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Leopard + Silicon Image 3132 eSata expresscard

confirmed

10.5.2 + Sil 1.1.9 are compatible.

I just reformatted my external to a single volume to get a fresh TM backup (my ultimate test, and besides, after i tweaked 10.5.2 to my liking I didn't really need to jump back to 10.5.x)... copied massive data to-and-fro previous to doing this, all using the card.

I used to have my 465GB drive split into Backup (TM) and Audio (iTunes & old Ableton libraries & sessions) partitions, but I believe it is better practice to have it all on one drive, that way there's no hard wall for TM to have to delete old backups (my oldest backup was 2/11 the old way!) and now it will be more dynamically friendly. Only 3 folders too: Ableton, Backups.db or whatever, and iTunes Music.

Word.:apple:
 
tricil said:
10.5.2 + Sil 1.1.9 are compatible.

I just reformatted my external to a single volume to get a fresh TM backup (my ultimate test, and besides, after i tweaked 10.5.2 to my liking I didn't really need to jump back to 10.5.x)... copied massive data to-and-fro previous to doing this, all using the card.

I used to have my 465GB drive split into Backup (TM) and Audio (iTunes & old Ableton libraries & sessions) partitions, but I believe it is better practice to have it all on one drive, that way there's no hard wall for TM to have to delete old backups (my oldest backup was 2/11 the old way!) and now it will be more dynamically friendly. Only 3 folders too: Ableton, Backups.db or whatever, and iTunes Music.

Word.:apple:
Click to expand...

Mind walking me through how you got it to work? I am on 10.5.2 with 1.1.9 and it's a no go for me. In addition, what files should I delete so I can start from scratch?
 
Same question

I'm having the same thing happen to me - 10.5.2 hasn't fixed things for me. Now I can't even see my hard drive at all with when I use the card, although the card itself shows up in the menu bar.
 
palexandridis said:
I'm having the same thing happen to me - 10.5.2 hasn't fixed things for me. Now I can't even see my hard drive at all with when I use the card, although the card itself shows up in the menu bar.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the issue I am having as well.
 
Okay common one of you good people who got it working, please share what you did? Not fare that you get to have fun in all the glory and not let us join in! lol
 
Please Please PLEASE HELP!

Why is it that people say they have the issue and then those who don't, don't give us the info on how to fix the problem? :(
 
Well im testing mine now.

And it seems to be working so far *touch wood*.

Transferred movies:

Main HD <--eSATA--> WD MyBook ES 500Gb (40Mb/s)
eSATA 2.5" <--eSATA--> WD MyBook ES 500Gb (50Mb/s)

All worked... so far.

Edit: I just plugged it in with 10.5.2... I've done nothing apart from remove the USB connector and used the eSATA one to the WD MyBook. The Akasa P2 enclosure always worked fine.
 
Feynman said:
Why is it that people say they have the issue and then those who don't, don't give us the info on how to fix the problem? :(
Click to expand...

Didn't do anything special. The eSATA card is a generic card from Frys and hard drive is a Seagate Pro 500GB.

If the base driver from SIIG does not work, try the SATARAID5 driver. That is what I am using.

Good luck.
 
I finally got my Apiotek Si3132 to work with Leopard. Here are the steps I took to get it to work.

I flashed the card's bios using XP in bootcamp.
I downloaded the bios' bin file from this link

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/BIOS7405.zip

In device manager, I clicked on Silicon Image SI 3132 Controller..., you will see a tab "Flash Bios", click on the browse button for the downloaded file and select this file, b7405.bin. Next click on program flash.

A side note; you have to have your external device connected to the express card in order for the Flash Bios tab to appear in XP's device manager.

Finally, I booted back into Leopard 10.5.2 and reinstalled the 1.1.9 driver. Presto, my Macbook Pro now completely transfers my files back and forth without any of those warning messages, and most of all, Time Machine now works with Si3132 and my WD My Book Premium ES HDD
 
boggled said:
I finally got my Apiotek Si3132 to work with Leopard. Here are the steps I took to get it to work.

I flashed the card's bios using XP in bootcamp.
I downloaded the bios' bin file from this link

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/BIOS7405.zip

In device manager, I clicked on Silicon Image SI 3132 Controller..., you will see a tab "Flash Bios", click on the browse button for the downloaded file and select this file, b7405.bin. Next click on program flash.

A side note; you have to have your external device connected to the express card in order for the Flash Bios tab to appear in XP's device manager.

