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Verify USB/UASP mode in Mac OS X

Hi,


I would like to discern whether a connected USB hard-drive is using USB Attached SCSI transfer mode (UASP) or simply the old USB Mass Storage.


I have been googling and all I find is to check if IOUSBAttachedSCSI is enabled or IOUSBMassStorageClass... but both are at the same time.User uploaded file


Thanks in advance!


Víctor

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on May 3, 2014 12:24 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 12, 2014 12:07 PM

Hi,


In case anyone has the same question here is the best method I have found to check UASP mode. It involves executing ioreg command under terminal. The output of this command is massive so it is better if you redirect the output to a file and then open and inspect it separately:


ioreg > ~/Desktop/ioreg.txt


If you open the file, it is an ASCII build tree of devices. You need to inspect the file and search for IOUSBAttachedSCSI string. You may find a line like this:


| | | | +-o IOUSBAttachedSCSI <class IOUSBAttachedSCSI, id 0x100000d28, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (3800 ms), retain 9>


If you go a couple of lines above that line (within the same hierarchy) you should see what USB device this refers to... in my case:


| | | | +-o Neutrino U3+@15111000 <class IOUSBDevice, id 0x100000d22, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (3918 ms), retain 10>


The enclosure I wanted to test is in fact a Neutrino U3+ so now I know it is being driven via UAS Protocol.


In case the enclosure/drive does not support UASP you should see IOUSBMassStorageClass string.


| | | | +-o IOUSBMassStorageClass <class IOUSBMassStorageClass, id 0x1000006a9, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (3874 ms), retain 9>


Well, hope this clarifies the situation and you can unconditionally assess whether a USB drive is UASP ready or not.


Cheers,


Víctor

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 12, 2014 12:07 PM in response to Neneonline

Hi,


In case anyone has the same question here is the best method I have found to check UASP mode. It involves executing ioreg command under terminal. The output of this command is massive so it is better if you redirect the output to a file and then open and inspect it separately:


ioreg > ~/Desktop/ioreg.txt


If you open the file, it is an ASCII build tree of devices. You need to inspect the file and search for IOUSBAttachedSCSI string. You may find a line like this:


| | | | +-o IOUSBAttachedSCSI <class IOUSBAttachedSCSI, id 0x100000d28, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (3800 ms), retain 9>


If you go a couple of lines above that line (within the same hierarchy) you should see what USB device this refers to... in my case:


| | | | +-o Neutrino U3+@15111000 <class IOUSBDevice, id 0x100000d22, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (3918 ms), retain 10>


The enclosure I wanted to test is in fact a Neutrino U3+ so now I know it is being driven via UAS Protocol.


In case the enclosure/drive does not support UASP you should see IOUSBMassStorageClass string.


| | | | +-o IOUSBMassStorageClass <class IOUSBMassStorageClass, id 0x1000006a9, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (3874 ms), retain 9>


Well, hope this clarifies the situation and you can unconditionally assess whether a USB drive is UASP ready or not.


Cheers,


Víctor

Aug 10, 2016 2:01 PM in response to Neneonline

Hi,

Just tried to fin out if my external USB drives really use UASP on El Capitan.

Apparently on El Capitan the UASP driver has a new name "IOUSBMassStorageUASDriver" replacing the previous "IOUSBAttachedSCSI"


e.g.:

+-o IOUSBMassStorageUASDriver <class IOUSBMassStorageUASDriver, id 0x100000604, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (8345 ms), retain 9>


hope this is useful for someone


nm

Nov 29, 2015 12:46 AM in response to Neneonline

Nice find. A quick way to get that info, without reading through so many lines is this:


$ ioreg |egrep 'IOUSBAttachedSCSI|IOUSBDevice|IOUSBMassStorageClass'


It will only list the lines related to those USB entries, in my case:


| | | +-o HP HD Webcam@1d170000 <class IOUSBDevice, id 0x10000026f, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (72 ms), retain 12>

| | | | +-o IOUSBDeviceUserClientV2 <class IOUSBDeviceUserClientV2, id 0x100000398, !registered, !matched, active, busy 0, retain 7>

| | | +-o BCM20702A0@1d132000 <class IOUSBDevice, id 0x100000273, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (746 ms), retain 14>

| | | +-o Apple Keyboard@1d134200 <class IOUSBDevice, id 0x100000509, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (352 ms), retain 12>

| | | +-o Firebird USB Flash Drive@1d140000 <class IOUSBDevice, id 0x100000631, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (463 ms), retain 9>

| | | +-o IOUSBMassStorageClass <class IOUSBMassStorageClass, id 0x100000637, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (240 ms), retain 9>

Verify USB/UASP mode in Mac OS X

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