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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Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
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@Ende4711
if you purchased it on amazon, you can contact Fideco through them. Here is another recent example where Fideco has provided the updated firmware. In my case, Orico didn't even answer on amazon.
 

Kingmercyless

Junior Member
Nov 2, 2020
1
0
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I have made some tests with the ASM2364 enclosure (USB 3.2 Gen.2x2 - 20GBps - mod. ICY BOX IB-1916M-C32) arrived just yesterday.
This chipset reminds me the JMS583 of the early times before the firmware update to version 2.0.9: the excessive heat produced clearly affects its functioning. It is even worse considering that I did intensive tests with the JMS583 in summer while now the environment is much cooler but the ASM2364 becomes very hot anyway. CrystalDiskInfo has also detected a temperature of 80°c for the asmedia chipset. Unfortunately, also for this chipset the stand-by mode can't be enabled as for ASM2362.
However, so far I have not detected any sudden disconnection.

Below are two series of three consecutive CrystalDiskMark benchmarks by connecting the enclosure to a PCIEx to USB 3.2 Gen.2x2 - 20GBps card (ASM2364 chipset) using either the supplied USB C cable and a Thunderbolt3 cable.

I also wanted to calculate the time taken to complete each test and, as from the images below, the first test performed on a cold boot with the enclosure just connected, is completed in normal time (just under 6 minutes) and with the expected results while both the second test (more than eight and ten minutes required) and especially the third test (with almost 14 minutes required) show that the ASM2364 chipset is in trouble when used intensively and the results are negatively affected.

Tests with the included usb c cable:
View attachment 31386 View attachment 31387 View attachment 31392 View attachment 31394 View attachment 31395 View attachment 31396
Which motherboard do you use to enable the 20Gbps
 

Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
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Which motherboard do you use to enable the 20Gbps
I used a PCIEx to USB3.2 Gen. 2x2 (20GBps) card with the ASM3242 chipset.
Referring to it I had erroneously reported the enclosure chipset (ASM2364).
You gave me the opportunity to edit my post, thank you.
At least the screeenshots contain the correct information :)
 
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Ende4711

Junior Member
Oct 25, 2020
7
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@Ende4711
good to know that there is a more updated firmware version for the RTL9210B chipset. Until now v1.21.10 was known as the last. It would be nice to get the .bin file of the installed firmware but I have no knowledge of how to do it.

About your issue, the only parameter of your dump file that differs from mine is in fact 'FAN' that seems already enabled (mine is on "n/a" because I have a fanless enclosure).
You could try asking Fideco for the .bin file explaining the problem of the fan not working. As you can read here,
Fideco seems to be more sensitive in finding a way to resolve customer issues, unlike other manufacturers like Orico who haven't even replied to my email.

Good News:
Here the Fideco Support E-Mail Adress: support@fideco.cn
And here the latest Firmware Software update: FW ver 1.23.9
@Andalu you may check a better way how to savely uploaded the FW on different host than on Fideco...
 
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Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
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Good News:
Here the Fideco Support E-Mail Adress: support@fideco.cn
And here the latest Firmware Software update: FW ver 1.23.9
@Andalu you may check a better way how to savely uploaded the FW on different host than on Fideco...

Great! :)
It is another confirmation that Fideco cares about customer service.
Thank you so much for providing the firmware ;)
I will try it later. At first glance, it seems to be suitable for both RTL9210 and RTL9210B chipsets.

Have you solved the problem of the fan not working?
 

Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
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Yes I did it... now with this FW we have at least a base system to build up your expertise..
Good to hear you have solved.
Newer firmware is always tempting to try. Especially if they succeed in solving the problems encountered.
In this regard, I wanted to ask you: the led of your RTL9210B enclosure remains still ON when safely removed in windows (as I have always detected until now for my 3 realtek enclosures) or correctly turns OFF?
 

Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
93
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Firmware successfully updated to the v1.23.9 for one of my enclosure with the RTL9210 chipset.
In the package kindly provided by @Ende4711, the MPTool (here as v1.9.1.0313) is now also available in an expanded version in addition to the classic 'mini' version (as from the images) even if the updating process remains the same:

Image 1.png Image 2.png


In the .cfg file related to the firmware version 1.23.9 the parameter to change the stand-by timer is now named as "DISK_IPS_THRES" replacing the 'PCIE_PWRCUT_THRES' of the previous versions.

In the same configuration file, the parameter 'RM_INTERNAL_RD' is now already set to 1 but its meaning is still unknown to me. This parameter is not listed in the RTL9210B .cfg file.

The good news is that the issue reported by @apoelistasaudi for the firmware 1.20.12 (the enclosure was no longer recognized when awakened from the stand-by state by the 'Disk Management') has been solved with this version 1.23.9.

The bad news is that even with this firmware the problem of the led staying ON even when the enclosure can be safely removed remains still unsolved, unfortunately.
 
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Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
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@Andalu Can you describe, as much as possible, the available options from the .cfg files? I don't know if I'm using the correct options for my adapter.
I don't know the meaning of all the parameters contained in the .cfg file, many remain unknown to me.
If it can be useful, below is my configuration after updating the firmware to version 1.23.9 for the RTL9210, where I only set the stand-by time to 1 minute, leaving the rest unchanged. So far I haven't encountered any problem, except the usual "safely remove" command not working:
**************************************************************
Device : Realtek RTL9210 NVME #0
**************************************************************
U2PHY : 02 f4 9b e0 e1
U3PHY : 02 d4 09 00 d5 00 80
VID : 0x0bda
PID : 0x9210
MANUFACTURE : "Realtek"
PRODUCT : "RTL9210"
SERIAL : "012345679018"
SCSI_PRODUCT : "RTL9210 NVME"
SCSI_VENDOR : "Realtek"
DISK_HOTPLUG : 0x00
LED : 0x01
PINMUX1 : 0x00070000
PINMUX2 : 0x00000000
U2_MAXPWR : 0xfa
U3_MAXPWR : 0x70
ASPMDIS : 0x00
PCIE_REFCLK : n/a
DISK_IPS_THRES : 0x01
SWR_1_2V : n/a
EN_UPS : n/a
PD : n/a
CUSTOMIZED_LED : n/a
SUSPEND_LED_OFF : n/a
FORCE_USB_SPEED : n/a
FORCE_PCIE_SPEED : n/a
FORCE_USB_QUIRK : n/a
FORCE_PCIE_QUIRK : n/a
FAN : 0x00000001
DIS_SHOW_EMPTY_DISK : 0x01
FORCE_SATA_NORMAL_DMA : n/a
UART_DBG_PIN : 0x05
FINGER_PRINT_EN : n/a
RM_INTERNAL_RD : 0x01
HS_AUTO_SWITCH : n/a
EFUSE :
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
-------------------------------------------------
0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
10 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
20 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
30 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
40 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
50 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
60 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
70 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
80 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
90 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
a0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
b0 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff

Boot Mode : Flash NM
FW Ver : 1.23.9
FW Build Date : 2020.10.05
IC Ver : 0xa0010001
IC Pkg Type : PCIE
UUID : ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff

Disconn_ForceUSB2 : 0x00
 
Jun 10, 2020
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The only difference I have with Andalus cfg is
FAN : n/a
meaning that in cfg file I have added the following:
;FAN = 0x1

I also selected 1 min standby same as Andalu. (this is the second change I did and that is all).

Thanks Ende4711 for this rtl9210 (A and B) firmware. We have waited a lot for this gem :) cheers.

The case now seems to always stay cool and hw performs stable even after waking from standby after accessing disk management
 
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Jun 10, 2020
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Can I use JMS583 firmware 2.09 on a JMS580 152D??? My JMS580 firmware is 1.05 any thoughts?

PID will be different. (580) thus will uncheck EPROM update or use RD option (password jmicron) and modify PID string name etc. .
 
