1. System76 Meerkat is my workstation with pop-os, I have 2. a Beelink s13 that I have installed and configured fedora server headless with podman for a development lab, and for 3. My vision was a NAS Samba plus Jellyfin and Homeassistant device. NAS supports 2 ssd plugged directly into usb which host backup for Meerkat and s13.

For 3., I have tried unsuccessfully with a raspberry pi 5, not saying I have any skill whatsoever but I spent a significant amount of time and got so fucking close but it was not a sustainable system that I created in the end I moved on next to a GMK G3 plus which, out of the box, and immediately could not sustain connection to the ssd via usb, I methodically tested all the usb ports with both ssd devices and concluded that there was no fucking way this unit will sustain a connection to these usb ssd for any amount of time. So I am not using that device.

I have ordered and waiting to receive Beelink s12 and going to try that next for my 3. vision.

All that said, I am in the struggle and if anyone had kind words or advice, yes please.

Also, please shoot me straight: am I removed? Is this a recipe for failure? Is it unreasonable to run those services on s12? Is it foolish to think I can sustain two ssd via usb and backup via Samba with s12?

S13 and s12 are ethernet connected to router, Meerkat is wireless connected.

I genuinely appreciate any attention here, thank you for your time.

*Also wanted to add, earlier I got one of the refurbished servers, Lenovo I believe, off Amazon. It was advertised with 1 TB ssd. When it arrived, there was no ssd and the ribbon cable appeared damaged. Just adding that for the record here as well.

  • basketugly@lemmy.worldOP
    3·
    3 days ago

    Thank you kindly, there is no error message per se that is the smoking gun, I use dmesg -w, lsblk, and cockpit storage logs to troubleshoot and it comes down to the power draw in my estimate. The ssd simply unmount themselves, nothing dramatic. It is entirely possible that a powered hub would work with this g3 that I consider a lemon. Truthfully, the g3 “looks less nice” versus beelink and if they have 5W max per usb, I could see how they might disconnect with voltage spikes, but this thing never mounted one of the usb ssd on 3 of 4 ports. Right from the start, I am thinking the usb bus power connection is where the issue lies. It a lemon of a cheap unit.

    I cannot find the info on s12 yet and somesaid in a different comment they had to email customer service to find out g3 had 5W max. Hoping s12 will reliable hold mount, but I can see where I still may need to invest in a powered hub. Thank you.

    • DigitalDilemma@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      If there’s no errors on the host, that points more strongly at a problem with the drives, their power, or the usb cable, imo.

      • basketugly@lemmy.worldOP
        1·
        2 days ago

        Okay, so what does this point to, I plug the drives into different devices and they work. What would your next troubleshooting step be? I have a backup hub and cable, if that fails the same thing on the device what does that point to? Both ssds exhibit the same behaivior on g3 and work on other devices.

        In fact I have not collected a single piece of evidence that implicated the drives other than they come unmount on g3.

        So no, I don’t think so. Also there are various lines in dmesg -w that tell the story but I don’t have them to share with you and I am frankly done working with the g3 so I will not be going to collect them and bring them back.

        So, sorry for saying there were no errors, but there were no smoking gun errors other than dmesg showing the drives behavior and lsblk and cockpit storage logs which helped me determine 100% and beyond any shadow of a doubt in my mind that the problem is with the g3 and not the drives.

        I am returning the g3 and keeping the drives. I am convinced and not swaying. Got it?

        *If the ssd fails on s12, I promise to create a post solely focused on THAT issue and will provide full error logs for anyone interested and admit I was wrong but still just trying to learn.

        **another approach: what errors would you expect to see if there was an issue with the usb bus providing power? What errors would you expect to see if there was an issue with the usb drives themselves? Then check those results gainst the fact there were no errors. What does that imply?

        ***maybe we are thinking the same thing: the issue IS with power and in this case the power comes from g3. I admit it is possible that the drives would work with a powered hub. I don’t have one. I am going to try to see if s12 will support these drives without a powered hub before I invest in one. From my point of view: the issue is with g3 because it’s not supporting the drives, but that might be the misconception that I will unlearn during this process of reeducation.

        **** one more level deeper, if what justpassingby says is true and the GMK can only support 5 watts per usb port, what happens when the ssd device draws a current greater than 1 amp? What about when two do it atthe same time? That is what I believe is happening. The g3 looks to support 20 W / 4 on the usb ports based on justpassingby. The raspberry pi 5 does 45W / 6 peripheral ports and this is the reason why the pi 5 did not drop the ssd and G3plus did; for this application pi 5 >>> g3plus for that reason. The only info I can find on beelink s12 is 25W max and 5W idle, no idea what is allocated to the usb ports but WE WILL SOON SEE. The snag with pi 5 was with the os and python version not being consistent for HA (I believe). I am hoping for the result s12 > pi 5 >>> g3plus.