Problem with an NVMe SSD in a USB 3.0 external environment.

hsehestedt said:

I've tried a number of different enclosures with various levels of success. I've had some odd issues like SSDs not working at all with cables over about a foot long, or simply slowing down to a crawl, and even various errors.

I finally settled on enclosures based upon the Realtek RTL9210B chipset. In particular, I have 5 of this enclosure and have not had a single problem with any of them:

https://a.co/d/77YlDyo

Not only have I had zero problems with these enclosures, but I like the features. For example, they will accomodate either SATA or NVMe based SSDs and are 100% tool free for installation. The thermal pad is also attached to the lid and doesn't require sticking a pad to the SSD itself which is nice if you are going to swap different SSDs in and out of the enclosure.

Interesting that you mentioned the newer Sabrent pictured in the link.
I ordered it and will test again with a new cable.

There is one other factor which might be a possibility. There is a firmware update for this exact NVMe offered by Toshiba/DELL.
Problem is that it will only work when the NVMe is installed on the motherboard.

It's a PITA to drag out the min-tower and open the case, but I might have to do this in order to narrow the variables.

Cheers.

BamaInArk said:

OP I'm kinda curious. I am checking using one of my Sabrent NVMe enclosures. Using a 2 TB drive I am seeing no issues however I do notice under yours and another posters attachment under "Standard" yours is showing NVM Express 1.2. I show NVM Express 1.3(Windows 10).
Also under Features yours is only showing S.M.A.R.T. but mine is showing SMART, TRIM and VolatileWriteCache. This might be something caused by the Sabrent enclosure you're using however. I have 2 more Sabrent enclosures(different models) to test.

I will investigate this as well. Thanks.

Update -

Updated the firmware in the NVMe which is experiencing the lack of spare cells.
The update did not correct this particular SMART error.

Next is to use the NEW Sabrent Enclosure supporting USB 3.1 Gen 2 with that NVMe off the router.

I'll see if it will work.