Category Archives: Recent Activity

Benchmarking, Cool Tools, Hardware Reviews, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

P360 Ultra Gets Second NVMe

October 5, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

A couple of days ago, I praised the interior design of the Lenovo P360 Ultra SFF PC (link). I just had to remove the GPU to access the second NVMe slot on an Asrock B500 Extreme4 motherboard last week. Let’s just say it wasn’t incredibly easy (and some expletives were involved). That really made me appreciate an install that required less than two minutes all the way around. But now that the P360 Ultra gets second NVMe, I want to report on the results.

When P360 Ultra Gets Second NVMe, Speed Abounds

What you see as the lead graphic for this story is a pair of CrystalDiskMark results. To the left, the internal C: furnished with the PC (a Samsung 1TB OEM drive: MSVL21T0HCLR). To the right, the internal D: I installed (WD Black SN850).

First, let’s look at those results. The Samsung drive enjoys an 18% edge on the sequential read (queue depth 32, single thread) and a 33% gain on random read (queue depth 1, single thread). The WD Black comes out ahead on all other readings.

That’s not surprising, given that the WD Black SN850 is a newer, more capable drive. But those results also speak to the notion that one should definitely populate open NVMe slots if speedy storage is helpful to the workloads a PC must handle.

Same WD Black drive in a USB4 external NVMe enclosure: much slower.

Internal vs. External NVMe

The preceding screengrab shows CrystalDiskMark results for the same drive, but housed in an external NVMe enclosure. It happens to be a USB4 enclosure, and represents as much speed as I’ve been able to get from an external NVMe drive. It’s significantly slower across the board, but still not bad.

If I drop the same drive down to a USB 3.1 enclosure, it runs at standard UASP speeds (at or under 1000 in the top 4 cells). Interestingly the bottom four cells don’t change much for either USB4 or USB3.1. Backup speeds don’t change that much, either. That’s why I’m not convinced the USB4 enclosure is worth a $100 premium (it improves backup speeds by 30 seconds, give or take).

One More Thing…

If you’re buying an NVMe drive for an external enclosure, there’s no need to spend big on a fast, capable storage device. It won’t be able to run full out because the USB link (either 3 or 4) can’t keep up with top-end NVMe speeds. As the preceding CrystalDiskMark chart shows, you can’t come near the 6-7 GBps or so performance that top-end NVMes deliver these days.

On the other hand, if you’re going to put that device into an M.2 slot INSIDE the PC or laptop, that’s a whole ‘nother story. Then, you should buy as fast as you can stand to pay for — assuming, that is, that the PC or laptop can make full use of those capabilities.

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Advanced Sharing Settings Leaves Control Panel

October 4, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Here’s an interesting observation. It’s consistent with Microsoft’s long-term migration of functions from Control Panel into the Settings app. I first noticed it on the P360 Ultra (running version 22H2). And I just confirmed it — and took the lead-in screencap — on an X380 running Dev Channel build 25211.1010. Indeed, it shows that Advanced Sharing Settings leaves Control Panel, and runs within the Settings app.

Why Advanced Sharing Settings Leaves Control Panel

As a further point of confirmation, if you click “Change advanced sharing settings” in Control Panel in 22H2 versions, the old control is nowhere in evidence. It now opens the Settings-based pane instead. Looks like this functionality is entirely gone from Control Panel now.

On the plus side, you can expand all three types of sharing options (Private, Guest or Public, and All Networks) at the same time. That’s what’s showing in the lead-in screencap, in fact.

Looking at the old-style Control Panel equivalent in Windows 10 right now, the functionality of old (CP-based) and new (Settings-based) incarnations seems otherwise unchanged.

Could This Change Be News to Some?

Here’s where things get interesting. I searched Google for “advanced sharing settings now in Settings app.” I see no mention of this move online anywhere just yet. I must admit, it came as a surprise to me, too.

It does not apply to Windows 10 at all, nor to Windows 11 21H2 or earlier versions (I checked). Feel free to check your own installations. If you see anything interesting — or different from what I’m reporting here — please post a comment.

