Question *STABLE* NVMe - USB Adapter?

[cyberjedi]

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!

 

[Alpaca786]

@Jimminy That is quite a lot and indicates, that ASPM is not going into effect, as 1 W is typical idle power consumption without it enabled. Maybe try and and set ASPMDIS to 0x01 and measure it again. I would not trust those variable names 100 %.

 

[Jimminy]

Thanks @alpaca. I'm giving up on this POS RTL9210 for a while, but will keep monitoring this thread and hope for some fix.

In the meantime ... Has anyone tried the new firmware released by Jeyi? Released a few weeks ago.
Version 1.32.49?

For me, it was a real turd. Crashed the computer after being connected a while.

I'm beginning to think 10 gbps usb is just too flakey to trust.

I wonder how many times we can flash these chips before wearing them out ... LOL.

 

[PRSXFENG]

Thanks @alpaca. I'm giving up on this POS RTL9210 for a while, but will keep monitoring this thread and hope for some fix.

In the meantime ... Has anyone tried the new firmware released by Jeyi? Released a few weeks ago.
Version 1.32.49?

For me, it was a real turd. Crashed the computer after being connected a while.

I'm beginning to think 10 gbps usb is just too flakey to trust.

I wonder how many times we can flash these chips before wearing them out ... LOL.

Yeah 10Gbps is flakey

As for the flashchip
I poped open my enclosure and it has a FM25Q64
Datasheet says its good for 100,000 program/erase cycles so probably fine lol

 

[Jimminy]

Yeah 10Gbps is flakey

As for the flashchip
I poped open my enclosure and it has a FM25Q64
Datasheet says its good for 100,000 program/erase cycles so probably fine lol

Wow 100,000, That's a lot of writes. I wish there was a way to get these things to flash without having to remove the drive. That would speed up trying different things if I didn't have to remove and replace the drive each time.

 

[Shonky]

are there any firmware updates for ASM2364

I picked up an Integral UltimaProX2 USB 3.2 Gen 2×2

Its a turnkey Phison PU31-Pro that id's as Integral PU31-Pro

It's an ASM2364 bridge chip with a 256GB TLC Phison E13T

​

I had to fit the drive into my old Phison PU31 that has a JMS583 bridge chip
to dump the drive info as nandflash_id2 doesnt support the ASM2364 atm

Model   : PCIe SSD                               
Fw      : EDFMQ0.7
HMB     : 1640 - 279344 KB
Size    : 244198 MB [256.1 GB]
LBA Size: 512
AdminCmd: 0x00 0x01 0x02 0x04 0x05 0x06 0x08 0x09 0x0A 0x0C 0x10 0x11 0x14 0x18 0x80 0x81 0x82 0x84 0xD0 0xD1 0xD2 0xF4
I/O Cmd : 0x00 0x01 0x02 0x04 0x08 0x09
Firmware lock supported [02 01] [P001] [0100]
Drive unlocked [02 03]
F/W     : EDFMQ0.7
P/N     : 511-201208091  
Bank00: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank01: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank02: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank03: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank08: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank09: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank10: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Bank11: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0xe3,0x0,0x0 - Toshiba 96L BiCS4 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Controller    : PS5013-E13
CPU Clk       : 667
Flash CE      : 8
Flash Channel : 4
Interleave    : 2
Flash CE Mask : [++++---- ++++---- -------- --------]
Flash Clk,MT  : 800
Die per CE    : 1
Block per CE  : 1980
Page per Block: 1152
Bit Per Cell  : 3(TLC)
PMIC Type     : PS6103
PE Cycle Limit: 30000/3000
SLC cache     : 0x600000/0x340000

 

[Jimminy]

@Jimminy That is quite a lot and indicates, that ASPM is not going into effect, as 1 W is typical idle power consumption without it enabled. Maybe try and and set ASPMDIS to 0x01 and measure it again. I would not trust those variable names 100 %.

I think I figured it out. I never got good results with V 1.32 (it hangs or crashes the computer), so I went back to V1.31, which worked well, but wouldn't suspend during inactivity.

