nMP USB 3.0 problems common?

[saulinpa]

I decided that I couldn't wait anymore so ordered a CTO 6 core, 512GB, D700 nMP. To my surprise when setting it up I found one of the four USB ports would not recognize any of my USB 3.0 devices including thumb drives. USB 2.0 thumbdrives, keyboard, mouse worked on that port. The other three ports worked fine with both 2.0 and 3.0 devices.

I did some surfing and saw that PRAM/NVRAM and SMC reset could fix it. So I did those and things are working now.

My questions: Is this a common occurrence for the new Mac Pros? Or is this a one-off that they screwed something up during setup? Is this indicative of a bad machine so should send it back?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

 

[Riwam]

I decided that I couldn't wait anymore so ordered a CTO 6 core, 512GB, D700 nMP. To my surprise when setting it up I found one of the four USB ports would not recognize any of my USB 3.0 devices including thumb drives. USB 2.0 thumbdrives, keyboard, mouse worked on that port. The other three ports worked fine with both 2.0 and 3.0 devices.

I did some surfing and saw that PRAM/NVRAM and SMC reset could fix it. So I did those and things are working now.

My questions: Is this a common occurrence for the new Mac Pros? Or is this a one-off that they screwed something up during setup? Is this indicative of a bad machine so should send it back?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

---------------------------
My personal experience is that on many occasions an USB drive expells itself without any intervention on my side.
I get then the usual hint, external drives should not be plainly disconnected, a piece of advice which brings no use to me.
However it might depend on the external drive brand or inside electronics since some (a Toshiba for instance) remain always connected and others (LaCie) quit by thenselves often.
Don't know if this info helps you.
I personally believe that USB implementation on the MP 6.1 is far from perfect, USB 3 speed is for instance far from what it should be.
As for the available USB ports I never noticed any difference between them.
That only one of them should need repair measures seems to me very strange.
Why one needing SMC and nvram reset and, if so, not all of them?
I am not an expert at all but cannot logically understand differences of that kind.
Ed

 

[saulinpa]

Good info. So far I haven't experienced that disconnect. Maybe Apple's implementation of the USB standard isn't as compatible/forgiving as it could be. Have you tried the TB to USB3 adapter? I was wondering if it would be faster than the built in ports.

I've also had problems with video cables not fitting Apple adapters (thumb screws wouldn't engage) and getting intermittent connections. So when I found that 3.0 devices wouldn't work on the one USB port my first thought was that I had non-standard cables that didn't seat correctly.