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eSATA PCIe card compatible with MacOS Sierra?

namethisfile

namethisfile

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 17, 2008
1,190
176
Anyone know if these cards are compatible with MacOS Sierra?
  • NewerTech MAXpower eSATA 6G Pro PCIe 2.0 Controller Card
  • CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Plus PCIe card
  • Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro 6GB 4-port
  • Other?
The CalDigit and Sonnet cards seems to hint at MacOS Sierra support on their websites. I've also scoured the net and the reviews. But, no definite confirmation. Although, Sonnet states "MacOS Sierra compatible" for their card.

Meanwhile, I can't confirm anywhere whether the NewerTech MAXpower card is MacOS Sierra compatible.

Thanks in advance. I just wanna get the right card to get my Mac Pro 5,1 up to speed, pun intended!
 
namethisfile said:
Anyone know if these cards are compatible with MacOS Sierra?
  • NewerTech MAXpower eSATA 6G Pro PCIe 2.0 Controller Card
  • CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Plus PCIe card
  • Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro 6GB 4-port
  • Other?
The CalDigit and Sonnet cards seems to hint at MacOS Sierra support on their websites. I've also scoured the net and the reviews. But, no definite confirmation. Although, Sonnet states "MacOS Sierra compatible" for their card.

Meanwhile, I can't confirm anywhere whether the NewerTech MAXpower card is MacOS Sierra compatible.

Thanks in advance. I just wanna get the right card to get my Mac Pro 5,1 up to speed, pun intended!
Click to expand...

I don't think it matters what OS you run, I think it matters what firmware is one the card. Is it compatible with the Mac Pro's EFI.

Otherwise it can't be used as a boot device.
 
DearthnVader said:
I don't think it matters what OS you run, I think it matters what firmware is one the card. Is it compatible with the Mac Pro's EFI.

Otherwise it can't be used as a boot device.
Click to expand...

Well, do you know, if the NewerTech MAXpower eSATA card is compatible with MacOS sierra?

I've read that some eSATA adapter cards will work with earlier versions of OS X. But, won't work with MacOS Sierra....
 
namethisfile said:
Well, do you know, if the NewerTech MAXpower eSATA card is compatible with MacOS sierra?

I've read that some eSATA adapter cards will work with earlier versions of OS X. But, won't work with MacOS Sierra....
Click to expand...
No, I really don't know. Sorry, I missed the "e" before eSATA.

Really,a SATA card should be transparent to the OS, but OS X does have disk controller drivers. I'm not sure if anything changed in Sierra as far as disk controllers, or if those cards that no longer work relied on drivers Apple removed from Sierra.

If the later is the case, then installing the drivers Apple removed form an older Mac OS should fix it.

I use a motherboard with SATA 6G, and haven't seen any troubles with my disks under Sierra, even tho Apple dropped support for my chipset with Sierra.

Check if the add in board manufacturer is offering drivers for their boards for the Mac OS, and email them and ask them if they support Sierra, if they don't have Sierra drivers listed.

Sonnet has always had good customer support.
[doublepost=1492988703][/doublepost]Hmmm....
Code: 
Part No.     
TSATA6-PRO-E4    Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port
Hardware     
Warranty    5-year
Bus Interface    PCI Express 2.0 x4
External Connectors    Four locking eSATA
Drives Supported    20(1)
Data Transfer Rate    Up to 1,300MB/sec(2)
Drive Types Supported    SATA 6 Gb/s, SATA 3 Gb/s, and SATA 1.5 Gb/s
AHCI Support   
System    OS X    Windows 10, 8,7    Windows Server 2012    Windows Vista
Boot Support    √(4)    √    √     
Port Multiplier Aware    √(1)    √    √    √
Hot Plug Drive    √               
Advanced Features   
Supports ATAPI (CD/DVD) drives
Supports port multipliers under Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista
Supports S.M.A.R.T. status data reporting
Supports Spread Spectrum Clocking for compatibility with all SATA drives and for lower EMI emissions
RoHS Compliant    Yes
Package Contents   
Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port host controller card
Documentation
 

