Flash Drive was getting pretty hot

[TheLyppardMan]

I noticed that a few people on this forum have at times, mentioned that their flash drives have been getting hot. Mine was doing the same and as its only one of those very small SanDisk flash drives, I thought I perhaps ought to think of a way to stop it getting so hot. So what I did in the end was use a USB extension to move the flash drive further away from the USB socket on the router. It does seem to have made quite a difference. This is what it looks like:

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Invest in a nice quality SSD in an enclosure. Those don't get hot at all... Flashdrives aren't meant to operate with this kind of activity expected of them. This has been posted on the forums a bunch of times in the past... I'm using a Samsung 256GB SSD in a clear enclosure... I've posted the links to Amazon in the past... it's pretty darn cheap.

Oh here it is... hope those amazon links still work!

amtm - Segmentation Fault in AMTM

It's just a generic 8GB USB stick. I'm happy to just scrap it and use a new USB stick and start again from scratch. Highly recommend replacing it with a cheap SSD drive... they're better suited for work like this.

www.snbforums.com

 

[gk802]

If plugged in directly, they do get noticeably hot. I use extender cables. The vast majority of the heat seems to be conducted in from the router and not generated in the flash drive.

 

[Tech9]

USB sticks are made cheap now and die from wear, not only from overheating. SSD is better.

USB recommendations for Diversion / Skynet?

Looking for recommendations for USB drives to be used for scripts / swap running Diversion / Skynet on an AX86U pro. Not interested in anything large-ish, as I only use this drive for running the amtm scripts and not for NAS in any way. Try to keep my io to a minimum since it pushes the CPU so...

www.snbforums.com

 

[TheLyppardMan]

USB sticks are made cheap now and die from wear, not only from overheating. SSD is better.

USB recommendations for Diversion / Skynet?

Looking for recommendations for USB drives to be used for scripts / swap running Diversion / Skynet on an AX86U pro. Not interested in anything large-ish, as I only use this drive for running the amtm scripts and not for NAS in any way. Try to keep my io to a minimum since it pushes the CPU so...

www.snbforums.com

That would be difficult for me to do, as the router is wall-mounted, as in my photo in the OP and I wouldn't want to put the SSD above the ceiling (i.e., in the loft) as it gets pretty hot up there in the summer.

 

[bennor]

That would be difficult for me to do, as the router is wall-mounted, as in my photo in the OP and I wouldn't want to put the SSD above the ceiling (i.e., in the loft) as it gets pretty hot up there in the summer.

How would it be difficult to mount a SSD next to the router as indicated in your picture? All you would need to do is curve the USB cable 90 degrees and mount the SSD enclosure on the wall to the left (or right, or above, or below) the router. Example (not to scale):

PS: Or as someone else suggested previously, just use a short extender cable to move the USB flash drive away from the router.

 

[Tech9]

Seems like the beginning of new tinkering.

An end to tinkering?

I had some problems today with my Android phone's Wi-Fi connection and I tried everything I could think of but couldn't resolve it. What happened was this: I was getting some error messages about the connection when trying to use the Ookla app. Instead of the usual green, good to go screen, I...

www.snbforums.com

 

[TheLyppardMan]

How would it be difficult to mount a SSD next to the router as indicated in your picture? All you would need to do is curve the USB cable 90 degrees and mount the SSD enclosure on the wall to the left (or right, or above, or below) the router. Example (not to scale):

View attachment 59522

PS: Or as someone else suggested previously, just use a short extender cable to move the USB flash drive away from the router.

It may not be obvious from my photograph, but I am already using two extenders to move the USB drive about 4 cm away from the router.
Regarding the SSD drive enclosures, do they actually come with holes on the back to enable them to be wall-mounted?

 

[Crimliar]

Umm, no one else here have USB sticks with SSD controllers and Alu heatsinks on them????
*Some of these do need to be tested and work better in USB2 ports due to missing system drivers...

 

[Tech9]

They are much more expensive devices than popular around USB enclosure with SSD and don’t really solve the heat transfer issue.

 

[Crimliar]

The ones I have are a couple of years old, it does seem as though the GT-AX6000 does have the drivers to take advantage of them (plugged on in no crashes -yet!). For the specific usage, they could be a viable option, they're certainly not an everyday worthwhile proposition though, I'll give you that!

 

[bennor]

It may not be obvious from my photograph, but I am already using two extenders to move the USB drive about 4 cm away from the router.
Regarding the SSD drive enclosures, do they actually come with holes on the back to enable them to be wall-mounted?

Some USB drive enclosures are plastic, you could simply carefully drill a couple of holes for flat head mounting screws then use some dry wall ankers and mount the enclosure to the dry wall. If the flat head screws are metal, cover their heads with some electrical tape in case the SSD drive has exposed circuitry that might come into contact with the screw heads. Or use double-sided tape, or glue, or Velcro, or any other mounting method you can come up with to fix the enclosure to the wall.

Without knowing where your located, below are some Amazon links to one often mentioned SSD drive and enclosure and an example of a short USB extender.

Patriot Burst Elite 120GB Internal SSD - SATA 3 2.5" - Solid State Drive - PBE120GS25SSDR
ORICO 2.5'' External Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA III Tool-Free Clear Hard Disk Case for 2.5 inch 7mm 9.5mm SATA HDD SSD Max 6TB Support UASP(2139U3)

StarTech.com 6in Short USB 3.0 (5Gbps) Extension Adapter Cable (USB-A Male to USB-A Female) - USB 3.2 Gen1 Port Saver Cable - Black (USB3EXT6INBK)

Plenty of other extenders out there from 0.5 feet, to 1.5 feet, to 3 feet. All of which will get the USB flash drive away from the router.

