ThailandToo
macrumors 65816
It could be, but there are plenty of cables that are USBC to USBA gen 3.1. So not a certanty.
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Curious about some USB 3.0 speeds I get
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DigiH
macrumors regular
So I think it's getting a new adapter, and if that doesn't change anything to get a new cable, where you might as well get a direct USB-C to USB-A (3.2 2) one then.
You definitely should be able to get some 400 MB/s speeds with that enclosure, unless it is something with a not so ideal PCIe slot you are using, as @Mactech20 stated with his insight into that part of the whole connection chain.
You definitely should be able to get some 400 MB/s speeds with that enclosure, unless it is something with a not so ideal PCIe slot you are using, as @Mactech20 stated with his insight into that part of the whole connection chain.
I'd start with the cable. The adapter is not acceptable under the USB spec so you should get that out of the picture first. There are many issues with USB-C cables. They basically will always give you USB 2 speed and power, which is great in a pinch, but nothing else is guaranteed, regardless of spec. I have NVMe enclosures that won't get full speed with thunderbolt 3/4 cables, but work fine with the provided USB-C cable.
Here are few more, do they show it better? There are four flexible pins but five short brass things in the ceiling of the port.
I had it in one of the slower top slots but I have now tried in one of the faster slots. I get 44 read and 44 write also there with the supplied cable and the Delock adapter.
I also found a few USB C to USB A cables at home and tried them with results at just above 40 read and write.
The USB A female of those cables all had four "pins" or whatever the flat brass things are called.
A possible difference to the Delock adapter is that (as the image earlier shows) it has five flexible pins but on the flat end it has four "pins".
I also found a few USB C to USB A cables at home and tried them with results at just above 40 read and write.
The USB A female of those cables all had four "pins" or whatever the flat brass things are called.
A possible difference to the Delock adapter is that (as the image earlier shows) it has five flexible pins but on the flat end it has four "pins".
Yes the speeds indicate this and the adapter is likely the reason (though I would need to check the supplied USB C cable on my wife's Macbook later if I can).
Any suggestion for a reliable good brand A-C cable?
Any suggestion for a reliable good brand A-C cable?
DigiH
macrumors regular
I just bought a few cheap USB-Micro B SuperSpeed to USB-C and USB-Mini A to USB-C cables from Aliexpress recently to avoid having to use adapters on some of my devices using these, with the USB-Micro B SuperSpeed actually being for my older external USB 3.0 hard disks. They all work great.
Even with a cheap USB4/TB4 cable from there it works great for my TB4 connections, but obviously can also reliably be used as a USB 3 C to C connection cable. I got these 240W 40Gbps ones
USB4-Kabel 40 Gbit/s 48 V 240 W für Thunderbolt 4 Typ C Schnellladekabel Thunderbolt3 USB C auf C Datenübertragungskabel für Laptop - AliExpress 44
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
de.aliexpress.com
but any data cable proper USB-C to USB-C cable should do the trick. Maybe have a look at some like these for your USB-A to USB-C requirement
Hannord USB3.2 10 Gbit/s Kabel USB A auf Typ-C 3.2 Datenübertragung USB C SSD Festplattenkabel 3 A 60 W Quick Charge 3.0 Ladekabel
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
de.aliexpress.com
DigiH
macrumors regular
That is what I couldn't quite make out before, the "five shorts brass things", confirming its USB 3, as its bleu colour indicates, but just as a confirmation 😉
But forgive the question, doesn't stuff from Aliexpress count as "rubbish" too? I have never bought from them so I don't know about the quality of the products.
I just bought a few cheap USB-Micro B SuperSpeed to USB-C and USB-Mini A to USB-C cables from Aliexpress recently to avoid having to use adapters on some of my devices using these, with the USB-Micro B SuperSpeed actually being for my older external USB 3.0 hard disks. They all work great.
Even with a cheap USB4/TB4 cable from there it works great for my TB4 connections, but obviously can also reliably be used as a USB 3 C to C connection cable. I got these 240W 40Gbps ones
USB4-Kabel 40 Gbit/s 48 V 240 W für Thunderbolt 4 Typ C Schnellladekabel Thunderbolt3 USB C auf C Datenübertragungskabel für Laptop - AliExpress 44
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
but any data cable proper USB-C to USB-C cable should do the trick. Maybe have a look at some like these for your USB-A to USB-C requirement
Hannord USB3.2 10 Gbit/s Kabel USB A auf Typ-C 3.2 Datenübertragung USB C SSD Festplattenkabel 3 A 60 W Quick Charge 3.0 Ladekabel
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
I've now studied the USB 2 vs USB 3 page you linked to (thanks again for that). I the Delock adapter is rubbish because both it and the PCI card have the nine pins of USB 3.
DigiH
macrumors regular
Well, I buy from them quite regularly and have had very good experiences, but obviously don't want to persuade you to become a customer there as well if you feel hesitant.
