Storage Solutions How good are Pibox enclosures / Docking station ?

awestorr · 2024-09-27T05:51:50+0530

Anyone using pibox enclosures/Docking station.
How good are they?
Looking to either one of them for a 3.5inch drive ,since they are around 850inr

solo_wing · 2024-09-27T07:27:42+0530

awestorr said:
Anyone using pibox enclosures/Docking station.
How good are they?
Looking to either one of them for a 3.5inch drive ,since they are around 850inr

I am using pibox enclosure for 2.5 ssd.
Very decent. Got it for 450 something.

However built quality is average at best.

badwhitevision · 2024-09-27T08:29:20+0530

awestorr said:
Anyone using pibox enclosures/Docking station.
How good are they?
Looking to either one of them for a 3.5inch drive ,since they are around 850inr

Please talk to pibox directly, ask about which chips are on which enclosures and order the non realtek ones.

The new versions come with realtek RTL9201 chips which have a set spindown time of 3 minutes. It is difficult if not impossible to change this behaviour.

This is for the 3.5 inch enclosure.

I use an older version of the same enclosure with the JMicron JSM578 and the quality is quite good. This also has a spindown time, but is much easier to change.

I can't comment on the docking stations.

guest_999 · 2024-09-27T08:37:10+0530

badwhitevision said:
Please talk to pibox directly, ask about which chips are on which enclosures and order the non realtek ones.

The new versions come with realtek RTL9201 chips which have a set spindown time of 3 minutes. It is difficult if not impossible to change this behaviour.

This is for the 3.5 inch enclosure.

I use an older version of the same enclosure with the JMicron JSM578 and the quality is quite good. This also has a spindown time, but is much easier to change.

I don't know about the docking stations.

The below utility is a must have on windows irrespective of whatever setup you have as there are many internal/external hdd models nowadays on which you cannot disable sleep mode for 1-2 min of inactivity. For linux you can setup a cron job to write a small text file every few seconds/min to target drive just like what this utility does.

GitHub - stsrki/KeepAliveHD: Prevent hard-drives from going into sleep mode.

Prevent hard-drives from going into sleep mode. Contribute to stsrki/KeepAliveHD development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

@awestorr

dasshubham762 · 2024-09-27T09:18:18+0530

badwhitevision said:
Please talk to pibox directly, ask about which chips are on which enclosures and order the non realtek ones.

The new versions come with realtek RTL9201 chips which have a set spindown time of 3 minutes. It is difficult if not impossible to change this behaviour.

This is for the 3.5 inch enclosure.

I use an older version of the same enclosure with the JMicron JSM578 and the quality is quite good. This also has a spindown time, but is much easier to change.

I can't comment on the docking stations.

How to change the spindown time for the JMicron based enclosure?

Black_Hawk · 2024-09-27T11:24:03+0530

solo_wing said:
I am using pibox enclosure for 2.5 ssd.
Very decent. Got it for 450 something.

However built quality is average at best.

I use this Pibox HDD Docking Station:

PiBOX India, USB 3.0 Hard Drive Docking Station

Bought it in 2020 and have been using it so far without any issues. Price I got it for was 1.3k back then so at 899 bucks it's a good deal.

badwhitevision · 2024-09-27T13:00:46+0530

dasshubham762 said:
How to change the spindown time for the JMicron based enclosure?

Use this article for guidance.

How to Update Firmware of JMicron JMS578 - USB3.0 - Sata Enclosure (Black Screen/Lock/Music Stop)

I Don't know if anyone already found this solution, but I'v decided to share it with all of you anyways. My Previously Wii drive is dead, I'v decided to buy USB Sata Enclosures/Cases, USB 3.0 for the "Fast" transfer of the WBFS files from my PC to External HD, But I'v Found, in many forums that...

gbatemp.net

You have been warned!
If something goes wrong, you can kiss your warranty goodbye.

gokul.ece22 · 2024-09-27T17:45:24+0530

I have Pibox Usb 3.0 Hard disk docking station. Can dock both 3.5 inch and 2.5-inch hdd.
Using for the past 2 years, It is working good, so far, no issues.

PiBox HDD dock

It has "ASM1153e" chip

awestorr · 2024-09-27T17:58:10+0530

Going to place the order, will update what chipset it has after i receive it.

Black_Hawk · 2024-09-27T22:23:56+0530

Need a NVMe case... is this a good deal:

NVME M.2 Fan Enclosure, PiBOX India

I have a spare Crucial P3 500GB PCIe 3.0 which I want to put in an enclosure.

dktechsavvy · 2024-09-28T01:25:35+0530

Using nvme RGB enclosure, been going well so far. Build quality is also decent.

Limited-time deal: NVME M2 LED Enclosure, PiBOX India NVMe/NGFF SATA Dual SSD Enclosure - USB 3.2 10Gbps, Tool-Free M.2 NVMe Case, PCI-E NVMe Reader, USB-C, Supports M & B&M Keys, 2230/2242/2260/2280 SSD RTL9210B https://amzn.in/d7gVAct

Black_Hawk · 2024-09-28T10:06:44+0530

Can someone tell me the difference/ which is a better one between these two NVMe enclosures:

NVME M.2 Fan Enclosure - RTL9210B Chipset

NVME M2 Enclosure Fan - RTL9210 Chipset

Tagging @guest_999 to shed more light on this.

guest_999 · 2024-09-28T10:54:46+0530

The cheaper one does not support NGFF/m.2 sata drives only NVMe m.2 drives. Also, reviews suggest the fan does not work all the time but only when load/temps exceed certain threshold. Also keep in mind that usb type c to type c cables are bit more finicky than usb type A cables so a slight disorientation/loose connection/insertion will result in them working at usb 2.0 speeds (as mentioned in some negative reviews) so if you are getting 40MB/s speeds from such enclosures then issue is almost always the connecting cable. Another thing to keep in mind is that source/destination drives both should be supporting 10gbps speeds otherwise only way to see those 950MB/s speeds is in those benchmark tests like crystaldiskmark.

Black_Hawk · 2024-09-28T11:15:58+0530

guest_999 said:
The cheaper one does not support NGFF/m.2 sata drives only NVMe m.2 drives. Also, reviews suggest the fan does not work all the time but only when load/temps exceed certain threshold. Also keep in mind that usb type c to type c cables are bit more finicky than usb type A cables so a slight disorientation/loose connection/insertion will result in them working at usb 2.0 speeds (as mentioned in some negative reviews) so if you are getting 40MB/s speeds from such enclosures then issue is almost always the connecting cable. Another thing to keep in mind is that source/destination drives both should be supporting 10gbps speeds otherwise only way to see those 950MB/s speeds is in those benchmark tests like crystaldiskmark.

Thanks so much for the input mate, appreciate it.

Regarding the fans though I think in both the units the "smart" fans only spin up if the SSD temps cross a certain threshold.