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T480S right side USB 3.0 port behaving like a USB 2.1 port

T430-T495, T530-T590 Series
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nik33134
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Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2025 1:15 pm

T480S right side USB 3.0 port behaving like a USB 2.1 port

#1 Post by nik33134 » Sun Jul 20, 2025 1:38 pm

Hi. I just bought a refurbished T480S with i7, fresh install windows 11 pro and all drivers from Lenovo page. The left side USB type A port reads my external drives and USB sticks as 3.0 superspeed, but when I try the same devices on the right side USB port I only get 2.1 High speed. USB device tree viewer can see the "Device maximum Speed" as superspeed but the "Port maximum Speed" and "Device Connection Speed" as high speed. It also states "USB Version 2.1 (USB 3.0 connected at HighSpeed)".

All the user manuals for the T480S that I"ve seen state that it has 2 USB gen1 3.0 ports.
I already tried uninstalling the Root Hubs via device manager, as well as the Intel extensible host controllers...

What"s the deal here?

dr_st
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Re: T480S right side USB 3.0 port behaving like a USB 2.1 port

#2 Post by dr_st » Sun Jul 20, 2025 11:50 pm

Welcome to the forum. :)

Faulty port most likely. Maybe some of the contacts are dirty / bent / broken. Could be in the port itself or on the motherboard.

USB 3.x connectors use additional pins, while keeping the originally defined USB 1.x/2.x as they were, for backwards compatibility. This is why USB 3.x functionality of a specific port/device can be broken due to a faulty connection, while legacy USB works.

Possibly the most common, and easiest to fix problem would be, if the port housing was dirty / clogged with gunk, thus preventing the inserted device / cable from making full contact with the USB 3.0 pins (these sit deeper). Look inside the housing and clean carefully if necessary.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T16 Gen 3 (21MQ), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

axur-delmeria
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Re: T480S right side USB 3.0 port behaving like a USB 2.1 port

#3 Post by axur-delmeria » Mon Jul 21, 2025 1:42 am

The right-side USB port is on a separate daughterboard, and connects to the mainboard via a short cable. That makes it trivial to replace.

Reference image from notebookcheck.net (it's on the left side as it's upside-down): https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin ... marked.jpg

FRU listing gives

01ER996 CARDPOP,USB,sub card

In case you need to replace the cable, either one will do:

01LX989 CABLE,USB,AVC
01LX990 CABLE,USB,Hong Yuen
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

nik33134
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2025 1:15 pm

Re: T480S right side USB 3.0 port behaving like a USB 2.1 port

#4 Post by nik33134 » Mon Jul 21, 2025 4:05 am

Thank you guys for the answers. I registered on this forum yesterday from Greece, but today it"s impossible for me to visit without the use of a VPN. Is there some problem?

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