USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

[funwithdesign]

I am seriously considering getting a eSATA card instead of USB3. I know eSATA is not as fast as USB3 can be, but I prefer to be 100% stable and accept 100-150 MB/s.

Esata is just an external interface. If you use a Sata III card then your speed will be faster than USB3.

I have a esata bracket hooked up to a Highpoint Rocket 640L. There is also the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 and Rocket 1144E which have both esata and usb3 ports if you want to save some slots.

 

[hfg]

This would be a serious No-Go for me as I have one backup drive that holds files that I have nowhere else on any other drive so they would be lost forever.

Can anyone tell me if there are eSATA cards that work 100% reliably with the Mac Pro 5,1?

Thanks a lot!

That is not a "BACKUP" drive if those files are nowhere else ... that is your primary drive. You should probably make a true backup of that drive if the files it contains are important to you.

Regarding eSATA cards, I am currently using the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 in my MacPro 5,1 and use the eSATA port to connect to my RAID-5 backup system. It is in use hourly with Time Machine backups and has never failed to perform the backup, or to "wake up" from computer sleep (I leave my MacPro on 24/7, but allow it to sleep when inactive). I use the other eSATA port for a disk drive dock, and use the USB 3 ports for my "RAW Steel" flash card reader and for occasional portable disk drive transfers. There have been reports that this card can't achieve maximum speeds, especially when using 2 channels simultaneously due to the controllers used, but that hasn't been a problem for my usage so far.

I previously had a NewerTech (OWC) dual eSATA card which performed well, but it had a conflict with either the Velocity x2 SSD card or the Sonnett Tempo Pro dual SSD card (probably a controller incompatibility according to tech support), so I replaced it with the CalDigit card. I still have unresolved issues if all three cards (Velocity x2, TempoPro, and CalDigit) are in the system at once, so I no longer use the Velocity x2 card. Perhaps one day I will have time to sort it all out ... but for now my computer is stable and I am happy.


Good luck and let us know what works for you...


-howard

 

[WM.]

ActionableMango, there's another option missing to your list in page 1, Etron chipset based cards:
+ cheap
+ no external power required
- not natively supported by OS X, needs a driver (I think that's no big deal, and I prefer to have to install a driver, rather than mess with Molex connectors and power cables, but to each his own!)

I've got this one, and as far as I know it works fine (I don't have any USB 3 device yet to test with, actually, but no trouble with USB 2 ).
There's a 4 port version too.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, cards with the Etron EJ198H chip should work without third-party drivers on 10.8.4 and later. Do you know which chip those have? For the one in your machine, you should be able to find the PCI vendor and device IDs in System Information.

Here is a card with the EJ198H available in the US. I haven't tested it or any other Etron-based cards.

 

[monokakata]

This would be a serious No-Go for me as I have one backup drive that holds files that I have nowhere else on any other drive so they would be lost forever. For a card this expensive (190 Euros here in the Netherlands, so about 230 USD) I would expect flawless operation. Maybe I expect too much...

I might have spoken carelessly. I meant that I, deliberately and explicitly, would go to Disk Utility and create a new partition on the target disk, thus zeroing it out.

Neither the 1144CM nor SuperDuper! have ever done such a thing on their own.

I only have done this when I've moved so much stuff around on the source disk that although there's enough space on the source disk, SuperDuper! sees folders on the target that aren't on the source (because I moved or renamed them) and then will report that it doesn't have enough room (because it won't delete those folders during a copy).

When I get into that state, I just start over because I know for certain that there's nothing on the target drive that doesn't exist on the source drive.

 

[OSXphoto]

That is not a "BACKUP" drive if those files are nowhere else ... that is your primary drive. You should probably make a true backup of that drive if the files it contains are important to you.
-howard

Hi Howard, I expected this question. Let me explain.

When it comes to backup strategies I don't take chances. I have two computers:
- a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1: only used for photography, no mail or other data
- a 2008 MacBook 5,1 (not Pro): used for everything else: mail, docs, etc.

The MP holds two internal 2TB drives (Source and Backup) that hold my RAW files and CCC maintains Backup as an exact clone of the source, every hour. Then I have two external 2TB drives that are also clones of "Source", one of which is at an external location and gets swapped every couple of weeks.

My Macbook backups with Time Machine on a USB drive on my Airport Extreme and on a local USB drive whenever I can connect it. On top of that, the most important data are backed up on the 2 external 2TB drives so my docs, mail and RAW files are all backed up on an external location.

Then, when my 2TB internal "Source" drive was nearing capacity, I was to decide what to do with the RAW files that were "rejected". I could simply delete them and free up space, but as a photographer I just wanted to be able to get back to them if needed so I rushed to the store and picked up a 3TB Seagate USB3 drive and copied all RAW files to that drive. I also use that drive as an extra backup for iTunes and some other things.