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Jun 10, 2020
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Ok regarding jms580 I have Orico firmware 1.05 in case one needs it.

@Andalu helped me unbrick my rom after firmware update which caused my enclosure to fail to boot. A big thanks.

I had my firmware saved using an old utility 2033x posted here. You need to choose fw backup with nvram option. (The other option with no nvram was not working).
check the [ X ] RD Version BOX and [ X ] Including JM5xx NVRAM.

There is a hard. reset procedure on Rom 8 pin chip in case of bricking your device. You need to short pins 1 &8 with tweezers hen connect to usb port for 10 seconds (until you hear a ding) and then let go of the tweezers and reflash.
E3C6DFD0-6465-4DB2-ABA5-358F55C74A2D.png
Same procedure for jms583.

Downside serial mumber has changed.
Original: 152D00580000
New after reflash: DD56419883899

WD BLUE SATA SSD M.2 2280 TEST:
USB 3.1 gen 1 gives: 458Mb/s Read and 454Mb/S write. These are very similar to NVME tests. (no gain was noticed with NVME technology).

USB 3.1 gen 2 Test
554 mb/s/s read, 505mb/s write.

As a comparison my harddisk SSD, best in class I believe, (Samsung 860 EVO SSD SATA III) gives read 562MB/s and write 528MB/S and has very similar benchmarks to the usb 3.1 gen 2 speed but nvme performs at greater than 1000mb/s so have this in mind if your pc supports this.

Here is the JMS580 1.0.5 firmware and app (can backup current firmware too) for JMS580:152D Orico
LINK
This was tested by me but use it with caution and accept the risk in case something goes wrong (use it only after saving your existing firmware with nvram option).

If there is an ini file for flashing for jms580 please share. (I don't think there is one for jms580 but wanted to ask just in case)
 
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JJslomo

Junior Member
Nov 10, 2020
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So i made the mistake of buying a JMS583 based enclosure. I bought the FIDECO M203CP. I am using it with a brand new WD Blue SN550 1TB. The cables that came with it were faulty and either do not work or work intermittently. The only other USB cables i have are a Type-C to Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 and a Type-C to Type-A charging cable.

Apparently this enclosure came with firmware 2.0.9, but when running benchmarks i get strange results.

CrystalDiskMark gets no results for SEQ tests and RND 4K are 94.38 MB/s Read and 73.75 MB/s write. I downloaded HD Tune Pro and ran a read test with default settings the drive gets an average of 239.2 MB/s using the Type-C to Type-C (I did not test using the Type-C to Type-A as i expect USB 2.0 speeds from it)

Any ideas why CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0 x64 refuses to show Sequential test results and why USB 3.1 Gen1 speeds are much slower than expected?
 
Jun 10, 2020
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Did you try formatting your nvme??? That solved my issue.

I had issues with MTS420S (Transcend) installed on a Lenovo T440 due to stability issues (power from expansion slot was not enough to power the M.2 SATA III SSD 2242 on long term, with lots of blue screens and errors). That SSD works fine on an external USB enclosure. At the end I ended up removing the expansion SSD card and upgrading my original SSD for dual boot since I needed windows 7. But this is not an issue with cables but more like an SSD power draw less likely a lenovo firmware clitch. Many owners of T4x0 report same trouble on the web and blame transcend.

Best to do a ggl search but also to check if you have the same trouble with same cables on another USB3.1 gen 2 enclosure. Also check PC header/cables. I have upgraded mine on one of my PCs due to manufacturer recommendation at my expense ( silverstone miniitx case).

One needs to carry out tests to find the source.
 
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JJslomo

Junior Member
Nov 10, 2020
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Did you try formatting your nvme??? That solved my issue.

I had issues with MTS420S (Transcend) installed on a Lenovo T440 due to stability issues (power from expansion slot was not enough to power the M.2 SATA III SSD 2242 on long term, with lots of blue screens and errors). That SSD works fine on an external USB enclosure. At the end I ended up removing the expansion SSD card and upgrading my original SSD for dual boot since I needed windows 7. But this is not an issue with cables but more like an SSD power draw less likely a lenovo firmware clitch. Many owners of T4x0 report same trouble on the web and blame transcend.

