Question *STABLE* NVMe - USB Adapter?

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cyberjedi

Junior Member
Apr 4, 2010
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I'm looking to buy a *RELIABLE* NVME-USB external adapter, that doesn't disconnect randomly, can keep up the close to 1GB/s speed.
So far all adapter's reviews contain frighteningly high % of reports of malfunction, random disconnects, sub-par speeds, falling to even under USB 2.0 speeds, etc.
There are 3 main chipsets in the market: JMicron JMS583, Asmedia ASM2362, and Realtek RTL9210 (no product has surfaced with the latter yet, so no REAL reviews, experiences yet UPDATE: it is on the market already).
Also ASUS has a new product, ROG Strix Arion, but there isn't enough feedback about it yet, and I mean real life feedback not just being able to run a few benchmarks, but real stress test to see if the device (adapter) can keep it up, without disconnecting or slowing down hard.
I would really appreciate any feedback from those who have GOOD experiences during stress-tests, like tons of random 4k writes with a stable speed, cloning 100's of GB-s at a stable high speed close to 1GB/s.
I know SSD's very well, so please stick to the point and don't start to educate me on how their speed falls after some writes, etc. I'm aware and this is NOT the point.
You can help if you can point me to a STABLE and RELIABLE NVMe-USB-C adapter that WORKS as expected.
Thank you in advance!
 
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YabbaDabbaDoooo

Member
Jan 4, 2022
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Seehank said:
Guys how is the benchmark doing in longer times? I mean when you set the CD to 9 repeats per lts say 16GiB. Does temperature play role? Would you do som torture testing please?
Click to expand...

Hmm, haven't gotten around to test for that long.

Less than 2 months in, my SSK has developed intermittent disconnection issues. Earlier it was a full 100% disk usage (as seen in Task Manager), and more recently it was throwing "USB device not recognized" errors.

Quite disappointing, to be honest, as this is my second RTL9210B device.
 
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igor_kavinski

Lifer
Jul 27, 2020
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NVMe devices get really hot and I think most USB adapter manufacturers are not taking this heat into account or not expecting people to use their adapters so long that the continued heat output becomes a problem.
 
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YabbaDabbaDoooo

Member
Jan 4, 2022
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igor_kavinski said:
NVMe devices get really hot and I think most USB adapter manufacturers are not taking this heat into account or not expecting people to use their adapters so long that the continued heat output becomes a problem.
Click to expand...

The SSK does come with thermal pads for the RTL9210B and it makes decent contact with the aluminum body/shell.
 
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zank

Junior Member
Mar 12, 2022
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I have gone through all the posts here and also general googling and cant find which chip/enclosure is suggested right now. theres the rtl9210B and asm2362 with mixed results. The products im looking at are:

UGREEN M.2 NVME SATA SSD Enclosure, USB C 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps, M.2 NVME Enclosure Supports M and B&M Keys, B and B&M Keys M.2 SATA SSDs and Size 2230/2242/2260/2280, Tool-Free

Ugreen NVME

SSK NVME

I am hoping to be able to use it as a timemachine backup drive for my macbook pro 2017, and sometimes copy files between my thinkpad x1 and macbook pro. Not planning to work directly off it but want to ofcourse get the approx 1 gbps max speed. Also not sure if i should worry about heating, i dont plan to work off these constantly, but would like it to be generally trouble free and not error prone since its a backup drive (512gb drive in macbook pro).
 
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igor_kavinski

Lifer
Jul 27, 2020
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mikeymikec said:
Any ideas what the 2TB limit is about?
Click to expand...
I think it's not really a limit but the most they have tested it with.

I would be surprised if it's a controller level limit. Kind of like how a lot of NAS advertised a maximum 8TB HDD limit because that's the most that was available at the time. Again, I don't think there is any NAS out there with a Linux based OS on it that refused to work with 8TB+ HDD. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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oirhp

oirhp

Junior Member
Mar 16, 2022
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Flashed 2 enclosures using the info in this thread. Thanks.

Brand: Orico, Model: M2PG-C3 (RTL9210 chipset) (Aliexpress)
Brand: Generic/Jarhit, Model: "USB3.1 Type-C Enclosure" (RTL9210 chipset) (Amazon)

Both are semi-flakey on M1 mac mini and seem to cut power to themselves after not very long idle so no good as permanent storage without a script to keep them awake. They also drew too much power from the mac ports so need an external dock to reliably connect.

Also an Orico thunderbolt 3 enclosure, SCM2T3-G40 (JHL6340 chipset), while fast, wasn't stable and kept disconnecting, also possibly due to some idle settings.

Gave up and put everything in a DeskMini NAS.
 
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ppptech

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2020
17
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I've been using a couple of Sabrent EC-SNVE (rtl9210B) with full size nvme drives with good success. Haven't had any crazy problems with them with my current devices. I mostly use them to backup but I always have a linux boot drive I use for a variety of things.

