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blockheads88

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2005
92
5
Bellmore, Long Island, NY
Hey,

Since Intel doesn't allow anymore to sell any single SATA connector without an Drive there are very few options available. Yo can find dual Dock with thunderbolt but then not portable. Seagate made an Adapter for there HD's that people used MPN: STAE128 But No longer able to sell and most have been sold out and very hard to get. I have a few still sealed if interested message me.

Thanks,
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
blackheads88 wrote above:
"Since Intel doesn't allow anymore to sell any single SATA connector without an Drive there are very few options available."

I didn't know this until you posted it.

If true, it's almost like Intel has some kind of plan to kill off thunderbolt.

What is the point of -not- being able to buy an "empty" thunderbolt enclosure?

Years ago in this forum, I predicted that thunderbolt would fail in the marketplace vis-a-vis USB3.

Who would have thought that Intel itself would assist in this?
 
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MrX8503

macrumors 68020
Sep 19, 2010
2,292
1,614
Not sure why Intel made up that rule, but I remember reading that to be the case.

The expense and the lack of driveless enclosures is Intel's doing. It's like they want thunderbolt to fail.
 

blockheads88

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2005
92
5
Bellmore, Long Island, NY
Yes Very odd that they made that rule for Single Disk Drives.
They are fine with multiple drive dock but any thing single must be sold with a HD that is approved to work.
It sounds like some HD's didn't fully work and cased issues. But would think the same thing would happen with the Dual Dock drives that exist.
 

g4cube

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2003
760
13
Yes Very odd that they made that rule for Single Disk Drives.
They are fine with multiple drive dock but any thing single must be sold with a HD that is approved to work.
It sounds like some HD's didn't fully work and cased issues. But would think the same thing would happen with the Dual Dock drives that exist.

There is actually a good reason why bus-powered single drive "empty enclosures" aren't permitted. To protect your Thunderbolt port.

A small number of computers from the early days of thunderbolt do not have robust protection. If you insert a drive that consumes too much power, you may damage your Thunderbolt port, leading to a potentially expensive repair.

Also, to assure a properl'y functioning ecosystem, there is no way to prevent novice users from installing a drive that makes the ecosystem unstable. The controlling powers want ny certified - read "tested" - configurations.

Ever wonder why something that should "just work", doesn't. The typical user doesn't have enough info to make the right decision picking a suitable, compatible drive. Intel and Apple decide what is "certifiable". They define limits for configurations the ecosystem can tolerate.

Look back at some or the older threads where some SSDs just weren't working reliably.
 

Richdmoore

macrumors 68000
Jul 24, 2007
1,956
355
Troutdale, OR
You were quoting an amazon link, and amazon reported that it's no longer available.. I have no idea who synchrotech are... :)

I know I am reviving an dead thread, but I wanted to mention my experience with Synchrotech. They are listed as as the official (and only) distributer for Delock 52510 in the united states. I ordered one of the thunderbolt docks to upgrade my 2011 iMac, it arrived fast using fedex ground ($89 + $9 for shipping from CA to Oregon.)

One odd thing is that the included power supply has the standard US plug, and a British power plug insert as well.

I am waiting on newegg to deliver a Crucial BX100 1tb SSD next week to use in the case. I also purchased a thunderbolt cable from the local Apple store, as one is not included with the enclosure.

I am going to put this on the end of my only thunderbolt chain, my setup will be from the thunderbolt port to a caldiget thunderbolt station (giving me both USB 3 & a HDMI port if needed) then to the delock enclosure to make a bootable SSD drive. As the delock only has the one thunderbolt in port, that will end the chain.

I know in the past, SSD drives using the seagate thunderbolt sled had issues with 500g hard drives due to the power requirements. I am not sure if it is still an issue with newer more power efficient SSD drives, but if it is still an issue the delock using AC power should take care of it.
 

ColdCase

macrumors 68040
Feb 10, 2008
3,359
276
NH
One odd thing is that the included power supply has the standard US plug, and a British power plug insert as well.

Thanks for the update.

This power plug or cable thing is fairly common with some manufactures. Startech does it often. I guess it saves them stocking two part numbers (one for US one for Europe)
 

eckrus5

macrumors newbie
Dec 2, 2015
2
0

T Coma

macrumors 6502a
Dec 3, 2015
659
1,246
Flyover Country, USA
What is the process on the LaCie? is it as easy as the OWC?
Piece of cake. The rubber bumper pulls right off, remove a couple little screws and you're in. Swap the stock HDD with your bare SSD, and cap it off. Get a cheap enclosure for the stock HDD and you have an additional backup drive. I got the refurbished tbolt Lacie from Macmall, swapped in a 500GB SSD that was on sale and now the boot drive on my 2011 IMac is SSD and I didn't have to risk cracking the Mac open.
 
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twilexia

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2015
282
59
Piece of cake. The rubber bumper pulls right off, remove a couple little screws and you're in. Swap the stock HDD with your bare SSD, and cap it off. Get a cheap enclosure for the stock HDD and you have an additional backup drive. I got the refurbished tbolt Lacie from Macmall, swapped in a 500GB SSD that was on sale and now the boot drive on my 2011 IMac is SSD and I didn't have to risk cracking the Mac open.

Can you run some speed tests for us? :)
 

MCAsan

macrumors 601
Jul 9, 2012
4,587
442
Atlanta
One think to consider....USB-C is headed our way. Likely 2016 MacBooks, iMacs, Mac Pros, and maybe Mac Minis will start their migration from USB 3 and TB/DP ports......to USB-C ports that "do it all". It will be interesting to see how fast the disk drive and enclosure companies start to ship external drive arrays with USB-C ports that do USB 3.1 and/or TB3. Short term business opportunity.....make adapters from USB-C on one end that do FW, USB 3/2, and TB/DP 1/2 on the other end. Those will be needed next year.
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
There is actually a good reason why bus-powered single drive "empty enclosures" aren't permitted. To protect your Thunderbolt port.

