▁A TA PI . ▁These ▁features ▁may ▁not ▁work ▁when ▁the ▁drives ▁are ▁placed ▁in ▁a ▁disk ▁en closure ▁that ▁supports ▁a ▁USB ▁mass - storage ▁interface . ▁Some ▁USB ▁mass - storage ▁interfaces ▁are ▁generic , ▁providing ▁basic ▁read - write ▁commands ; ▁although ▁that ▁works ▁well ▁for ▁basic ▁data ▁trans fers ▁with ▁devices ▁containing ▁hard ▁drives , ▁there ▁is ▁no ▁simple ▁way ▁to ▁send ▁advanced , ▁device - specific ▁commands ▁to ▁such ▁USB ▁mass - storage ▁devices ▁( though , ▁devices ▁may ▁create ▁their ▁own ▁communication ▁protocol s ▁over ▁a ▁standard ▁USB ▁control ▁interface ). ▁The ▁USB ▁Att ached ▁SC SI ▁( U AS ) ▁protocol , ▁introduced ▁in ▁USB   3 . 0 , ▁fixes ▁several ▁of ▁these ▁issues , ▁including ▁command ▁que uing , ▁command ▁pip es ▁for ▁hardware ▁requiring ▁them , ▁and ▁power ▁management . ▁ ▁Specific ▁USB   2 . 0 ▁ch ips ets ▁had ▁propriet ary ▁methods ▁of ▁ach ieving ▁SC SI ▁pass - through , ▁which ▁could ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁read ▁S . M . A . R . T . ▁data ▁from ▁drives ▁using ▁tools ▁such ▁as ▁smart ctl ▁( using ▁the ▁- d ▁option ▁followed ▁by ▁" chi ps et "). ▁More ▁recent ▁USB ▁storage ▁ch ips ets ▁support ▁the ▁SC SI ▁/ ▁A TA ▁Trans lation ▁( S AT ) ▁as ▁a ▁generic ▁protocol ▁for ▁interact ing ▁with ▁A TA ▁( and ▁S ATA ) ▁devices . ▁Using ▁es oter ic ▁A TA ▁or ▁SC SI ▁pass - through ▁commands ▁( such