Even if this entire drive would get lost that would not be a huge problem for my photography, but I didn't buy it for nothing so I don't want to lose the files on it.

 

[OSXphoto]

@funwithdesign: thanks for your info. So does the 640L offer stability?
@monokakata: thank you for your clarification.
@Howard: remarkable that your FASTA-6GU3 fits your needs so well. Apparently the Kernel Panics are over with newer OS/drivers. When looking at the notes on page 1 of this thread:

Notes:
1. Kernal panics back on Snow Leopard when using this card. I haven't seen any complaints regarding Mountain Lion and newer.
2. It only works with storage-based USB devices. Non-storage based devices do not work, including USB hubs.
3. Reportedly won't work with Nikon D800.
4. It does not use native drivers, so you have to install and use Caldigit's drivers, and may have to wait for updated drivers when there is a new version of OS X.
5. noticeably reduced performance on both USB3 and eSATA. If you are leaning toward this card because of eSATA, note that Caldigit says they are working on a new card without this speed limitation.
From #2 it surprises me that you can use it for a flash card reader. Maybe this card is a good option for me after all, now that I upgraded to Mountain Lion.

One last question: do you use a Magic Mouse (bluetooth) and if so, does using the CalDigit card cause any problems with Bluetooth reception?

I contacted CalDigit support today (through email) and asked about that new card they are developing. I hope I get a reply soon.

 

[OSXphoto]

Now my card reader won't mount

OK guys, slightly off topic, but still related to the USB3 card I suppose. My Hama card reader now doesn't mount anymore. It does mount on my Macbook, but not on the Mac Pro where I put in the Orico USB3 card. My other USB2 card reader, a SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1, does mount on both macs.

Any clues if this could be related to the Orico card?

Also, one of my CF cards suddenly can't be read, my Mac Pro says it can't be recognised and it needs to be initialised. Spooky things are going on. Maybe this indeed is a sign that the Orico card is faulty.

 

[hfg]

@funwithdesign: thanks for your info. So does the 640L offer stability?
@monokakata: thank you for your clarification.
@Howard: remarkable that your FASTA-6GU3 fits your needs so well. Apparently the Kernel Panics are over with newer OS/drivers. When looking at the notes on page 1 of this thread:

Notes:
1. Kernal panics back on Snow Leopard when using this card. I haven't seen any complaints regarding Mountain Lion and newer.
2. It only works with storage-based USB devices. Non-storage based devices do not work, including USB hubs.
3. Reportedly won't work with Nikon D800.
4. It does not use native drivers, so you have to install and use Caldigit's drivers, and may have to wait for updated drivers when there is a new version of OS X.
5. noticeably reduced performance on both USB3 and eSATA. If you are leaning toward this card because of eSATA, note that Caldigit says they are working on a new card without this speed limitation.
From #2 it surprises me that you can use it for a flash card reader. Maybe this card is a good option for me after all, now that I upgraded to Mountain Lion.

One last question: do you use a Magic Mouse (bluetooth) and if so, does using the CalDigit card cause any problems with Bluetooth reception?

The CalDigit seems to work with my USB 3.0 "RAW STEEL" UDMA card reader which is attached all the time. I also have both eSATA ports attached all the time for a drive dock and my RAID-5 system. I am only using one port at a time which probably helps with the speed issues, but the card seems to transfer data as fast as the device connected to it is capable of providing.

I do have a very occasional disconnect with the Magic Mouse, which immediately reconnects. My wireless keyboard and trackpad never lose connection. I purchased higher quality USB 3 cables (the ones supplied with devices are usually pretty low quality) and that helped immensely. My MacPro is built in to my desk, so it is pretty close to the mouse and seems to work with the standard built-in BlueTooth antenna.


-howard

 

[OSXphoto]

The CalDigit seems to work with my USB 3.0 "RAW STEEL" UDMA card reader which is attached all the time. […] I do have a very occasional disconnect with the Magic Mouse, which immediately reconnects. My wireless keyboard and trackpad never lose connection.

Thanks Howard. Final question: which OSX version are you running?

 

[Rorqual]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, cards with the Etron EJ198H chip should work without third-party drivers on 10.8.4 and later. Do you know which chip those have? For the one in your machine, you should be able to find the PCI vendor and device IDs in System Information.

My card has device ID 7023, which isn't listed in the AppleUSBXHCIUIM.cpp file you listed. This ID corresponds to "EJ168 USB 3.0 Host Controller". The card doesn't work without a third party driver. I use GenericUSBXHCI.

