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I have several Mediasonic ProBox HF2-SU3S2 with 4 drives - all with the same symptoms - extremely slow I/O (at best, about 10MB/s write). Each unit is configured with a software RAID 5 using mdadm with 4 drives.

It does appear it is connected to a USB 2.1 port and I expect it to be slower than USB 3.0 but 10MB/s seems suspiciously and ridiculously slow to me.

I can post smartctl -a output for each drive - but none of the drives appear to be failing and no errors are being logged into syslog related to the drives.

Here are the drives in the first unit:

Device Model: ST2000DL003-9VT166 Device Model: ST2000DM001-1ER164 Device Model: ST2000DM001-1CH164 Device Model: ST2000DM001-1CH164

Drives in second unit:

Device Model: ST2000DL003-9VT166 Device Model: ST2000DL003-9VT166 Device Model: WDC WD20EADS-00R6B0 Device Model: ST2000DL003-9VT166

Kernel version:

3.16.0-6-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.16.57-2

Output from mount:

/dev/md2 on /mnt/nas type ext4 (rw,relatime,stripe=256,data=ordered) /dev/md3 on /mnt/nas2 type ext4 (rw,relatime,stripe=384,data=ordered)

Output from /proc/mdstat

md3 : active raid5 sdg[5] sdj[4] sdi[6] sdh[1] 5860150272 blocks super 1.2 level 5, 512k chunk, algorithm 2 [4/4] [UUUU] bitmap: 0/15 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk md2 : active raid5 sdc1[0] sdf1[4] sdd1[6] sde1[5] 5860141056 blocks super 1.2 level 5, 512k chunk, algorithm 2 [4/4] [UUUU]

Tests using dd:

root@talon:/mnt/nas2# dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas2/testfile bs=1G count=1 oflag=direct 1+0 records in 1+0 records out 1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 71.1888 s, 15.1 MB/s root@talon:/mnt/nas# dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile bs=1G count=1 oflag=direct 1+0 records in 1+0 records out 1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 80.8867 s, 13.3 MB/s

Output from mdadm --detail

/dev/md2: Version : 1.2 Creation Time : Wed May 1 22:26:29 2013 Raid Level : raid5 Array Size : 5860141056 (5588.67 GiB 6000.78 GB) Used Dev Size : 1953380352 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB) Raid Devices : 4 Total Devices : 4 Persistence : Superblock is persistent Update Time : Wed Dec 5 21:29:12 2018 State : clean Active Devices : 4 Working Devices : 4 Failed Devices : 0 Spare Devices : 0 Layout : left-symmetric Chunk Size : 512K Name : dev-vm01:0 UUID : dc4e42f6:3c3eb2f7:d6137927:51e328ef Events : 21688 Number Major Minor RaidDevice State 0 8 33 0 active sync /dev/sdc1 5 8 65 1 active sync /dev/sde1 6 8 49 2 active sync /dev/sdd1 4 8 81 3 active sync /dev/sdf1 =-===-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- /dev/md3: Version : 1.2 Creation Time : Sat Mar 10 11:08:14 2018 Raid Level : raid5 Array Size : 5860150272 (5588.67 GiB 6000.79 GB) Used Dev Size : 1953383424 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB) Raid Devices : 4 Total Devices : 4 Persistence : Superblock is persistent Intent Bitmap : Internal Update Time : Wed Dec 5 21:23:31 2018 State : clean Active Devices : 4 Working Devices : 4 Failed Devices : 0 Spare Devices : 0 Layout : left-symmetric Chunk Size : 512K Name : dragon:0 UUID : 70d8f410:462c6714:50231e20:b08aca81 Events : 151906 Number Major Minor RaidDevice State 5 8 96 0 active sync /dev/sdg 1 8 112 1 active sync /dev/sdh 6 8 128 2 active sync /dev/sdi 4 8 144 3 active sync /dev/sdj