Best to do a ggl search but also to check if you have the same trouble with same cables on another USB3.1 gen 2 enclosure. Also check PC header/cables. I have upgraded mine on one of my PCs due to manufacturer recommendation at my expense ( silverstone miniitx case).

One needs to carry out tests to find the source.
I originally formatted the drive as exFat and then as NTFS. It’s back at exFat for now. My new cable arrives tomorrow so hopefully I will get to the bottom of it. Sadly I only have a Dell laptop with a thunderbolt 3 port and and usb 3.0 ports and a 2014 MacBook Pro with usb 3.0 and thunderbolt 2 :(. So new cable is only capable of 5Gb/s current type-C to C cable is also limited to Gen1 speeds but the usb C port on my Dell was very flakey, the enclosure was not being detected at all until I updated the thunderbolt firmware on the laptop. I’m hoping the new type A to C cable does the job. Is the 2.0.9 firmware still the best for the JMS583 chip?
 
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2.0.9 Firmware has no issues.

You could also try realtek rtl9210 with latest firmware posted recently. That is the best in class. (There are A and B chip versions haven't tested B)

I use ntfs
 
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Andalu

Member
Jun 25, 2020
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@JJslomo only as a little confirmation about the effectiveness of the JMS583 with firmware 2.0.9, here two benchmarks just done with a WD Black (usb type-C to type-A cable):

WD_Black USB3.2 & USB3.1.png

And if I'm not wrong, I assume your JMS583 chipset is a revision "A2" that, hopefully, should be better than older "A0" revision.
 
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JJslomo

Junior Member
Nov 10, 2020
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My new cable arrived. And works but my laptop crashed due to issues with formatting exFat on a Mac and then trying to use it on windows. I gave up plugged it into my PS4 formatted as extended storage and transferred some games. Transferred 7GB in about 52 seconds. I bought this drive and enclosure to use as external storage in preparation for PS5. After transferring a few games wishing I saved for 2TB lol.
I have to give Fideco props for refunding me cost of a working cable as the one they provided and adapter did not work at all.
 
Jun 10, 2020
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For IOs you have to reflash with zero standby time, if I can recall correctly.

I have seen also a different firmware for IOs on firmware 2.0.9 folder.

First try no standbytimer.

For windows I use 1min standby timer for both jms583 and rtl9210.

For Jms580 there is no standby timer but enclosure is always cool (low heat chip) and it is m.2 ssd not
Nvme (Fw 1.0.5) with max 560mb/s (threashold of ssd sata III) capability on usb 3.1 gen 2.
 
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l.scorcia

Junior Member
Nov 14, 2020
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@Ende4711 , and all the rest of you guys, you saved me today! I registered here just to say thank you!

I needed to clone a larger M.2 SSD to a smaller one, AOMEI Backupper supports this as long as there is enough free space in the source partitions. I bought an ORICO M2PJM-C3 (RTL9210B) to hold the destination disk. Unfortunately AOMEI needs to spend a lot of time reading the source disk, more than enough to trigger the 10-minute inactivity timeout set on the default firmware v1.21.10. I downloaded firmware v1.23.9 from above post #405 , dumped the current fw info with MPTool, made sure to change all parameters in file RTL9210B_CG_Lite.cfg to match the original fw dumped info and finally commented the DISK_IPS_THRES entry. No more disconnections and the cloning process completed succesfully!

Performance was decent, even with my cheapo drives I saw continued writes of up to 150MB/s, and while I didn't get a temperature measurement, I would say it was just mildly warm even without the gel pad installed. It seems that this version hits all of the sweet spots. So thank you again for sharing all of your findings!
 