But time marches on. And so, apparently, also does the steady migration of functionality from Control Panel to the Settings app. What’s next, I wonder…

Hardware Reviews, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

P360 Ultra Is Beautiful Inside

October 3, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Holy mackerel! I just popped open the Lenovo P360 Ultra to check out its interior. I’m completely blown away. Starting with a protracted period for Tom’s Hardware in the early 2000s, I built and reviewed several dozen PCs for them. Over the years, I’ve laid hands on the insides of dozens of other PCs, and as many laptops. When I say the P360 Ultra is beautiful inside, I mean it. I’ve never seen a PC — full-sized or SFF — as well engineered for easy interior access as this one.

What P360 Ultra Is Beautiful Inside Means

The only tool I had to use when accessing anything inside the P360 Ultra was a pair of needle-nosed pliers. But a pen would have done just as well. To mount a second NVMe SSD, I had to pop a retaining clip. It required modest, well-directed force, but was easy to do.

The unit opens easily with a single lever release on the back. That release is boxed in red in the lead-in graphic for this story. Pull it down, and use it to pull the interior free of the case. That’s it.

Inside the case, customers have easy and immediate access to two of its four SODIMM memory slots. Getting to the SSD cooler is equally easy. There’s a nice YouTube video that takes a visual tour of the whole interior. Better still, Lenovo has a whole series of maintenance videos that show all the important stuff, item by item.

Where Did I Just Go Inside the P360?

I checked out all the stops along the way. Indeed, it would be dead easy to add two more memory modules to the current configuration (which has a single 32GB SODIMM). I popped up the cooler from the SSD area with a single catch release. I watched the Lenovo video to learn how to release the retaining pin from the second, open SSD slot. Then I inserted the WD Black SN850 I bought last week, returning the retaining pin into its closed position and buttoned the case back up.

The cooler that covers the side-by-side SSD slots comes loose with a single catch (fingertip barely showing at mid right). Pop the clip, drop in the drive, and repeat in reverse. Took me about 30 seconds, all told.

I’m happy to report that new drive came up instantly on the next reboot. The BIOS obligingly beeped to let me know something had changed, but the whole process was dead easy. Tomorrow, I’ll write about the amazing results from using the WD Black drive internally.

A Usability Triumph

As I said earlier, I’ve stuck my hands in a lot of PCs and laptops. That includes numerous SFF PCs, of which I’ve built several for use here at Chez Tittel. My wife uses a Dell 7080 Micro as her daily beater, in fact. I’ve NEVER seen a PC as well engineered for access and upgrade as this one. It’s amazing. Watch the aforelinked videos; you’ll see exactly what I mean. Astounding!!

My hat’s off to the P360 engineering team. While they marvel at my bald, gleaming head, I’m still marveling at their great work.

Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Networking, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Advanced IP Scanner Worth Using

September 30, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

For years now, I’ve been a huge fan of Nir Sofer’s software tools. Along the way, I’ve often used his NetBIOS Scanner (NetBScanner). It shows me which IP addresses Windows PCs occupy. Two weeks ago, I noticed PatchMyPC supports a tool named Advanced IP Scanner. I’ve now tried it out. I can say I totally find Advanced IP Scanner worth using. It appears as this story’s lead graphic, in fact.

This NetBScanner output shows only Windows and other devices with NetBIOS names; Advanced IP Scanner (top) shows EVERYTHING IP.

If Advanced IP Scanner Worth Using, What About NetBScanner?

Once I started using the former, I immediately saw the limitations of the latter. Simply put, NetBScanner shows only 8 entries; Advanced IP scanner shows 18. It even includes devices that lack NetBIOS names but participate in the LAN (e.g. my ASUS WAP, my thermostats, and my TV). Better still, it shows the IP addresses that some of my PCs (laptops, mostly) use for Wi-Fi and GbE, along with which one is live at present and which one is unused (e.g. X380).

There’s more: as I was troubleshooting my PING and RDP issues earlier this week, I learned to make use of the right-click tools it offers for devices whose IP addresses it shows. You can access its maker’s own Radmin utility to jump directly into its version of remote administration of anything showing.

To me, though, the right-click Tools menu is both interesting and helpful. Shown above this paragraph, it lets you run a variety of commands in a cmd.exe window against the highlighted item. I used it to run PING tests point-to-point on my LAN and eventually got everything working. It also turns out to be a handy way to launch RDP as well.

Remember: Cools Tools Rule

I’ve come to like this free, informative and easy-to-use utility enough to add it to my top tier Windows tools collection. I call these “Cool Tools.” For me, they are essential items in my administration and troubleshooting toolbox. If you try Advanced IP Scanner out, I predict you’ll want to add it to your lineup, too.