 

[hfg]

Thanks Howard. Final question: which OSX version are you running?

the latest: 10.9.1 on a 2012 5,1 MacPro

 

[OSXphoto]

the latest: 10.9.1 on a 2012 5,1 MacPro

Thank you.

 

[funwithdesign]

@funwithdesign: thanks for your info. So does the 640L offer stability?

Haven't had any stability issues at all. I have a Samsung Evo SSD hooked up to it as a boot drive and it's been great. Also externally I have a Lacie 2Big and another Lacie external.

It plays nicely with my other cards, an Orico 2port USB3 card and a flashed EVGA GTX680 4GB card. I'm out of slots though due to the external ESATA bracket so I would have to get one of the combo cards if I need any other cards though I don't know what I'd want.

 

[OSXphoto]

Haven't had any stability issues at all.

OK thanks, that is good info. I'll remember that.


----------

I apologise for the rant, but I've had it up to here with the Orico card. Ever since I inserted it I've had nothing but trouble. And now some other strange things are happening. To sum it up:
1. One of my CF cards got disabled to a point where OSX said it couldn't be recognised and should be initialised
--- Then this morning I removed the Orico card from the slot and started my Mac Pro ---
2. Something happened that I've never ever seen before in 8 years of using OSX: I got a progress bar in the first white boot screen (the one with the apple in the middle). I heard a hard drive rumble for a very long time (though my boot drive is SSD) and when finally my desktop appeared the menu bar was missing.
3. I shut down the system and booted again. Now my optical drive tray came out and back in again.
4. The system appears to be slow in some things like Finder windows building up.

I'm a pro photographer and this Mac Pro is my work horse. I really can't afford to lose so much time and system stability. The reason I went for the Orico card was not because it was cheap, but because I've read so many good results with it.

It's not that I want to spend hundreds of $$$ on this, but I am looking for a solid solution that "just works". I suppose it's going to be either a Rocket 1144CM or a 640L, or even a CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 because I don't really care about the speed limiting factor really. If I can get up to 200~250 it's already way faster than my current USB2 limitation.

 

[hfg]

Wow ... it has a mind of its own ...

Might be time for a PRAM reset to see if that settles things down a bit.

 

[ActionableMango]

From #2 it surprises me that you can use it for a flash card reader.

Some cards appear to only support the USB Mass Storage Control Protocol (MSCP), hence they only work with storage devices. But yes, a flash memory card reader is a storage device and I would expect any generic memory reader (nearly all of them) to use MSCP.

That being said, it is possible that someone has built a flash memory reader with some fancy extra features and in that case it wouldn't use the standard MSCP, it wouldn't work with the storage-only cards, and it would probably require device drivers.

I apologise for the rant, but I've had it up to here with the Orico card.

I'd be pissed too! Nobody else has reported similar problems, so I believe you have a defective card. In your shoes I would either exchange it for a new one, or wash my hands of the whole thing and get a different solution altogether.

 

[OSXphoto]

I'd be pissed too! Nobody else has reported similar problems, so I believe you have a defective card. In your shoes I would either exchange it for a new one, or wash my hands of the whole thing and get a different solution altogether.

Thanks for the card reader info and for your advice. The card is out for good and I reverted to a nov 2013 CCC image of my system drive. Here was too much garbage there to continue with the existing system partition. As far as I can see, all is working well now.

I'll await further notice from CalDigit about that new 6Gbps card they are working on. Then it will be either that, a FASTA-6GU3 or a RocketU 1144CM. As long as the new card accepts at least one or two CF card readers that are locally available (I'm dutch and not everything you have in the USA is available here) then all is fine with me.

 

[ActionableMango]

Anyone with a Sonnet Tango 3.0

It would be helpful for people to know if there is a single controller for both ports, or one controller each for the two ports. If it has one controller for each port, that would make it far better than the other Fresco Logic cards.

You can test this by copying from a drive on one port to a drive on the other, or by running two instances of Black Magic Speed Test simultaneously, one on each drive.

I ask because that card has a price more in line with those cards that have dedicated controllers per port. Their tech support was unable to answer my question.

 

[camner]

I know the first post in the excellent thread says that the ORICO PFU3-2P does NOT require supplemental power, but quite a number of reviews of the card on Amazon from Mac Pro users seem to indicate that they couldn't get the card to work without power. (And several managed to fry some things, too, but that's probably poor installation!).

Is this a quality control issue or does this card struggle with Mac Pros? (I've got a 2010 (5,1)?

I'm trying to run a USB 3 hub on a new Asus monitor. My existing CalDigit FASTA card won't work (as I discovered here, it only powers storage devices).

