I presume Windows is installed now, but you can't boot into it (no selection in bootloader)?
You could give rEFit a try, and see if it works.
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Selecting RAID controller for my needs
- Thread starter gugucom
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You could give rEFit a try, and see if it works.
I was sorting some other issues. With both arrays (OS X SW/Vista64 HW) now installed the Mac will allways boot into the RR BIOS and Vista. I only get into OS X by option key. This is also inconvenient. I will later look if I can sort something out with rEFIt.
My Blu-Ray ROM is still in IDE mode. But with Vista switched over to AHCI I should be able to set it back to SATA. I will probably loose OS X booting because EFI is too dumb to recognise the BDD on SATA.
BTW the last installation from scratch I did with the MBR partition table because it seems to be the way on this RR BIOS. I will need to mark a new parameter with my image management. Those earlier with GPT and now those with MBR. They are not compatible.
Hopefully rEFiT will sort it for you, but really, it's just an inconvenience (it does work afterall).
Any hardware solution with RAID, even a FakeRAID setup, has to use the card's default methodology, or it won't work. This is what I was trying to get past you, but I don't think I did well enough at it.
A bad experience. I realized that I cannot use this card for booting. There is no defined way how the card bios comes up depending of different ways the ODD ports are used. This would only be usefull if there was some way EFI and the card BIOS can be made to work together which they cannot.
The other problem is that I cannot live with missing ODD functions. My SATA Blu-Ray ROM will not boot and the Superdrive will not play Blu-Ray movies in Vista. So I must have both drives. I refitted both drives and lost the space to fit the Vista drives internally. I fixed the drives provisionally inside the extension bay with power from the ODD bay but something went wrong on the install and fried both brand new Intels.
A really bad day. I will use the card for non booting OS X ports only , unless Highpoint finds a way to make booting integrated in EFI.
The other problem is that I cannot live with missing ODD functions. My SATA Blu-Ray ROM will not boot and the Superdrive will not play Blu-Ray movies in Vista. So I must have both drives. I refitted both drives and lost the space to fit the Vista drives internally. I fixed the drives provisionally inside the extension bay with power from the ODD bay but something went wrong on the install and fried both brand new Intels.
A really bad day. I will use the card for non booting OS X ports only , unless Highpoint finds a way to make booting integrated in EFI.
Ouch!
I've not been a big fan of either FakeRAID or Highpoint over the years, as their gear has had some problems (consistent). The RR43xx is a little different, as it's designed and manufactured by Areca, but it still has limitations over Areca's offerings.
As per BIOS, it works with EFI (the BIOS emulation section) to boot Windows or Linux, so the issue is with that card (RR2642) not working correctly, despite what the product pages say on Highpoint's site. I've used an Areca ARC-1680 series card in a Mac (brief ownership of 10 days), but it worked, and others on the forum have made them work as well. They're proper RAID cards though, and Areca has the experience to know what they're doing.
You'd need another card, and at this point, I'd recommend going to a proper RAID card. The downside, is that they're not exactly cheap. But the array's operation/management,... is governed by the card, and not the OS.
For a simple controller, further research is needed. You might want to look into Sonnet Technologies and NitroAV. Those that have used them usually have had good things to say.
Can you try to return the Intel's for exchange?
How can I do this after they seemed to be internally burned. They are totally dead and stink of burned chips. I mean I did nothing wrong with them. But the vendor will probably tell me they had excess voltage and it is my fault. Does anybody have knowledge of something simillar happening?
Yikes!
I figured they were dead, but wasn't expecting there to be a distinct odor.
Do you know what happened by chance?
I ask, as that shouldn't have happened, and unfortunately, Highpoint will have included language that they're not responsible for incidental damages, even if it truly was a result of their card (unless your laws nullifies such language). An ESD from a mistake in handling should have been more likely.
This is weird.
I don't know how it happened. I only know they are fried and dead. They must have been short circuited or exposed to massive over voltage to cause such a thing. But how that happened I don't know.
Getting Power from the ODD bay?
