Would it be possible to make the USB3-SATA-UASP1 follow the Windows power profile settings for hard disk spin down instead of using an internal timer? This would be the best option, if possible.
Alternatively, could a custom firmware based on the latest revision be released to disable it? I know that the previous firmware revision 121026910000 avoided drive sleep, but I’d rather stay on 130107917d00 for the better large drive advanced formatting support, since I own 3TB and 4TB drives.
Overall I’m quite happy with this lay-flat dock, and I’m glad I waited for it to come back in stock on Amazon. The ASMedia chipset’s performance is superior to ones in other USB 3.0 docks that I own.
Thanks for contacting Plugable Support, I’ll be happy to assist with your questions.
First, regarding the sleep behavior: Because USB 3.0 is so new, there are still details being worked out. While there has been major progress in the past year at getting devices and host controllers from different manufacturers working together smoothly, the advanced power state control is still a bit problematic.
Most host controllers and devices aren’t yet supporting the advanced power state controls so for our SATA hard drive docks, it’s generally a better choice to have the drive spin down after a fixed amount of time of inactivity rather than spin indefinitely.
Regrading large volume support, the only case where special firmware is necessary is on old 32 bit XP systems. Unless you specifically have a machine that does not support 2+TB drives, there’s nothing to be gained by the advanced format support.
In the future there will likely be improved support for OS power states, but they’ll need to be supported from the host controller, through any hubs and to the devices. All of our USB 3.0 hubs and most of our USB drive docks are firmware update-able so we’ll be able to take advantage of these feature when they are ironed out.
I hope this helps!
Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.
I do wish there was a way to set the timer a bit longer, but I realize this would mean making a custom firmware for each setting a customer would want, or a tool that would allow them to edit it before applying, which from a support standpoint could be a real nightmare.
Hopefully support for OS power states will be added eventually, but I’m still happy with the product either way. The ASM1053 is the best performing USB 3.0 based controller I’ve used so far.
The ASMedia chipset’s performance is superior to ones in other USB 3.0 docks that I own.