From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Mark Lord Subject: A USB enclosure that supports SCSI-ATA-Passthru (cheap!) Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:31:08 -0400 Message-ID: <48FB60CC.5000008@rtr.ca> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from rtr.ca ([76.10.145.34]:57139 "EHLO mail.rtr.ca" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751384AbYJSQai (ORCPT ); Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:30:38 -0400 Sender: linux-ide-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: linux-ide@vger.kernel.org To: IDE/ATA development list , Alan Cox , Tejun Heo , Jeff Garzik , Bruce Allen I believe this is of possible interest to others here: Most newer USB enclosures now support SCSI STOP/START commands. But.. the Western Digital 2.5" mobile USB2 enclosures (SATA inside) appear to also support the SCSI-ATA-Command-Passthru protocol. These are the first ones I have seen here that do this. So, things like "hdparm -I /dev/sdb" work without fuss on an external USB drive when used with these enclosures. As does setting automatic spin-down with "hdparm -S". And as an added bonus, they're rather cheaply priced with drive included. On the downside, smartctl does not work with the one I have here, complaining thusly: > $ smartctl -a -T permissive -T permissive /dev/sdb > smartctl version 5.38 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen > Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/ > > Device: WD 823AS External Version: 1.04 > scsiModePageOffset: response length too short, resp_len=4 offset=4 bd_len=0 > >> Terminate command early due to bad response to IEC mode page > > Error Counter logging not supported > scsiModePageOffset: response length too short, resp_len=4 offset=4 bd_len=0 > Device does not support Self Test logging Regardless, these devices are commonly available at Costco and other discount retailers. Mine came with a 250GB drive inside, and has model number WS2500XMS-00 on the outside. I hope to pick up another with a 320GB drive soon-ish, and see if it also has passthru. Model: WD-250XMS-00 (with 250GB drive inside, removeable). USB info: 1058:0702 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Bridge chip by InitIO: INIC-1606L Cheers