how do you get faster write speeds to SSD only getting 24mb/s

comet424

pi@retropie:~ $ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda1
Disk /dev/sda1: 1.8 TiB, 2000397795328 bytes, 3907026944 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: 0x00000000
pi@retropie:~ $ sudo apt remove exfat-fuse
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libmicrodns0 rpi-eeprom-images
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  exfat-fuse
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 64.5 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
(Reading database ... 130482 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing exfat-fuse (1.3.0-1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.5-2) ...
pi@retropie:~ $ sudo mount -a -t exfat -o nonempty
pi@retropie:~ $ df -h -T
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/root      ext4      117G  4.5G  108G   4% /
devtmpfs       devtmpfs  1.8G     0  1.8G   0% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.9G     0  1.9G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.9G   26M  1.9G   2% /run
tmpfs          tmpfs     5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.9G     0  1.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p1 vfat      256M   49M  207M  20% /boot
tmpfs          tmpfs     384M     0  384M   0% /run/user/1000
/dev/sda1      exfat     1.9T  2.2M  1.9T   1% /home/pi/RetroPie
pi@retropie:~ $ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sda1

/dev/sda1:
 Timing cached reads:   1608 MB in  2.00 seconds = 804.45 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 866 MB in  3.00 seconds = 288.37 MB/sec
pi@retropie:~ $

pi@retropie:~ $ dd if=/dev/urandom of=/home/pi/RetroPie/test.file bs=1M count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB, 1.0 GiB) copied, 58.2039 s, 18.4 MB/s
pi@retropie:~ $

copying over network from windows still get 2-10mb/s

mitu

OK, so the disc is not formated as exfat and mounted via the native kernel support, without fuse. This should take out the extra CPU consumed by using fuse and ntfs.

If you're copying just a large file over the network, do you get the same - low - speed ? Is this over a wired or wireless conenction ?

I know the NesPi case - the older versions ? - had an issue with the SATA controller used in the case (see this topic), it might be worth checking if the case you're using falls has the SATA controller that is problematic.

Just

comet424

@mitu
i thought the disk got formated as exfat

/dev/sda1      exfat     1.9T  2.2M  1.9T   1% /home/pi/RetroPie

so what do you mean exactly by "OK, so the disc is not formated as exfat and mounted via the native kernel support, without fuse. This should take out the extra CPU consumed by using fuse and ntfs."

explain it for someone that doesnt know the fuse and the native kernel support or the extra cpu consummed etc

network is cabled 1gb connection..
its copying any file.. that i getting only 2-10mbs the dd command shows 18mb/s is that saying its only read writting? large or small just doesnt matter ):

im using the nespi 4 from my how to guide i made
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/28848/guide-how-to-setup-nespi-4?_=1646095106362

so i dont know if it falls under that i thought i solved the slow problem speeds with my article about mounting the sata controller as i think i read that article and thats how i made my article from it

mitu

@comet424 said in how do you get faster write speeds to SSD only getting 24mb/s:

explain it for someone that doesnt know the fuse and the native kernel support or the extra cpu consummed etc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS-3G#Performance

so i dont know if it falls under that i thought i solved the slow problem speeds with my article about mounting the sata controller as i think i read that article and thats how i made my article from it

Did you add the quirks configuration to /boot/cmdline.txt ? Can you try without it ?

comet424

@mitu
yes and no

i actually still running the same nintendo nesp case you see in the article i made.. all i did for myself was upgrade from 250gb to a 2tb and i use the 250gb in a new system for a friend.. and speeds were fine for it..

so i didnt need to change the cmdline as i made thes changes back in 2020 .. but ill try removing the part in the cmdline to see if it works for a 2tb i had to add it for the 250 and 500gb

comet424

 `*****@@**'  IP Address.........: 192.168.0.52
  `*******'   Temperature........: CPU: 52°C/125°F GPU: 52°C/125°F
    `"""'     The RetroPie Project, https://retropie.org.uk

pi@retropie:~ $ df -h -T
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/root      ext4      117G  4.5G  108G   4% /
devtmpfs       devtmpfs  1.8G     0  1.8G   0% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.9G     0  1.9G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.9G  9.4M  1.9G   1% /run
tmpfs          tmpfs     5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.9G     0  1.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p1 vfat      256M   49M  207M  20% /boot
/dev/sda1      exfat     1.9T   18G  1.9T   1% /home/pi/RetroPie
tmpfs          tmpfs     384M     0  384M   0% /run/user/1000
pi@retropie:~ $ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sda1