Final question: I've installed the CalDigit drivers and want to keep the card in place for the eSATA. If I try to add a second USB 3 card such as the ORICO or alternative, will have a driver conflict issue where the Orico card will be trying to use the CalDigit driver, or can Mavericks keep all that straight?

 

[nigelbb]

I know the first post in the excellent thread says that the ORICO PFU3-2P does NOT require supplemental power, but quite a number of reviews of the card on Amazon from Mac Pro users seem to indicate that they couldn't get the card to work without power. (And several managed to fry some things, too, but that's probably poor installation!).

Is this a quality control issue or does this card struggle with Mac Pros? (I've got a 2010 (5,1)?

I think that it's confusion over exactly what card they have. There are two ORICO cards that have two external ports. One works without external pawer. The other that also has a header for two extra ports internally requires extra power

 

[funwithdesign]

Final question: I've installed the CalDigit drivers and want to keep the card in place for the eSATA. If I try to add a second USB 3 card such as the ORICO or alternative, will have a driver conflict issue where the Orico card will be trying to use the CalDigit driver, or can Mavericks keep all that straight?

Drivers are written specifically for a piece of hardware. Other hardware won't try and use drivers not written for it.

 

[ActionableMango]

I know the first post in the excellent thread says that the ORICO PFU3-2P does NOT require supplemental power, but quite a number of reviews of the card on Amazon from Mac Pro users seem to indicate that they couldn't get the card to work without power. (And several managed to fry some things, too, but that's probably poor installation!).

Is this a quality control issue or does this card struggle with Mac Pros? (I've got a 2010 (5,1)?

I'm trying to run a USB 3 hub on a new Asus monitor. My existing CalDigit FASTA card won't work (as I discovered here, it only powers storage devices).

Final question: I've installed the CalDigit drivers and want to keep the card in place for the eSATA. If I try to add a second USB 3 card such as the ORICO or alternative, will have a driver conflict issue where the Orico card will be trying to use the CalDigit driver, or can Mavericks keep all that straight?

1. The Amazon webpage for the Orico combines several models onto a single page, note you can click boxes and select among different models. The reviews are also for different models, note near the top of the reviews that people are reviewing different models. I assure you that the PFU3-2P does not require supplemental power. I personally use that card, and so do a few others here. I have used it with bus-powered drives, flash drives, self-powered drives, a memory card reader, and my monitor's hub. All work fine.

2. I cannot speak for your Asus, but I use my Dell monitor's USB 3.0 hub with my Orico PFU3-2P just fine.

3. Over on the TonyMac forum there were a couple of people using the hacked NEC chipset drivers and could not use the Orico with the native OS X drivers. There was a conflict and they had to uninstall the hacked NEC drivers. Because the Caldigit uses the NEC chipset, I suppose there is some possibility that you will have the same problem. But then again, Caldigit has proper drivers, and it might simply have been an issue with the hacked drivers only, or Hackintoshes in general. If I had to guess, I'd say it is unlikely to conflict, but possible.

 

[camner]

Thanks very much for your responses. I'll try my luck!

 

[handheldgames]

The pre-release of 10.9.2 has made working with the Orico cards worse...

• Tested with a Fresco Logic Rev 1.2 2-port card and an Orico 4-port card in slot #2.
• Drives are still improperly ejected when the system sleeps.
• After sleep, external drives must be powered down to be remounted.
• The power design in the nMP must be different from the PCI card variant. Apple my be keeping the chipset powered in sleep state to prevent ejects.
  

Doh!

1. The Amazon webpage for the Orico combines several models onto a single page, note you can click boxes and select among different models. The reviews are also for different models, note near the top of the reviews that people are reviewing different models. I assure you that the PFU3-2P does not require supplemental power. I personally use that card, and so do a few others here. I have used it with bus-powered drives, flash drives, self-powered drives, a memory card reader, and my monitor's hub. All work fine.

2. I cannot speak for your Asus, but I use my Dell monitor's USB 3.0 hub with my Orico PFU3-2P just fine.

3. Over on the TonyMac forum there were a couple of people using the hacked NEC chipset drivers and could not use the Orico with the native OS X drivers. There was a conflict and they had to uninstall the hacked NEC drivers. Because the Caldigit uses the NEC chipset, I suppose there is some possibility that you will have the same problem. But then again, Caldigit has proper drivers, and it might simply have been an issue with the hacked drivers only, or Hackintoshes in general. If I had to guess, I'd say it is unlikely to conflict, but possible.

 

[crjackson2134]

It's not just the PCIe cards or the cMP. Even the brand spanking new Mac Pro's are having USB Sleep/Wake problems.