Specifications subject to change without notice.

image
 
 
 

 

Mac Compatibility
Mac Pro® (with card slots)
Xserve® (with PCIe slots)(5)
Power Mac® G5 (with PCIe slots)
OS X 10.5.8+
macOS Sierra compatible
Windows Compatibility
PC (with PCIe slots)(3)
Windows® 10, 8, 7, Vista
Thunderbolt Compatibility
Mac or PC via a Thunderbolt-to-PCIe Card Expansion System
Sonnet's xMac mini Server

Technical Notes

OS X port multiplier support requires Version 10.8.5+.
See Performance Tab for details.
Marvel driver required for HP Z820.
Supports booting in Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008) and newer and any Thunderbolt Mac with a Thunderbolt-to-PCIe Card Expansion System.
Locking feature of eSATA connectors not supported in Xserve.
 

Mac Logo Windows LogoeSATA LogoroHS Logo
[doublepost=1492989231][/doublepost]Sonnet clearly states it supports Sierra, tho the driver download only list 10.5-10.6, but seems to be from 2013.

Nothing I know of changed with disk controllers since 2013, and if Sonnet says it supports Sierra, I don't see how you can go wrong.

I have gotten a bad product from Sonnet, once, but they replaced it with a free upgrade to a better product.
 
Well...

I already did it.

I don't feel good about it.

I got the NewerTech MAXpower eSATA PCIe card.

Because it was much more affordable.

We shall see...

*crossing fingers*
 
from reading on the apple discussions forum the CalDigit card specifically works with Sierra. People report it also works with El Crapitan. Apparently most cards work OK in both Yosemite and Sierra, but run into problems with El Craptitan.
 
The NewerTech MAXPower eSATA card is MacOS Sierra compatible, I've had mine for a long time and it's always worked with every OS update because it requires no drivers. I am not able to boot from it though. I use it to connect to a NewerTech Voyager Q dock.

While I'm on the topic... this USB 3 / eSATA NewerTech card is not compatible with Sierra. The drivers caused a kernel panic early in the boot cycle after I upgraded to Sierra. Which is why I switched back to the eSATA card you were inquiring about.
 
howiest said:
The NewerTech MAXPower eSATA card is MacOS Sierra compatible, I've had mine for a long time and it's always worked with every OS update because it requires no drivers. I am not able to boot from it though. I use it to connect to a NewerTech Voyager Q dock.

While I'm on the topic... this USB 3 / eSATA NewerTech card is not compatible with Sierra. The drivers caused a kernel panic early in the boot cycle after I upgraded to Sierra. Which is why I switched back to the eSATA card you were inquiring about.
Click to expand...

Ok, cool. That's reassuring. I don't mind not booting with it. I just wanna use it to connect to an external dock for backup and/or as a scratchdisk for FCP X.

How does it handle being used as a scratchdisk for video editing?
 
Should work fine for a scratch disk. I really noticed no difference between the previous USB 3 card and this eSATA card in terms of performance.
 
Update:

I received the NewerTech MAXpower 6G Pro card and it does WORK in Sierra!

So, that's cool.

Also, Read is definitely faster than my Mac Pro's internal Sata using Black Magic Disk Speed Test.

The internal SATA on MP 5,1 will peak at around 250 MB/s Write speed and 250 MB/s Read speed. This is using 5 GB Stress Test.... and an SSD (120GB 840 Evo)...

But... on the eSATA card connected to an external HDD dock via eSATA cable, it should theoretically be able to saturate the Sandisk Plus 120GB SSD, right?

Not really. And, my results are weird.

First of all, Read is consistently at 350 MB/s, so it's faster than internal SATA. But, the Write speed bounces around. It will peak at 300 or so MBs and then slowly climb down to 100 MBs or even below.

Usually, if I stop and start the test, the first run will hit 300 or so MBs. But, the runs after that, the Write speed slowly goes down to around 100 MBs.

Anyone know why this is?
 
namethisfile said:
Update:

I received the NewerTech MAXpower 6G Pro card and it does WORK in Sierra!