Finally, I booted back into Leopard 10.5.2 and reinstalled the 1.1.9 driver. Presto, my Macbook Pro now completely transfers my files back and forth without any of those warning messages, and most of all, Time Machine now works with Si3132 and my WD My Book Premium ES HDD
Click to expand...

Okay so I am trying to do what you suggested and card is not even showing up in the Device Manager.

Do I have to install the drivers? If so, do you know how I would do this? I tried to download them but there are no instructions on where to put the files or is there an .exe file that I can just click on to install the files (like a package for Mac OS X).

Maybe you could walk me through this as well? I am using Parallels, that shouldn't make a difference right?
 
I hope this works for you!

Hi Feynmen! First, which card do you have, which brand - manufacturer?

According to the manufacturer of my card, Apiotek, you have to flash the card through bootcamp - either OS will do XP/2000. Here's the link to the instructons of my card.

http://www.apiotek.com/Global/Product/Q&A/Q&A_EC-0003D.htm

If you boot into XP through bootcamp, you'll have to install the 'windows' driver for your card. Then, hopefully, it will show up in device manager as "SCSI and RAID controllers" and under the "+" tab "Silicon Image Sil 3132 SATALink Controller"

Let me know if this works.
 
boggled said:
Hi Feynmen! First, which card do you have, which brand - manufacturer?

According to the manufacturer of my card, Apiotek, you have to flash the card through bootcamp - either OS will do XP/2000. Here's the link to the instructons of my card.

http://www.apiotek.com/Global/Product/Q&A/Q&A_EC-0003D.htm

If you boot into XP through bootcamp, you'll have to install the 'windows' driver for your card. Then, hopefully, it will show up in device manager as "SCSI and RAID controllers" and under the "+" tab "Silicon Image Sil 3132 SATALink Controller"

Let me know if this works.
Click to expand...

I think I mentioned that I tried to download the Windows drivers but since they don't have an installer I don't know how to install them. They are just files with no instructions.

Any help here would be very nice.
 
Feynman, are you getting into XP through Parallels or Bootcamp? It won't work through Parallels.
 
Feynman said:
Why is it that people say they have the issue and then those who don't, don't give us the info on how to fix the problem? :(
Click to expand...

Not everyone uses a e-SATA cards on their macs, in some countries those card are difficult to find, plus not every card need drivers... My buying tip would be to buy a card/adaptor which clearly states it supports MacOSX because Leopard doesn't have built-in drivers for every single card out there...

Also, most resourceful people can find what they need from spending a moment searching google or yahoo.. Perhaps this page could help you? :)
 
boggled said:
Feynman, are you getting into XP through Parallels or Bootcamp? It won't work through Parallels.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be an ass but could you please read my posts? I specifically said I was using Parallels.

Same difference, tell me how to install the drivers with native Windows XP (Bootcamp).
 
Feynman,
Here is the XP driver to install http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/3132_x86_1.0.22.0_logo.zip Bring up the Hardware Upate Wizard [go into control panel and click "Add Hardware", then, scroll for "Silicon Image Sil 3132 SATALink Controller", click on it, it should bring up the Add Hardware Wizard] select "Install from a list or specific location [Advanced]" click "next", select "Include this location in the search" click "browse", browse for this folder "3132_x86_1.0.22.0_logo", click "next", and the XP driver(s) should install.

Once the driver is installed, flash the card's bios from the file you downloaded from this link. http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/BIOS7405.zip

Select this file "b7405.bin" to flash the card's bios in XP's "device manager"
Remember to have your external device connected to the card, otherwise the "Flash Bios" tab won't appear in device manager.

I apologize for not explaining how to install the driver. It's been months since I had installed the XP driver; therefore, I completely forgot about how I had to install the driver.

Let me know if this helped you any.
 
EFI update

Beware of installing the EFI update for the Mac Pro if you have anything with the 3132 chipset attached, like a PCI card. I did it this morning with my Lacie SATA express card and now it won't show up in ASP after reinstalling the driver, repair permissions and a restart.
 