Cool Tools, Hardware Reviews, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Docking Discrete GPU Laptops Trick

September 27, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Inquiring minds want to understand how to get the best graphics performance when using a multi-purpose, high-bandwidth connection. Yes, I’m talking about a Thunderbolt 4 dock (like the CalDigit TS4 or the Belkin Pro Thunderbolt 4). Turns out there’s BIOS tweak involved: it’s my “docking discrete GPU laptops trick.”

OK, What Is the Docking Discrete GPU Laptops Trick?

By default, most dual-GPU laptops run in dual or hybrid graphics mode. That is, they use the built-in GPU unless a specific application requires or prioritizes the discrete GPU. When running on battery, in fact, they only use the built-in GPU unless forced to use the discrete GPU instead, to extend runtime.

My trick comes in at the BIOS level. Thus, for example, the Lenovo P16 Mobile Workstation, has a BIOS setting under Config → Graphics Device. It takes possible values of Hybrid Graphics (the default) or Discrete Graphics (the alternate). If you switch from the default to the alternate, the laptop always uses the discrete GPU to drive display outputs.

When using a dock, one is perforce plugged in for power (either separately, or through the dock itself, which has its own heavy-duty external power supply/brick). That means it’s safe to use the more power-hungry (but also, more capable) discrete GPU to drive two or more displays.

For Thunderbolt 4, docks are limited to a single 8K display or dual 4K displays (usually via DisplayPort, aka DP, and/or USB-C). So far, I have found this connection to work indistinguishably from my production desktop. It’s got an Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti with dual DP Dell UltraSharp 2717 2K monitors attached. The docks drive the same outputs equally well.

Uh-Oh: Must I Raise My Display Ante?

Right now, I can’t really drive the graphics end of things to the level where it would stress Thunderbolt 4. I’m wondering if that means I need to buy up, and replace my 2017 vintage monitors with something like the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE. At US$600 and up, two of those would sting the bank account a bit (its stunning display serves as the lead-in graphic for this story). But it may be time for a display refresh here at Chez Tittel, so to speak.

Let me check with “The Boss” (wife, Dina) and get back to you on that…

Device drivers, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11, Windows Update

Windows Upgrades Bring New Drivers

September 23, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Whenever one upgrades a Windows installation, the installer locates and installs a new slate of drivers by default. There are ways to overcome this by customizing the Windows install image (with DISM, for example). But I was forcibly reminded that Windows Upgrades bring new drivers. It happened two days ago when the Installation Assistant took the P360 Ultra to Windows 11 22H2.

Fortunately, I knew how to fix this. Because the latest Nvidia driver is the culprit, I simply switched to Intel UHD graphics. This took me from a black screen to working graphics output. I’ll roll back the affected driver this weekend. That will put things back to rights.

Showing Windows Upgrades Bring New Drivers

I had to roll back the Nvidia driver on the P360 Ultra to get the RTX A2000 GPU to work. That’s because there is a known issue with all drivers newer than 30.0.15.1165, as I learned from Lenovo’s engineering folks last week (see this Sept 16 item for details).

I’m a big fan of the GitHub DriverStore Explorer project (aka RAPR.exe). As you can see from the following screen snippet, there’s an older INF file on the U360 Ultra for my proper target version (30.0.15.1165). But alas, DevMgr won’t roll back to that version (I think it’s because the older version is a Quadro/Studio driver, while the new, in-place version is a Game-ready driver).

RAPR confirms that the new version is installed, and shows the old version, too. [Click image, then zoom to 200%.]

Luckily I still have the Lenovo update package that they provided. As its Properties window shows, file m3vdo008d.exe is exactly what I need. I know from recent experience – the first time I fixed this gotcha – that I can simply install this exe file, and it will replace the buggy new driver with the stable, working older driver. Sometimes, one has to run the Driver Display Uninstall (DDU) tool to completely remove all traces of the new, before installing the old. That’s NOT the case here, I’m happy to say.

If I install this older driver, I can then use the Nvidia GPU without problems.

How Driver Trouble Happens During Upgrade

If a particular PC needs an older (or non-current) driver, Windows isn’t smart enough to steer around such potholes. As soon as I upgraded this PC, I knew I was going to have to fix the automatic update it would make to the latest (and incorrect) Nvidia driver. Sometimes, that’s the kind of thing you need to watch out for when upgrading Windows. Consider yourself notified, if not warned!