So, that's cool.

Also, Read is definitely faster than my Mac Pro's internal Sata using Black Magic Disk Speed Test.

The internal SATA on MP 5,1 will peak at around 250 MB/s Write speed and 250 MB/s Read speed. This is using 5 GB Stress Test.... and an SSD (120GB 840 Evo)...

But... on the eSATA card connected to an external HDD dock via eSATA cable, it should theoretically be able to saturate the Sandisk Plus 120GB SSD, right?

Not really. And, my results are weird.

First of all, Read is consistently at 350 MB/s, so it's faster than internal SATA. But, the Write speed bounces around. It will peak at 300 or so MBs and then slowly climb down to 100 MBs or even below.

Usually, if I stop and start the test, the first run will hit 300 or so MBs. But, the runs after that, the Write speed slowly goes down to around 100 MBs.

Anyone know why this is?
Click to expand...

Sounds like your SSD is running out of free space. So, when you run the benchmark, GC cannot catch up the speed. When no more pre-emptied free cell avail, the writing speed will drop significantly.

But once you stop the test, TRIM and GC have time to do their job again. Therefore, when you start a new test, there are some free cells available, which makes you able to see 300 MB/s again.
 
namethisfile said:
Update:

I received the NewerTech MAXpower 6G Pro card and it does WORK in Sierra!
Click to expand...

Weird, I had the 4 eSATA port version of this card and it did not work with MacOS Sierra. At least it didn't work with the RAID rack mount box that holds 12 drives...it requires a port-multiplier eSATA type card which the MaxPower is but it required a driver which has not been updated for MacOS Sierra.

So I bought the HighPoint RocketRAID 644L which has drivers built into every version of OS X including Sierra. Turns out the board is exactly the same as the MaxPOWER but it has a different PCIe identifier so the HighPoint drivers won't load with the MaxPOWER card installed.
 
bitnaut said:
Weird, I had the 4 eSATA port version of this card and it did not work with MacOS Sierra. At least it didn't work with the RAID rack mount box that holds 12 drives...it requires a port-multiplier eSATA type card which the MaxPower is but it required a driver which has not been updated for MacOS Sierra.

So I bought the HighPoint RocketRAID 644L which has drivers built into every version of OS X including Sierra. Turns out the board is exactly the same as the MaxPOWER but it has a different PCIe identifier so the HighPoint drivers won't load with the MaxPOWER card installed.
Click to expand...

Shows on their website that it does not support port-multiplier cases/enclosures, here:

http://www.newertech.com/products/pcieesata.php
 
namethisfile said:
Shows on their website that it does not support port-multiplier cases/enclosures, here:

http://www.newertech.com/products/pcieesata.php
Click to expand...

Like I said in my reply, I was talking about the 4 port version which DOES support port multiplier cases/enclosures up to 20 drives:

http://www.newertech.com/products/pcieraidesata.php

but does not work in MacOS Sierra where the HighPoint RocketRAID 644L does even though they appear to be the exact same card hardware-wise.
 
namethisfile said:
My bad.

I wonder why that is.
Click to expand...

Because the Highpoint card has drivers built into every OS X version up to Sierra. The MaxPower card requires an installable driver which MaxPower, has so far, not provided despite my repeated requests. So I gave up and found the Highpoint card and have been happy ever since.
 
DearthnVader said:
No, I really don't know. Sorry, I missed the "e" before eSATA.

Really,a SATA card should be transparent to the OS, but OS X does have disk controller drivers. I'm not sure if anything changed in Sierra as far as disk controllers, or if those cards that no longer work relied on drivers Apple removed from Sierra.

If the later is the case, then installing the drivers Apple removed form an older Mac OS should fix it.

I use a motherboard with SATA 6G, and haven't seen any troubles with my disks under Sierra, even tho Apple dropped support for my chipset with Sierra.

Check if the add in board manufacturer is offering drivers for their boards for the Mac OS, and email them and ask them if they support Sierra, if they don't have Sierra drivers listed.