More detailed information

root@talon:/mnt/nas# lsusb Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 003 Device 002: ID 152d:0567 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 003: ID 152d:0567 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub root@talon:/mnt/nas# lsusb -v -s 3:2 Bus 003 Device 002: ID 152d:0567 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. Device Descriptor: bLength 18 bDescriptorType 1 bcdUSB 2.10 bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level) bDeviceSubClass 0 bDeviceProtocol 0 bMaxPacketSize0 64 idVendor 0x152d JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. idProduct 0x0567 bcdDevice 2.05 iManufacturer 10 JMicron iProduct 11 USB to ATA/ATAPI Bridge iSerial 5 152D00539000 bNumConfigurations 1 Configuration Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 2 wTotalLength 32 bNumInterfaces 1 bConfigurationValue 1 iConfiguration 4 USB Mass Storage bmAttributes 0xc0 Self Powered MaxPower 50mA Interface Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 4 bInterfaceNumber 0 bAlternateSetting 0 bNumEndpoints 2 bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only iInterface 6 MSC Bulk-Only Transport Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN bmAttributes 2 Transfer Type Bulk Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes bInterval 0 Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT bmAttributes 2 Transfer Type Bulk Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes bInterval 0 Binary Object Store Descriptor: bLength 5 bDescriptorType 15 wTotalLength 22 bNumDeviceCaps 2 USB 2.0 Extension Device Capability: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 16 bDevCapabilityType 2 bmAttributes 0x00000002 Link Power Management (LPM) Supported SuperSpeed USB Device Capability: bLength 10 bDescriptorType 16 bDevCapabilityType 3 bmAttributes 0x00 wSpeedsSupported 0x000e Device can operate at Full Speed (12Mbps) Device can operate at High Speed (480Mbps) Device can operate at SuperSpeed (5Gbps) bFunctionalitySupport 1 Lowest fully-functional device speed is Full Speed (12Mbps) bU1DevExitLat 10 micro seconds bU2DevExitLat 2047 micro seconds Device Status: 0x0001 Self Powered =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- root@talon:/mnt/nas# lsusb -v -s 1:3 Bus 001 Device 003: ID 152d:0567 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. Device Descriptor: bLength 18 bDescriptorType 1 bcdUSB 2.10 bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level) bDeviceSubClass 0 bDeviceProtocol 0 bMaxPacketSize0 64 idVendor 0x152d JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. idProduct 0x0567 bcdDevice 2.05 iManufacturer 10 JMicron iProduct 11 USB to ATA/ATAPI Bridge iSerial 5 152D00539000 bNumConfigurations 1 Configuration Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 2 wTotalLength 32 bNumInterfaces 1 bConfigurationValue 1 iConfiguration 4 USB Mass Storage bmAttributes 0xc0 Self Powered MaxPower 50mA Interface Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 4 bInterfaceNumber 0 bAlternateSetting 0 bNumEndpoints 2 bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk-Only iInterface 6 MSC Bulk-Only Transport Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN bmAttributes 2 Transfer Type Bulk Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes bInterval 0 Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT bmAttributes 2 Transfer Type Bulk Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes bInterval 0 Binary Object Store Descriptor: bLength 5 bDescriptorType 15 wTotalLength 22 bNumDeviceCaps 2 USB 2.0 Extension Device Capability: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 16 bDevCapabilityType 2 bmAttributes 0x00000002 Link Power Management (LPM) Supported SuperSpeed USB Device Capability: bLength 10 bDescriptorType 16 bDevCapabilityType 3 bmAttributes 0x00 wSpeedsSupported 0x000e Device can operate at Full Speed (12Mbps) Device can operate at High Speed (480Mbps) Device can operate at SuperSpeed (5Gbps) bFunctionalitySupport 1 Lowest fully-functional device speed is Full Speed (12Mbps) bU1DevExitLat 10 micro seconds bU2DevExitLat 2047 micro seconds Device Status: 0x0001 Self Powered

"It does appear it is connected to a USB 2.1 port ". How did you confirm that?

See the output from lsusb.

bcdUSB 2.10

What motherboard or PC model is in use, and which USB port is used?

Motherboard: GA-78LMT-USB3 I will have to verify the revision and exact port.

Have you tried other ports on that PC, and if so, did you get the same result?

Yes - 2 units are plugged into the same desktop in different USB ports. I even get these speeds from a Raspberry Pi.