What finally worked was setting EN_U1U2 = 0x1. Apparently, this enables the USB sleep states, and is required as well as ASPMDIS = 0 .

I kept ASPMDIS = 0, and set a 5 minute timeout, DISK_IPS_THRES = 0x5.

Now, the measured current drops to zero when it sleeps. (I'm sure its not actually zero; my usb meter is a very cheap and crude instrument.)

 

[White7561]

I think I figured it out. I never got good results with V 1.32 (it crashes the computer), so I went back to V1.31, which worked well, but wouldn't suspend during inactivity. What finally worked was setting EN_U1U2 = 0x1. Apparently, this enables the USB sleep states.

I kept ASPMDIS = 0, and set a 5 minute timeout, DISK_IPS_THRES = 0x5.

Now, the measured current drops to zero when it sleeps. (I'm sure its not actually zero; my usb meter is a very cheap and crude instrument.)

Does it interfere with background garbage collection etc though? Since i do know that usually. They need it to be idle without any power saving mode to do their background thingy. Idk how true those are nowadays though.

 

[Jimminy]

Does it interfere with background garbage collection etc though? Since i do know that usually. They need it to be idle without any power saving mode to do their background thingy. Idk how true those are nowadays though.

@White7561 , I have no idea. I don't even know how to check on garbage collection. I know that Trim works, but checking it causes the drive to be active, and trim is not exactly the same thing anyway, from what little I know.

I know very little of how these nvme drives work internally. If you know some way to check on it, please let me know. I'm always happy to add to my meager knowledge.

 

[White7561]

@White7561 , I have no idea. I don't even know how to check on garbage collection. I know that Trim works, but checking it causes the drive to be active, and trim is not exactly the same thing anyway, from what little I know.

I know very little of how these nvme drives work internally. If you know some way to check on it, please let me know. I'm always happy to add to my meager knowledge.

Yeah idk for sure since those are processes that run internally. But yeah i think if trim works it should be fine but yeah idk if the process where it moves the data from the pSLC cache to the TLC drive (if it's a TLC drive) still runs when it's immediately on power saving mode.

 

[AlexMars]

In the meantime ... Has anyone tried the new firmware released by Jeyi? Released a few weeks ago.
Version 1.32.49?

I adapted this firmware for my device with a fan and backlight. Everything works well. No problem. But I always disable sleep mode in all firmware. Sleep mode is a compatibility issue across devices. I don't need him.

 

[AlexMars]

Yeah 10Gbps is flakey

For 1 year of use there were no problems. Everything works well.

 

[MrRMN]

I recently got a Orico BM2C3-G2 (RTL9210) with 1.24.2 firmware. Haven't messed with it too much but it seems to sleep after 10 min as advertised. When it sleeps, power consumption goes to 0 and the led turns off.

How do i dump the original Orico .cfg?

 

[Jimminy]

I recently got a Orico BM2C3-G2 (RTL9210) with 1.24.2 firmware. Haven't messed with it too much but it seems to sleep after 10 min as advertised. When it sleeps, power consumption goes to 0 and the led turns off.

How do i dump the original Orico .cfg?

Good question. I've looked a good bit, but nobody seems to know.

 

[PRSXFENG]

I recently got a Orico BM2C3-G2 (RTL9210) with 1.24.2 firmware. Haven't messed with it too much but it seems to sleep after 10 min as advertised. When it sleeps, power consumption goes to 0 and the led turns off.

How do i dump the original Orico .cfg?

Dump -> Show Device Info will give you some info, however it is not a file that can be used to reflash

I don't know either
Probably need to externally dump it with a flasher like CH341A

 

[MrRMN]

Dump -> Show Device Info will give you some info, however it is not a file that can be used to reflash

I don't know either
Probably need to externally dump it with a flasher like CH341A

Thanks, I was able to pull the info and flashed firmware 1.32.49. Used the settings I pulled from "Show Device Info" for the RTL9210.cfg

Now the drive goes into sleep mode after 30 seconds of inactivity and changing DISK_IPS_THRES does not have any effect. Not sure if that's a bad thing...