Wait, there are no Power connectors on the logic board for storage devises - usually people get power via a molex connector in the Optical bay.
...There are however two power connectors which are used for powering hungry video cards.. did you mean those?
Getting Power from the ODD bay?
Wait, there are no Power connectors on the logic board for storage devises - usually people get power via a molex connector in the Optical bay.
...There are however two power connectors which are used for powering hungry video cards.. did you mean those?
No, I ran a Molex cable from the optical bay. After the experience of threading 5 Sata cables through the needle hole in the bulk head I decided it is time to get a Molex connector through it. I had to remove the connector for HDD #1 but that was a small thing really. So I now have ODD power in the extension bay, even with a nice, thick insolated black cable.
Hmm... I'm wondering if the RR2642 shorted, causing an overvoltage to the drive's controller. That, or the Intel's really were defective (stress under load, and failed).No, I ran a Molex cable from the optical bay. After the experience of threading 5 Sata cables through the needle hole in the bulk head I decided it is time to get a Molex connector through it. I had to remove the connector for HDD #1 but that was a small thing really. So I now have ODD power in the extension bay, even with a nice, thick insolated black cable.
Taking a new approach
I eventually returned my HPT RR2642 today and will get my money back. I'm about to place an order for the Areca ARC-1210 card which will have 8 lane PCIe connection and support 8 SATA ports.
For internal use I think that I also need an Areca 4 SATA Breakout to SFF-8470 cable? Can somebody confirm that this cable needs to be additionally ordered?
Also of interest would be an external solution on the second internal 1210 connector. I assume that it is possible to find a cable that terminates in a 4x eSATA slot bracket.
I have also found a solution for the annoying problem that my SATA Blu-Ray/DVD drive cannot boot optical disks with EFI32. I will not waste the internal space for an additional superdrive for the few times when I need to boot install disks. I will boot from an external USB drive. I have tested that solution and will get an enclosure for my superdrive.
That opens the way for me to eventually fit my Addonics enclosure that will take all four SSDs. It will leave my four SATA ports entirely for mass storage which could be up to 8 TB eventually.
A final question for nanofrog or whoever has experience with the Areca cards: How much start up time will the ARC-1210 controller add to my current time from pressing the power button to the EFI boot menue being up?
I eventually returned my HPT RR2642 today and will get my money back. I'm about to place an order for the Areca ARC-1210 card which will have 8 lane PCIe connection and support 8 SATA ports.
For internal use I think that I also need an Areca 4 SATA Breakout to SFF-8470 cable? Can somebody confirm that this cable needs to be additionally ordered?
Also of interest would be an external solution on the second internal 1210 connector. I assume that it is possible to find a cable that terminates in a 4x eSATA slot bracket.
I have also found a solution for the annoying problem that my SATA Blu-Ray/DVD drive cannot boot optical disks with EFI32. I will not waste the internal space for an additional superdrive for the few times when I need to boot install disks. I will boot from an external USB drive. I have tested that solution and will get an enclosure for my superdrive.
That opens the way for me to eventually fit my Addonics enclosure that will take all four SSDs. It will leave my four SATA ports entirely for mass storage which could be up to 8 TB eventually.
A final question for nanofrog or whoever has experience with the Areca cards: How much start up time will the ARC-1210 controller add to my current time from pressing the power button to the EFI boot menue being up?
OK. On the ARC-1210:
1. It's a 4 port card, not 8. That would be the ARC-1220.
2. It uses standard SATA connectors (1 cable per drive), NOT an SFF-8087 (MiniSAS*4i, which is what attaches to the logic board). This is the connector you need if you wish to connect it to the HDD bays at some future time.
This is fine, if you plan to run the SDD's to the empty optical bay (and leave it), but not so much if you decide to make changes later (use HDD bays). Otherwise, you need the ARC-1231ML, and those aren't the least expensive. Not bad for what they are, but I know a location that sells in the US for $630USD. You may have a hard time finding it that price in Europe though (likely I think).
Please give me some more details as per the cable you think you need. Not quite following you. Are you trying to go from eSATA ports to an external enclosure that uses a SFF-8470?
