diff --git a/src/context.h b/src/context.h
index c10f17d..fd03388 100644
--- a/src/context.h
+++ b/src/context.h
@@ -59,6 +59,13 @@ typedef enum nwipe_select_t_ {
     NWIPE_SELECT_DISABLED  // Do not wipe this device and do not allow it to be selected.
 } nwipe_select_t;
 
+/* I/O mode for data path: auto, direct, or cached. */
+typedef enum {
+    NWIPE_IO_MODE_AUTO = 0, /* Try O_DIRECT, fall back to cached I/O if not supported. */
+    NWIPE_IO_MODE_DIRECT, /* Force O_DIRECT, fail if not supported. */
+    NWIPE_IO_MODE_CACHED /* Force cached I/O, never attempt O_DIRECT. */
+} nwipe_io_mode_t;
+
 #define NWIPE_KNOB_SPEEDRING_SIZE 30
 #define NWIPE_KNOB_SPEEDRING_GRANULARITY 10
 
@@ -199,6 +206,7 @@ typedef struct nwipe_context_t_
     char HPA_size_text[NWIPE_DEVICE_SIZE_TXT_LENGTH];  // Human readable size bytes, KB, MB, GB ..
     int HPA_display_toggle_state;  // 0 or 1 Used to toggle between "[1TB] [ 33C]" and [HDA STATUS]
     time_t HPA_toggle_time;  // records a time, then if for instance 3 seconds has elapsed the display changes
+    nwipe_io_mode_t io_mode;  // specific I/O method for a given drive, direct or cached.
     int test_use1;
     int test_use2;
 
diff --git a/src/nwipe.c b/src/nwipe.c
index c88176d..ebce88c 100644
--- a/src/nwipe.c
+++ b/src/nwipe.c
@@ -738,10 +738,12 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
                 if( open_flags & O_DIRECT )
                 {
                     io_desc = "direct I/O (O_DIRECT)";
+                    c2[i]->io_mode = NWIPE_IO_MODE_DIRECT;
                 }
                 else
                 {
                     io_desc = "cached I/O";
+                    c2[i]->io_mode = NWIPE_IO_MODE_CACHED;
                 }
 
                 nwipe_log( NWIPE_LOG_NOTICE, "Using %s on device '%s'.", io_desc, c2[i]->device_name );
diff --git a/src/options.h b/src/options.h
index dbec04f..067353b 100644
--- a/src/options.h
+++ b/src/options.h
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 #ifndef OPTIONS_H_
 #define OPTIONS_H_
 
+#include "method.h"
+
 /* Program knobs. */
 #define NWIPE_KNOB_IDENTITY_SIZE 512
 #define NWIPE_KNOB_LABEL_SIZE 128
@@ -47,13 +49,6 @@ void nwipe_options_log( void );
 /* Function to display help text */
 void display_help();
 
-/* I/O mode for data path: auto, direct, or cached. */
-typedef enum {
-    NWIPE_IO_MODE_AUTO = 0, /* Try O_DIRECT, fall back to cached I/O if not supported. */
-    NWIPE_IO_MODE_DIRECT, /* Force O_DIRECT, fail if not supported. */
-    NWIPE_IO_MODE_CACHED /* Force cached I/O, never attempt O_DIRECT. */
-} nwipe_io_mode_t;
-
 typedef struct
 {
     int autonuke;  // Do not prompt the user for confirmation when set.
@@ -77,7 +72,8 @@ typedef struct
     int PDF_preview_details;  // 0=Disable preview Org/Cust/date/time before drive selection, 1=Enable Preview
     int PDFtag;  // Enable display of hostID, such as UUID or serial no. on PDF report.
     nwipe_verify_t verify;  // A flag to indicate whether writes should be verified.
-    nwipe_io_mode_t io_mode;  // Runtime I/O mode selection (auto/direct/cached).
+    nwipe_io_mode_t io_mode;  // Global runtime I/O mode selection (auto/direct/cached), note in auto mode each
+                              // drive may use a different I/O mode if directIO isn't supported on a given drive.
 } nwipe_options_t;
 
 extern nwipe_options_t nwipe_options;
diff --git a/src/pass.c b/src/pass.c
index 2f0000b..d45ac96 100644
--- a/src/pass.c
+++ b/src/pass.c
@@ -386,18 +386,22 @@ int nwipe_random_pass( NWIPE_METHOD_SIGNATURE )
 
     int syncRate = nwipe_options.sync;
 
-    /* For direct I/O we do not need periodic fdatasync(), I/O errors are detected
-     * at write() time. Keep sync for cached I/O only. */
-    if( nwipe_options.io_mode == NWIPE_IO_MODE_DIRECT )
-    {
-        syncRate = 0;
-    }
-
     /* Select effective I/O block size (e.g. 4 MiB, never smaller than st_blksize). */
     io_blocksize = nwipe_effective_io_blocksize( c );
 
-    /* Compute the per-write sync rate based on io_blocksize and old semantics. */
-    syncRate = nwipe_compute_sync_rate_for_device( c, io_blocksize );
+    /* For direct I/O we do not need periodic fdatasync(), I/O errors are detected
+     * at write() time. Keep sync for cached I/O only. */
+
+    if( c->io_mode == NWIPE_IO_MODE_DIRECT )
+    {
+        syncRate = 0;
+        nwipe_log( NWIPE_LOG_NOTICE, "Disabled fdatasync for %s, DirectI/O in use.", c->device_name );
+    }
+    else /* for cached I/O only */
+    {
+        /* Compute the per-write sync rate based on io_blocksize and old semantics. */
+        syncRate = nwipe_compute_sync_rate_for_device( c, io_blocksize );
+    }
 
     int i = 0;
     int idx;
@@ -824,6 +828,22 @@ int nwipe_static_pass( NWIPE_METHOD_SIGNATURE, nwipe_pattern_t* pattern )
     u64 z = c->device_size;
 
     int syncRate = nwipe_options.sync;
+
+    io_blocksize = nwipe_effective_io_blocksize( c );
+
+    /* For direct I/O we do not need periodic fdatasync(), I/O errors are detected
+     * at write() time. Keep sync for cached I/O only. */
+    if( c->io_mode == NWIPE_IO_MODE_DIRECT )
+    {
+        syncRate = 0;
+        nwipe_log( NWIPE_LOG_NOTICE, "Disabled fdatasync for %s, DirectI/O in use.", c->device_name );
+    }
+    else /* for cached I/O only */
+    {
+        /* Compute per-write sync rate (same semantics as random pass). */
+        syncRate = nwipe_compute_sync_rate_for_device( c, io_blocksize );
+    }
+
     int i = 0;
 
     if( pattern == NULL )
@@ -838,11 +858,6 @@ int nwipe_static_pass( NWIPE_METHOD_SIGNATURE, nwipe_pattern_t* pattern )
         return -1;
     }
 
-    io_blocksize = nwipe_effective_io_blocksize( c );
-
-    /* Compute per-write sync rate (same semantics as random pass). */
-    syncRate = nwipe_compute_sync_rate_for_device( c, io_blocksize );
-
     /*
      * For static patterns we want enough buffer space to always have a
      * contiguous window of "io_blocksize" bytes available starting at any