It is pretty sad to see how crappy Thunderbolt/USB4 seems to be as far as standards/stability. I've had problems across an array of docks, egpus and other peripherals. Some of the chipsets used in the peripherals seem to be flawed but also there seems to be a lot of badly implemented thunderbolt/usb 4 buses/firmware/drivers in devices too. Hopefully it matures soon.
 
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Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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igor_kavinski said:
Isn't the USB consortium supposed to certify this stuff? If not, they are only good at confusing the public with USB versions.
Click to expand...
Certification is optional but required to display the certification icons on the packaging.

Performance+Logo+Chart.JPG
 
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ppptech

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2020
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Either the standard is flawed, the software implementation is flawed or the computer manufacturers haven't implemented it properly in the hardware. The worst system I have had by far for USB/Thunderbolt problems was a Razer Blade 15 laptop.
 
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TQD1996

Junior Member
Apr 11, 2022
2
1
6
Hello, I just want to share my experience about JMicron JMS583 firmware update process.
1. Download 2 zip files from this link here and unpack: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Wu4Dq9hvC6qB9b7kjN-8s7N3LVwv4OZd
2. Open unpacked folder of the file "jms583_20.05.00.01(station-drivers.com).zip", add ".bin" extension to the file "JMS583_FW_20_05_00_01" (become "JMS583_FW_20_05_00_01.bin").
3. Edit the file "JMMassProd.ini" in folder "JMMassProd_v1_16_15_12", on the line "FwFileName=", replace path with the path to "JMS583_FW_20_05_00_01.bin" file (full path).
4. Plug in the adapter and launch "JMMassProd_v1_16_15_12.exe". You may have to wait about 1-2 mins for the software to detect the adapter (click on "Refresh" if not show, I plugged it in an USB3.0 port).
5. When the adapter show, click on "Start". The process may stuck on 5%, you just have to be patient. I waited for about 15-20 mins, my was still stuck at 5%, then I unplugged the adapter, later I plugged it back and the FW version is now "20.05.00.01".
Be careful, update the firmware at your own risk! Hope you success :)
 
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Tech Junky

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Jan 27, 2022
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Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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igor_kavinski said:
Methinks things have taken a turn for the worse if regular people have to fiddle with updating firmware on USB adapters! :eek:
Click to expand...
Gets even worse when you have to on the drive itself. There's more risk involved i.e. data wipe but, if you don't on certain controllers you're hobbled to significantly lower speeds.
 
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TQD1996

Junior Member
Apr 11, 2022
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Tech Junky said:
@TQD1996

There are better controllers than the 583 for 20gbps vs 10gbps options.

USB - PCIe-USB Bridge Controller-Products-JMicron-Leading the Storage Revolution!

www.jmicron.com www.jmicron.com

The 586 doubles your speed.

As for the FW upgrade on them there might be an easier way to do it with a built in checker / downloader app.
www.sabrent.com

Jmicron Update Tool: EC-SSHD, EC-UASP, EC-UK30,EC-UM3W, EC-DFLT, EC-NVME, EC-TFNE, EC-TFNB - For Windows 7 and higher | Sabrent

-1583
www.sabrent.com www.sabrent.com
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. I tried the FW updater but it says "Cannot find any supported Sabrent devices". Mine is a SSK jm583 adapter, may be the updater only supports Sabrent adapter? :confused:
 
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andyhi

Junior Member
Nov 23, 2020
10
4
41
It appears Station Drivers has v1.29.8 and 1.29.12 available for the RTL9210.

Realtek RTL9210 NVMe/USB 3.1 Controller firmware Version 1.29.12

Windows
www.station-drivers.com www.station-drivers.com


From the notes on the SD download page:

Version V1.29.12.011122
Fix Compatibility with Samsung M.2 SSDs and Samsung Data Migration Too
------------------------------- --------------
Version V1.29.8.122921
Fix problem If your HDD/SSD could not be detected or kept disconnected from your Mac
------------- --------------------------------
Version v1.27.25.072921 2021.07.29
This firmware update aims to improve stability with Samsung 980 Pro and Western Digital SN550 NVMe SSDs.
The power LED behavior is also improved on Windows, and Intel based Mac systems:
Now when safely ejected the power LED should turn off ( it may blink slowly ) indicating the drive may be safely unplugged from the computer. This update is recommended for users who have experienced connectivity problems with Samsung 980 Pro or Western Digital SN550 NVMe SSDs.
-----------------------------------------------
Version v1. 23.9.100520 2020.10.05
01.Add customized command.
02.Update Kinsea KS10 LED behavior.
03.Fix Fulllink macbook disk speed test issue.
------------------------------------------------
Version v1 .23.5.09320 2020.09.03
01.Support USB HID interface.
02.Improve the compatibility for RTL9210B.
03.Support RTL9210C_PD/RTL9210C_CG.
04.Improve the compatibility for cdrom feature.
05.Add Orico customized sleep RGB LED behavior.
06.Support security api.
07.Add Kinsea KS10 LED behavior.
08.Add IOmaster M204 LED behavior.
09.Add LED SSI_6431_fp LED behavior.
10.Improve opal compatibility.
 
