thunderbolt 3 + thuderbolt adapter + lacie ssd?

[starting]

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but since the new macbooks are the only ones with thunderbolt 3... So, I have a lacie rugged thunderbolt 2 ssd (it's bus powered). Did anyone try to use it with the thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter?
Thanks

 

[danniexi]

Not personally, but using a cable (TB3 to TB2) cable should work without issue as Thunderbolt is backwards compatible.

 

[starting]

I've heard different scenarios and in some it works, in some it doesn't.

 

[treekram]

If you have in mind the Apple TB3-to-TB2, that should work for what you want to do. The TB3-TB2 adapter does not carry a DisplayPort signal to a DisplayPort-only monitor. That's the common misunderstanding that people have with the TB3-TB2 adapter. If there is a specific article with detailed information where somebody used the Apple TB3-TB2 adapter and it didn't work, I'd be willing to look at it and give an opinion - again ignore those who have DisplayPort monitors which are not Thunderbolt.

 

[starting]

Yes, I know about that misconception about dispayport and thunderbolt. But I also read somewhere, don't remember where, that the adapter doesn't transfer power and since the drive is bus-powered I might be out of luck. I know that powered thunderbolt drives, or docks, or the thunderbolt display work. That's why I asked in here, maybe someone already has the rugged lacie drive and new macbook pros and already tried it.

 

[treekram]

Maybe you read the following from the Apple TB3-TB2 description page: "However, using this adapter with an Apple Thunderbolt Display requires a power source, because the display does not provide power through the adapter."

I must admit that I'm not quite sure that that statement means, my best guess is that there's no bus power on USB peripherals connected to the display when you use the TB3-TB2 adapter.

In any case, there is poster who has LaCie Rugged connected to a 2016 MBP. I don't see that LaCie makes a native TB3 Rugged and from his previous posts, I know that he has the TB3-TB2 adapter. You can PM the person through "Conversation" feature if you so wish.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/drive-wont-mount.2046766/#post-24602181

 

[ZapNZs]

This may be of interest. People seem to get pretty consistent experiences with it when using bus powered components. I plan to order one to use with a Transcend Thunderbolt 1 SSD.

 

[starting]

Maybe you read the following from the Apple TB3-TB2 description page: "However, using this adapter with an Apple Thunderbolt Display requires a power source, because the display does not provide power through the adapter."

I must admit that I'm not quite sure that that statement means, my best guess is that there's no bus power on USB peripherals connected to the display when you use the TB3-TB2 adapter.

In any case, there is poster who has LaCie Rugged connected to a 2016 MBP. I don't see that LaCie makes a native TB3 Rugged and from his previous posts, I know that he has the TB3-TB2 adapter. You can PM the person through "Conversation" feature if you so wish.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/drive-wont-mount.2046766/#post-24602181

Actually they do make a thunderbolt 3 / usb c series, but I have 2 of those with thunderbolt 2 already .
Thanks, I sent a message to the guy you pointed.
[doublepost=1497076814][/doublepost]

This may be of interest. People seem to get pretty consistent experiences with it when using bus powered components. I plan to order one to use with a Transcend Thunderbolt 1 SSD.

Yes, that might be an option, although not as easy to get as the apple adapter. Although I much prefer to know beforehand if they work with my kind of drive.

http://www.delock.de/produkte/G_62709/merkmale.html?setLanguage=en This might be another option, and easier to get for me, but again, I'd rather know it works beforehand.

 

[treekram]

Actually they do make a thunderbolt 3 / usb c series, but I have 2 of those with thunderbolt 2 already .
Thanks, I sent a message to the guy you pointed.

From what I see on the LaCie website, I don't see a native TB3 Rugged - that is, a Thunderbolt 3 signal is passed through the USB-C connector. (None of their specs mention Thunderbolt 3, just Thunderbolt 1 or Thunderbolt with no number, which is usually Thunderbolt 1.) I see USB-C connectors which use USB 3.1 Gen 1 and I see Thunderbolt 1 using the Displayport connector (the connector used for TB 1 and 2). If you see something in the LaCie website or some other documentation where the LaCie has Thunderbolt 3 (it has to specifically specify "Thunderbolt 3", "Thunderbolt 3 compatible" is not the same thing), or if you connect the integrated cable to into the USB-C connector on the MBP, let me know.

 

[starting]

You're actually right, the new version has thunderbolt 2 cable and usb-c (http://www.lacie.com/gb/en/professional/rugged/ - the second series from the left). Anyway, if I were to buy SSDs now I would go to samsung's portable t3. The reason I went to lacie drives in the first place was the fact that I had 2 thunderbolt ports that were not used . That's why I like the new macbook pro, you have more connectivity options, although I'm not planning to buy one anytime soon (I'm going for the new imac since I need a desktop... yesterday).

 

[treekram]

This may be redundant to what you already know, if so, my apologies.

From what the specs say, the LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt drives are Thunderbolt 1. Why Thunderbolt 1 instead of 2? First, the SSD's that the LaCie Rugged uses (similar to most if not all the bus-powered portable Thunderbolt drives), are SATA3 SSD's which can't take advantage of TB2 speeds anyway. Second, it will cost more for TB2 vs. TB1 electronics (which may also apply to the cable). One can check this by going into the System Report, looking for the Thunderbolt devices and checking the speed - if it's TB1, it will say "Up to 10Gb/s". TB2 will say "Up to 20Gb/s".

One nice feature with the LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt drives (unless they've changed the design) is that you can open the case and replace the drive with another SATA3 drive.

The advantages that Thunderbolt drives like the LaCie Rugged have over USB drives like the Samsung T3, is that you get TRIM and SMART data (if it's a SATA drive that the Thunderbolt device uses). Of course, Thunderbolt drives are typically quite a bit more expensive than USB drives and you have less flexibility than the USB drive.

 

[starting]

Right, thunderbolt 1 or 2, doesn't really matter, since a sata 3 ssd can't saturate either.
I have another external ssd, a samsung portable t1, so an old version, and it still performs better than lacie drives. Don't know about trim and smart, since I don't check that, and, in my experience, using 3rd party ssds in mac without trim is not really an issue. I had a 2011 macbook pro with a samsung pro as main drive and it never slowed down or had any issues at all. The person I gave it to, uses it 6 years later with no problems. So, I don't really think there's an advantage to thunderbolt drives except the fact that you can use the thunderbolt port and also can chain devices, which, in this case, is not possible.

 

[treekram]

TRIM and SMART are personal preference features (in my opinion) so if you don't need them, definitely a USB SSD makes more sense.

One other consideration for some people (likely not you) is that they don't want contention on the USB bus and most recent Macs use a single bus into the CPU for all the USB ports. (This may be different for the Macs with USB-C ports.). From what I've seen on the web, people who record audio real-time on USB devices are the ones most concerned about this so for them, they like the Thunderbolt drives.

 

[starting]

I actually use it for pro audio, among other things. There are some people that say that all the ports are on the same bus and that's why their devices don't get enough power. Don't know about that, but that's not my experience. In one port I have an apogee duet usb audio interface which is bus-powered and in the other a non-powered usb hub which hosts a midi keyboard, and 2 usb dongles. That's on a laptop which is not always plugged in, and it also has 1 or 2 thunderbolt drives. Except the fact that the battery goes pretty fast, no issues.
People in pro audio got screwed over the years with usb not working well, so they were forced into firewire, but then firewire was kinda hit-and-miss, except on mac, then usb 2 interfaces came along and they were performing just as good, or even better than firewire. Now thunderbolt. They've become kinda paranoid )