PCI Express card on PM G5

I have installed an SI3132 PCI express card. It's some OEM but I don't have any brand name for it. I'm running OSX 10.5.2 and connected to the card is a 160GB running in an integral sata case. System Profiler shows this for the card:
pci1095,3132:

Type: Other Mass Storage Controller
Driver Installed: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: SLOT-3
Vendor ID: 0x1095
Device ID: 0x3132
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1095
Subsystem ID: 0x3132
Revision ID: 0x0001
Link Width: x1


I've used the hard drive with TM under USB2 without any hassle and thought I'd do myself something good by upgrading to esata since my G5 only takes 2 internal HDs. But since I'm running the drive with the SI3132 TM constantly crashes, particularly when I try to open itunes during backup, which is strange because I do not backup my itunes library via TM. Thing is, itunes also crashes and I can't even perform a force quit on it. The same is true for TM, it appears to be stuck on "preparing backup". So I have to restart the whole system. I can initiate a restart of my mac but it gets stuck during shut down. pushing the on-off button to force a restart wont work either and I eventually will have to pull the plug!

I will have to switch back to using USB unless someone can help me out here. I'd like to flash the BIOS as that seemed to have worked for some MBP users, but since I run a G5 i cannot run XP to do so. Is there any way to do this under OSX?
 
I can see and use my external HD using esata, but crashes often

Unlike some here, I have been able to see and use my external drive using esata, but only after installing the 1.1.9 RAID drivers from the Silicon Image website, (even though I have a one-port esata expresscard on my MBP and I don't use RAID).

However, this just allowed me to see the card and the drive. I still get kernal panics and the grey "you must restart your computer" screen often, especially when using itunes (my library is on the external drive). I assume this is related to the "10.5.2 and SIIL 3132 used with external drives that have esata and another connection type, (usb 2 or firewire), problem."

Has anyone found a fix for this problem? I really like my Icy Dock enclosure, and of course, having the USB 2 is helpful for when I need my expresscard slot for another card, but I just can't use the esata for anything important (lightroom, photoshop) if there is the chance i will have a kernal panic.

Anyone solved this yet?

Thanks.

I have parallels, so I have not tried flashing the BIOS, but that seems to be for people who can't see the card or the external drive...
 
use the SATARAID5 driver

for me the key was to use the SATARAID5 driver (i.e not the BASE driver)- before that the card wasn't recognized at all
 
No one seems to have my specific issue so I'll add it here:

I'm using a SIL3132 eSATA expresscard (1.1.9 driver) with two eSATA ports on Leopard. Now, I have a generic USB+eSATA enclosure connected to one port and this has always worked without problems on the card, in both 10.5.2 and 10.5.3. Works perfectly.

I also have a WD MyBook Studio which works fine on USB/FW, but when used under eSATA, it works and mounts fine, but after a period of inactivity (half an hour or so) seems to lock up and not respond any further. It needs to be turned of and on again, at which point it will again work for a while until locking up once more.

I hoped 10.5.3 might help, but I get the same issue.

I then noticed a few days ago there was a firmware upgrade for the drive specifically for Leopard, so I had hoped that would fix the issue, but alas I still get the same lockup, meaning eSATA is effectively a no-go on this drive.

Any tips, or things to try?
 
mcbeej said:
No one seems to have my specific issue so I'll add it here:

I'm using a SIL3132 eSATA expresscard (1.1.9 driver) with two eSATA ports on Leopard. Now, I have a generic USB+eSATA enclosure connected to one port and this has always worked without problems on the card, in both 10.5.2 and 10.5.3. Works perfectly.

I also have a WD MyBook Studio which works fine on USB/FW, but when used under eSATA, it works and mounts fine, but after a period of inactivity (half an hour or so) seems to lock up and not respond any further. It needs to be turned of and on again, at which point it will again work for a while until locking up once more.

I hoped 10.5.3 might help, but I get the same issue.

I then noticed a few days ago there was a firmware upgrade for the drive specifically for Leopard, so I had hoped that would fix the issue, but alas I still get the same lockup, meaning eSATA is effectively a no-go on this drive.

Any tips, or things to try?
Click to expand...

I have the exact issue, connecting a WD MyBook Studio 1TB. I've tried cards from Griffin, Dynex, and Firmtek, and all become inactive after some time. I believe it has to do with a sleep mode on the drive or card. Turning off "put drives to sleep" does not help.

All of the cards mentioned use the SI 3132 driver. Firmtek is the only company I know that writes their own drivers. However, their card is NOT compatible with the MyBook Studio or other drives that are multi-interfaced, when using the Firmtek drivers. The Firmtek card can use the SI 3132 set, but exhibits the same symptoms you describe.

Unfortunately I can only add a "me too" post with these drivers and Leopard. I've gone back to FW800.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
--Loyd
 
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