Storage Format for USB Hard Disk

 I recently bought a 5 TB USB3 hard disk to back up my data (mostly my photo and video files.  I had a data disaster recently, so I bought the EaseUS disaster backup data recovery tool, but it required a huge amount of data to restore).

Out of the box, without paying attention to the factory default format it has (extFAT), the 5 TB space has only about 0.6 TB space left.  I doubt I had that much-used data (as the source of the recovered data is from a 1 TB hard drive).  After doing some investigation (the detail is down below), I found out that the allocation unit size (AUS) of the removable hard disk is pretty big, I think it is too big to storage average files.  So I am in the process of backing up the data to my other hard drive (NTFS, 4k AUS), before I can reformat the drive to have a smaller AUS.

Meanwhile, I am not decided whether to stick with extFAT or change it to NTFS.  I don't really care about portability to other OSes, especially Apple products (sorry MacOS!), as I am pretty much a Windows (plus Linux) user.   Yes, I am all aware that so far Linux supports R/W to NTFS in userspace only (the kernel driver only supports read and some limited write access, but that requires some enabling).  But, the good news is that, according to the recent news, a company called Paragon is willing to make its full-blown proprietary NTFS driver (which fully supports NTFS features) to the Linux community.  The effort is planned to be available starting in Kernel 5.15.  This will really boost the performance and features of NTFS in Linux.[1]

To have 256K AUS seems too expensive.  According to [3] for Test 3 and 4 (Read & Write, 1 GB of data file), extFAT is slightly faster, but for smaller files (Test 1 and 2, 1 GB file size), NTFS prevails.  For duplication or deletion (Test 8 and 9), NTFS is more than 1.60 faster than FAT32 and 1.3 faster than extFAT).

Some useful information:

For  2 TB to 16 TB hard drive, 4 KB AUS is enough for an NTFS-formatted hard drive.[2]

Disk Partition Information:

C:\Windows\System32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22000.1
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.

On computer: ASUS-ROGSTRIX-X

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt

  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---

  Disk 0    Online         3726 GB  1024 KB   *    *

  Disk 1    Online          698 GB      0 B   *    *

  Disk 2    Online          298 GB  1024 KB   *    *

  Disk 3    Online          931 GB  3072 KB        *

  Disk 4    Online         4657 GB      0 B        *

  Disk 5    Online           14 GB      0 B

DISKPART> list volume

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info

  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------

  Volume 0     X   BACKUP_DISK  NTFS   Simple      3726 GB  Healthy

  Volume 1     Z   SpannedDisk  NTFS   Spanned      996 GB  Healthy

  Volume 2         System Rese  NTFS   Partition    549 MB  Healthy

  Volume 3     C                NTFS   Partition    929 GB  Healthy    Boot

  Volume 4                      NTFS   Partition    544 MB  Healthy

  Volume 5                      FAT32  Partition    299 MB  Healthy    System

  Volume 6                      NTFS   Partition    609 MB  Healthy    Hidden

  Volume 7     I   One Touch    exFAT  Partition   4657 GB  Healthy

  Volume 8         EFI          FAT32  Partition    200 MB  Healthy    Hidden

  Volume 9     E   Win10Pro     NTFS   Removable     14 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> select disk 4

Disk 4 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset

  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------

  Partition 1    System             200 MB    20 KB

  Partition 2    Primary           4657 GB   201 MB

select partition 2

Partition 2 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> filesystems

Current File System

  Type                 : exFAT

  Allocation Unit Size : 256K

  Flags : 00000000

File Systems Supported for Formatting

  Type                 : NTFS (Default)

  Allocation Unit Sizes: 4096 (Default), 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K, 128K, 256K, 512K, 1024K, 2048K

  Type                 : exFAT

  Allocation Unit Sizes: 512K, 1024K, 2048K (Default), 4096K, 8192K, 16384K, 32768K

DISKPART>

Ref:

[1] Linux boosts Microsoft NTFS support as Linus Torvalds complains about GitHub merges | ZDNet

[2] Default cluster size for NTFS, FAT, and exFAT (microsoft.com)

[3] Flexense - Data Management Software - FAT32 vs. exFAT vs. NTFS USB3 Performance Comparison

Xfinity Superfast still slow

I recently upgraded my Internet connection plan with Xfinity from Internet 200 Mbps plus TV to 900 Mbps Superfast plan (with TV plan dropped.  Who cares with TV these days?).  It was a good deal plan, as I now pay less with a lot faster nominal Internet speed.

