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A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

jeffgeerling.com

101–110 of 112 posts

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#101
post #35

A2 needs support in the Linux kernel. It's not there, yet. https://github.com/ThomasKaiser/Knowledge/blob/master/articl... "A2 promises even better performance with 4000/2000 read/write IOPS minimum but there's a problem since as outlined by the SD Association A2 cards show "much higher performance than A1 performance by using functions of Command Queuing and Cache". Cache and Command Queuing require host (driver) su…

So is there any kind of device able to use A2 cards at the rated performance yet? I can't get anything better on my Mac with multiple readers (USB 3.0 and 3.1), and I'm guessing if I tried on the reader in my 1 year old Dell XPS, I'd get the same. What good is a performance designation (A2) if no device in the real world supports it?

Assuming the cards with the A2 designation do actually support the claimed speeds, support will (eventually) be added, and the faster performance will be observed, on the Pi and other host devices.

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#102
post #35

A2 needs support in the Linux kernel. It's not there, yet. https://github.com/ThomasKaiser/Knowledge/blob/master/articl... "A2 promises even better performance with 4000/2000 read/write IOPS minimum but there's a problem since as outlined by the SD Association A2 cards show "much higher performance than A1 performance by using functions of Command Queuing and Cache". Cache and Command Queuing require host (driver) su…

Does anyone know if an improved Linux driver is in the works?

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#103

I'm surprised we haven't seen a smaller than M.2 form factor for SATA on embedded devices. It seems like the big limiter on devices like the Raspberry Pi and others are the sd cards/emmc modules, since the amount processing power and ram have been continually going up. If you need disk performance on the Pi 4, wouldn't it make more sense to only keep the kernel,initrd on the sdcard and mount the primary filesystem of…

SATA DOM can get pretty tiny, https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SI...

Raspberry Pi has supported direct USB boot on most boards for a while now (Pi 4 awaiting a boot firmware update), no need to also use a uSD.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who had a nightmare experience trying to use the ClearFog Pro as a router :).

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#104
post #90
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and phones also don't suffer from sudden power outages Perhaps you have never dropped your phone, but in my experience, on a dropped phone the battery cover and the battery often go flying.

I will say that at least most flagship phones these days have internal batteries.

Flagships have been skyrocketing in price and are losing marketshare to the midrange segment, which almost always has removable storage, and often has a swappable battery.

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SD 7.0 standard includes support for PCIe and NVMe. https://www.sdcard.org/press/SD_EXPRESS_A_REVOLUTIONARY_INNO...

Good chance that doesn't trickle down to the microSD interface; it seems like the best performance improvements are reserved for the full-size SD cards, likely because they can fit more thermal mass and connection pins in the larger case.

Actually the microSD Express spec was announced recently.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/2/25/18239558/m...

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#106
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can standard microSD's survive standard reflow soldering? I wouldn't think they survive, but would be nice.

Unfortunately I have not found microSDs suitable for reflow soldering. Typically one uses eMMCs instead, which are very similar, but has a much higher price (and reliability).

I'm surprised that eMMC hasn't seen more of a price drop off like SSDs, mSD and other flash storage. The OrangePi PC+ does include 8GB of eMMC, but I think that was the largest they could get for a cheap price...

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#107
post #34
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

General practice in embedded is to avoid writing to disk as much as possible. Data collection is mostly done by sending it to the cloud for storage there. However 'edge processing' and 'edge storage' are hot topics, so there will probably be more work in this area. Some of the surveillance camera vendors are showing interest in this, since it would be beneficial to reduce data needed to be sent. Especially since vast…

Many embedded applications are also not particularly form-factor constrained. A good security camera lens is often easily bigger than a couple of 2.5" hard-drives and a medium sized single-board computation. Heck, just wiring boxes for an industrial sensor system, are can often bigger than 10s of 3.5" disks.

Heat and power (think PoE class) are other constraints to take into consideration.

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#108
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, only noname and Sandisk cards have given up the ghost on me. Samsung Pro & Evo cards have been doing just fine. Other than that, you just need to worry about getting proper power. Just use the official power supplies, and you're fine. Also eMMC chips are no magic. There are crappy ones and good ones. Guess which ones you're going to get for little money?

Proper power is essential. A phone charger is not a power supply even though it works. I suspect a lot of SD cards are getting undeserved blame from a PSU issue.

Not having a proper power supply is my only pi related regret. Thing would freeze every once in a while. That since stopped happening, and the only change in-between (beside updates) was the initial used charger dying.

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#109
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK has to do that because the fastest widely-deployed internet connections available are VDSL2. DSL connections in general are relatively unreliable, and speeds vary wildly depending on a variety of factors, most importantly the length of the cable between you and your cabinet/exchange. Australian folks may chime in here with tales of their DSL connections dropping out during heavy rain, when their telephone junc…

On the flip side, in the early 2000s Bellsouth (now AT&T) deployed FTTP in much of the Southeast and would convert that to ADSL to plug into existing house POTS wiring. It was sold as ADSL at 12mb/s. There was literally no other internet option available from them at the time either.

And here I am, an hour ouside the city and would gladly pay 150/mo for half that. But noone can, or cares to, deliver.

Re: A2-class microSD cards offer no better performance for the Raspberry Pi

#110
post #35

A2 needs support in the Linux kernel. It's not there, yet. https://github.com/ThomasKaiser/Knowledge/blob/master/articl... "A2 promises even better performance with 4000/2000 read/write IOPS minimum but there's a problem since as outlined by the SD Association A2 cards show "much higher performance than A1 performance by using functions of Command Queuing and Cache". Cache and Command Queuing require host (driver) su…

So is there any kind of device able to use A2 cards at the rated performance yet? I can't get anything better on my Mac with multiple readers (USB 3.0 and 3.1), and I'm guessing if I tried on the reader in my 1 year old Dell XPS, I'd get the same. What good is a performance designation (A2) if no device in the real world supports it?

You will probably need a true SD/MMC controller to use any "new" commands, such as a smartphone or embedded target (such as the RPi). USB or other bridges used on notebooks are unlikely to have support for it (especially as they convert MMC/SD to a USB-storage class device)
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