Success! (with USB 3.1 gen2 enclosure and NVME ssd) And a question.

[anonymouse1]

When we last saw our hero: https://forums.macresource.com/read.php?...sg-2595008

So, I got the new enclosure, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H22...00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Then I tried all the usual speed checks. I got a couple of strange results, but it looks ok.

As a reminder, I tried the previous Orico enclosure (I should have listened to you, Robert M.! The Orico was a piece of junk) with the M1 Mini, the PCIe USB 3.1 gen 2 card on my classic MacPro 5,1, and on my 2015 MBA. The M1 Mini and the Mac Pro have both USB-C and and USB-A 3.1 gen2 ports that are supposed to be good for 10GBps, and the MBA has USB-A 3.0 ports.
EDIT-My mistake-I misread the specs-those USB-A ports are only 3.0, at 5GBps.

When I ran speed tests with the Orico, they were all over the place, no matter which machine I tried, and no matter which port I tried--Sometimes as fast as 800Mbps, sometimes as slow as 42Mbps. And I would try the same port later, and get different results! Begone with thee, Orico!

So I moved the NVME SSD over, and it gives expected speeds with all my machines, with one exception. On the M1 Mac Mini, on the USB-C port, I'm getting about 930 Mbps, which is good enough for me. But on the same machine's USB-A port (which is rated at the full USB 3.1 gen2 10GBps), I got around 40 Mbps! But wait, it gets stranger. I have an Anker USB 3.0 hub plugged into the other USB-A port in the Mac Mini. When I plug the enclosure into the hub, I get about 350 Mbps, which is in the ballpark for a USB 3.0 connection. But why would the speed increase when I go through the hub, instead of directly?
EDIT: I switched the hub and the SSD between the two USB-A ports, and the SSD is now getting full bandwidth-I'll switch 'em back later and see what happens.

If you've got any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, I'm rockin' the USB-C port, and a happy camper.

[jdc]

USB A ports on the M1 mini are rated for 5 GB/s.

When I move to an M1 iMac (hurry up apple) Id like to implement this dual NVMe case.

https://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews...w-ec-t3dn/

I already have a bare 1 TB NVMe, add a second one for a 2 TB RAID 0 "working" drive. Should be plenty of space.

[RAMd®d]

350Mbps seems more like USB 2.0 speed from a 2.5" SSD, than USB3.1 Gen 2.

What am I missing.

On my 2012 mini, System Report showed a 2.5" drive and box as 'up to 480 Gbps' even though the box was a USB3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) version.

I swapped out the included cable for one from AMZ rated as USB3.1 Gen 2.

Noticeably stouter, the box then showed up as 'Up to 10Gpbs' in System Reports.

I don't recall how much faster it was, maybe around 500-550Mbps total.

The included cable was definitely damaged or a USB2 cable.

[pdq]

So, when you got the 40 mbs read on the USB A port, did you have the hub plugged into the other USB A port? And was anything plugged into the port at the time?

At least back in the day, a USB channel/bus would drop to the speed of the lowest device plugged into that channel/bus. I don’t know if that’s still true, and if the two USB A ports on the mini are each on their own channel/bus or sharing one.

[sekker]

Zoom zoom!

[Lew Zealand]

anonymouse1 wrote:
So I moved the NVME SSD over, and it gives expected speeds with all my machines, with one exception. On the M1 Mac Mini, on the USB-C port, I'm getting about 930 Mbps, which is good enough for me. But on the same machine's USB-A port (which is rated at the full USB 3.1 gen2 10GBps), I got around 40 Mbps! But wait, it gets stranger. I have an Anker USB 3.0 hub plugged into the other USB-A port in the Mac Mini. When I plug the enclosure into the hub, I get about 350 Mbps, which is in the ballpark for a USB 3.0 connection. But why would the speed increase when I go through the hub, instead of directly?
EDIT: I switched the hub and the SSD between the two USB-A ports, and the SSD is now getting full bandwidth-I'll switch 'em back later and see what happens.

If you've got any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, I'm rockin' the USB-C port, and a happy camper.

On all of my Macs, my USB3 external cases or cables will occasionally only negotiate a USB2 speed connection, and some Macs do it more than others. With one particular USB-C case and cable, only one particular orientation of the cable will allow USB3 speeds, even though USB-C is supposed to be directionless. The simple doesn't always end up simple.