In the beginning, after waiting an hour as told by the customer service, I saw the upstream speed improved to 20+ Mbps, but the upstream speed did not increase (stayed at around 140 Mbps).  A few calls/chats with the customer service representatives (they sent a few update signals) and modem and router reboots nothing improved.

After the last call to them, they decided to send a technician to visit the next day.  I had tried almost everything (except setting the router's settings to factory defaults). My home network setup is little bit complicated, with the AP router and DOCSIS 3.1 modem sitting in a mounted rack in the walking closet.  

The coaxial cable from ISP is split through a 1-to-8 Moca-Ready splitter (5-2300 MHz, -11 dB drop between Out and In), because I need to connect the TV in the living room through MoCA as well as some bedrooms and home office.  In the beginning, I thought the chocking was due to interference with MoCA (as the DOCSIS cable modem shared the same coax medium with MoCA modems).   Not sure whether I still need to change that splitter (-11 dB drop is a little too much, not counting the bandwidth is only up to 2300, not 2400 or 2500 MHz.  But when I checked the MoCA specs, the frequency span for MoCA 2.5 is from 1002 to 1675 MHz.)

Out of my patience (I use the Internet on a daily basis as part of Work From Home with Citrix connection, hence requires constant and speedy internet link), I decided to simplify the connection by removing the set-top box (which soon I'd return as I'd no longer have TV service), so the cable modem was wired directly to the ISP (not through splitter).  This did not resolve the data rate, although it improved the SNR in the modem.

Out of my frustration, I factory reset my Synology Router Rt2600a and redid the speed test.  And...voila! I got 700+ Mbps.  Yes, it's still far from 900 Mbps as promised, but at least it's 4x faster than what I got before.  Turned out, the "Threat Prevention" add-on feature in Synology Router was the culprit.  It was CPU-intensive processing, which shouldn't be performed by a normal CPU, probably by a special or dedicated CPU doing this kind of inspection and prevention.

I still really need to have an intrusion prevention feature as it has been securing my home network heavily from hackers and spam.  Perhaps it is time to shop for a dedicated intrusion prevention device.

Upgrading Dell T-3500

Existing System Config

System: Dell Precision WorkStation T3500  (all builds)

Motherboard: Dell 09KPNV

Memory: 5.6 GB free of 12 GB (6x2GB) @ 1.3 GHz DIMM DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600)

Display: 1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors, 1680 x 1050 - 32 Bit colors,

OS: Windows 10

BIOS Date: 20130528

CPU: Intel Xeon W3550 (QC, 8 threads @3.06 GHz)

Disk: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB

VGA: Dual NVidia Quadro NVS 420

Upgradeables

Here is the list parts upgrades.

• For GTX 1070 6-pin to 8-pin PCI Express Power Converter Cable for Video Card 

1. Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition, 08G-P4-5173-KR
2. Video Card NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce GTX 970 

• For GTX 970 6 pin PCIe to dual 6+2 pin PCIe splitter Cable for Video Card

1.  Video Card GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1050Ti OC Low Profile 4GB, GBTGV-N105TOC-4GL
2. Hynix HMT125U6DFR8C-H9 Memory  DDR3 1333MHz  ( 2GB 2Rx8 DDR3 PC3-10600U )
3. Kingston KP223C-ELD  Memory DDR3 1333MHz ( 2GB 2Rx8 DDR3 PC3-10600U )
4. Samsung 256GB 850 Pro Solid State Drive
5. Dell 0R494D R494D Caddy Tray 2.5" - 3.5"
6. Seagate 2TB 2.5" Laptop Internal Hard Drive

Power Supply

• EVGA - BR Series 700W ATX12V /EPS12V 80 Plus Power
• EVGA 700BR 100-BR-0700-K1 fits and works fine

CPU:

• Xeon QC X5667 3.06Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 95W Processor | 3.46Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVA)
• Xeon QC W5580 3.20Ghz 8MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.46Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBF2)
• Xeon QC W5590 3.33Ghz 8MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBGE)
• Xeon 6C X5670 2.93GHz 12MB 6.4 GT/s LGA1366 Six Core CPU Processor (SLBV7)
• Xeon QC X5677 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV9)
• Xeon QC X5687 3.6Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.86Ghz Max Turbo Frequency  (SLBVY)
• Xeon 6C X5680 3.33Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.60Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV5)
• Xeon 6C W3690 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBW2) 
• Xeon 6C X5690 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVX) 

RAM:

DO NOT mix E or U modules (E modules tend to run faster). 

