I got a new external crucial X8 usb 3.0 ssd and it reports a very large blocksize.
Unfortunately, it seems to make playing videos over the network with samba have problems. It may also be suboptimal using it on a usb 2.0 port.
blockdev --report
shows most drives have 256 sector readahead
RO RA SSZ BSZ StartSec Size Device
ro 256 512 1024 0 205111296 /dev/loop0
ro 256 512 1024 0 204873728 /dev/loop1
ro 256 512 1024 0 4096 /dev/loop2
ro 256 512 1024 0 157855744 /dev/loop3
however, my crucial ssd gets a giant 131072 readahead value. I believe this is what's causing the problems with the network drive sharing.
sudo blockdev --setra 16384 /dev/sdb
sets it to a much better value and I don't see the audio dropouts.
You can also check the value by getting the readahead for a specific drive.
blockdev --getra /dev/sdb
SGIN 17.3" Laptop 8GB RAM 512GB SSD Notebook with IPS Full HD 2.8GHz Windows 11
$1156.00
A-Tech 8GB DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM 204-Pin Memory RAM PC3L DDR3L 1x 8G
$13.99
HyperX FURY DDR3 8GB 16GB 32GB 1600 MHz PC3-12800 Desktop RAM Memory DIMM 240pin
$12.90
Crucial DDR3L 16GB 1600 2x 8GB PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM Memory RAM PC3 16G DDR3
$21.50
Crucial 16GB (2x 8GB) Kit DDR3L 1600MHz PC3-12800 UDIMM Desktop 240-Pin CL11 RAM
$23.33
Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Intel
$33.99
8GB PC3L-12800S 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 RAM | Grade A
$12.00
Lot of 2 32GB DDR4 2666 PC4-21300 SODIMM RAM Modules Mixed Brand
$60.00
HyperX FURY DDR4 8GB 16GB 32GB 3200MHz PC4-25600 Desktop RAM Memory DIMM 288pins
$72.93
Kingston HyperX FURY DDR3 8GB 16GB 32G 1600 1866 1333 Desktop Memory RAM DIMM
$39.95