MP 1,1-5,1 Thoughts / help please ? - one of my SSD NVME is not showing in Sonnet M.2 PCIe

[kateandersonjac]

I've been upgrading my 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 this year, thanks to all the guides and experience sharing on this here forum. 😀

Last month I bought an IO Crest to run 2 x 1tb Sabrent NVMEs, however, despite eventually getting it to run stably in slot 4, I couldn't ever get it to boot in Slot 1 so have now sent it back to Amazon (phew, thanks for their easy returns!)
Upgraded to a Sonnet M.2 this week, figuring the Mac support worth it. It is running stable in slot 1, however only One of my Sabrents is visible?!
Reinstalled the IO to check both SSDs worked - yep, one AND two visible and accessible. Erased both back to APFS.
Re-installed to the Sonnet (quite a pain to install, requires moving fan each time) and SSD Two still nowhere to be seen. 3 days on. Multiple PRAM resets... speaking to Sonnet but they are being pretty slow in their responses.

Recent side development (yesterday), hopefully unrelated, is that PCH Diode / Northbridge is /was running hot eg 80C. I heard a strange ping and suspect a rivet has gone. I Now have Mac Fan Control monitoring and keeping the temp between 55 and 70C. Replacing thermal paste and rivets next week - should have done it when I did the CPUs last month!

Any suggestions gratefully received....

 

[tsialex]

I've been upgrading my 2010 Mac Pro 5.1 this year, thanks to all the guides and experience sharing on this here forum. 😀

Last month I bought an IO Crest to run 2 x 1tb Sabrent NVMEs, however, despite eventually getting it to run stably in slot 4, I couldn't ever get it to boot in Slot 1 so have now sent it back to Amazon (phew, thanks for their easy returns!)
Upgraded to a Sonnet M.2 this week, figuring the Mac support worth it. It is running stable in slot 1, however only One of my Sabrents is visible?!
Reinstalled the IO to check both SSDs worked - yep, one AND two visible and accessible. Erased both back to APFS.
Re-installed to the Sonnet (quite a pain to install, requires moving fan each time) and SSD Two still nowhere to be seen. 3 days on. Multiple PRAM resets... speaking to Sonnet but they are being pretty slow in their responses.

Recent side development (yesterday), hopefully unrelated, is that PCH Diode / Northbridge is /was running hot eg 80C. I heard a strange ping and suspect a rivet has gone. I Now have Mac Fan Control monitoring and keeping the temp between 55 and 70C. Replacing thermal paste and rivets next week - should have done it when I did the CPUs last month!

Any suggestions gratefully received....

Your missing blade shows itself with SystemReport>NVMe? Post a screenshot.

Btw, Sonnet seems to designed this card thinking of MP7,1 and some of the TB chassis, it’s not a good fit for MP5,1.

 

[bsbeamer]

@kateandersonjac MacPro5,1 is OFFICIALLY supported by Sonnet for the M.2 4x4. If you are running into any issues with this card and your blades meet their requirements, you absolutely should reach out to their support.

The only blades from Sabrent I see listed as compatible are the Rocket 256 and Rocket 512 versions listed on their compatibility chart, however. The 1TB version is SPECIFICALLY listed as not compatible.

https://sonnettech.com/support/downloads/manuals/M2_compatibility.pdf

 

[kateandersonjac]

@tsialex Only one of the blades shows itself in system report:

Wow, I had not seen that compatability chart @bsbeamer , very useful. Ok if I can't get things working over the weekend, looks like I may be sending the sabrents back while they're still in return date. And trying to find something I can afford at 1tb.

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex Only one of the blades shows itself in system report:
View attachment 875884

Wow, I had not seen that compatability chart @bsbeamer , very useful. Ok if I can't get things working over the weekend, looks like I may be sending the sabrents back while they're still in return date. And trying to find something I can afford at 1tb.

Maybe a HighPoint SSD7101-A will be a better choice, no limitations with double sided M.2 blades and a better fit with MP5,1. Somedays ago @handheldgames found one open box for $297 at Amazon.

 

[bsbeamer]

If you can find anyone selling the Samsung 960 EVO still, it was the cheapest compatible 1TB. Most retailers only have 970 EVO and EVO PLUS available.

If you NEED this specific card, find blades that work. Some are purchasing for planned transfer to MP7,1 in the next few months. If you're just using it for MP5,1 and plan to stick with that, another card (like the 7101) will expand your options.

 

[gugy]

Maybe a HighPoint SSD7101-A will be a better choice, no limitations with double sided M.2 blades and a better fit with MP5,1. Somedays ago @handheldgames found one open box for $297 at Amazon.

After reading on MR several posts, it seems Highpoint is the most stable card.
I am considering Sonnet M.2, Highpoint and the I/O Crest (Syba).
The I/O - Best price, but Amazon reviews are claiming issues on the MP.
The Sonnet - Sophisticated, stable and expensive. Large size is a pain to install.
The Highpoint - Stable but expensive.

Hard choices.

 

[kateandersonjac]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I guess I need to decide what to try and return now, sonnet or sabrents; I'm not sure which items I can get a refund on. Will sleep on it.

 

[handheldgames]

Deals on the highpoint 7101a can be found on amazon on a regular basis. Good luck on the survivability of one of your SSD’s. Hopefully it wasn’t shorted out by the sonnet. As new tech, irrespective of the unfounded hype, it’s clearly unvalidated tech and it's unfortunate your case has led to unintended circumstances.

