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SSD Pci-e adapter with Marvell 88SE9130

A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
So, basically i bought a samsung 840 pro for my mac pro 5.1.
All i wanted was to reduce a little the bottleneck of the sata2 using a pci-express to ssd adapter (not an apricorn, just a simple 1x slot).
The guy who sold it me was like "yeah, these cards are made basically for mac pros users", and as i installed it's not recognised. Not seen as an HD, so no way to boot from it.

I tried using 3 different OSs: 10.6, 10.6.8, 10.8.5; same results.

I saw Marvell hasn't any kind of driver for mac, so i wanna know if there's a way to make this adapter work. Because i saw more than one person selling my same adapter as a "boot from mac working" adapter.

It mounts a Marvell 88SE9130, what i see from the system profiler is this:

pci1b4b,9130:

Type: AHCI Controller
Driver Installed: No
MSI: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: Slot-3
Vendor ID: 0x1b4b
Device ID: 0x9130
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1b4b
Subsystem ID: 0x9123
Revision ID: 0x0011
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Click to expand...

Sorry if there was a similar thread, i made some research but didn't look like there was any.
 
Last edited:
DanielCoffey

DanielCoffey

macrumors 65816
Nov 15, 2010
1,207
30
Edinburgh, UK
I can say for certain that the Highpoint Rocket 640L Lite is one way of getting bootable SATA III. It has the Marvell 88SE9230 on it.

I should state that as it is shipped, it is likely to have older firmware on it which will require flashing in a PC with a bootable DOS USB or CD. The firmware I got on my 640L allowed booting in OSX and Windows but didn't Wake from Sleep. Once flashed, that restriction was resolved but the drives were reported as External, probably because it allows hot swapping.

I would recommend you return your 1x card and upgrade to a newer one such as the Rocket 640L or Apricorn cards.

You might appreciate a read of the guide I posted about the 640L here... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1648335/
 
A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
If i had some budget to upgrade to an Apricorn i wouldn't have opened this thread :)
I'd need something to make this specific card work
 
666sheep

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
291
Poland
OP, this chip isn't supported by OS X from what I know.
However you can try to make it work using custom driver from hackintosh.
If you want to try, check attached file. There's custom AHCI kext which supports many 3rd party AHCI controllers. I've added your card's device and vendor ID to it and made installer package. I cannot guarantee it will work and if it will, it won't be bootable.
 

Attachments

  • 88SE9130.zip
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A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
I haven't the kext you were referring to (AHCI_3rdParty_SATA.kext) and when i try to install i get this:
 

Attachments

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666sheep

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
291
Poland
What OS? I've forgotten to say that it will work on 10.7+. Tested installer in 10.8.4 on my machine and it works without problems.
 
Maxpecas

Maxpecas

macrumors newbie
Feb 1, 2013
11
0
France
Strange,

it shoulb be run.


I've exactly the same. Working on 10.6.8, 10.8.5 both in Mac Pro 3.1 and 5.1

If you want boot an AHCI device, it must be without driver or extension, of course !
 

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A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
Yes it's very strange. The guy who sold it to me said there was no problems in mac, but that's what i'm seeing with that card plugged, both on 10.6.8. and 10.8.5

----------
DanielCoffey said:
Then I suggest you open a support ticket with Highpoint - they were reasonably quick to respond when I had a query about my 640L
Click to expand...

Daniel, this is the card you're reffering too, right?
In case i'll buy that, i could expect a "connect the ssd - power it - boot from it" card? Just to not throw away other money
 
A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
666sheep said:
What OS? I've forgotten to say that it will work on 10.7+. Tested installer in 10.8.4 on my machine and it works without problems.
Click to expand...

I tried to install on the 10.8.5 os and this is what i got:
 

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Last edited:
I

Inconsequential

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2007
1,978
1
Akira28.com said:
[/COLOR]

Daniel, this is the card you're reffering too, right?
In case i'll buy that, i could expect a "connect the ssd - power it - boot from it" card? Just to not throw away other money
Click to expand...

The 640L is a 2x PCI-E SATA III card with 4 internal ports and does not need additional sources of power.

It boots OS X and Windows and I've not had any issues with it bar needing a firmware update to stop 10.8.5 and 10.9 DP4 and later from KPing when woken from sleep.

Great little card.
 
A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
My "power it" was referred to the SSD :)
At this point i think i could go with the 640L. Hoping i can find a guide to flash it correctly
 
I

Inconsequential

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2007
1,978
1
Akira28.com said:
My "power it" was referred to the SSD :)
At this point i think i could go with the 640L. Hoping i can find a guide to flash it correctly
Click to expand...

It is only necessary to flash it IF you have issues.

Newer cards should already have the updated firmware, mine and DanielCoffey cards were from late 2012/early 2013.
 
A

Akira28.com

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
35
0
I'll go with the 4x one (i think it's the raid version?), so i won't have problem of bandwidth when i'll have the 2nd SSD.
BTW, i still have no idea about SSDs temperature while they are working. Is it a problem mounting them one touching the other? To use a 3.5" HD slot for both instead of the 5.25" bay, that i'll be using for a second psu
 
I

Inconsequential

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2007
1,978
1
Akira28.com said:
I'll go with the 4x one (i think it's the raid version?), so i won't have problem of bandwidth when i'll have the 2nd SSD.
BTW, i still have no idea about SSDs temperature while they are working. Is it a problem mounting them one touching the other? To use a 3.5" HD slot for both instead of the 5.25" bay, that i'll be using for a second psu
Click to expand...

Firstly, unless you spend big £££ all the SATA III cards are PCI-E x2. Unless your actually going to use the RAID part of it the Rocket 640L is cheaper.

The slot might be x4, but the chipset (The marvell 9230/9235 used) are both x2.

That is a theoretical max of 800MB/sec.

Temperatures you can ignore as they don't consume much power and hence don't emit much heat. But a small amount of airflow over at least one side of them wouldn't hurt!
 
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