Finding SATA chipset of external enclosure..

M

maxiedaniels

Gawd
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May 25, 2005
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I'm troubleshooting a ton of issues with a few USB3 enclosures. I found two of their SATA chipset models on their manufacturer website.

However,

1) I can't find the last one's SATA chipset on the manufacturer website

and

2) In System Information, one of the enclosures says ASMT1051, however the manufacturer website says it's a VIA812 + ASM1053E. Which is correct? I also notice there's a Product ID: 0x55aa and Vendor ID: 0x174c (ASMedia Technology). Where can I lookup the 0x55aa Product ID?
 
The manufacturer's website could be wrong or it could be referring to an updated version of the chipset since 1053 is slightly newer than 1051 and offers lower power usage and slightly better throughput

the VIA chipset is referring to a USB hub controller chipset so I'm not sure why it's listed in the specs of the USB drive in conjunction with the asmedia chipset.
 
Thanks for the info -

The VIA chipset is being listed because the one I listed is a 2-bay drive enclosure.

Hmm... is there any where I can find firmware updates for these chipsets?

For example, I have a Mediasonic HDL-SU3 which has a VIA VL711 chipset, but I can't find anything online about firmware updates.
 
I would normally say if there are any updates to be had they'd be available on VIA and ASMEDIA's sites, but VIA states that driver and firmware support should be obtained from the vendor.

In any case, without knowing what the issues are that you're experiencing and without knowing that there is a bug in the firmware you're going to spend a lot of time chasing a solution to an issue that isn't likely to result in a resolution
 
Hm. Fair enough - it's just tough because there's no solid information about which USB3 chipsets are best for Mac systems - it seems there's a LOT of these issues with USB3 and Mac.

I know Thunderbolt is far better, but there are no single disk enclosures that are Thunderbolt, at least none that I have found...
 
I haven't actually heard of a lot of problems regarding USB 3.0 with macs. I just made sure the chipset I was going to buy supported UASP. One of the ones I bought was has ASMedia 1053e USB 3.0 chipset
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5BU3W/

then I have a 4tb external that is a Seagate, I believe. I don't know what the chipset is on that.

Can you give me more details regarding the issues and where you have heard about problems?
 
Really? Hm. All the enclosures I've used support UASP.

I'm guessing the 1053e chipset is probably pretty good since the Startech I have (an older one) is 1051, and while I have had random disconnects and I/O errors in the past, it's unusual. Still, not what it should be.

The general issue with these things is random disconnects and I/O errors, which results in corruption. The only enclosure I found that was decent was the one I mentioned, it's a Startech SDOCK2U33HFW.

The other enclosures I've tried (Startech S3510BMU33B and Mediasonic HDL-SU3) have been HORRIBLE. Constantly disconnecting, I/O errors in Console.. the other issue I've seen with them is the drive icons not showing up on my desktop for ~5 minutes after I plug in the drives.

This is on Mavericks, on Yosemite, with different hard drives installed, fresh installs of my OS, etc etc. Definitely the enclosures.

Regarding the issues I'm talking about: https://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=mac+usb+3.0+disconnects
 
the apple discussion points to the main culprit being either flaky power supply, drivers, or firmware. Email the manufacturers and see what they have for you.

while waiting for their response, you might want to try putting your macbook (or mac) into recovery mode and let it idle for a couple hours (or overnight). One of the issues with older drives and enclosures is that the garbage collection won't occur when they're connected to a running OS (in Windows the solution would be to leave the computer in your BIOS overnight--macs don't have a BIOS so you have to use something like recovery or connect the drive to a PC).

I can't remember the technical terms for all of this but that's how the tech support for samsung and OCZ described the process to me before RMA'ing the drives that were exhibiting somewhat similar behavior you're describing to me (or those links are describing, rather).
 
Good to know, thank you for the info! I did find out that OWC has a custom chipset for their drives now, Oxford 946DSE+Oxford 3101, my buddy who has one has no issues with it.

I've returned one Startech enclosure (the really bad one), the other Startech enclosures I am RMA'ing. I'm outside of the 30 day Amazon return for my Mediasonic enclosures but Amazon has allowed them to be returned, after I told them that Mediasonic is ignoring my emails. (They started ignoring me once they realized it's definitely on their end)
 
good on Amazon

did you try a powered USB hub? that seemed to have been the common remedy for many of those people you linked.
 
I'm not using a hub for my drives - or do you mean adding a hub might help? I do have a powered hub that I could use, but I'm not currently using it.
 
Using a powered hub tended to resolve the issue for a number of people in those threads.

Might try your hub before sending all the enclosures back.
 
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