Device drivers, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Updates, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Thunderbolt Software Upgrade Strategy

September 22, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

At first I thought “Catch-22.” Those using PCs old enough to run Intel’s Thunderbolt Software have reason to ponder Heller’s famous catch. An updated replacement — namely, Thunderbolt Control Center — is available from the Microsoft Store. But if you run Thunderbolt Software, it doesn’t show up there. Nor is there an easy upgrade path. That’s why, in fact, I had to come with a Thunderbolt Software upgrade strategy.

Finding a Thunderbolt Software Upgrade Strategy

All I can say is “I got lucky.” I chose as my search string to dig into this topic “Thunderbolt Software vs. Thunderbolt Control Center.” It immediately struck gold in a Forum post from Mac/PC oriented website egpu.io. There, those same terms appeared in inverted order.

There’s a trick involved in making this upgrade. It works as follows: if one downloads newer DCH drivers for the Thunderbolt device in DevMgr → System Devices, updating that driver causes Windows 11 (or 10, for that matter) to update the related software automatically. It’s actually pretty easy. I’m going to upgrade my remaining holdover system (one of my Lenovo X380 Yogas, acquired in late 2018) and take you through the steps involved.

NOTE:For a Thunderbolt device to show up in DevMgr, you may need to plug in an actual Thunderbolt or USB4 device. That’s what I had to do on each of my three 2018 vintage systems that needed this upgrade.

Making the Transition, Step-by-Step

Step 1: Visit this Intel Download page and download the ZIP file available there. Don’t be put off by the NUC notation: I’ve run in on a Yoga 380 and an X1 Extreme, and it worked on both systems. It seems to work on any Intel Thunderbolt controller.

Step 2: Unzip the file into a target directory. I named mine TBdev to make it easy to identify.

Contents of the ZIP file in the V:\TBdev folder. The INF folder is where the action will be.

Step 3: Open DevMgr, navigate to the Thunderbolt controller, right-click, and pick “Update driver.” In the resulting pop-up window, pick “Browse my computer for drivers “(lower item). Browse to your TBdev\INF folder, as shown here, then click “Next.”

Click “Next” and the driver should update itself from the various files in the INF folder.

If this process succeeds, you’ll see something like the following Window appear.

Guess what? If this worked, you’re finished. Windows will now visit the MS Store on its own and install the Thunderbolt Control Center app for you. Until you next reboot your PC, you’ll see both the old software and the new side-by-side if you type “Thu” into the Windows 11 (or 10) search box:

Old (Thunderbolt software) on the left, new (Thunderbolt Control Center) on the right. Only TCC will work, tho…

After the next reboot, Thunderbolt Software no longer appears. Case closed!

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

P16 Safeguard Hold Blocks Windows11 22H2

September 21, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

When the news hit yesterday that the gradual rollout for Windows 11 22H2 was underway, I had a feeling… I’m someone who’s perpetually or chronically excluded from the first round of many new Windows releases or features. And so it was for my brand spanking new Lenovo P16 Gen1 Mobile Workstation. Because a P16 Safeguard Hold blocks Windows11 22H2, it gets the “coming soon” message shown in the lead-in graphic. Sigh: here I go again.

If P16 Safeguard Hold Blocks Windows11 22H2, Then What?

Wait for MS to lift the hold, and check the other machines. My two- week-old Lenovo P360 Ultra didn’t even get the “coming soon” message. Those are both 12th Gen i9 CPU based machines. Right now, I’m checking my Lenovo Yoga 7i (11th Gen i7) and X1 Carbon (8th Gen i7) PCs. So far, neither has gotten the offer either. That still leaves the Ryzen 5800X build upstairs to check, but I think I know what I’ll find…

That said, the MS Download Windows 11 page is already offering ISOs for 22H2. I can force the upgrade if WU isn’t offering and it’s not on Safeguard Hold status. That describes 4 of my 5 PCs running Windows 11 21H2 right now. I’ll have to think about what I want to do with them, item-by-item.

For those who want to push the boundaries, MS also makes 22H2 ISOs available for download. [Click image for full-sized view.]

What’s Next, at Chez Tittel?

