Article: USB 4.0 Is A No-Go, For Now

[AudioDoctor]

9 minutes ago, bobfa said:

I am using the  OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 as a DAS.  I have a 2TB NVME drive in one of the top bays and an 18TB Spinner in the lower bay.  Now the spinner is SATA so that is the bottleneck.  Note that the NVME in my ThunderBay is a two year old drive from the Samsung external T5 drive case.

 

NOTE I changed the fan in the ThunderBay to something a lot quieter.  Still hear the HD tick !!!

 

 

The M1 Mac mini has two Thunderbolt Ports and busses Each port is USB 4 with Thunderbolt 4 that can split out into two busses each.  I have one hooked to my 4k Display and the other to the ThunderBay.:

 

 

 

This is the internal drive:

This is the NVME in the Thunderbay:

 

This is the NAS spinner in the Thunderbay:

 

 

Bob, can I use this as an excuse to buy this for when my SO asks why I need it?  

 

But honey, Bob has one!

[AudioDoctor]

Perhaps I missed how long this has been a problem, but does windows index a drive similarly to the way MAC OS does? If so, could that be the problem? Otherwise, I am guessing it's Roon scanning the drive constantly as it watches for new files.

 

I just ordered one of these with 4 spinning drives for my Mac mini , the 16TB enterprise drive version because that's the smallest.  https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3SRE16.0S/

 

Thunderbolt should be fast enough.

 

edit: and I just realized your CAPS motherboard has thunderbolt connectors!

[AudioDoctor]

46 minutes ago, Jud said:

Windows and Mac differ in how they index a drive, so what you’re thinking about is a possibility. If you were talking about a backup program there would be settings allowing the changes made by both file systems to remain intact so you wouldn’t be constantly adding Windows changes and subtracting MacOS changes, and vice versa. I have no idea what the Roon settings are “under the hood.”

 

I am only referring to what Mac OS does with Spotlight to enable search of files and such on the drives. I don't know anything much about windows and how it works.

[AudioDoctor]

The USB Connection on the M1 may be the culprit here Chris.

 

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usb-on-m1-macs-isnt-actually-10gb-s-also-definitely-not-usb4.2269777/

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

The drive is connected to CAPS Twenty. 

 

then I guess I should read more thoroughly... the situation there could be similar, I don't know. the latest USB schemes are very confusing.

[AudioDoctor]

10 minutes ago, Bob Stern said:

 

Here's what I recently figured out (corrections appreciated, of course):

 

USB 3.1 is identical to USB 3.2!  The speed is specified by the Gen suffix, not by the .1 or .2 suffix.  Weird.

 

USB 3.1/3.2 Gen 1 = USB 3.0 = 625 MB/s = 5 Gbps.

USB 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 = 1250 MB/s = 10 Gbps.

USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 = 2500 MB/s = 20 Gbps.  (I think this is same as USB 3.1 Gen 3.)

USB 4.0 = 5000 MB/s = 40 Gbps.

 

Thunderbolt 1 = 1250 MB/s = 10 Gbps.

Thunderbolt 2 = 2500 MB/s = 20 Gbps.

Thunderbolt 3 = 5000 MB/s = 40 Gbps.

Thunderbolt 4 = ??

 

Thunderbolt 1 & 2 use identical Apple-only connector.

 

Thunderbolt 3 & 4 use same USB-C connector as USB 3.1/3.2, but Thunderbolt 3 and USB protocols are different.  Thunderbolt 3 hosts on Mac can communicate with USB Gen 1 and Gen 2 peripherals but probably not Gen 2x2.

 

M1 Mac Mini has USB-C connectors with USB 4.0 and Thunderbolt 3.

 

Thanks, I will print this out and reference it when needed. ;-)