But let's face the fact, quite a large number of cables, other tech gear like my ESP32s and what not etc. is being manufactured in China, then bought wholesale there by distributors in the US, Europe and other regions, with exactly the same goods then being sold with markup prices, but being exactly the same hardware.
So if you see any similar cable in Amazon or wherever it is very likely to be from exactly the same origins but might make you feel more comfortable to purchase there - also the return policy will be much better than with any seller far far away 🙂
No, it is actually good that both have the USB 3 nice pics. If one only had 4 pins it would be USB 2,
It is not cable noise, poor shielding or anything like that. When you plug in a USB device, the device and your computer negotiate a speed. What I suspect is that the enclosure is unable to understand higher-speed USB-A. In other words, the device only has something like 4 or 3 or 7 modes it can do. It would work fine if you were to buy a Thunderbolt 4 port for your Mac.
So you plug in a cable and one side says "I can do "A, C, F and Z" and the other can do "C, D, E" They have "C" in common so they do "C" even if both have a faster mode. The set of common modes is determined by each device and the cable.
So you plug in a cable and one side says "I can do "A, C, F and Z" and the other can do "C, D, E" They have "C" in common so they do "C" even if both have a faster mode. The set of common modes is determined by each device and the cable.
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DigiH
macrumors regular
E. g.
CableCreation Short USB to USB C Cable 1.6FT, USB C Data Transfer Cable 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps USB A to C Data Cable, Android Auto USB C Cable 3A for USB C External SSD, Galaxy S24, iPhone 15/16, Pixel, 0.5m
CableCreation Short USB to USB C Cable 1.6FT, USB C Data Transfer Cable 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps USB A to C Data Cable, Android Auto USB C Cable 3A for USB C External SSD Laptop, etc
www.amazon.com
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
This is very true, and it's not so much that I'm worried about buying there as there are ways to shop safely online. It's more the loss of time if something turns out to be rubbish. I'll start looking there a bit more and it certainly helps to have friendly people around who can point in the right direction too 🙂
Thank you for the explanation. It's more complex than one might think to just plug in a cable these days. Unfortunately I don't think Thunderbolt is a viable option for my old cMP 3,1. I know it can be done but it's involves a little bit more trickery than I'm keen to do at this point.
DigiH
macrumors regular
I find this especially true with USB-C to USB-C cables pre-USB4/TB4. Is it
• only USB 2, especially with some older USB-C to USB-A cables, and only for 5V 500mA charing
• only USB 3.2 gen 1 with 5Gbps and charging only at 5V 900mA
• only USB 3.2 gen 2 10Gbps 5V 1.5A
• compatible with USB 3.2 gen 2x2 for up to 20Gbps and 5V 3A
sad times when all of these look the same and are generally not marked at all. That's why I suggested a USB4/TB4 cable if you wanted to stick with a USB-C to USB-C cable, as these are usually marked with TB4 or 40Gbps and are fully backwards compatible with all the mess above. You would also be able to use it if and when you might get a new Mac and/or external drive with USB4/TB4 without having to start the whole cable process again 😉
Your current best bet still is a USB-C to USB-A cable with USB 3.2 gen 2 specs, as linked to above on Amazon, as not to have too use an adapter as well.
Some notes about the CalDigit cards:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...sb-plus-3-1-not-working.2334922/post-30864312
The USB controller chip is limited to 4 Gbps ( < 500 MB/s) total (both ports added together) but that's faster than your non-NVMe USB 3.0 flash sticks.
The eSATA controller is also limited to 4 Gbps total.
Your MacPro3,1's four lane PCIe 1.0 slot is sufficient for the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 since the 6GU3 has a four lane PCIe 2.0 switch with only two 1-lane PCIe controllers connected to it.
The Teamgroup appears to be limited to USB 2.0 speeds. Check the USB tab of System Information.app to make sure your USB devices are connecting with USB 3.0 speed (5 Gbp/s) instead of USB 2.0 speeds (480 Mb/s).
Your Agfaphoto USB sticks are on the low side of USB 3.0 speeds but not unexpected for cheap flash drives. Compare the speed with a different Mac?
You would have to interpret the
ioreg output or use pciutils to ensure that the 6GU3 is connecting properly at PCIe 1.0 x4 and not PCIe 1.0 x1 since System Information.app does not show PCIe bridges.
Yes it's a mess on the cable front these days esp. after the latest renaming of the USB thing. I like your idea about the the 3.2 gen 2 cable and will get one of those. I actually need a few other cables so it's a good time to go cable shopping. It's also as if you've read my mind because I'm beginning to think about a MP 2019 as I'd like to stick with the Intel architecture for various reasons.
Thank you very much for replying Joe and for linking to that thread. I am using the Pro version (which is visible on the card because it's got the two internal SATA ports — something I think might come in handy if I ever were to get a MP 2019).
I will double-check Sys Info with respect to the speed at which the Teamgroup NVME connects once I have the new cable, but here's how it looks now, connected to one of the USB 3.0 ports with a Delock adapter:
View attachment 2460985
I took a look in ioreg and looked for pci1b73,1100 which is where Sys Info places the "USB eXtensible Host Controller" of the Caldigit Pro (see screenshots at the beginning of the thread). Here's the result with the Teamgroup/Satechi connected. I include the lines for the Blackmagic card I have in slot 4 but perhaps I should have included more above?