T3500 doesn't support registered modules (R modules!), and there is 6 Slots on the motherboard.

Max speed: 1333 MHz (PC10600)

Memory PN’s:

• Hynix HMT125U6DFR8C-H9 Memory  DDR3 1333MHz  ( 2GB 2Rx8 DDR3 PC3-10600U )
• Kingston KP223C-ELD  Memory DDR3 1333MHz ( 2GB 2Rx8 DDR3 PC3-10600U )
• 2GB PC10600U 2Rx8 Non-ECC Unregistered (P223C)
• 2GB PC10600E 1Rx8 ECC Unregistered (DM0KY)
• 2GB PC12800E 1Rx8 ECC Unregisterd (YY90K)
• 4GB PC10600U 2Rx8 Non-ECC Unregistered (P328H)
• 4GB PC10600E 2Rx8 ECC Unregistered (T192H)
• 4GB PC12800E 2Rx8 PC3L ECC Unregistered (6DWFJ)
• 8GB PC12800E 2RX8 PC3 ECC Unregistered (MT18JSF1G72AZ-1G6E1ZF) <--- 
• 8GB PC12800E 2Rx2 PC3L ECC Unregistered (HMT41GU7AFR8A-PB)

Recommended Memory configurations:

• 6 x 2GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (12GB)
• 3 x 4GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (12GB)
• 4 x 4GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (16GB)
• 6 x 4GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (24GB)

• 12 GB = 6*2GB SIM DDR3 PC10600 <==== original configuration
• 24 GB = 3*8GB SIMM DDR3 modules
• 32 GB = 4*8GB SIMM DDR3 modules
• 40 GB = 5*8GB SIMM DDR3 modules
• 48 GB = 6 * 8GB SIMM DDR3 modules (Max size!)

GPU

With the standard included Power-supply:

• NVIDIA GTX1050 TI 4GB Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA GTX1660 Ti 6GB Graphics Card

With Upgraded 700W EVG 700B Power Supply:

• EVGA NVIDIA GTX1070 8GB SC Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA GTX1070TI 8GB Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA GTX1080 SC 8GB Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA GTX1080 TI 11GB SC2 ICX Technology Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2060 6GB Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super 8GB Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB Graphics Card
• EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super Graphics Card

SSD

The motherboard doesn't support NVME protocol, so we cannot boot O/S from it that requires UEFI, which you're not going to find on any eight year old PC system. But NVME SSD can be used to store data after booting (e.g, just to store video game data).

NVME.2 SSD Adapter *Required to Install NVME.2*

Recommended NVME.2 SSDs:

• Samsung 960 EVO Series – 500GB NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E500BW)
• Samsung 960 EVO Series – 1TB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW)
• SAMSUNG (MZ-V7S1T0B/AM) 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB - M.2 (w/ M key)
• SAMSUNG (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM) 980 SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology

Misc:

- Heatsink compound Arctic Silver

M.2 is a form factor:

• 2240 (40 mm height)
• 2260 (60 mm height)
• 2280 (80 mm height)

NVME SSD vs SATA SSD:

SATA III Hard Drive SATA III SSD         NVMe SSD

• ~100 MB/s Read 530 MB/s Read 3,500 MB/s Read
• ~100 MB/s Write 500 MB/s Write 3,000 MB/s Write

Make Citrix work in Linux

1. exportICAROOT=/opt/Citrix/ICAClient
2. Copy files in/usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* to $ICAROOT/keystore/cacerts

3. Rehash the certificate by the following command: $ICAROOT/util/ctx_rehash

4. Reopen Citrix Receiver. 

Logitech Speakerphone with Linux Mint

 My Logitech USB Speakarphone has stopped working since I did something wrong (which I don't remember).  Various troubleshooting and zillions of searches on the Internet did not fix the issue, until today.

The issue was the device did not make any sound at all.  Checking via ALSA and Kernel log said everything was fine as shown below:

$  lsusb

...

Bus 002 Device 011: ID 046d:0a06 Logitech, Inc. 

Bus 002 Device 009: ID 046d:c51c Logitech, Inc. 

...