A small number of computers from the early days of thunderbolt do not have robust protection. If you insert a drive that consumes too much power, you may damage your Thunderbolt port, leading to a potentially expensive repair.

Also, to assure a properl'y functioning ecosystem, there is no way to prevent novice users from installing a drive that makes the ecosystem unstable. The controlling powers want ny certified - read "tested" - configurations.

Ever wonder why something that should "just work", doesn't. The typical user doesn't have enough info to make the right decision picking a suitable, compatible drive. Intel and Apple decide what is "certifiable". They define limits for configurations the ecosystem can tolerate.

Look back at some or the older threads where some SSDs just weren't working reliably.
I am not sure where you're getting your information from. Bus-powered single drive empty enclosures are available and certified. Here is an example:

https://thunderbolttechnology.net/product/delock-42490-25-thunderbolt™-sata-drive

You can buy these on amazon
 

twilexia

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2015
282
59
One think to consider....USB-C is headed our way. Likely 2016 MacBooks, iMacs, Mac Pros, and maybe Mac Minis will start their migration from USB 3 and TB/DP ports......to USB-C ports that "do it all". It will be interesting to see how fast the disk drive and enclosure companies start to ship external drive arrays with USB-C ports that do USB 3.1 and/or TB3. Short term business opportunity.....make adapters from USB-C on one end that do FW, USB 3/2, and TB/DP 1/2 on the other end. Those will be needed next year.

Yeah, this is one of those things that bug me about getting the iMac this year. It's literally the last iMac we'll see without USB-C/TB3. It's going to suck next year when everyone's rocking their TB 3 gear :(
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
I fully expect that next year's refreshes will bring TB3 / USB-C. I also expect to see TB3 --> TB2/1 adaptors. I am not buying a new Mac until that happens.
 

twilexia

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2015
282
59
I can find them on amazon.co.uk, so I thought they would be available on amazon.com. I just tried and I cannot. That is odd. My apologies.

Someone linked me this one - do you think it looks good?

http://www.synchrotech.com/products...sd-drive-external-enclosure-delock-42510.html

Only thing is it doesn't come with a TB cable. But you can get a 2m TB cable from the same site for 35$. I think it's worth it (vs getting a 179$ lacie rugged and switching out the HDD)?
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
Someone linked me this one - do you think it looks good?

http://www.synchrotech.com/products...sd-drive-external-enclosure-delock-42510.html

Only thing is it doesn't come with a TB cable. But you can get a 2m TB cable from the same site for 35$. I think it's worth it (vs getting a 179$ lacie rugged and switching out the HDD)?
It's on the thunderbolt technology site, so that means it's been certified by Intel. I cannot confirm if it's good because I don't use it. I don't see the point of a TB --> SATA single drive enclosure when a USB 3 with UASP --> SATA enclosure will give you 99% of the performance at a much lower cost.
 

twilexia

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2015
282
59
It's on the thunderbolt technology site, so that means it's been certified by Intel. I cannot confirm if it's good because I don't use it. I don't see the point of a TB --> SATA single drive enclosure when a USB 3 with UASP --> SATA enclosure will give you 99% of the performance at a much lower cost.

Are you sure about that? My understanding is the TB connection provides much better I/O output than the USB interface (using the same SATA SSD).

http://www.storagereview.com/thunderbolt_storage_with_any_hard_drive_or_ssd

I could be wrong however, since the test I just linked shows the SSD not reacting well to the USB 3.0 in terms of transfer speeds, whereas almost all current SSDs have similar transfer speeds on USB and TB(due to SATA III being the bottleneck). But there's not a lot of info out there regarding IOPS and latency, which to me is even more important than transfer speed.
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,880
4,024
It's on the thunderbolt technology site, so that means it's been certified by Intel. I cannot confirm if it's good because I don't use it. I don't see the point of a TB --> SATA single drive enclosure when a USB 3 with UASP --> SATA enclosure will give you 99% of the performance at a much lower cost.


It's not the performance difference between TB and USB 3.0 I'm interested in. My standard USB 3.0 HDD enclosures emit a ton of interference, which makes my Bluetooth accessories near unusable. TB docks/enclosures solves this problem.
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
Are you sure about that? My understanding is the TB connection provides much better I/O output than the USB interface (using the same SATA SSD).

http://www.storagereview.com/thunderbolt_storage_with_any_hard_drive_or_ssd

I could be wrong however, since the test I just linked shows the SSD not reacting well to the USB 3.0 in terms of transfer speeds, whereas almost all current SSDs have similar transfer speeds on USB and TB(due to SATA III being the bottleneck). But there's not a lot of info out there regarding IOPS and latency, which to me is even more important than transfer speed.
This was true, until USB 3 got UASP. You have to make sure that the external USB 3 enclosure supports UASP. in a single drive enclosure the difference between TB --> SATA and USB 3 --> SATA is basically negligible.
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
It's not the performance difference between TB and USB 3.0 I'm interested in. My standard USB 3.0 HDD enclosures emit a ton of interference, which makes my Bluetooth accessories near unusable. TB docks/enclosures solves this problem.
I have never encountered this problem to be honest, so I cannot comment on it. I have a lot of USB 3 devices hidden around behind my desk. The Apple trackpad works perfectly.
 

BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,880
4,024
I have never encountered this problem to be honest, so I cannot comment on it. I have a lot of USB 3 devices hidden around behind my desk. The Apple trackpad works perfectly.
The Magic Trackpad is the device that gives me the most trouble. Are you using bare 3.5" HDD docks? Those seem to be the worst offenders, in my experience.
 
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