Question My Samsung T7 External SSD is stuttering on my PC but not on the others ?

[Tyrawid]

I left my Samsung T7 SSD in exFAT format, as it was out of the box, so I can use it with my android devices. It worked well on my Dell laptop Windows 10 for a year or so via USB-A 3.1.
I even could play GoW and the newest Ratchet and Clank from it with levels loading super quickly. I've also used it extensively on a couple more Win10 PCs.
But lately I noticed that it started to play videos with a pause. If I jump around on the timeline in any video player with any video, on the fourth or eighth jump it pauses for 2-4 seconds and then plays. It shouldn't do that. I even tried connecting it via Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), and it does the same thing. All USB cables are original Samsung cables.
I have 3 external 2.5" Western Digital NTFS HDDs that I connect via the same USB-A ports on my laptop, and they work without these hiccups. But the 3.5" external Seagate HDD has a similar behavior, Idk if it's the same problem, it started to act like that way earlier, and I thought it's cause of the enclosure's controller. It even disconnects on it's own sometimes, even though it has it's own power supply.

For Samsung T7 SSD CyrstalDIskMark on my laptop via USB-C : SEQ1M Q8T1 - 1024 MB/s RND4K Q32T1 - 112 MB/s
and on my bro's computer via USB-A: SEQ1M Q8T1 - 464 MB/s RND4K Q32T1 - 167 MB/s

Samsung Magician was of no help, it doesn't see the issue. though it installed a new firmware.
I tried installing new drivers for my laptop model from the Dell website. Then scanned with it's SupportAssist software for any new drivers or issues. It didn't find anything.
Even if I unplug other devices and only keep that SSD in, it's still behaves poorly.
Free space is 1200 GB out of 1863 GB.
CrystalDiskInfo doesn't show any issues either, and shows 100% health and the temp is 33C.
When I encode a video from that drive the CPU load and drive use are jagged, like a saw. While for a different drive CPU load is stable at 100%.
If I let the video play without my interference, then it plays normally.
Does anyone has an idea why it acts like this?
Thank you!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If the problem is found on one of your platforms after connecting it to multiple platforms, then the issue isn't with your drive it's with the platform in question.

Please include the model and SKU for your Dell laptop(provided this is the culprit system). What BIOS version are you on for said laptop?

 

[Tyrawid]

Hi, Lutfij! Thank you for responding.

My laptop is Dell G5 15 5590 Service Tag: JB5CN42 or Express Service Code: 42032980226
BIOS ver 1.27.0

And this is where I get my drivers from:
https://www.dell.com/support/produc...g/0-aDZRdk9rTFE1dVI1WjYxVkxmcVVNdz090/drivers

 

[Misgar]

It even disconnects on it's own sometimes

Have you disabled USB Selective Suspend in Power Options?
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/73187-turn-off-usb-selective-suspend-windows-10-a.html
https://helpdeskgeek.com/what-is-usb-selective-suspend-on-windows-10-and-how-to-disable-it/

Have you disabled Power Management on all USB Root Hubs in Device Manager?
https://splicedonline.com/how-do-i-change-my-usb-power-settings/

If I let the video play without my interference, then it plays normally.

Sounds like a buffering problem. Are you playing back high data rate 4K/UHD content (25Mbps or faster)?

I switch back and forth between VLC and Media Player Classic Home Cinema (part of K-Lite Codec Pack) because some video files don't run smoothly.

Caution. If you do try K-Lite, choose the Advanced setup option and do not install the optional extras.

But the 3.5" external Seagate HDD has a similar behavior,

It's possible the Seagate enclosure doesn't have UASP support, but I doubt this would make much difference:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/blog/all-you-need-to-know-about-uasp

Many external hard disks are SMR, not CMR, but this shouldn't affect playback. If your hard disks are heavily fragmented, consider running a defrag program. I haven't done this for years, after moving to SSDs as boot drives.

I left my Samsung T7 SSD in exFAT format

I don't need exFAT compatibility so I normally to format my portable SSDs and large USB memory sticks to NTFS.

How full is your T7? I try to limit my SSDs to 80%, certainly not more than 90%, to allow intenal housekeeping and TRIM some room to work, especially on SSDs without over-provisioning.

 

[Tyrawid]

Hi, Misgar. Thank you for responding.

Have you disabled USB Selective Suspend in Power Options?

For High Performance plan, which I use, it says "On battery: Disabled/ Plugged in: Disabled". I'm always plugged in and the icon in the tray bar shows that my laptop is plugged in. For balanced, which I don't use. it says "On battery: Enabled / Plugged in: Disabled"

Have you disabled Power Management on all USB Root Hubs in Device Manager?

I'm currently defragging a 2.5" external HDD, so I will wait when it's finished and try it.

Are you playing back high data rate 4K/UHD content

No, it happens even for 720p videos, like 1200 kbps, and the same file works perfectly fine from external 2.5" HDD. And I just tried again from that SSD to play a vid, even if I jump around with a 3second pause, on the 4th jump it pauses for a couple of secs.
My main player is PotPlayer, but I tried doing it on VLC as well, same behavior.

enclosure doesn't have UASP support

Oh, dang, I don't remember how that 3.5" drive behaves on the other PC, and I don't have another pc at home to try it on. But it's not fragmented. I use hard drives to store media, and in my laptop I have m2 drive and 2.5" ssd. And I defragmented all my HDDs.
Unfortunately TRIM is not used on exFAT.

This T7 SSD is 34% full, 635GB out of 1,8TB.