/dev/sda1:
Timing cached reads:   1546 MB in  2.00 seconds = 772.88 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 1088 MB in  3.00 seconds = 362.55 MB/sec
pi@retropie:~ $ dd if=/dev/urandom of=/home/pi/RetroPie/test.file bs=1M count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB, 1.0 GiB) copied, 58.393 s, 18.4 MB/s
pi@retropie:~ $

so windows shows now anywhere from 2-50mbs its better that way but i dunno... is there a test file size that you copy from windows to find out the actually speed?

i gonna try to copy over some couple gig files

so copying just random files i get 3-5mbs
random files of 159gb i jsut sliding over is going to take 8hours

so removing the cmdline info i added didnt help ):

but its a limit with this usb hot swap and 2TB maybe its only good for 1TB and less?

i dont have a smaller SSD anymore to test it ):

comet424

so selecting 4 files all together 8 gb
it started at 90mbs then dropped down to 2mb then up and down but finished

thats with the removal of the extra for the the cmdline.txt

but the other file copying of smaller more files is at 2.38mb/s saying going to take 15 hours now to copy 156gb

i selected 73 files that equaled 159gb to test to copy.... it peaks at 90mbs/ averages like 60mb and says takes 35min to transfer 159gb not the 15 hours for the smaller files ...

should i re add the info to the cmdline.txt and see what happens ..

is it an issue then for small files? and if so anyway to improve speeds for small files

comet424

had to re add

usb-storage.quirks=152d:0562:u

to the cmdline.txt when you did a reboot was ok.

but when you turned it off.. and turned back on... the usb drive wouldnt not mount

so i re added

usb-storage.quirks=152d:0562:u

then rebooted then the drive mounted..

it can copy big files like 70 meg/s but small files etc slow and takes forever i dont get it.. but if i copy to my windows to unraid server is faster for small files is it possibly not fast cpu?

mitu

Multiple small files will always be slower to copy than larger files. The CPU should be plenty fast, but I/O (disc/network/internal PCI bus) is not the same as on PC, plus the quirks added which disable UAS in favor of the slower USB mas-storage driver have also an impact.

comet424

@mitu

oh so the quirks whatever that is slows the usb port down? or the transfering...

so i wonder if newer nespi4 have it fixed the usb mass storage

does it impact using retropie then loading roms or what not.. or just mainly over network..

and do you guys run the retropie OS on the SD card or do you run it on the SSD

mitu

@comet424 said in how do you get faster write speeds to SSD only getting 24mb/s:

@mitu

oh so the quirks whatever that is slows the usb port down? or the transfering...

Yes, using UAS would allow for faster disc operations, this is noted in the troubleshooting topic on the RPI forums:

UAS is an upgraded transport protocol compared to USB mass-storage - commands and data are separated into different queues and multiple outstanding commands can be in flight at the same time, as opposed to USB mass-storage's lock-step relationship between commands and data. This allows better saturation of the 4GBps USB3.0 transport as there can be a continuous stream of data to and from a device

so i wonder if newer nespi4 have it fixed the usb mass storage

I don't know and their web site doesn't have an easy to find changelog, but you can send them an email and ask about it.

does it impact using retropie then loading roms or what not.. or just mainly over network..

I don't think so, even with the USB storage quirks the disc should be faster than a regular SDcard.

comet424

@mitu

oh ok.. learn something new everyday
i guess once the roms are on the disk its fast enough

and do you recommend putting retropie OS on the SSD to as well? as 1 i do not know how to do that.. havent googled.. as i know the sd cards only last so long

or is it just ok to leave the os on the SD card?

mitu

@comet424 You can use the SSD for OS also, but it will be formatted with a Linux filesystem and you'll not be able to read it from Windows/macOS. Using a sdcard for the OS/RetroPie is easier for upgrades, since you'll write the new OS release (when upgrade will require it a full re-image), but you'd still have the ROMs on your external SSD. Using the SSD with a Windows friendly filesystem will also make it easier to copy your games to/from it on another PC running Windows/macOS.