U2PHY = 02 f4 9b e0 e1
U3PHY = 02 d4 09 00 d5 00 80
VID = 0xbda
PID = 0x9210
MANUFACTURE = "Realtek"
PRODUCT = "RTL9210"
SERIAL = "012345678908"
SCSI_PRODUCT = "RTL9210 NVME"
SCSI_VENDOR = "Realtek"

DISK_HOTPLUG = 0x0
LED = 0x1
PINMUX1 = 0x0
PINMUX2 = 0x0
U2_MAXPWR = 0xfa
U3_MAXPWR = 0x70
ASPMDIS = 0x0

DISK_IPS_THRES = 0x5

CUSTOMIZED_LED = 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

DIS_SHOW_EMPTY_DISK = 0x1

UART_DBG_PIN = 0x5

RM_INTERNAL_RD = 0x0

 

[Jimminy]

Thanks, I was able to pull the info and flashed firmware 1.32.49. Used the settings I pulled from "Show Device Info" for the RTL9210.cfg

Now the drive goes into sleep mode after 30 seconds of inactivity and changing DISK_IPS_THRES does not have any effect. Not sure if that's a bad thing...

If you want sleep mode to work, also set EN_U1U2 = 0x1
This apparently is required to enable these USB sleep modes. It seems to work for me.

 

[funkejakob]

Honestly I wish at this point we could just have a summary on the first post, or a sticky thread, summarizing our findings to help others who get here via Google. Mainly: avoid JMicron, and just by an off the shelf solution from a trusted brand if reliability is a must and the data is important.

Since my last update my 2TB Samsung T7 has been flawless, and my 1TB Samsung SSD+Realtek based Orico DIY solution has been mostly okay but not trustworthy for critical data. And I didn’t really save anything over just buying off the shelf from the start with that last one.

Don´t know if you can help me but I´m at a loss right now... I just updated my Chipset on the T7 drive and now it is substantially slower (300 mb/s). It doesn´t seem to get recognized by the Samsung tools anymore and the LED is red. Do you know how to fix that? That would save my drive!!

 

[rych]

My new Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe (rated 3,500MB/s, new Elpis-based, upto 90°) in a Realtek RTL9210B enclosure mostly works okay with the top read speed 834 MB/sec. I guess that's the best speed one gets from a USB 3.1 (10Gbs), right?

But my main questions are these: how do you guys see, save, and update your current firmware and configs for the RTL9210B? Which software does it and how?

Also, I didn't use the thermal pad supplied, so am a bit worried about the temperature inside (the enclosure is just pleasantly warm but there is air between it and the disk). So how does one check the actual temperature of the disk?!

I'm asking all these questions because the disk sometimes locks up the whole Linux system and I have to long-press shutdown the computer. So, I'm thinking of checking the temperature and upgrading the firmware.

 

[Ananas]

the disk sometimes locks up the whole Linux system and I have to long-press shutdown the computer. So, I'm thinking of checking the temperature

The `smartctl` command which comes with the smartmontools package should allow you to view a drive's S.M.A.R.T. report which includes the temperature.

 

[rych]

The `smartctl` command which comes with the smartmontools package should allow you to view a drive's S.M.A.R.T. report which includes the temperature.

Thanks, I did: smartctl /dev/sda -d scsi -x guessing the device type is scsi? and it doesn't report much, for example:

SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
Temperature Warning: Disabled or Not Supported

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Health Status: OK
Current Drive Temperature: 0 C
Drive Trip Temperature: 0 C

I have a bad feeling that RTL9210B might not report it? What would I use under Windows? I wonder if Samsung provides any diagnostics software for their NVMe SSD which would see through RTL9210B?