$ inxi -A

Audio:     Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 

           Device-2: ViXS Systems XCode 2100 Series driver: N/A 

           Device-3: AMD Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series] driver: snd_hda_intel 

           Device-4: Logitech type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio 

           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-135-generic 

$ dmesg | ack -i Logitech

[    4.347659] usb 2-7.3.1: Manufacturer: Logitech

[    4.351947] input: Logitech VoIP USB Dual RF Receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-7/2-7.3/2-7.3.1/2-7.3.1:1.0/0003:046D:C51C.0002/input/input5

[    4.408172] hid-generic 0003:046D:C51C.0002: input,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Logitech VoIP USB Dual RF Receiver] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-7.3.1/input0

[    4.412142] input: Logitech VoIP USB Dual RF Receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-7/2-7.3/2-7.3.1/2-7.3.1:1.1/0003:046D:C51C.0003/input/input6

[    4.472241] hid-generic 0003:046D:C51C.0003: input,hiddev1,hidraw2: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Logitech VoIP USB Dual RF Receiver] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-7.3.1/input1

[    4.744033] usb 2-7.3.2: Product: Logitech EasyCall Speakerphone

[    4.744035] usb 2-7.3.2: Manufacturer: Logitech

[    4.936663] usb 2-7.7.2: Manufacturer: Logitech

[    4.944780] input: Logitech USB Laser Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-7/2-7.7/2-7.7.2/2-7.7.2:1.0/0003:046D:C069.0006/input/input9

[    4.944928] hid-generic 0003:046D:C069.0006: input,hidraw5: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB Laser Mouse] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-7.7.2/input0

$ aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****

card 0: Loopback [Loopback], device 0: Loopback PCM [Loopback PCM]

  Subdevices: 8/8

  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1

  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2

  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3

  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4

  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5

  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6

  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7

...

...

card 3: Speakerphone [Logitech EasyCall Speakerphone], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]

  Subdevices: 0/1

  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ cat /proc/asound/modules 

 0 snd_aloop

 1 snd_hda_intel

 2 snd_hda_intel

 3 snd_usb_audio

$ cat /proc/asound/cards 

 0 [Loopback       ]: Loopback - Loopback

                      Loopback 1

 1 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel

                      HDA Intel at 0xfe7f4000 irq 32

 2 [HDMI           ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI HDMI

                      HDA ATI HDMI at 0xfebfc000 irq 33

 3 [Speakerphone   ]: USB-Audio - Logitech EasyCall Speakerphone

                      Logitech Logitech EasyCall Speakerphone at usb-0000:00:1d.7-7.3.2, full speed

Tried to see from Pulse Audio control, it did not show the USB speakerphone device at all.

Turned out it was due to the presence of /etc/asound.conf.  After I renamed it to something else, my audio started to work!

Rename files with Regex rule

 In Linux, there is very powerful tool to rename files based on pattern we specify.  The pattern follows Perl-like regular expression.

For example, if I have files as follow:

01_-_bohemian_rhapsody_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3

05_-_bicycle_race_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3

"07_-_it's_a_hard_life_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3"

09_-_who_wants_to_live_forever_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3

11_-_the_miracle_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3

15_-_friends_will_be_friends_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3

16_-_the_show_must_go_on_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3

16_-_we_will_rock_you_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3

17_-_we_are_the_champions_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3

and I want to rename them by replacing the "_-_" part to be just "-".  The single command to do that is:

$ rename -n -v 's/_-_/-/g' *

rename(01_-_bohemian_rhapsody_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3, 01-bohemian_rhapsody-queen-greatest_hits_cd1.mp3)

rename(05_-_bicycle_race_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3, 05-bicycle_race-queen-greatest_hits_cd1.mp3)

rename(07_-_it's_a_hard_life_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3, 07-it's_a_hard_life-queen-greatest_hits_cd2.mp3)

rename(09_-_who_wants_to_live_forever_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3, 09-who_wants_to_live_forever-queen-greatest_hits_cd2.mp3)

rename(11_-_the_miracle_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3, 11-the_miracle-queen-greatest_hits_cd2.mp3)

rename(15_-_friends_will_be_friends_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3, 15-friends_will_be_friends-queen-greatest_hits_cd2.mp3)

rename(16_-_the_show_must_go_on_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd2.mp3, 16-the_show_must_go_on-queen-greatest_hits_cd2.mp3)

rename(16_-_we_will_rock_you_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3, 16-we_will_rock_you-queen-greatest_hits_cd1.mp3)

rename(17_-_we_are_the_champions_-_queen_-_greatest_hits_cd1.mp3, 17-we_are_the_champions-queen-greatest_hits_cd1.mp3)

(the argument "-n" above is to tell rename not to actually perform renaming, but just to display what it would do).  I use "/g" in the regular expression to tell it to rename all occurrences of "_-_" throughout the file name, not just for the first time it encounters it.