Question Alternative USB 3 & UASP chipset for Renesas UPD720202

[Rob_57]

I'm looking to add a 4-disk external disk enclosure to my home server (using 4 x 2TB SATA-3 HDD) but it doesn't have any USB 3 ports. I've done more reading than I'd like but I understand that UASP is desirable in this situation to be able to handle multiple I/O requests at once. It's rather self-defeating to set-up a striped array to then throttle it to the single transfer at once as implemented by the original USB BOT protocol. Hence the reason UASP was devised to allow SCSI-like commands over USB.

So I need a PCI-E USB 3 card that supports UASP under Windows 10 (actually Server 2019).

Except many 3rd party USB 3 adaptor cards are based on the Renesas UPD720202 chip and getting recent drivers for this chip is a nightmare - last update was 2012 for Windows 8.

They work fine as USB 3 but despite stating UASP is supported, it just doesn't work on Windows 10. UASP compatible devices (e.g. external disk enclosures) are reported as USB mass storage devices (using USBSTOR.SYS) and not USB attached SCSI mass storage device (using UASPSTOR.SYS).

Is there another USB 3 host controller chipset that's got recent drivers/will work with W10? The AMD USB 3.10 controller on my motherboard works a treat but I need a card for an older server.

Alternatively a recommendation for a 3rd party USB 3 card that is know to offer UASP on Windows 10? I'm tempted to switch back to good old eSATA because that's been able to handle multiple I/O requests since the start.

 

[kanewolf]

I'm looking to add a 4-disk external disk enclosure to my home server (using 4 x 2TB SATA-3 HDD) but it doesn't have any USB 3 ports. I've done more reading than I'd like but I understand that UASP is desirable in this situation to be able to handle multiple I/O requests at once. It's rather self-defeating to set-up a striped array to then throttle it to the single transfer at once as implemented by the original USB BOT protocol. Hence the reason UASP was devised to allow SCSI-like commands over USB.

So I need a PCI-E USB 3 card that supports UASP under Windows 10 (actually Server 2019).

Except many 3rd party USB 3 adaptor cards are based on the Renesas UPD720202 chip and getting recent drivers for this chip is a nightmare - last update was 2012 for Windows 8.

They work fine as USB 3 but despite stating UASP is supported, it just doesn't work on Windows 10. UASP compatible devices (e.g. external disk enclosures) are reported as USB mass storage devices (using USBSTOR.SYS) and not USB attached SCSI mass storage device (using UASPSTOR.SYS).

Is there another USB 3 host controller chipset that's got recent drivers/will work with W10? The AMD USB 3.10 controller on my motherboard works a treat but I need a card for an older server.

Alternatively a recommendation for a 3rd party USB 3 card that is know to offer UASP on Windows 10? I'm tempted to switch back to good old eSATA because that's been able to handle multiple I/O requests since the start.

Why not get an eSATA card rather than USB?

 

[Rob_57]

Why not get an eSATA card rather than USB?

Yes, the same thought occurred to me. When you read "stuff" about eSATA vs USB, the usual suggestion is USB3. But I think that's mainly for single-drive enclosures and not considering striped multi-drive devices where eSATA might be better. It'll certainly work!

I actually bought a Yottamaster 4-drive enclosure already but that's going back to Amazon as, again, it's labelled as UASP but it totally refuses to work as that - when plugged into my motherboard USB3 which definitely supports USAP. For £120, I kind of expected it to work. Labelled as UASP in manual and on website but nope. Found another Amazon review that stated "This is definitely not USAP as reported by a Linux tool".

All a bit of a faff so, yes, going down eSATA route as that has always supported multi-IO.

 

[kanewolf]

Yes, the same thought occurred to me. When you read "stuff" about eSATA vs USB, the usual suggestion is USB3. But I think that's mainly for single-drive enclosures and not considering striped multi-drive devices where eSATA might be better. It'll certainly work!

I actually bought a Yottamaster 4-drive enclosure already but that's going back to Amazon as, again, it's labelled as UASP but it totally refuses to work as that - when plugged into my motherboard USB3 which definitely supports USAP. For £120, I kind of expected it to work. Labelled as UASP in manual and on website but nope. Found another Amazon review that stated "This is definitely not USAP as reported by a Linux tool".

All a bit of a faff so, yes, going down eSATA route as that has always supported multi-IO.

The one "gotcha" on eSATA is cable length. You are limited to 2m or less. I always try for 1m or less.

 

[Rob_57]

The one "gotcha" on eSATA is cable length. You are limited to 2m or less. I always try for 1m or less.

No problem with that - the JBOD will be right next to the server.

 

[Rob_57]

Right had enough now Bought an ANATECH USB-3 controller that supports UASP - confirmed with an UASP 2.5" disk enclosure. So that's the controller sorted. I needed USB 3 anyway. But came across this which was in stock on Amazon:

https://sonnics.co.uk/prod_cat/P_so...e-enclosures-1-bay-2-bay-4-bay-5-bay_71.shtml

Says it supports UASP - ohh no it doesn't. Reports as USB Mass Storage device which is exactly what the Yottamaster didn't. Going to put money on these two enclosures using the same USB chipset.

So back it goes to Amazon... will have to wait for an eSATA enclosure to become available - they are on long lead times, e.g. StarTech. Must be Brexit!

 

[Rob_57]

Digging a bit more, the lovely ChipGenius utility reports the PCI VID & PID which allows me to identify it as using the JMS567 SATA 6Gb/s bridge. For starters, this chipset doesn't support UASP (it's hard to find any datasheets) and JMicron is renowned as pretty crap. Yup - back it goes...

 

[Rob_57]

Just to close this off for anyone finding this in the future:

1. Any USB cards based upon the older Renesas chipsets don't support UASP over USB 3
2. Whether this is a problem depends upon what you're using the external disk (enclosure) for. If it's a single drive or used to backup/archive then USB 3 BOT protocol works okay. If you're using it as a JBOD for a server, then random access and multiple queues is attractive
3. USB cards on other chipsets based on the Fresco FL1100 chipset fair better but they are not without their problems. I've got an InaTech card and my single-disk UASP compatible external disk works fine. However, it won't recognise a 64GB Kingston USB pen drive or my Syba disk enclosure. Replace the Microsoft Fresco driver with the (older) manufacturer's driver and the Syba disk enclosure appears but running at USB 2 and UASP stops working. Ho hum
4. And on the subject of disk enclosures - many USB interfaces are based on the JMicron JMS567 which a) doesn't support UASP and b) is a pretty naff USB 3 chip ;-)

So I've now settled on a Syba SY-ENC50104 four disk enclosure which was actually cheaper than the others. It's USB 3 interface is based on the JMS567 chipset so no UASP but I don't care because it's got an eSATA port which works flawlessly with a Startech eSATA card in the PC.

The moral here? If you want a hassle free life and your using 3rd party card controllers, stick with eSATA. It's supported multiple command queues forever. UASP USB 3 - you take your chances!