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Gbanana

Gbanana

Junior Member
Apr 16, 2022
1
0
6
TQD1996 said:
Hello, I just want to share my experience about JMicron JMS583 firmware update process.
1. Download 2 zip files from this link here and unpack: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Wu4Dq9hvC6qB9b7kjN-8s7N3LVwv4OZd
2. Open unpacked folder of the file "jms583_20.05.00.01(station-drivers.com).zip", add ".bin" extension to the file "JMS583_FW_20_05_00_01" (become "JMS583_FW_20_05_00_01.bin").
3. Edit the file "JMMassProd.ini" in folder "JMMassProd_v1_16_15_12", on the line "FwFileName=", replace path with the path to "JMS583_FW_20_05_00_01.bin" file (full path).
4. Plug in the adapter and launch "JMMassProd_v1_16_15_12.exe". You may have to wait about 1-2 mins for the software to detect the adapter (click on "Refresh" if not show, I plugged it in an USB3.0 port).
5. When the adapter show, click on "Start". The process may stuck on 5%, you just have to be patient. I waited for about 15-20 mins, my was still stuck at 5%, then I unplugged the adapter, later I plugged it back and the FW version is now "20.05.00.01".
Be careful, update the firmware at your own risk! Hope you success :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the software!!

In my case I was presenting this issue with my USB to M2 adapter:

Adapter type:
POSUGEAR Case Esterno SSD Adattatore M2 NVMe PCIe USB 3.1 Gen2 10 Gbps UASP, Enclosure Disco Rigido per M.2 M-Key e M + B 2230/2242 /2260/2280
1650120488282.png


With a CRUCIAL SSD, the adapter were working about 1/10 of the times. Disconnecting ad reconnectig was the only solution, until it start. In the event viewer there was a bunch of errors:
1650120335464.png
1650120366032.png

Searching my hardware ID I found this post:
USB\VID_152D&PID_0562&REV_0208
USB\VID_152D&PID_0562

I updated by running as administrator the exe you posted : jms583_20.05.00.01.exe

Now the adapter is up to date
1650120631519.png

And it works like a charm!
The speed is not so high but i'm using a pc with USB3 support (not 3.1).
1650120811253.png

You saved me! I hope I'll help others with the post.
 
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andyhi

Junior Member
Nov 23, 2020
10
4
41
Update concerning the RTL9210 v1.29.12 firmware mentioned above...

I flashed 1.29.12 to a Sabrent EC-SNVE. No major issues so far. Used the SA8307.cfg file from Sabrent's 1.25.7 f/w update package as a reference. Dumped device info / cfg for comparison and tweaked DISK_IPS_THRES to 1 minute.

I also flashed 1.29.12 to an Orico M2PV-C3. No major issues so far. Used the base config from a different model Orico and tweaked from the original M2PV-C3's config dump.

Note - Had to delete/rename the included APP_NAME.ini file to unlock the MPtool GUI password/menu options in order to change name/location of the customized .cfg file.

Also - While the release notes from the prior version v1.27.25.072921 indicates the power led should turn off or blink slowly after going through the graceful eject/removal process - I did not see this behavior on either unit from Win10 USB-C connected, different Win10 host USB-A connected, nor M1 Macbook Air USB-C/USB4 connected... I.e. The LED indicator stayed on after software removal/eject in all cases for both units above flashed to 1.29.12.
 
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Manilla Dishpan

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2022
2
0
11
andyhi said:
It appears Station Drivers has v1.29.8 and 1.29.12 available for the RTL9210.

Realtek RTL9210 NVMe/USB 3.1 Controller firmware Version 1.29.12

Windows
www.station-drivers.com www.station-drivers.com

Version V1.29.12.011122
Fix Compatibility with Samsung M.2 SSDs and Samsung Data Migration Too
Click to expand...
1.29.12 appears to have addressed a series of issues I had when pairing a Sabrent EC-SNVE enclosure with a Samsung PM951 (MZFLV128HCGR-000MV) NVMe device. Previously, transfers would repeatedly stall and eventually freeze, requiring a physical disconnect to resolve hanging connections. This happened even in conditions that didn't saturate device bandwidth. Below were Windows Events generated during this process:

SourceEvent IDDescription
Disk11The driver detected a controller error on \Device\HarddiskX\DRy.
Disk51An error was detected on device \Device\HarddiskX\DRy during a paging operation.
Ntfs55The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume X:.
Ntfs57The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur.
Ntfs137The default transaction resource manager on volume X: encountered a non-retryable error and could not start. The data contains the error code.
Disk153The IO operation at logical block address 0xffffffff for Disk N (PDO name: \Device\00000000) was retried.

Data corruption did indeed occur. In fact, the entire file system became untrustworthy in terms of data integrity. Additionally, it was almost impossible for the device to be detected by either the BIOS or Windows in certain computers. Replacing the cables that came with the enclosure also helped connectivity. To be clear, both updated firmware and new cabling was required to fully address issues in my case. The downside is that the blue LED no longer lights after the update, but I'm not too concerned about it.

This thread was by far the best resource I found in identifying and resolving my issues, so thanks everyone.
 
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