 

[rajprods]

Your missing blade shows itself with SystemReport>NVMe? Post a screenshot.

Btw, Sonnet seems to designed this card thinking of MP7,1 and some of the TB chassis, it’s not a good fit for MP5,1.

I have a question regarding the Highpoint 7101A card since you replied the Sonnet is not a good fit for the MP 5,1 which I agree 100%. I have a MP 5,1. I bought the Sonnet card and attempted to install it in Slot 2. I have the RX580 graphics card in Slot 1. I have USB PCIe cards in Slots 3 and 4. After installing the card in Slot 2, not only did I have a hard time getting it in because of the length, the RX580 fans were getting against the bottom of the Sonnet card. I contacted Sonnet customer support, and they suggested that I move it to another Slot which lowers the speed significantly.

My question is, do you know if the Highpoint 7101A will fit in Slot 2 without causing issues with Slots 1 or 3? Thanks for your help.

 

[tsialex]

I have a question regarding the Highpoint 7101A card since you replied the Sonnet is not a good fit for the MP 5,1 which I agree 100%. I have a MP 5,1. I bought the Sonnet card and attempted to install it in Slot 2. I have the RX580 graphics card in Slot 1. I have USB PCIe cards in Slots 3 and 4. After installing the card in Slot 2, not only did I have a hard time getting it in because of the length, the RX580 fans were getting against the bottom of the Sonnet card. I contacted Sonnet customer support, and they suggested that I move it to another Slot which lowers the speed significantly.

My question is, do you know if the Highpoint 7101A will fit in Slot 2 without causing issues with Slots 1 or 3? Thanks for your help.

It’s very tight, need some spacers between the SSD7101A-1 and the RX 580, but works fine.

There are several photos of users that have this exact setup around the MacPro forum.

 

[rajprods]

It’s very tight, need some spacers between the SSD7101A-1 and the RX 580, but works fine.

There are several photos of users that have this exact setup around the MacPro forum.

Okay, thanks for the reply.

 

[tsialex]

Okay, thanks for the reply.

BTW, the problem is the RX580 that is 2.2 slots wide, not a problem with any of the SSD7101A-1 dimensions. No problems inserting or removing the HPT card since it's at least 10cm shorter than the Sonnet one.

 

[rajprods]

Thanks for the info.

Is it true the fan is very loud on the Highpoint card? I saw a thread about the possibility of modding the fan, but I'm not interested in doing that. I read somewhere someone was complaining about the fan noise and said it's like about 12 decibels.

 

[tsialex]

Thanks for the info.

Is it true the fan is very loud on the Highpoint card? I saw a thread about the possibility of modding the fan, but I'm not interested in doing that. I think read somewhere someone was complaining about the noise and said it's like about 12 decibels.

Current models have total fan rotation control. It's the old v1.01 that has a noisy fan without any rotation control.

 

[rajprods]

Thanks. I will order one, and hope I get the current model. How do I verify I received the latest model?

 

[tsialex]

Thanks. I will order one, and hope I get the current model. How do I verify I received the latest model?

PCB version, near the PCIe bracket.

This is the SSD7101A-1 thread:

Highpoint 7101A - PCIe 3.0 SSD performance for the cMP

Introduction Stumbling into an Amazon warehouse Deal, I picked up the HighPoint 7101a NVMe PCIe adapter, equipped with a MacPro friendly Broadcom 8747 PCIe bridge at a great price. While Highpoint's acknowledgement of MacPro compatibility was sketchy at best, I ordered one to go along with a...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[rajprods]

PCB version, near the PCIe bracket.

This is the SSD7101A-1 thread:

Highpoint 7101A - PCIe 3.0 SSD performance for the cMP

Introduction Stumbling into an Amazon warehouse Deal, I picked up the HighPoint 7101a NVMe PCIe adapter, equipped with a MacPro friendly Broadcom 8747 PCIe bridge at a great price. While Highpoint's acknowledgement of MacPro compatibility was sketchy at best, I ordered one to go along with a...

forums.macrumors.com

Thanks, hopefully I'll get V2.00.

 

[eikic1]

im using 2pcie but no problem bro, macosx mojave

 

[DigitaLife]

Current models have total fan rotation control. It's the old v1.01 that has a noisy fan without any rotation control.

I just bought a HighPoint SSD7101A-1 but the fan is very noisy!!!
How can I cut the noise or silencing it?
Thank you in advance!

 

[tsialex]

I just bought a HighPoint SSD7101A-1 but the fan is very noisy!!!
How can I cut the noise or silencing it?
Thank you in advance!

Current models have fan control inside the web management.

 

[DigitaLife]

Current models have fan control inside the web management.

How do I access the WebGUI management software for the SSD7101A-1 NVMe RAID controller from the HighPoint website?

 

[tsialex]

How do I access the WebGUI management software for the SSD7101A-1 NVMe RAID controller from the HighPoint website?

Please read the documentation, the PDF has all the steps to install the driver and open the management via your browser.

NVMe RAID AIC Adapter | HighPoint Technologies，Inc.

HighPoint's performance focused PCIe 4.0 & 3.0 NVMe RAID AICs, for M.2, U.2/U.3 & E1.S SSD, come with advanced cooling systems to prevent performance throttling.

highpoint-tech.com

If you don't know how to use the current instructions (now updated to Big Sur), please ask HPT for the previous documentation (10.13 to 10.15).

This is a thread about Sonnet cards, you are being off-topic here.