MP 14,8 AHCI No Good

[flowrider]

I recently upgraded from a 7,1 NcMP to a 14,8 MP. I have two PCI SSD controllers with five Samsung NVME SSDs and one older Samsung AHCI SSD. The AHCI SSD worked fine on the 7,1 Machine but not so much on the 14,8. When it mounts, it will eject itself after a brief amount of time. When mounted, Disk Utility will not start up, and Sensei Storage will not open.

I also have three 2.5" FF SSDs mounted in a cage internally in the 14.8 MP. They work fine. However, one change. In the 7,1 NcMP, they were identified by the OS as internal. In the 14,8 MP, they are identified as external.

Lou

 

[joevt]

What does Nc mean in 7,1 NcMP? This refers to the last Intel Mac Pro (2019) MacPro7,1

14,8 MP is the new Apple Silicon Mac Pro (2023) Mac14,8.

What's an FF SSD?

Both PCI SSD cards have M.2 slots? How many M.2 slots per card?

PCIe cards with M.2 slots don't have controllers. The controllers are on the M.2 devices. The PCIe cards will have a PCIe bridge if they have more than one M.2 slot (unless the PCIe card uses PCIe bifurcation which only works on PCs). The PCIe bridge might have RAID support so in that case it could be considered a controller.

Does macOS for Apple Silicon Macs have AHCI drivers? I guess so, since the AHCI M.2 SSD did mount and the Mac Pro has internal SATA ports.

The 2.5" FF SSDs are AHCI connected to the internal SATA port of the Mac14,8 ?

You options are:
1) Report the problem to Apple (Feedback Assistant?).
2) Replace the AHCI SSD.
3) Put the AHCI SSD in a USB enclosure. If you tried Thunderbolt, it would probably have the same problem as an internal connection.

 

[flowrider]

What does Nc mean in 7,1 NcMP? This refers to the last Intel Mac Pro (2019) MacPro7,1 - New Classic Mac Pro

14,8 MP is the new Apple Silicon Mac Pro (2023) Mac14,8. - Yes

What's an FF SSD? - 2.5" Form Factor

Both PCI SSD cards have M.2 slots? How many M.2 slots per card? - One card has two (IO Crest). The other four (High Point)

PCIe cards with M.2 slots don't have controllers. The controllers are on the M.2 devices. The PCIe cards will have a PCIe bridge if they have more than one M.2 slot (unless the PCIe card uses PCIe bifurcation which only works on PCs). The PCIe bridge might have RAID support so in that case it could be considered a controller. - Thanks for the education 🤔

Does macOS for Apple Silicon Macs have AHCI drivers? I guess so, since the AHCI M.2 SSD did mount and the Mac Pro has internal SATA ports. - Not really sure, but I believe the Samsung 840 Series SSDs are NVME❓

The 2.5" FF SSDs are AHCI connected to the internal SATA port of the Mac14,8 ? - Yes

You options are:
1) Report the problem to Apple (Feedback Assistant?).
2) Replace the AHCI SSD.
3) Put the AHCI SSD in a USB enclosure. If you tried Thunderbolt, it would probably have the same problem as an internal connection.

I realize my options. I was only reporting this for information.

Lou

 

[reader50]

If your drive cage is one of the 3-bay variants, it is able to fit a 3rd SATA SSD. You could use an adapter cable from the logicboard USB port, to the SATA SSD. Removing the drive from the problematic PCIe card. If the problem is the card (or card driver), this would fix the disconnects.

On your 14,8 check your T2 security settings to allow booting from the SATA ports. The T2 will still consider them external - only Apple's proprietary SSD sticks are considered internal by the T2. But the change may be enough for macOS to consider them internal drives.

 

[joevt]

Not really sure, but I believe the Samsung 840 Series SSDs are NVME❓

Samsung 840 SSD are 2.5" SATA. SATA is 1.5 Gbps, 3 Gbps, or 6 Gbps. The SATA controller that these are connected to provide an AHCI interface.

2.5" NVMe would be U.2 PCIe interface. M.2 or U.2 PCIe is usually 4 lanes of PCIe gen 2, 3, 4, or 5, which are 20 Gbps up to 128 Gbps.

A M.2 AHCI or NVMe device uses the M.2 PCIe connection to connect an AHCI or NVMe controller that is built into the M.2 device.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Two of the 840 SSDs are connected by SATA, the third by USB.

Lou

 

[joevt]

^^^^Two of the 840 SSDs are connected by SATA, the third by USB.

The third connected by USB uses a USB mass storage device class interface to communicate with a USB to SATA bridge.
It might use Bulk Only Transport (BOT) protocol but USB attached SCSI (UAS) is preferable (bInterfaceProtocol 0x62 in ioreg)
https://usb-ids.gowdy.us/read/UC/08/06
You have to use "USB Prober.app" to see what interfaces a USB device supports (98/0x62 = UAS, 80/0x50 = BOT)