Right now, I’m standing pat. I’ve got a couple of other projects underway. I want to make progress on those, and then I’ll start thinking about which PCs to advance to 22H2, and which to leave alone. Given that the P16 is on Safeguard Hold, I’ll wait on that one. But as a straight-up test machine, I’ll probably push the P360 Ultra forward first. The others will vary (I use the X1 Carbon as a road PC, so I’m not inclined to push that one forward ahead of its time).

Stay tuned! I’ll keep you posted as things develop. It’s all fun, all the time, here in Windows World.

Note Added 1 Hour Later

I just force-upgraded the Lenovo Yoga 7i to 22H2 (11th gen i5-1135G7, 12GB RAM, 500 GB Samsung OEM NVMe SSD). Despite downloading via Wi-Fi, the whole process using the Windows 11 Update Assistant took under 18 minutes to complete. I see no errors in DevMgr either. So far, so good…

Note Added End of Day (?5? hours later)

I have now also force-upgraded the P360 Ultra and the Ryzen 5800X builds. Because the Nvidia driver was auto-updated during the upgrade (and I already know that’s a non-starter) I had to switch over to the built-in Intel UHD 770. I’ll have to roll back the Nvidia driver again to get the discrete GPU working. Again, I used the Upgrade Assistant.

For the 5800X I downloaded an ISO file, mounted it, then ran setup.exe from the root of that virtual drive. Took a bit longer to download, but was also a pretty quick install. So that’s 3 PCs upgraded today without too much drama or drivel.

Benchmarking, Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Uncategorized, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Thinking About Windows 10/11 SSDs

September 20, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I’m still busy benchmarking away on the two Thunderbolt4/USB4 PCs that Lenovo has recently sent my way. But as I’ve been doing so, I’ve been thinking about Windows 10/11 SSDs in general. On that path, I’ve realized certain principles that I’d like to share with you, dear readers.

I’m spurred in part to these statements from a sponsored (and pretty contrived) story from MSPowerUser entitled “Is NVMe a Good Choice for Gamers?” My instant response, without reading the story — which actually focuses on storage media beyond the boot/system drive — was “Yes, as much as you can afford.” Spoiler alert: that’s what the story says, too.

Where Thinking About Windows 10/11 SSDs Leads….

Here are some storage media principles that flow from making the most of a new PC investment.

The more you spend on a PC, the more worthwhile it is to also spend more on NVMe storage.
Right now, PCIe Gen4 drives run about 2X the speed of PCIe Gen3 drives. They don’t cost quite twice as much. Simple economics says: buy the fastest NVMe technology your PC will support.
Buy as much NVMe storage as you can afford (or force yourself to spend). For pre-built PCs and laptops, you may want to buy NVMe on the aftermarket, rather than get the drives pre-installed. Markup on NVMe drives can be painful. Hint: I use Tom’s Hardware to keep up with price/performance info on NVMe SSDs and other PC components (it’s also the source for the lead-in graphic for this story, which still prominently displays the now-passe Intel Optane as an SSD option. Caveat emptor!).
Corollary to the preceding point: fill every M.2 slot you can in your build. For both my recent Lenovo loaners — the P360 Ultra and the P16 Mobile Workstation — that means populating both slots with up to 4TB each. Right now, the Kingston KC3000 looks like a 4TB best buy of sorts.

Thinking Further (and Outside the Box)

More thoughts in this vein, with an eye toward external drives and multi-tiered storage (archives and extra backups):

If you’re going to put an NVMe SSD in an external enclosure, you will be OK for the time being in a USB 3.2 rather than a USB 4 enclosure. Right now, the newer enclosures cost more than twice as much but don’t deliver anywhere near 2x the speed (except on synthetic benchmarks — I used C: imaging times as a more reliable indicator). Over time this will no doubt change, and I’ll keep an eye on that, too.
I don’t consider spinners (conventional mechanical hard disk drives, or HDDs) any more, except for archival and inactive storage. If I need something for work or play, it goes on an SSD. If I might need something, someday (or to restore same) then it’s ok on an HDD.