If so, I've not seen them. SFF-8087 or SFF-8088 to 4e/4i breakouts, yes. If this is what you wish to do, get a different external enclosure (common enough now).
I should warn you however, as you use brackets, the array is very likely to be unstable with SATA drives. They just don't operate at the the voltage levels as SAS. Cable distances are also limited @ 2.0m max for active signals. You'd have to go directly from internal ports to the external enclosure, assuming this is what you wish to do.Otherwise, if it's from the 4x 2.5" backplane, then you'd just need 4x SATA cables to connecto to the ARC-1220 (1210 if you decide on 4 ports only). It should also be noted, that with any of these cards, you DO NOT set up the array as GPT. It won't boot if you do. Otherwise, it's fine for data (non boot usage). It has to be MBR. If you happen to exceed 2TB, it has LBA64 support, and is capable of larger than 2TB arrays.
The firmware + PCIe bus test function would only add about 25sec or so, which is effectively the same as the ARC-1231ML (both SATA models using same firmware, just different port count and port connectors).
Now if you do go for the ARC-1220 (8 port version), the SATA connectors can be attached to any eSATA bracket.
Hope this helps.
OK, I think I have been screwed up by their incredibly bad documentation. Somehow they got their pictures wrong.
This is what they show for the 1210. I must have jumped to the conclusion that they are mini SAS. Four SATA ports is basically ok for me at 250€. That is the best price in Europe that I can get. In the US you can get much better prices but it would add a lot of time + tax and duty which would make it similar in the end. If I have issues returns would also be PITA. So 1210 is what it will be.
25 s additional boot time versus no RAID card is massive. I plan to use Bootcamp for Windows apps and it would add a minute to the change over of the OS. Very inconvenient! I will have a rethink on the whole plan. Is a fake RAID like the 1200 any faster in that regard?
What I need is 2 additional SATA ports with the same characteristic as those of the Mac's ESB2 chipset, so that I can put my SL booting RAID0 there. It would be ok to run those in SW RAID0 from disk utility as I do now. It is very stable and not affected by OS changes like Leo-> SL. For Vista booting I would need the card RAID0 and I understand that I need to use the MBR partition table there. I just hope that Winclone will work through this RAID0 because all my Vista backup is relying on that software. I would not want to go back to MS own backup again.
External eSATA would be an added convenience if I want to make external backups or migrate stuff off the machine without using the Gigabit ethernet port. I realise that I may have to use my spare ODD SATA port for that purpose and I would be hit by the fact that it is not hot swap capable. But I may have to experiment there.
This is what they show for the 1210. I must have jumped to the conclusion that they are mini SAS. Four SATA ports is basically ok for me at 250€. That is the best price in Europe that I can get. In the US you can get much better prices but it would add a lot of time + tax and duty which would make it similar in the end. If I have issues returns would also be PITA. So 1210 is what it will be.
25 s additional boot time versus no RAID card is massive. I plan to use Bootcamp for Windows apps and it would add a minute to the change over of the OS. Very inconvenient! I will have a rethink on the whole plan. Is a fake RAID like the 1200 any faster in that regard?
What I need is 2 additional SATA ports with the same characteristic as those of the Mac's ESB2 chipset, so that I can put my SL booting RAID0 there. It would be ok to run those in SW RAID0 from disk utility as I do now. It is very stable and not affected by OS changes like Leo-> SL. For Vista booting I would need the card RAID0 and I understand that I need to use the MBR partition table there. I just hope that Winclone will work through this RAID0 because all my Vista backup is relying on that software. I would not want to go back to MS own backup again.
External eSATA would be an added convenience if I want to make external backups or migrate stuff off the machine without using the Gigabit ethernet port. I realise that I may have to use my spare ODD SATA port for that purpose and I would be hit by the fact that it is not hot swap capable. But I may have to experiment there.
The image is an ARC-1210. Internal MiniSAS connectors (SFF-8087) look rather different though. Just look for the metal locking shield.
