External Drive

[andrushkiwt]

I have a brand new HP laptop 476 GB storage with 321 currently free after my essentials are installed. Superior Drummer is massive, as I have several expansions (300+GB) . Therefore, I am running the drum program on an external 1TB drive (usb 3.0). Since I also use a wireless mouse and keyboard, I need a USB hub to be able to connect all these things. The laptop has 2 dedicated usb ports, which I use for 1) audio interface 2) the usb hub. The hub is powered externally and is usb3.0 as well.

When I work in my DAW, I get frequent (every 2 min?) glitches and dropouts that last for about 2-5 sec, where the entire DAW freezes (mouse pointer moves though). I am certain it is because so much data is flowing from the external drive through the usb hub and into the laptop. Since everything is usb 3.0, I'm not quite sure what else to do here. I am thinking that connecting the external drive to the laptop directly, without the additional hub in the middle, might help. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to do that since it would mean disconnecting either the hub (ex. drive, mouse, keyboard, chargers) or the interface. I assume the interface is the most vital and may have severe dropouts if connected through the hub, so I'm trying to avoid that.

Any ideas on how to get things running more smoothly without dropouts or freezes?

EDIT - apparently i have an extra USB-C port that isn't being used. I'll buy a usb-c cord and see if that helps, then I can bypass the hub and plug directly in.

 

[keith.rogers]

You should be able to find a drive utility to test the speed/bandwidth and confirm if it's operating at USB 3 speeds, and try it with and without the hub.

I have my projects on external drives, but don't have large VST libraries stored externally. I don't think you want your interface on a hub, unless it's also running at USB 3 speeds, and you've confirmed the hub is not a bottleneck.

 

[Gtoboy]

I had to get a larger drive for my HP Pavilion laptop with the same port limitations. I did find that my Scarlett 2i2 works great with a USB3 to USB C adaptor.

 

[YanKleber]

I never use USB drives for any type of work as I don't find they reliable enough for this (at least on Windows). For me USB disks are great for backup and that's all.

 

[jag70]

I have a brand new HP laptop 476 GB storage with 321 currently free after my essentials are installed. Superior Drummer is massive, as I have several expansions (300+GB) . Therefore, I am running the drum program on an external 1TB drive (usb 3.0). Since I also use a wireless mouse and keyboard, I need a USB hub to be able to connect all these things. The laptop has 2 dedicated usb ports, which I use for 1) audio interface 2) the usb hub. The hub is powered externally and is usb3.0 as well.

When I work in my DAW, I get frequent (every 2 min?) glitches and dropouts that last for about 2-5 sec, where the entire DAW freezes (mouse pointer moves though). I am certain it is because so much data is flowing from the external drive through the usb hub and into the laptop. Since everything is usb 3.0, I'm not quite sure what else to do here. I am thinking that connecting the external drive to the laptop directly, without the additional hub in the middle, might help. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to do that since it would mean disconnecting either the hub (ex. drive, mouse, keyboard, chargers) or the interface. I assume the interface is the most vital and may have severe dropouts if connected through the hub, so I'm trying to avoid that.

Any ideas on how to get things running more smoothly without dropouts or freezes?

EDIT - apparently i have an extra USB-C port that isn't being used. I'll buy a usb-c cord and see if that helps, then I can bypass the hub and plug directly in.

Hello. If you have an unused license for Superior Drummer, either the first version or the latest, I'd like to discuss buying it from you. Thanks.