External Storage for macOS - Crucial X8 2TB - Use APFS

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

I recently upgraded from my external 1TB storage to Crucial X8 2TB and immediately began having recording issues. Basically, recordings looked good for 3-5 minutes, and then would severely stutter or freeze after that. I assumed this Crucial X8 2TB storage just wasn't up for the job, but it didn't make sense because the throughput of the recordings wasn't even close to the max bandwidth on the device.

I currently run macOS 13.2.1 on a macMini M1. I'm running a beta version of Channels DVR (2023.03.02.2150), but have almost always been running the beta version without issues on previous storage.

My previous storage was an external UGREEN NMVe enclosure with 1TB Intel 660p NMVe. Connection is via USB-C. It ran warm when recording a few streams, but I never had issues except for lack of space.

My current storage is an external Crucial X8 2TB device. Connection is also via USB-C. Drive comes pre-formatted in ExFAT, and Crucial has several recommendations and FAQs to keep it that way to optimize the drive - even for macOS users.

In the end, after trying several things, I went ahead and re-formatted the drive to APFS. Not only is my Channels DVR performing wonderfully for recording/playback, I can see that the drive access speed has substantially increased - using BlackMagic Disk Speed Test.

My suggestion would be to use APFS for your external storage on macOS if you start notice recording stutters or if you are setting up a new external drive. I'm guessing this same thing would apply to the Crucial X6 storage. Device is a little smaller and also has slower max speeds - theoretically still much faster than anything you'd be recording with Channels DVR.

#2

Great info, thanks for sharing.

I've heard specifically that APFS is ideal for SSD drives, and that old-school "spinning disk" HDD's are better off left as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)." At least that's been working fine on my 10TB and 12TB Western Digital EasyStore drives...

2 Likes
#3

I'm sure that's only for compatibility reasons (lowest common denominator among host devices).
I'm with you and would never use ExFat for anything but small USB thumb drives,

#4

Is that a Mac-specific thing? I use exFAT on all my disks and never had any issues on any platform.

1 Like
#5

I prefer to use stable native filesystems for my devices and use networl protocols to transfer files if necessary. I gave up on FAT and ExFAT because of lost clusters and chains back when I started using Windows ME.

"The standard exFAT implementation is not journaled and only uses a single file allocation table and free-space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported."

1 Like
#6

interesting. guess i've just been lucky. exFAT seems to just work on every platform and you don't have the 4GB limitations or other incompatibilities to consider. i've used it on everything, whether flash drives or 16TB disks. never had any issues.

#7

Yes, APFS (Apple File System) would be for macOS only.

#8

Oh, yeah, I knew that heh. I just meant that I never had any problems with all my drives exFAT working across all platforms. I believe they worked fine with my Mac when I had one too, years back. But I don't remember now honestly.

1 Like
#9

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.