 

[rych]

Actually, it's Linux that gives me that information with the correct command: smartctl -x -d sntrealtek /dev/sda. (While Windows 11 doesn't get past the controller, so am still looking for monitoring software for Windows that can read through RTL9210B)

 

[White7561]

Actually, it's Linux that gives me that information with the correct command: smartctl -x -d sntrealtek /dev/sda. (While Windows 11 doesn't get past the controller, so am still looking for monitoring software for Windows that can read through RTL9210B)

Yep. for Windows i think https://www.hdsentinel.com/ works fine. It works with a lot of enclosure bridge chips

 

[White7561]

But my main questions are these: how do you guys see, save, and update your current firmware and configs for the RTL9210B? Which software does it and how?

Also, I didn't use the thermal pad supplied, so am a bit worried about the temperature inside (the enclosure is just pleasantly warm but there is air between it and the disk). So how does one check the actual temperature of the disk?!

For FW. usually you can monitor it here in this thread or https://station-drivers.com/index.p...rs/Realtek/NVMe-USB-3.1/orderby,4/lang,en-gb/ there. And for config i think you can see it on the app to flash but i forgot mine and used the default config. seems to be fine.

For temp, make sure to actually cool it properly. NVMe SSD can output a lot of heat. Without a thermal pad it will definitely throttle.

 

[MythicCXR]

I know this thread is old but I see 2023 activity so I wanted to jump in with my recent quest for an NVME enclosure that will work with PS5 in rest mode. I've heard that RTL9210/RTL9210B were the best compatibility and that was true on my PCs (Mac, X570, 11th gen Intel mobile) but I had no luck with them on PS5. In the end, a stock ASM2362 adapter seemed to work the best! Still testing but it looks promising.

For the testing, I was using a Teamgroup MP34 4TB drive (cheaper than SATA 4TB right now!) with enclosure's included heatsink solution, or a thin add-on heatsink for the enclosures that didn't have any. I have a Launch PS5 with an internal SN850X 4TB NVME installed and the latest system software. USB Power Always on. All the enclosures were tested using the back USB A ports with a known good USB A - USB C cable.

So far, I've tried the following:

SSK RTL9210B: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MNFH1PX
PS5 Issue: Random crashes while file transferring & playing, Drive crashes and needs to rebuild on wake from sleep / rest mode

Orico RTL9210: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4RY7C4M
PS5 Issue: Drive crashes and needs to rebuild on wake from sleep / rest mode

Pluggable RTL9210 (Flashed multiple firmware): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N48N5GR
PS5 Issue: Drive crashes and needs to rebuild on wake from sleep / rest mode
By far the best on PC though! Very stable, can format disks and run speed tests with no issue.

GMM RTL9210B (w/ cooling fan): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Z5ZNJNP
PS5 Issue: Drive crashes and needs to rebuild on wake from sleep / rest mode

UGREEN ASM2362: https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Enclosure-Aluminum-External-Compatible/dp/B08DNR22Q7
PS5 Success! So far, stable and allows wake from sleep / rest mode.

Will update if I have issues!

EDIT: Clarity, spelling.

 

[fantom3l]

I know this thread is old but I see 2023 activity so I wanted to jump in with my recent quest for an NVME enclosure that will work with PS5 in rest mode. I've heard that RTL9210/RTL9210B were the best compatibility and that was true on my PCs (Mac, X570, 11th gen Intel mobile) but I had no luck with them on PS5. In the end, a stock ASM2362 adapter seemed to work the best! Still testing but it looks promising.

For the testing, I was using a Teamgroup MP34 4TB drive (cheaper than SATA 4TB right now!) with enclosure's included heatsink solution, or a thin add-on heatsink for the enclosures that didn't have any. I have a Launch PS5 with an internal SN850X 4TB NVME installed and the latest system software. USB Power Always on. All the enclosures were tested using the back USB A ports with a known good USB A - USB C cable.
................................

UGREEN ASM2362: https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Enclosure-Aluminum-External-Compatible/dp/B08DNR22Q7
PS5 Success! So far, stable and allows wake from sleep / rest mode.

Will update if I have issues!

Maybe you can post a dump of your UGREEN adapter with the fw dumper that i put a few pages back or you can download it here : https://disk.yandex.com/d/zZLFx-BhRnpOTg
to test it also in my Asus adapter.