It's not actually that bad, but it does drive me nutz, as I'm an impatient soul with such things. But I have to live with it to do what I need. What actually makes it worse than the 25s, and why it can drive you bonkers, is the fact there's a loop involved.
1. Load main board firmware
2. Load RAID card firmware (injects the RAID array into the main board firmware)
3. Reload main board firmware (NOW the system can see the array, and boot from it).
4. Go to disk, and launch OS
But if it's needed, there's no choice. It all comes down to need vs. priorities.
As far as firmware, I don't think the ARC-1200 would be different. The reason is, it's NOT a FakeRAID controller.
I checked the specs on it, and it actually is a true hardware controller. It has a 500MHz processor and DDR2-400 cache on it. It also uses the same firmware (v.1.47 that's recently been released), so I wouldn't think it's much different at all (variances due to SATA or SAS controller, and port count).Keep in mind, no matter what you use, it's not the same chip or drivers, even if the OS is in control. So there's the potential for some unforseen issue. That said, Areca's not Highpoint. They actually design what they sell.
But I agree, software RAID is all that's needed for array management, and Fake RAID should be able to suffice. As far as backup software, I'm not familiar with Winclone, but you could try Acronis True Image 2009, if it doesn't work. That's what I use, and it can even restore a backup when the OS is trashed (via a Linux based Boot Disk you burn from the program). Rather handy it turns out.
Unfortunately, Areca is the wrong company to be looking for a Fake RAID controller. They just don't make them.
You might want to look for Sonnet Technologies, NitroAV,... Look for a 4 port, PCIe 4x lane unit that works well with Macs (boot + driver). I'm not sure about the EFI booting (members setup = ?), but they've been used before with success.
I understand.
At any rate, you'd have to make sure what ever card you get, supports hot swap. A proper RAID card does, but the MP does NOT support hot plugging, and it can damage the PSU. Given the fact it's to be done with external drives (separate PSU's), it's doable with a proper RAID card. As per a Fake RAID unit, check the specs carefully.
Hope this helps.
I actually went and bought the card today. I have two weeks to sort it out now. If it doesn't work to my taste I can give it back. We have a strong internet sales law that gives you unconditional return on any online or telefon deal.
I discovered that the package has plenty of cables but no software. I'm struggling right now. I have installed the driver in OS X and Windows but I know that I need to load a new EFI compatible firmware. I have no idea yet how that will work.
The Areca card shows the same horrible screen corruption as the Highpoint card when the setup utility is supposed to come up at a Windows start. So I have the same problem with the delivered BIOS firmware.
I found out why my SSDs were destroyed. I ran two !60 GB HDDs with the same Molex Y-cable and those were blown as well. It must have been that y-cable which must have connected 5V and 12V circuits in a false way. I have no idea how that happened but I binned the adapter now. Hopefully the problem will not re occur. I only realized what must have happened because the same basic Molex cable with one HDD was never a problem. I found a loose pin on inspection. It is a ****** way to blow equipment for 600$.
You have BIOS as the main firmware and this enables the use of Acronis. Unfortunately Acronis will not work with EFI and I do hope desperately that the interaction between EFI, the Areca firmware and the two OSes will work the way I need it.
I discovered that the package has plenty of cables but no software. I'm struggling right now. I have installed the driver in OS X and Windows but I know that I need to load a new EFI compatible firmware. I have no idea yet how that will work.
The Areca card shows the same horrible screen corruption as the Highpoint card when the setup utility is supposed to come up at a Windows start. So I have the same problem with the delivered BIOS firmware.
I found out why my SSDs were destroyed. I ran two !60 GB HDDs with the same Molex Y-cable and those were blown as well. It must have been that y-cable which must have connected 5V and 12V circuits in a false way. I have no idea how that happened but I binned the adapter now. Hopefully the problem will not re occur. I only realized what must have happened because the same basic Molex cable with one HDD was never a problem. I found a loose pin on inspection. It is a ****** way to blow equipment for 600$.