I used to restrain spending on NVMe SSDs because of its high price differential. I’m now inclined to believe that restraint is a false economy and forces less productivity as a result. That’s why I’m rethinking my philosophy. I haven’t quite yet gotten to Les Blanc’s famous dictum (“Spend It All”) but I am coming around to “Spend As Much as You Can”…

Remember This Fundamental Assumption, Tho…

My reasoning aims at high-end PCs where users run data-, graphics-, and/or compute-intensive workloads. It does not apply, therefore, to home, hobbyist, and low-end office users. For them typical productivity apps (e.g. MS Office or equivalent), email, web browsing and so forth predominate. They wouldn’t need, nor benefit much from, buying lots of fast NVMe storage. That said, a 1 TB fast-as-possible NVMe for the boot/system drive is the baseline. Other storage options will balance themselves against budget to dictate other choices and PC builds for such users.

In different terms, if you’re not maxing out your PC running data analytics, 3D models and other high-end graphics rendering, or AI or machine learning stuff, this advice is most likely overkill. Too, too costly. But for this user community, more spent on NVMe (and GPUs and memory as well) will repay itself with increased productivity. ‘Nuff said.

Cool Tools, Hardware Reviews, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Lenovo P16 Gen1 Gets Unboxed

September 19, 2022 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Just over a month ago, I reached out to my contacts at Lenovo. I’d been wanting to lay hands on some newer PCs so I could dig into Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 to understand its workings. A couple of weeks ago, I received a P360 Ultra SFF PC equipped with 2 each TB4/USB4 ports. Last Friday, unannounced and unexpected, another so-endowed laptop arrived at my door. Here, I’ll report on my initial findings as this Lenovo P16 Gen1 gets unboxed and set up. It’s a doozy!

Details: Lenovo P16 Gen1 Gets Unboxed

I’ll provide a recitation of facts and figures for this powerful portable workstation PC. In fact, it’s the most expensive personal computer I’ve ever worked on. Indeed, its website price, as configured, is a staggering US$9,719! It’s a big heavy sucker, too: 30.23mm x 364mm x 266mm / 1.2″ x 14.3″ x 10.5″, and 6.6 lbs/3.0 kg.

Here’s a selective list of what’s inside this beast of a Widows 11 Pro laptop. (Find all details on its product page under “Tech Specs”):

CPU: i9-12950HX (16 cores, 24 threads)
RAM: 128 GB (4 x 32GB 4800 MHz DDR5)
GPU (built-in): Intel UHD 770
GPU (discrete): Nvidia RTX A5500 (16 GB VRAM)
Display: 16.0″ WQUXGA (3840×2400) OLED touchscreen
SSD: 2 TB Kioxia KXG7APNV2T04 (PCIe 4.0 Gen4 NVMe)
Biometrics: Fingerprint reader and Hello IR Camera

As cool and impressive as all this stuff is — and it is all that for sure — the real reason I’m using this monster appears in the next image, enumerating the unit’s various ports:

My real reason for using this laptop is item 10, boxed in red.
[Click image for full-sized view.]

I’m jazzed, of course, by the panoply of features and stuff on this giant luggable PC. But I’m most interested in working with its two rear USB-C ports, both of which support Thunderbolt4 and USB4. And indeed, I’ve confirmed that both work as claimed. That’s not always the easiest or most obvious thing, as I’ll explain next.

Getting to TB4/USB4

As I’m learning, it takes some diligence to get either or both of these fast bus technologies to work. The PC port has to support these technologies, as does the target device, and the cable between the two. This is not always the easiest thing in the word to ensure or arrange. But as the following screenshot shows, I’ve gotten both working on the ThinkPad P16 Gen1 Mobile Workstation:

Intel TB Control Center: Above, the CalDigit TS4 dock; Below: an NVMe drive inside the Konyead USB4 enclosure.
[Click image for full-sized view.]

Both TB4 and USB4 remain cutting edge connection types. Everything about them is expensive right now. The CalDigit TS4 dock goes for over US$350 when you can find one for sale. The Konyead M.2 USB4 enclosure costs US$130, which is about what I paid for the Sabrent 1TB Rocket 4 Plus I put inside.

And then, one MUST use TB4/USB4 cables which aren’t cheap either (I got mine with the CalDigit) but they routinely go for US$20-40 for 1 M. Cables are not always well-labeled. It’s a good idea to go for those explicitly specced out for 40Gpbs data and marked as such. I’ve had lots of interesting issues from using lower-spec cables. Mostly, USB4/TB4 simply doesn’t work as promised and the device drops to UASP/USB 3.1/2 levels of performance.

Tomorrow, I’ll follow up and explain what all that means… Stay tuned!