USB 2.0 is very much slower than USB 3.0. A hard disk directly connected through USB 2.0 will hardly ever go above 20 MB/sec, whereas on USB 3.0 even small 2.5" disks reach 100 MB/sec.

The size of the disks don't matter. And I don't buy that - there are many resources that state the speed will be slow but faster than 10MB/s.

I plugged one of the units into a known USB 3.0 port:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 152d:0567 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. Device Descriptor: bLength 18 bDescriptorType 1 bcdUSB 3.00 bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level) bDeviceSubClass 0 bDeviceProtocol 0 bMaxPacketSize0 9 idVendor 0x152d JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. idProduct 0x0567 bcdDevice 2.05 iManufacturer 10 JMicron iProduct 11 USB to ATA/ATAPI Bridge iSerial 5 152D00539000

Now I am getting 3x the transfer speed but no where near what it should be:

root@talon:/mnt/nas2# dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas2/testfile4 bs=1G count=1 oflag=direct 1+0 records in 1+0 records out 1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 32.2737 s, 33.3 MB/s

Output from fdisk:

Disk /dev/sdc: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0xe3b023b3 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdc1 63 3907024064 3907024002 1.8T 83 Linux Disk /dev/sdd: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0x580e98e6 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdd1 2048 3907029167 3907027120 1.8T 83 Linux Disk /dev/sde: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0x000d19a7 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sde1 2048 3907028991 3907026944 1.8T 83 Linux Disk /dev/sdf: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0xc16a55ab Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdf1 2048 3907029167 3907027120 1.8T 83 Linux Disk /dev/sdg: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0xc91d9f27 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdg1 2048 3907028991 3907026944 1.8T fd Linux raid autodetect Disk /dev/sdj: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0x65cd7624 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdj1 2048 3907028991 3907026944 1.8T fd Linux raid autodetect Disk /dev/sdi: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0x03221dd4 Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdi1 2048 3907028991 3907026944 1.8T fd Linux raid autodetect Disk /dev/sdh: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: dos Disk identifier: 0xc91329ab Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type /dev/sdh1 2048 3907028991 3907026944 1.8T fd Linux raid autodetect

Edit: I did some troubleshooting and found out it's an issue with the USB controller. Not sure if it's a compatibility issue with Linux and the USB controller on the motherboard - but I tried with a later kernel and Linux out right refused to to even initialize the device on USB 3.0 ports. However, trying the probox on a laptop with USB 3.0 connections worked perfectly fine.

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  • "It does appear it is connected to a USB 2.1 port ". How did you confirm that? What motherboard or PC model is in use, and which USB port is used? Have you tried other ports on that PC, and if so, did you get the same result? Please click on edit and add that to the original post, so all may see it. Also, on very long posts, it's OK to put the long text up somewhere others may see it and provide a link to the detail. Commented Dec 7, 2018 at 17:38
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    USB 2.0 is very much slower than USB 3.0. A hard disk directly connected through USB 2.0 will hardly ever go above 20 MB/sec, whereas on USB 3.0 even small 2.5" disks reach 100 MB/sec. This being said, is there any chance that those Seagate drives have 4 KiB physical sectors, and if so, have you aligned data structures correctly? Commented Dec 7, 2018 at 18:18

2 Answers 2

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USB2 speed (60MB/s) divided by the number of drives in RAID you are writing to at the same time (4) is equal to 15 MB/s, throw in some overhead and 10 sounds reasonable.

To test unmount the RAID to make sure it's not using the bus then run

hdparm -Tt /dev/sdh
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  • That makes sense for USB 2.0 but I have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port and let's assume the transfer speed is 500MB/s - dividing by 4 should yield at least 100MB/s transfer rate but according to the dd test I only got 33MB/s. I'm going to update and try a newer kernel and see if that helps. Commented Dec 9, 2018 at 15:30
  • @NathanAdams Let me know when you have hdparm and lsusb output. Also check UAS on 4.14.87 kernel. Commented Dec 9, 2018 at 16:17
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Turns out the built in USB controller is not worth the silicone it's printed on. I put in a PCI-e USB 3.1 controller and now I'm getting 61MB/s rather than 10MB/s. Still not "fast" in terms of data transference speeds - but 60MB/s is a HUGE difference.

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