It mentions both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 under pci-bridge@2 and it seems to say that the Satechi is connected via USB 3.0.
Here's another link about the 6GU3 Pro
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usb-3-x-pcie-cards-for-classic-mac-pro.1501482/post-27244083
Try following the instructions at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/allocating-pci-pools.2246466/post-28703877 to parse the properties of PCI devices in the ioreg. The results are saved to a text file. Zip the text file and attach it as a post. Text is better than pictures.
You have a volume named "Tora" connected to SATA and a volume named "Torun" connected to USB - both connected to the 6GU3 Pro?
The SATA controller of the 6GU3 Pro is a 88SE9230 PCIe SATA 6Gb/s Controller which should have a PCIe gen 2 x2 connection to the bridge chip so that should be able to get 540 MB/s from a SATA SSD - more than the 6GU3 can get.
The USB drive does appear to be connected with USB 3.0 speed. Double check the USB info in System Information.app. You haven't shown a picture of that yet.
Did you try the Satechi with a different Mac to verify that it doesn't have a problem?
Fishrrman
macrumors Nehalem
Hi Joe
Thank you for continuing to help. Yes the NVME (Torun) and two HDDs (Tora and Yrsa) connected via eSATA in an enclosure are connected to the Caldigit.
I ran ioreg -lw0 and made a text file which I've zipped and attached. There are only two hits for "Torun" and all for the card's location "pci1b73" are clustered together and easy to see. I'm not sure what I'm seeing though as I'm unfamiliar with the various entries.
But here's the full USB info for the Caldigit USB 3 controller. I believe it says the link is 5Gb/s which I believe translates to 625 MB/s theoretical speed. I guess that's USB 3.0, no?
I will try the Satechi on my wife's M3 Air tonight.
cheers
Philip
In slot 2, you have a pci10b5,8613 which is a PLX PEX 8613 12-lane, 3-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch. It is connected with PCIe 2.0 x4.
Connected to that is two pci1b4b,9182 which are Marvell 88SE9182 PCIe 2.0 x2 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s Controller each connected with PCIe 2.0 x2.
What is this SATA card?
In slot 4, you have a BlackMagic Intensity Pro connected as PCIe 1.0 x1.
In slot 3, you have the CalDigit which also uses a pci10b5,8613 (same as slot 2) but this one is connected with PCIe 1.0 x4.
Connected to that is a pci1b4b,9230 which is a Marvell 88SE9230 PCIe 2.0 x2 4-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID Controller connected with PCIe 2.0 x2.
Also, there is the pci1b73,1100 which is a Fresco Logic FL1100 USB 3.0 Host Controller connected with PCIe 1.0 x1.
Seems like everything is connected at their best speed except CalDigit can have upstream PCIe 2.0 x4 if placed in slot 1 or 2 but it's SATA and USB sub-controllers won't gain anything significant with that change unless you're reading or writing to both USB and SATA at the same time - you can test that with ATTO Disk Benchmark.app.
USB 3.0 and PCIe 2.0 and SATA all use 8b/10b encoding. For USB and PCIe 2.0, the amount of data is going to be less than 4 Gb/s (5 Gbps * 8b/10b = 500 MB/s). USB 3.0 might have less overhead than PCIe 2.0 x1, therefore, the PCIe 2.0 x1 connection cannot achieve the max USB 3.0 speed but it's close enough and is certainly capable of achieving higher speeds than you are currently seeing.
Thank you for interpreting the data for me. I included explanations above.
If I understand what you're saying correctly, it is that the Caldigit is connecting properly to the PCI socket and running at the right speed for that slot. So this means the problem with the Satechi enclosure has to do with how it is connected to the card, meaning either the cable or the USB C to A adapter or both. I've ordered a USB C to A cable today and will try it out tomorrow.
Incidentally, these are the results of from one of the HDDs in the OWC enclosure, which is what I'd expect from HDDs.
Hello everyone
Just a little update. I have now received these new USB A to USB C cables and tried them with the Satechi enclosure. Below are results from the Teamgroup MP33 and also from a Hynix P41 500GB drive which I will put in my 11" MacBook Air 2015 as the original drive is failing.
Teamgroup MP33:
Hynix P41:
It seems to me these are the numbers one would expect and that the low performance I initially saw was the original Satechi cable or the USB C-A adapter.
cheers
Philip
Just a little update. I have now received these new USB A to USB C cables and tried them with the Satechi enclosure. Below are results from the Teamgroup MP33 and also from a Hynix P41 500GB drive which I will put in my 11" MacBook Air 2015 as the original drive is failing.
Teamgroup MP33:
Hynix P41:
It seems to me these are the numbers one would expect and that the low performance I initially saw was the original Satechi cable or the USB C-A adapter.
cheers
Philip