Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2008 MP - ODD sata ports working?

M

mrcandy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2007
112
0
Calgary, AB Canada
Has anyone had success in using the two ODD SATA ports in a 2008 MP?

I have tried both ODD ports, using two different cables, to two different external cases (with different drives inside) with no luck. The two drives do mount correctly when interfaced over FireWire. When I plug in the drives via SATA I get nothing - no drive activity, nothing in Disk Utility, nada.
 
The firmware ( bootROM ) in the new Mac Pro may not be initializing the ports, similar to what happens under Windows on the older MP. If so a firmware update would be needed.
 
My guess is the bootROM is not initializing the ports correctly, fix would be a firmware upgrade from Apple. Firmware on MP1,1 and MP2,1 work fine, seems the MP3,1 firmware has a significant change in regards to the ODD SATA ports.

The fix for Windows was an altered GRUB boot loader.
 
just to add, i too haven't had any luck with the SATA ports. I didn't have a 90degree connector so it was a bit of a fiddle getting it in there, but did eventually.. but good to know it can be fixed with a firmware update.. luckily for me it was just a bonus if it worked not a necessity :)
 
rtrt said:
not good news for me. had planned to use these 2 ports to attach a couple of external drives for backup.

came across this a while back.......

http://xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/Mac_Pro_Ext_SATA_Case_Kit.html#storytop

theres an interesting entry at the bottom - where someone found a way to enable the ports for windows on the old MP.

could something similar help under Mac OS X on the new MP?
Click to expand...

Hmm - If I understood correctly, the purpose of that mod was to keep the ODD ports in AHCI mode instead of legacy IDE mode which is the default under BootCamp.

The article also says that under OSX the ports stay in AHCI mode, hence no patch needed (for pre-2008 MP at least).

If I look under "About this Mac" on my 2008 MP, I can see the entries in Serial-ATA for my two ODD ports - they show up as:

Intel ESB2 AHCI:

Vendor: Intel
Product: ESB2 AHCI
Speed: 3.0 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported

...so it would seem that they have been initialized and setup as AHCI.
 
mrcandy said:
Hmm - If I understood correctly, the purpose of that mod was to keep the ODD ports in AHCI mode instead of legacy IDE mode which is the default under BootCamp.

The article also says that under OSX the ports stay in AHCI mode, hence no patch needed (for pre-2008 MP at least).

If I look under "About this Mac" on my 2008 MP, I can see the entries in Serial-ATA for my two ODD ports - they show up as:

Intel ESB2 AHCI:

Vendor: Intel
Product: ESB2 AHCI
Speed: 3.0 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported

...so it would seem that they have been initialized and setup as AHCI.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... then I am puzzled, if the ports are initialized you should see the drives.
 
mrcandy said:
Has anyone had success in using the two ODD SATA ports in a 2008 MP?

I have tried both ODD ports, using two different cables, to two different external cases (with different drives inside) with no luck. The two drives do mount correctly when interfaced over FireWire. When I plug in the drives via SATA I get nothing - no drive activity, nothing in Disk Utility, nada.
Click to expand...

Mrcandy,
I plan to use these ports also so I was distressed to learn there may be some problems with them but I have some thoughts:

These ports were not intended to be used for eSATA because MP doesn't support "Hot Swapping". Are the external drives you are using eSATA? I have no idea if there is an interface issue that is coming into play here but could be the eSATA interface in the multi-interface external drive is causing the problem. Are they LaCie d2 Quadra drive? They have eSATA interface. Try plugging in a bare SATA drive.

I would do all this myself but my MP has not arrived.
 
D'oh...wasn't even thinking about hot swap issues. eSATA differs from SATA only in ruggedized connector and cable, hot swap is a chipset feature that the Mac Pro does not have.
 
newtech said:
D'oh...wasn't even thinking about hot swap issues. eSATA differs from SATA only in ruggedized connector and cable, hot swap is a chipset feature that the Mac Pro does not have.
Click to expand...

