Compatibility with USB NVMe enclosures

[abraxas]

Hi all,

I have an external USB 3.2 enclosure for NVMe SSDs, with SP 1TB Gen3 SSD in it. It works fine on Win 10 PC, Win 11 PC, and on nvidia shield. When I plug it in into my XRS4500's USB3 port, it gets recognized sometimes, but not always. When it gets recognized it doesn't stay connected - in 10-20 seconds it gets "safely ejected". It works OK and it stays connected all the time in USB2 port, but obviously I'd like to have higher speed of USB3.

What could cause that? USB3 port doesn't provide enough power? Is there some enclosure and/or NVMe SSD brand that is confirmed to work fine in USB3 port?

 

[dishuser]

you're plugging it into the blue port?

[abraxas]

Yes. Usually "the blue port" is USB 3.0 port. If it's easier, to the port that is next to the TF reader slot.

[dishuser]

do you want to use it for storage or does it already contain files?

[abraxas]

It has some files, but nothing important. I wanted to use it as a portable storage, it was formatted on PC and it works fine in the USB2 port. Sorry for asking this, but how's that content relevant to the problem that the SSD isn't working in USB3 port?

[dishuser]

1 minute ago, abraxas said:

It has some files, but nothing important. I wanted to use it as a portable storage, it was formatted on PC and it works fine in the USB2 port. Sorry for asking this, but how's that content relevant to the problem that the SSD isn't working in USB3 port?

put it in usb 2 and select format as removable drive

then try it in usb 3

[abraxas]

Dishuser, thanks for answering so quickly. Are you saying that the external SSD needs to be formatted by XRS4500 in order to be recognized in USB3 port? If I do that, what file system will be used on that drive? My drive is currently formatted in NTFS, which is obviously supported by XRS4500, since it's working in USB2 port.

[Emporium]

Don't expect miracles with SP products.  No offence to you, but they are trash.  You get what you pay for with those.    I've had so many of them go bad and be super flaky many years ago, they I stopped buying brands like SP, Adata, etc..  Just not worth the headaches.  The compatibility issues are notorious with many of these brands.

I don't know what brand enclosure you have, but they can also be hit and miss. I've had good luck with Orico, Ugreen and Sabrent models for external enclosures.  But that is not to say that each of them does not have some crappy models also.

Recently I was even lookng for a PCIe Nvme adapter for 2 PCs I have, and I think I went through 4 different brands/models before I found one which was stable enough under load.

[abraxas]

Hi Emporium. Thanks for looking into this.

I've had no problems with Adata NVMe SSDs and I have 2 of them in my PCs for a few years now. On the other hand, 2 WD Blue SSDs I've had in my PCs died this summer 2 weeks apart. They were purchased at the same time, so probably a bad batch, but that was enough for me to decide to try something else.

The enclosure is Orico, but I don't know what model it is. Again, that Orico+SP SSD works just fine in 2 PCs and in nvidia shield, staying connected and having speed that is way higher than USB2. The same combination works in XRS4500's USB2, but not in USB3. To me, it looks like it's trying to draw more power from the port than port can provide. I don't like the idea of using powered USB hub, but I may try that at the end.

[Emporium]

I have an USB 3 adapter like the one in the picture below.  They work like a charm for Sata 2.5" HDD and SSD.  A have a few of them which were freebies ages abo with some retail boxes Intel SSD drives I had purchased.  Typically only need to connect the usb3 connectors, but they are handy for those devices that need JUST a little more juice since you can also plug in the second connector to any other port to get a little more power. 

For WD Blue, they have always been on the low end for WD.  Many OEM use them, but that only because of the price point.  I have not tried their SSD products, but back in the days where Dell was using WD Blue HDD in all their PCs, they were nothing but headaches. I used to remove them and replace them with enterprise class Seagate constellation drives back then.  The WD blue which I would not replace, would rarely last more than a year of 24/7 use.   WD on their other series, I have not had too many issues with WD Black, Red, and even Gold in some NAS units.

For NVMe drives, I typically stick with samsung, micron, and in some rare cases crucial (but rare).  

For external drives, I had purchased a while back a number of LaCie d2 Quadra 4TB USB3, externally powered drives.  They are bulky, but at the time I had gotten a good deal and needed a few as secondary backups, so I picked some up.  And they use a triple interface (USB3, eSATA and Firewire 800), and since they have their own 12V power adapter they are not dependant on device to provide power.

Guess time for some trial and error testing.

 

[abraxas]

Yeah, I don't have WD Blue anywhere anymore. I still have one 3.5" Black running in an older AMD FX6300 PC, probably 8-9 years old.

I have ordered Samsung 980 NVMe and I'll try it in the same enclosure. I also ordered a Sabrent 4-port USB3 powered hub as a last attempt. It  just feels bad that the same SSD and enclosure works in USB2, but not in USB3. It also works in USB3 ports in various other devices, but not in XRS4500.

I just tried 2.5" Seagate Backup Plus 2TB that is a spinning drive and it works in that same USB3 port. I would guess that the spinning drive would need more power than the SSD, but I could be wrong. If I am wrong, that powered hub won't resolve the problem.

Thanks for looking into this, guys, I appreciate the help. I may post the conclusion here in a few days, if I manage to resolve the issue.

[abraxas]

After spending way more time than I wanted on this, here is what I've found on my XRS4500 (can't say if this apply to all units, or it's just on mine):

The USB3 port on XRS4500 can't power up external USB3 NVMe enclosure with 1TB SSD in it. Tried with 3 different enclosures and 3 SSD manufactures. The highest hope I've had for Samsung 980 in Orico enclosure, but it didn't work. Tried with Sabrent enclosure I borrowed from a friend and tested with the first SSD I've had (Silicon Power) and with Patriot P300 my friend brought. The last enclosure I've tested with was the iCan, the cheapest of the three enclosures used here and I had no expectations for it after I saw that neither Orico nor Sabrent worked. No drives were recognized by XRS4500 in the USB3 port, while all of them worked in USB2. All drives worked in nvidia shield and in the two Windows desktop PCs I have next to me (one on Win10, and the other on Win11).

I've also tested this with two external spinning HDDs (WD Passport 500GB and Seagate Backup Plus 2TB) and both of them were recognized and worked just fine in USB3 port on XRS4500.

Finally, I brought Sabrent 4-port powered USB3 hub into play, and each combination of drives/enclosures worked just fine in USB3 port.

I don't know if I should say that all XRS4500s have the same issue and that USB3 doesn't have enough power for external SSDs, but that sure is the case with my unit. At the end, after connecting my drives through the powered USB3 hub, every drive worked just fine, regardless of the drive or of the enclosure manufacturer. So, if anyone else has problems like this one, I'd recommend buying the powered hub first, before upgrading your SSD to a higher end model. Those higher end SSDs will most likely last longer, but they won't resolve this power issue.

All the best, guys!