iPod HELP! USB transfer rate is much slower on WinXP than in Win2K

[jdong]

WIndows 2000 enables disk write caching for USB disks by default, XP disables it by default.  The reason your ipod seems so fast in 2000 is that when you copy something, it doesn't actually write it to the ipod right away, so transfers appear to be only limited by the speed of the source hard disk.  You can enable it in the Device Manager, however doing so will make it easier to corrupt the file system on your Ipod if you remove it without unmatching it.

Is there any way this situation would be affected by having the ipod booted into the apple firmware?  In WinXP, I consistently have fast transfers in the apple firmware, but slower transfers in Disk Mode.  In Win2k the transfers are fast, regardless of Disk Mode or apple firmware.

Yes, if disk mode vs stock firmware USB client change whether the device is presented to the OS as a removable USB device (like a USB flash drive) or a USB external hard drive (i.e. external enclosure).

This affects if XP decides to activate writeback cache or not.

Note from Device Manager's options for your iPod you can activate writeback caching manually, but in both cases the speed improvement you see is purely illusionary courtesy of your system RAM, and you will pay for the difference in speed when you go to eject the iPod.

[Llorean]

It's not just caching that causes the difference then.

A transfer of the Rockbox's full folder structure takes ~7 minutes in Emergency Disk Mode, and less than half a minute in Apple_OS, and I can eject my iPod safely immediately after that has finished without windows complaining, and the files are complete and functioning.

[mightybrick]

It's not just caching that causes the difference then.

A transfer of the Rockbox's full folder structure takes ~7 minutes in Emergency Disk Mode, and less than half a minute in Apple_OS, and I can eject my iPod safely immediately after that has finished without windows complaining, and the files are complete and functioning.

Yes, this is exactly what I experience.

[jdong]

ok, then it definitely doesn't sound like it's caching that's the culprit. There's something more substantial going on... perhaps USB 1.1 vs USB 2?

[saratoga]

ok, then it definitely doesn't sound like it's caching that's the culprit. There's something more substantial going on... perhaps USB 1.1 vs USB 2?

What do you mean?

[jdong]

ok, then it definitely doesn't sound like it's caching that's the culprit. There's something more substantial going on... perhaps USB 1.1 vs USB 2?

What do you mean?

I was suggesting maybe emergency disk mode presents itself to the system as a USB 1.1 device while regular firmware presents itself as USB2.