Sonnet has always had good customer support.
[doublepost=1492988703][/doublepost]Hmmm....
Code: 
Part No.    
TSATA6-PRO-E4    Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port
Hardware    
Warranty    5-year
Bus Interface    PCI Express 2.0 x4
External Connectors    Four locking eSATA
Drives Supported    20(1)
Data Transfer Rate    Up to 1,300MB/sec(2)
Drive Types Supported    SATA 6 Gb/s, SATA 3 Gb/s, and SATA 1.5 Gb/s
AHCI Support  
System    OS X    Windows 10, 8,7    Windows Server 2012    Windows Vista
Boot Support    √(4)    √    √    
Port Multiplier Aware    √(1)    √    √    √
Hot Plug Drive    √              
Advanced Features  
Supports ATAPI (CD/DVD) drives
Supports port multipliers under Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista
Supports S.M.A.R.T. status data reporting
Supports Spread Spectrum Clocking for compatibility with all SATA drives and for lower EMI emissions
RoHS Compliant    Yes
Package Contents  
Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port host controller card
Documentation
 

Specifications subject to change without notice.

image
 
 
 

 

Mac Compatibility
Mac Pro® (with card slots)
Xserve® (with PCIe slots)(5)
Power Mac® G5 (with PCIe slots)
OS X 10.5.8+
macOS Sierra compatible
Windows Compatibility
PC (with PCIe slots)(3)
Windows® 10, 8, 7, Vista
Thunderbolt Compatibility
Mac or PC via a Thunderbolt-to-PCIe Card Expansion System
Sonnet's xMac mini Server

Technical Notes

OS X port multiplier support requires Version 10.8.5+.
See Performance Tab for details.
Marvel driver required for HP Z820.
Supports booting in Mac Pro 3,1 (early 2008) and newer and any Thunderbolt Mac with a Thunderbolt-to-PCIe Card Expansion System.
Locking feature of eSATA connectors not supported in Xserve.
 

Mac Logo Windows LogoeSATA LogoroHS Logo
[doublepost=1492989231][/doublepost]Sonnet clearly states it supports Sierra, tho the driver download only list 10.5-10.6, but seems to be from 2013.

Nothing I know of changed with disk controllers since 2013, and if Sonnet says it supports Sierra, I don't see how you can go wrong.

I have gotten a bad product from Sonnet, once, but they replaced it with a free upgrade to a better product.
Click to expand...

I am using this card and 2 two angelbird SSD in raid0 from 4,1 and real 5,1now.
I am using Sierra also.
This card is ok but only 1 thing is worst that you cannot get the boot menu and u need to switch os or install disk from preference startup disk.
 
namethisfile said:
Anyone know if these cards are compatible with MacOS Sierra?
  • NewerTech MAXpower eSATA 6G Pro PCIe 2.0 Controller Card
  • CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Plus PCIe card
  • Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro 6GB 4-port
  • Other?
The CalDigit and Sonnet cards seems to hint at MacOS Sierra support on their websites. I've also scoured the net and the reviews. But, no definite confirmation. Although, Sonnet states "MacOS Sierra compatible" for their card.

Meanwhile, I can't confirm anywhere whether the NewerTech MAXpower card is MacOS Sierra compatible.

Thanks in advance. I just wanna get the right card to get my Mac Pro 5,1 up to speed, pun intended!
Click to expand...
I know for a fact that CAlDigit cards work and boot. They are in my 5,1. They are working with Lion and higher. eSATA part foes not need drivers. USB ports need drivers on Lion I think, it is rarely used these days.
 
bitnaut said:
Like I said in my reply, I was talking about the 4 port version which DOES support port multiplier cases/enclosures up to 20 drives:

http://www.newertech.com/products/pcieraidesata.php

but does not work in MacOS Sierra where the HighPoint RocketRAID 644L does even though they appear to be the exact same card hardware-wise.
Click to expand...

DATOptic just release a new USB 3.1 to eSATA adapter replace the old U3eSATA adapter support PM box
Check it out:
http://www.datoptic.com/ec/usb3-1-t...pport-port-multiplier-in-mac-and-windows.html
 
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