You have BIOS as the main firmware and this enables the use of Acronis. Unfortunately Acronis will not work with EFI and I do hope desperately that the interaction between EFI, the Areca firmware and the two OSes will work the way I need it.
That's really nice.
Here, the retailer/etailer sets the rules, so it's a situation of "chose carefully". There should have been a CD in the box with a real manual (rare these days) and cables. Areca's usually good about that. At any rate, the EFI firmware is on the disk, which of course you're missing.
Contact Areca, and they'll send it to you. If it's going to take awhile, PM me, and I'll upload it. But the version I have may be older (ARC1210EBC.BIN, & Nov. 3, 2008), as v. 1.47 wasn't out at the time, and I don't know if the EFI section has updated or not. I've not seen a download link at all, and I've looked. (I haven't converted it to a .zip, and was unable to upload it here).
How it works... Areca's firmware is actually is separate peices when you unzip it. But the EFI component is separate, and needs to be added. When you flash, you have to install each portion individually. Seems odd, but it has it's purpose. Assuming the rest of it is up to date, you only need to add in the EFI portion.
You haven't flashed the card with the EFI portion yet either.
Ouch! It's amazing how something that simple and inexpensive, can cause SO much damage.
At least you found it before it could happen again.
BTW, what's happened with the blown SSD's? Any protections via German Law that would help you with this?
Have you been able to confirm this, or going by Acronis's forum posts?
I ask, as it should be able to work so long as it's used either under Windows, or the Boot Disk is loaded (Linux Kernel). The reason is that Windows is still using MBR, not GUID for the Partition Tables. It can understand that, and the MBR is controlled by the ARC-1210, not OS X.
Something to think about anyway.
PM me, and I'll upload it. But the version I have may be older (ARC1210EBC.BIN, & Nov. 3, 2008), as v. 1.47 wasn't out at the time, and I don't know if the EFI section has updated or not. I've not seen a download link at all, and I've looked. (I haven't converted it to a .zip, and was unable to upload it here).
How it works... Areca's firmware is actually is separate peices when you unzip it. But the EFI component is separate, and needs to be added. When you flash, you have to install each portion individually. Seems odd, but it has it's purpose. Assuming the rest of it is up to date, you only need to add in the EFI portion.
There are obviously two ways to do this. One is to flash from the web interface and the other is more conventionally from DOS.
I have not been able to locate the web interface facility for OS X. It is supposed to be on the missing disk. I have checked the ftp site of Areca and the German distributer Starlite without joy.
I have found two versions of an OS X firmware of which the later one specifically excludes Bootcamp. So I will try the other. I thought I can flash this in DOS if I cannot find the web interface. Your report about the requirement to flash multiple sections has me confused now. I was thinking I can simply flash this binary and be done.
I have returned the SSDs which were purchased from an Austrian supplier. They havn't acknoledged the return and it appears they are still evaluating. If they conclude it was excessive voltage I have no chance to get a replacement. I gave them all the facts known at that time and I will have to accept whatever they decide. Frying the controller with 12V isn't regular use I reckon.
Have you been able to confirm this, or going by Acronis's forum posts?
No I havn't bothered after an unsuccessfull attempt with partition magic. It is just my general state of information. I may download a trial version and find out if I cannot use Winclone. Lets cross that bridge when we come to it. I prefer free utilities when I can accomplish the task with them.
Unrelated to this issue I have found out that Areca actually have the right picture of the 1210 card on the net. The SATA connectors are arranged in two banks one above the other. So what looks like two ports on the picture is in reality four ports.
I know, and use the ARCHTTP browser function.
I can upload it for you. It might be faster than waiting for a disk or download link, as it's a weekend.
I went ahead and uploaded the EFI version I have on disk. The DOS method is possible, but let me upload it (that way you can get up and running while waiting on a physical disk). It's really nice to have, and makes management easier.
The multiple sections are in the full firmware files (.zip). If you download 1.47 and unzip it, you'll get multiple .bin files. Each is loaded separately, and the web method is really easy. Nothing to panic over.
I wish you luck on this.
The trial is what I'd try in your situation. I did the same thing here, as I wanted to make absolutely sure it did what I needed first.