Note that mounting a router up high next to a ceiling is placing it in a hotter/warmer area due to the natural effect of heat rising. Without room air circulation it is possible the heat from the router will stay up next to the ceiling making that entire area warmer.

 

[AntonK]

Some USB drive enclosures are plastic, you could simply carefully drill a couple of holes for flat head mounting screws then use some dry wall ankers and mount the enclosure to the dry wall. If the flat head screws are metal, cover their heads with some electrical tape in case the SSD drive has exposed circuitry that might come into contact with the screw heads. Or use double-sided tape, or glue, or Velcro, or any other mounting method you can come up with to fix the enclosure to the wall.

Without knowing where your located, below are some Amazon links to one often mentioned SSD drive and enclosure and an example of a short USB extender.

Patriot Burst Elite 120GB Internal SSD - SATA 3 2.5" - Solid State Drive - PBE120GS25SSDR
ORICO 2.5'' External Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA III Tool-Free Clear Hard Disk Case for 2.5 inch 7mm 9.5mm SATA HDD SSD Max 6TB Support UASP(2139U3)

StarTech.com 6in Short USB 3.0 (5Gbps) Extension Adapter Cable (USB-A Male to USB-A Female) - USB 3.2 Gen1 Port Saver Cable - Black (USB3EXT6INBK)

Plenty of other extenders out there from 0.5 feet, to 1.5 feet, to 3 feet. All of which will get the USB flash drive away from the router.

Note that mounting a router up high next to a ceiling is placing it in a hotter/warmer area due to the natural effect of heat rising. Without room air circulation it is possible the heat from the router will stay up next to the ceiling making that entire area warmer.

This basic Amazon search url may give you some ideas for wall mounting. There are plenty of other search strings that could be to get better results.

 

[Tech9]

Or use double-sided tape

Something tested - UniBond No More Nails Removable Strips:

@TheLyppardMan is in the UK, Amazon UK price, even on sale at the moment:

Work better on smoother surfaces, but will hold a light SSD enclosure securely and for a long time.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Some USB drive enclosures are plastic, you could simply carefully drill a couple of holes for flat head mounting screws then use some dry wall ankers and mount the enclosure to the dry wall. If the flat head screws are metal, cover their heads with some electrical tape in case the SSD drive has exposed circuitry that might come into contact with the screw heads. Or use double-sided tape, or glue, or Velcro, or any other mounting method you can come up with to fix the enclosure to the wall.

Without knowing where your located, below are some Amazon links to one often mentioned SSD drive and enclosure and an example of a short USB extender.

Patriot Burst Elite 120GB Internal SSD - SATA 3 2.5" - Solid State Drive - PBE120GS25SSDR
ORICO 2.5'' External Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA III Tool-Free Clear Hard Disk Case for 2.5 inch 7mm 9.5mm SATA HDD SSD Max 6TB Support UASP(2139U3)

StarTech.com 6in Short USB 3.0 (5Gbps) Extension Adapter Cable (USB-A Male to USB-A Female) - USB 3.2 Gen1 Port Saver Cable - Black (USB3EXT6INBK)

Plenty of other extenders out there from 0.5 feet, to 1.5 feet, to 3 feet. All of which will get the USB flash drive away from the router.

Note that mounting a router up high next to a ceiling is placing it in a hotter/warmer area due to the natural effect of heat rising. Without room air circulation it is possible the heat from the router will stay up next to the ceiling making that entire area warmer.

Would this UGREEN product be compatible with the Patriot Burst Elite SSD above (I've always found UGREEN to be good quality):

 

[bennor]

Would this UGREEN product be compatible with the Patriot Burst Elite SSD above (I've always found UGREEN to be good quality):

Yes it "should" work. Generally pretty much any 2.5 inch USB SATA enclosure should work with any 2.5 inch SATA SSD drive. You don't have to use that aforementioned Patriot SSD, that SSD and enclosure are just ones some people recommended. Many others use other brands of SSD drives and enclosures, likely most times without issue, with Asus routers. Quite a few don't over think it and likely just use what ever they have laying around unused or in their old parts bin and have few, if any, issues.

 

[DJones]

My usual investment on ssd or nvme is in the 1-2TB range so it kills me inside to waste money on anything less, but more space is also painful because I could use it in something more useful.

I have a bag full of cheap usb sticks so I’ll kill every single one of them before wasting money on a ssd since I’m not using the router for heavy logging or nas.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

My usual investment on ssd or nvme is in the 1-2TB range so it kills me inside to waste money on anything less, but more space is also painful because I could use it in something more useful.

I have a bag full of cheap usb sticks so I’ll kill every single one of them before wasting money on a ssd since I’m not using the router for heavy logging or nas.

I only mine for intermittent use by MerlinAU at the moment (I use my Synology Diskstation 218+ for storing most of our network data) so I might just leave things as they are for the moment, but if the flash drive fails at some point soon, I could perhaps consider one of the options that the kind folks on here have suggested.

 

[Tech9]

kills me inside to waste money on anything less

How much money are you going to waste?

 

[Viktor Jaep]

How much money are you going to waste?

View attachment 59628

A CHIPOTLE BURRITO + DRINK COSTS MORE THAN THIS!!!