From: lars@beagle-ears.com
> On Wed, 2/18/2026 2:26 PM, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>> [snip]
>> After a recent rebuild of my main computers (one Windows, one Linux)
>> I was looking at external drives to use with them, and discovered
>> that my nice, recent 6TB external drive (SeaGate Backup+ Hub) will not
>> to SMART on my Linux system, although it apparently will on Windows.
>> At least on Windows, I can read the SMART attributes with the SeaTools
>> utility, but the Linux version of SeaTools does not show a SMART tab.
>> "smartctl -a /dev/sd?" says SMART is "available but disabled".
>> The drive inside is a "Firecuda" which has a full complement of SMART
>> data.
>>
>> So I am looking for (empty) external enclosures. Cheap Chinese products
>> start at $10/unit, at $16/unit some decent ones are stocked at Amazon
>> warehouses for next day delivery, but those are disappointing. Half of
>> them have bad reliability histories with several customer reviews saying
>> they died after about 4 months, and the other half do not support SMART.
>> The ones that do have good reliabilty and SMART support are closer to
>> $60/unit.
>>
>> Any experience and recommendations?
On 2026-02-18, Paul wrote:
> As you would imagine, enclosures come and go. These suggestions
> are based on availability, rather than absolute goodness. There
> are a couple Asmedia chips for SATA to USB3, so for a while at
> least, we can have a good adapter.
> ...
> For most HDD-only enclosures, the adapter is 12V @ 2A, and this is supposed
> to cover the spinup current until it comes up to speed. I have two or three
of
> these adapters, and this hasn't caused a problem. The controller board
> can have a 12V to 5V regulator, and that makes the 5V at up to 1 amp
> that older drives needed. The modern drives use a bit less 5V for the
> controller board.
> ...
> At one time, the first HDD wall adapters, they were crap. They were
> dropping like flies. But eventually the people who make them,
> did enough of the engineering right, they no longer fail like that.
>
> *******
>
> This is an older Vantec, aluminum enclosure removed (too small, no cooling),
> just the controller board. Chip is ASM1053 from Asmedia.
> [snip]
It looks like the "good" enclosures are advertizing that they support
UASP , which gives better transfer rates when used over "good" USB-3
connections. I suspect that most of these use the "good" chips, and so
have the "right" features. But the ads from these Chinese vendors have
precious little technical information in them, and Amazon's AI assistant
insists that they will not support SMART passthrough, even though your
example seems to contradict that. Despite different cosmetic appearance,
they all seem to have a lot of similarities; f.x. they all use a USB-B
formfactor for their USB connector; they all get enough power over USB
for 2.5" drives, but require 12V/2A DC feed for 3.5" drives.
You have good experiences with Vantec, so I think I will look on Amazon
for drives that are USB Prime Eligible and offer next-day delivery
(meaning they in stock at a Los Angeles Amazon warehouse, giving
preference (in this order) for Vantec, Orico and Sabrent, while looking
carefully at the lowest-rated reviews. Does this make sense?
Amazon gives me listings for
* Vantec NexStar TX (Black) at $24
* Vantec NexStar G (Silver) at $25
Reviews report a small but not neglible amount of quality issues.
Poor cooling, loose fit for drive tray. Older NexStar 3 was better
built.
* Orico 3588C3 Black at $30
Similar problems.
* UGREEN at $30
External power cube is 24V; when the enclosure's controller board
failed, it fried the drive.
None of them have 80+% top rating in reviews.
Not encouraging.
--
Lars Poulsen - an old geek in Santa Barbara, California
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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