S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Tools

Jim Kleckner wrote:
> The recent patches for atacb support for USB drives
> with Cypress chipsets are exciting.
>
> Very often you are trying to deal with drives using a
> USB2.0 bridge like the one from Vantec.
>
> Can you describe how we can tell whether smartctl
> will work with some form of pass-through for a given
> hardware configuration?
>
> How can we tell if there is a Cypress chipset?
>
>   

Good question. Some vendors mention the used USB bridge chip in the 
specs, but apparently most vendors don't.


> A large number of motherboards use the Intel chipsets.
> Will there ever be a way to use those USB systems
> with smartctl?
>
>   

The USB host controller in the motherboard chipsets is unrelated to 
SMART functionality.

The problem is the USB/(S)ATA bridge in the external enclosure. It must 
be able to pass arbitrary ATA commands via (the SCSI commands passed 
via) the USB bus. This is unfortunately vendor specific.

It should work with any motherboard chipset, except if its USB driver 
filters the vendor specific command.

Cheers,
Christian

Christian Franke wrote:
> Jim Kleckner wrote:

> The USB host controller in the motherboard chipsets is unrelated to 
> SMART functionality.
> 
> The problem is the USB/(S)ATA bridge in the external enclosure. It must 
> be able to pass arbitrary ATA commands via (the SCSI commands passed 
> via) the USB bus. This is unfortunately vendor specific.
> 
> It should work with any motherboard chipset, except if its USB driver 
> filters the vendor specific command.

Excellent.  Would this USB feature be reason enough to
create another minor release?

Hi,

sorry for the late reply, I was on holidays.

Jim Kleckner wrote:
> The recent patches for atacb support for USB drives
> with Cypress chipsets are exciting.
> 
> Very often you are trying to deal with drives using a
> USB2.0 bridge like the one from Vantec.
> 
> Can you describe how we can tell whether smartctl
> will work with some form of pass-through for a given
> hardware configuration?
> 
> How can we tell if there is a Cypress chipset?
There is some hint on 
http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/faq.html#testinghelp.
This seems most vendor keep the cypress usb id : vid=0x04b4, pid=0x6830.
Also you could try the '-d usbcypress' and see if it works


Do you have a particular USB2.0 bridge ?
Which vendor it is ? What are the usb ids ? Did you try the '-d 
usbcypress' options ?


Matthieu

matthieu castet wrote:
> sorry for the late reply, I was on holidays.

Good!

> Jim Kleckner wrote:

>> How can we tell if there is a Cypress chipset?
> There is some hint on 
> http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/faq.html#testinghelp.
> This seems most vendor keep the cypress usb id : vid=0x04b4, pid=0x6830.
> Also you could try the '-d usbcypress' and see if it works

I did give a try but no-go.
The chip doesn't appear to be a Cypress

> Do you have a particular USB2.0 bridge ?
> Which vendor it is ? What are the usb ids ? Did you try the '-d 
> usbcypress' options ?

It is a Vantec adaptor:
  http://www.vantecusa.com/p_cb-isatau2.html

A useful question is what products do have the ability to
pass through?

These things are so inexpensive that it makes sense to
get one for using smartctl to query.

Jim Kleckner <jek-gmane <at> kleckner.net> writes:

> A useful question is what products do have the ability to
> pass through?

Actually, I'm having disk issues and could really
use a recommendation for an enclosure that has a
Cypress chip set...

Jim Kleckner wrote:
> Jim Kleckner <jek-gmane <at> kleckner.net> writes:
> 
>> A useful question is what products do have the ability to
>> pass through?
> 
> Actually, I'm having disk issues and could really
> use a recommendation for an enclosure that has a
> Cypress chip set...
> 
For information I have got a cheap "Cooler Master" Xcraft lite 
(http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=32&id=3755).

matthieu castet wrote:
> Jim Kleckner wrote:
>   
>> Jim Kleckner <jek-gmane <at> kleckner.net> writes:
>>
>>     
>>> A useful question is what products do have the ability to
>>> pass through?
>>>       
>> Actually, I'm having disk issues and could really
>> use a recommendation for an enclosure that has a
>> Cypress chip set...
>>
>>     
> For information I have got a cheap "Cooler Master" Xcraft lite 
> (http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=32&id=3755). 
>
>   

Hi matthieu,

the above page lists 3 models:
RX-3HU-S: PATA->USB
RX-3HA-S: PATA->USB & 1394
RX-3SB-S: SATA->USB & eSATA

Do all have a Cypress chip ?

Is there any SATA enclosure with a Cypress chip available? I did not 
find any SATA->USB bridge on http://www.cypress.com. The CY7C683(00|01|20|21)C 
series are PATA only.

Cheers,
Christian