Will SpinRite 6.1 Have Improved USB Support?
Sadly: NO, it will not.
Anyone expecting/hoping for improved USB support in SpinRite 6.1 will be disappointed.
USB support in SpinRite 6.1 will be the same as in its venerable predecessor, SpinRite 6.0: Via the BIOS.
As a result:
USB support will be limited to only what the BIOS can see and access, which will often vary from system to system. Many systems will only be able to see the USB boot drive. The BIOS is the “authority” here.
Therefore:
USB support in SR 6.1 is and will forever be:
- Typically limited to only the USB drive(s) the BIOS can see and access
- With s-l-o-w scan speeds due to BIOS I/O speed limitations
- Subject to keyboard unresponsiveness during scans (when a USB keyboard and the USB drive being scanned are on the same USB controller)
- Often confusing
- Often problematic
- And DEFINITELY NOT FIXABLE!
Accessible BIOS drives will typically be limited to just the first 2.2 TB of capacity, with the exception of the rare BIOS that is able to access additional capacity. And . . . scan times for TB size drives will be very, VERY l-o-n-g due to the BIOS I/O (slow) speed limitation.
Edit 05-14-2024: Note: When running in VirtualBox, VB's BIOS will be able to reliably access all of a USB drives capacity.
Thanks to Scott for this tip: https://forums.grc.com/threads/how-...uefi-only-machine-part-1-of-5.1613/post-12416
This will not change until SR 7, when native USB driver support will resolve all of these issues.
Thus USB support in SpinRite 6.1 should be considered a NO GO in most cases.
Sadly: NO, it will not.
Anyone expecting/hoping for improved USB support in SpinRite 6.1 will be disappointed.
USB support in SpinRite 6.1 will be the same as in its venerable predecessor, SpinRite 6.0: Via the BIOS.
As a result:
USB support will be limited to only what the BIOS can see and access, which will often vary from system to system. Many systems will only be able to see the USB boot drive. The BIOS is the “authority” here.
Therefore:
USB support in SR 6.1 is and will forever be:
- Typically limited to only the USB drive(s) the BIOS can see and access
- With s-l-o-w scan speeds due to BIOS I/O speed limitations
- Subject to keyboard unresponsiveness during scans (when a USB keyboard and the USB drive being scanned are on the same USB controller)
- Often confusing
- Often problematic
- And DEFINITELY NOT FIXABLE!
Accessible BIOS drives will typically be limited to just the first 2.2 TB of capacity, with the exception of the rare BIOS that is able to access additional capacity. And . . . scan times for TB size drives will be very, VERY l-o-n-g due to the BIOS I/O (slow) speed limitation.
Edit 05-14-2024: Note: When running in VirtualBox, VB's BIOS will be able to reliably access all of a USB drives capacity.
Thanks to Scott for this tip: https://forums.grc.com/threads/how-...uefi-only-machine-part-1-of-5.1613/post-12416
This will not change until SR 7, when native USB driver support will resolve all of these issues.
Thus USB support in SpinRite 6.1 should be considered a NO GO in most cases.