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Jun 10, 2020
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Getting standby timer to 1 instead of 5 or 10 would result in a cooler enclosure (rtl9210). It was pointed out that rtl9210 A Vs B has no significant change.

Rtl9210 competitive advantage is power draw Vs competition resulting in a cool case when it is working (not Idle).

Before the latest firmware it had disconnection issues and thus one had to remove.cable and reinsert. That was a PITA. With latest firmware idle is working properly thus enclosure stays cool and disconnection issues are sorted out.

In comparison jms583 has high power draw when working resulting in a high temp enclosure, but when idle kicks in it becomes cool again. Here the necessity of idle timer being 1 min. is high.

On a day to day conditions (not tests) both are reliable and become cool when idle kicks in, however rtl9210 has a competitive advantage when working due to lower heat architecture.

Now I am happy with both. Downside for both to firmware update the nvme one has to remove and insert that to a pc or laptop unlike other technologies in order to carry out the update. Did mine on a pc and had to use a tape to hold in place nvme 2230 size.
 
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RTL

Junior Member
Nov 18, 2020
11
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I just got a new noname RTL9210 from Ali with firmware 1.23.9 with interesting OEM preset:

Code:
**************************************************************
Device : M 31 NVME #0
**************************************************************
U2PHY : 02 f4 9b e0 e1
U3PHY : 02 d4 09 00 d5 00 80
VID : 0x0bda
PID : 0x3100
MANUFACTURE : "M"
PRODUCT : "31"
SERIAL : "012345678999"
SCSI_PRODUCT : "31 NVME         "
SCSI_VENDOR : "M       "
DISK_HOTPLUG : 0x00
LED : 0x01
PINMUX1 : 0x00070000
PINMUX2 : 0x00000000
U2_MAXPWR : 0xfa
U3_MAXPWR : 0x70
ASPMDIS : 0x01
PCIE_REFCLK : 0x3e
DISK_IPS_THRES : 0x00
SWR_1_2V : n/a
EN_UPS : n/a
PD : n/a
CUSTOMIZED_LED : n/a
SUSPEND_LED_OFF : n/a
FORCE_USB_SPEED : n/a
FORCE_PCIE_SPEED : n/a
FORCE_USB_QUIRK : n/a
FORCE_PCIE_QUIRK : n/a
FAN : n/a
DIS_SHOW_EMPTY_DISK : n/a
FORCE_SATA_NORMAL_DMA : n/a
UART_DBG_PIN : n/a
FINGER_PRINT_EN : n/a
RM_INTERNAL_RD : n/a
HS_AUTO_SWITCH : n/a
EFUSE :
       00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
       -------------------------------------------------
   0   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  10   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  20   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  30   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  40   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  50   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  60   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  70   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  80   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  90   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  a0   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
  b0   ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff

Boot Mode : Flash NM
FW Ver : 1.23.9
FW Build Date : 2020.10.05
IC Ver : 0xa0010001
IC Pkg Type : PCIE
UUID : ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff

Disconn_ForceUSB2 : 0x00

Note ASPMDIS=0x01, PCIE_REFCLK=0x3e and DISK_IPS_THRES=0x00
Is anyone using these settings with the new 1.23.9 FW?

ASPMDIS seems to mean "Active State Power Management Disabled".

Found this information - "ASPMDIS setting refers to “Active State Power Management” a mechanism in PCIe for saving power at the expense of response time when the PCIe link is resumed. This is commonly used in low power laptops and UltraBook computers but it is not recommended for higher performance devices, especially storage devices as it can cause delays in reading and writing to the storage device after periods of inactivity. ASPM would be useful for devices that do not need to be always on when in low power states, like WiFi controllers. I would recommend against using Active State Power Management with any storage devices."
 
Jun 10, 2020
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These are our settings.why do you want to try something else?? see @Andalu cfg post + my differences below his post. Post 411 and post 412:
ASPMDIS : 0x00
PCIE_REFCLK : n/a
DISK_IPS_THRES : 0x01

Do you want to understand why ours is different than yours??
 
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