I wondered about this too - but I've tried powering up the drive then the Mac, and the reverse, and also with cable disconnected powering up both and then connecting cable. Same result each time.

mistercoffee2 said:
Mrcandy,
Are they LaCie d2 Quadra drive? They have eSATA interface. Try plugging in a bare SATA drive.
Click to expand...

One drive is a WD My Book Home Edition 1TB, the other is a 250GB SATA drive (Maxtor 7Y250M0) in a Vantec enclosure.

I know the Maxtor is a native SATA drive, and I suspect the My Book is as well, but each go through an interface board that provides FW and USB connectivity. I'll try taking one of the drives out of the case tomorrow and see if a bare drive works.
 
I wonder who else is having this problem. Be sure to file a bug report with Apple. Gotta let them know this is happening.

First the reboot after wake issue (more than a few issues reported), now the two ODD SATA ports on the motherboard don't work??

WHAT IS GOING ON AT APPLE??!! Quality control is going right out the window.

:mad: :rolleyes:
 
netdog said:
I have 1, 2 and 3 populated. No problems. Dual 2.8
Click to expand...

I have all four of the built-in drive bays working, no problem.

The ODD (Optical Disk Drive) ports I don't seem to be able to get working are the two extra SATA ports on the motherboard behind the front fan unit. The ports are there in the event you buy an optical drive with a SATA rather than an IDE (PATA) interface. Owners of earlier MP's had reported success in getting these ports to work with hardrives (under OSX at least).
 
UPDATE - working, but not with external case

mrcandy said:
I know the Maxtor is a native SATA drive, and I suspect the My Book is as well, but each go through an interface board that provides FW and USB connectivity. I'll try taking one of the drives out of the case tomorrow and see if a bare drive works.
Click to expand...

With the Maxtor drive out of the external case, the optical drive rack removed (so that I can use one of the four pin molex connectors to power the Maxtor), and the Maxtor connected to one of the extra ODD ports - success!!

So, do I have two external cases with bad eSATA ports, or is the MP fussy about what it will work with? Was there problems with the previous MP and using the internal ports to drive external cases?
 
mntbikejack said:
I hope the ports work. I already ordered a Newer Technology eSATA Extender Cable from OWC to extend the ports to the outside.
Click to expand...

Me too. I e-mailed OWC before buying it to check that it would work with the new MacPros. They said it would work no problem.
 
mrcandy said:
With the Maxtor drive out of the external case, the optical drive rack removed (so that I can use one of the four pin molex connectors to power the Maxtor), and the Maxtor connected to one of the extra ODD ports - success!!

So, do I have two external cases with bad eSATA ports, or is the MP fussy about what it will work with? Was there problems with the previous MP and using the internal ports to drive external cases?
Click to expand...

Oh, good, glad to hear it is working!
 
rtrt said:
what cable did you use to connect the maxtor when it worked?
Click to expand...

I had to combine two of the cables I used previously in order to get the correct ends - so I don't think it was a cable problem.

I'm going to give up on the external box, go buy a couple of extra cables for power etc. and put the extra drive (two if I can) into the second optical bay.
 
rtrt said:
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/i...&product_id=158&CFID=4865601&CFTOKEN=57771625
Click to expand...

Up and running with six internal drives! If anyone else plans on doing this I would suggest one right angle connector and one straight for the SATA cables on the MOBO end. 90 and 270 right angle connectors would also likely work OK, but my local parts place only had 90's. Two 90's doesn't work since they interfere with each other.

I could only fit one drive into the optical bay using a 3.5 to 5" adapter kit. So the second extra drive is just sitting inside loose - which works fine with only a HD2600 in the PCIe slots. Anything else in there and it would get tight.

Thanks rtrt for the link - looks interesting, if a bit pricey. Anyone got one of these and have any comments, I couldn't find much additional info on their site.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back