NewerTech eSATA Addon for Mac Pro

[cmturner2]

I just thought I'd share my experiences with this product here so others might benefit.

First of, for review/details see the Macenstein review here: http://macenstein.com/default/archives/678

Substitute the following for instructions installing it if you have an early 2008 Mac Pro like I do.

1) Ignore all the bits about removing screws except for the one holding the upper part of the fan bay.

2) If you have an 8800 GT, it's still worth removing it and detaching the power cable from the mainboard.

3) Instead of fussing and fighting trying to remove the RAM bay, the CPU cover, and the fan bay, add a long nosed set of needle nose pliers to the equation.

4) Pull out on the fan bay enough to dangle the ends of the SATA cables down behind the top leg of the fan bay where it attached to the chassis with the screw you removed

5) Using the long nosed needle nose pliers and a good light source so you can see what you are doing, attach the SATA cables to the two ports on the mainboard.

6) Follow along with the installation manual from that point on (i.e. routing the cables).

Installation is far easier this way, and the fan housing chassis is quite capable of enduring your minor lifting to get the cables attached compared to all the fuss you would need to go through using the "proper" installation method.

Aside from the minor installation hassle, great product for anyone wanting/needing the two additional SATA connections, or simply the additional availability of eSATA ports.

 

[kittiyut]

If you have the Apple RAID card, there is no way you can route the cables "behind" the hard drives. I couldn't disconnect the RAID card from the cables and since they were too short, I can not move the card to a lower slot. Fortunately, the cables for the eSATA were just long enough to go in front of the RAID card. Since the MAC is closed (no fancy see-through side panels like PCs) I'm ok with the cables so called "exposed"

just my 2 cents.

 

[gibbz]

I was able to move my raid card to the 3rd slot and then run the esata extenders as normal.

 

[jb60606]

Just installed mine today. I only have a time machine drive attached at the moment, though plan on adding an external BR-ROM.

I wish I had seen this thread prior to installing the extender. It took well over an hour and after completion, I noticed that some steps just weren't necessary (NewerTech's included instructions are apparently geared more towards 2007 MPs, and not my Feb 2008 MP). And I feel I may have done a little harm, probably while jerking the fan bay free -- not realizing there was an additional screw I needed to remove at the bottom of the assembly -- as my RAM & HD temps are slightly higher than they were pre-install. I'm worried - I hope this wasn't a mistake.

I also noticed that routing the cable behind the HD trays interferes with the temperature sensor for the internal hard drives.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I am considering adding one of these for some 1TB media drives I want to connect to the esata, but I have some questions you might help with.

First, what is the process for connecting and disconnecting the drives? Does the computer need to be turned off to do either? Or can you just connect/disconnect and then restart when needed?

 

[gibbz]

Drives connected to the esata extenders are not plug and play. For the computer to recognize them, the drives must be plugged in before booting.

 

[brand]

Drives connected to the esata extenders are not plug and play. For the computer to recognize them, the drives must be plugged in before booting.

Actually they are Plug-And-Play (PNP). Hot-swappable is what they are not. They are two completely different things.

 

[gibbz]

My apologies, I meant to say hot-swappable.