I've had too many issues with utilities in 64bit versions of Windows. Particularly Registry Tools (cleaning).
It is. I thought you were thinking it was an SFF-8087 connector for use with iPass/MiniSAS*4i cables (in terms of attaching the HDD's to the 8 port version of the card in order to use the cache, and offer future possibilities).
Thanks nanfrog for the uploads. I will have a look at that stuff shortly and try to flash the card from OS X.
Edit1: Your ROM file is named different to what I had but is exactly the same length: (36.864 Byte)
Edit2: I got the MRAID program installed. I just seem to be unable to start it properly. I will have to read the manual. I have:
- archttp64 and
- Launch MRAID Web Manager.Command
Both programs will not work.
Archttp64 responds by saying: IOServiceOpen failed. Cfg: Failed to bind(...), 13 Permission denied
The other opens a Safari window and spins endlessly.
I go for some reading and will repair permissions probably.
Edit1: Your ROM file is named different to what I had but is exactly the same length: (36.864 Byte)
Edit2: I got the MRAID program installed. I just seem to be unable to start it properly. I will have to read the manual. I have:
- archttp64 and
- Launch MRAID Web Manager.Command
Both programs will not work.
Archttp64 responds by saying: IOServiceOpen failed. Cfg: Failed to bind(...), 13 Permission denied
The other opens a Safari window and spins endlessly.
I go for some reading and will repair permissions probably.
NP. I just used the filename that was on the disk.
BTW, are they going to send you one, or do they expect you to download everything?
Hopefully, the repair permission will fix it.
I've never dealt with one on an EFI32 machine (briefly on an '08 model, as I returned it), but I don't recall seeing anything that indicated any problems either. As you mentioned the manuals, there may be a clue in there. It's been over a year for me now.
Good luck, and let me know what happens.
I havn't contacted the seller because the weekend interfered. Hopefully I will initiate a snail mail replacement by phone on monday and with your input I may be able to sort it out much earlier.
Good luck, and let me know what happens.
At the moment I can access the CLI, which is responding. I have uninstalled MRAID and installed it again including the driver. I do get prompted for a password when I start archttp64 at http://localhost:81/. Unfortunately it doesn't accept my Admin Login and password. I can access the configuration utility at http://localhost:82 but not the Archttp64. It drives me nuts.
Hopefully you can get it sorted today, or end of the weekend worst case.
Have you entered the firmware, and made any changes, such as reset any passwords?
Going in this way and verifying the password is a start.
The thing is, the browser util is picky about the browser. For example, it doesn't work well with Internet Explorer. I can get logged in, but can't really do much, as it stalls out. But it did work with Safari (a year ago), and have assumed it will work.
If you're trying to access it from windows, find a different browser. Not really much in the way of 64 bit, but you could check out Seamonkey 64 beta 2.01, or FireFox64 (Shiretoko). I've been using the latter successfully to gain access to mine.
It has been a very difficult process to open the bloody Areca web interface. The documentation is absolutely subterranian, so bad it can only be made by Chinese software engineers with no concern for usebility. A task which should have taken 2 minutes took me almost 24h.
Eventually it turned out that three critical points went wrong:
I was able to load the Mac firmware module. I could use the Quick installer to set up a 250 GB Arc HDD.
My card came with an active heat sink which is annoying. It is three times louder than the rest of the Mac Pro. I also got a passive heat sink still in the box. Are there any programs to monitor the card CPU temperature using the passive heat sink?
I could partition this Arc HDD in disk utility for NTFS/GUID.
Winclone realises the disk and will almost certainly install there. I'm currently making an image of my Windows disk.
Edit1: It turned out that the new disk has 80 MB less space than the old one has. So cloning the image directly did not work. I bootet Vista on the existing HDD and trimmed both Vista drives in Vista disk utility to have an unformatted end zone. The old one got 208 MB and the new Arc HDD got the usual 128 MB that OS X allocates to all GUID partitioned drives. I then prepared a new image of the slightly smaller original HDD and cloned it on the Arc HDD. It went like a charm.
