the usb hub I was plugging the
external HD into.


Problematic hubs are exactly the reason I asked if you were using a hub in the first reply to your initial post. Hubs are notorious bottlenecks capable of dramatically affecting data transfer rates - as you found out. To know why in your specific case it would help to know what other devices were plugged into the hub at the time, but commonly since USB is processor controlled, the probability is that it was attempting to service other devices as well as the drive. In some instances, opening Activity Monitor and watching for active processes relating to USB-connected devices would show the culprit - not uncommonly printer related.
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Mini a little slow?

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