I ran a boot test with the new ArcVista drive and after one reboot and safe mode for updating the HDD driver I can now boot from both 250 GB drives when I push the option key on power up. It works very nicely.
I get an annoying beep every time I shut down but I guess I will be able to sort this out when I get to know the ArcHTTP64 web utility a bit better. It seems to be a powerfull tool.
So far looking good in terms of meeting my requirements.
Eventually it turned out that three critical points went wrong:
- when addressing the web interface instead of /localhost:81 I had to use the real IP adress:81
- Safari did not work at all. I had to use Firefox.
- The bloody web interface had a pre configured password which was mentioned in the last paragraph of the documentation. User was: admin PW was: 0000. The previous doc stipulated that a root password should be declared in OS X.
I was able to load the Mac firmware module. I could use the Quick installer to set up a 250 GB Arc HDD.
My card came with an active heat sink which is annoying. It is three times louder than the rest of the Mac Pro. I also got a passive heat sink still in the box. Are there any programs to monitor the card CPU temperature using the passive heat sink?
I could partition this Arc HDD in disk utility for NTFS/GUID.
Winclone realises the disk and will almost certainly install there. I'm currently making an image of my Windows disk.
Edit1: It turned out that the new disk has 80 MB less space than the old one has. So cloning the image directly did not work. I bootet Vista on the existing HDD and trimmed both Vista drives in Vista disk utility to have an unformatted end zone. The old one got 208 MB and the new Arc HDD got the usual 128 MB that OS X allocates to all GUID partitioned drives. I then prepared a new image of the slightly smaller original HDD and cloned it on the Arc HDD. It went like a charm.
I ran a boot test with the new ArcVista drive and after one reboot and safe mode for updating the HDD driver I can now boot from both 250 GB drives when I push the option key on power up. It works very nicely.
I get an annoying beep every time I shut down but I guess I will be able to sort this out when I get to know the ArcHTTP64 web utility a bit better. It seems to be a powerfull tool.
So far looking good in terms of meeting my requirements.
Yeah, documentation out of Asian manufacturing & design companies tends to be lousy, as it's done in a hurry by people that speak English as a second language.
Had I realized it, I could have saved you some time, as I could have told you it had to be the real IP:81 for the controller (default port on a single card). Also what the default login ID and password was. It irks me that I can change the password, but not the ID.
I wasn't aware Safari was now broken. But I knew it's been an issue for me with Internet Explorer (IE8, and it's issues are more than just with the controller interface), and had to use FireFox64 myself. Works for that just fine.
I'm glad the EFI worked fine. Was it the version I uploaded, or one you downloaded?
Rather easy to get going to me (I've seen far worse). I haven't run into the issues you have with getting started. Just the lousy functionality of IE8 was a problem (wouldn't perform a task, when Confirm was checked before hitting Submit). Fortunately, that's remedied by a different browser.
Otherwise, it would be a major problem. The browser access is critical, particularly in servers.The only areas that could get difficult, are with functions the ARC-1210 doesn't have.
Just make sure OS X doesn't try to do anything to the MBR data just beneath the GUID layer.
Good luck with the Winclone image, but wouldn't it be a smaller capacity footprint if you do a clean install, and be frugal with things like languages and printer drivers?
The card can report it's own temps (firmware or web access), no matter the heat sink used.
The IOP332 (data sheet) is offered in a max of 800MHz, and that one is likely the 500MHz model (also a 667MHz version) for 333MHz memory and port count used on that card.
As it happens, the ARC-1231ML is an IOP341 @800MHz, and is run passively. The physical dimensions (37.45 mm^2) are the same, and I'd be willing to bet, it's the same extrusion used for the heatsink (stock), as it's really simple flat fin ~5mm high. So you can run it passively, and it will run cooler than the IOP341 for sure. That said, mine ran a little hotter than I'd have liked (50C), so I added a fan, and it droped the temps 10C. I don't have an issue with noise, but it's a fan I added, and it's in a full tower case on the floor.