MP 1,1-5,1 Highpoint 7101A vs Sonnet M.2 4x4

[Blair Paulsen]

The OWC Accelsior 4M2 with 8TB (4x2TB) is $1,600 and promises 6GB/s R/W.
Highpoint 7101A with 4TB (4x1TB 970EVOs) is roughly $1,300 with potentially 12GB/s R/W.
Other contenders...

 

[elmasmermelada]

I don't have any experience with either the OWC's or Sonnet's card but isn't one considerable difference that the Sonnet is x16? I suppose the price difference also reflects that.

 

[jbarley]

The OWC Accelsior 4M2 looks like a good alternative. Anyone have experience with it? It comes with 5 year warranty vs 2 for the Sonnet. It’s passively cooled and supposed to be completely silent. The sonnet has a fan.

I purchased an OWC Accelsior 4M2, albeit only the 2GB version.
This card is simply 4 drives in a raid0 configuration, it even comes with a trial version of Softraid.
Although I could get APFS on it, it still suffers from the fact that Mojave will not boot from an APFS raid volume.
Needless to say I was dissapointed .
Other then that it appears well built, installed easy and runs nice and cool.
In my MP4,1/5,1 it maxes out at just under 3000mb/sec read-write.

 

[chfilm]

I purchased an OWC Accelsior 4M2, albeit only the 2GB version.
This card is simply 4 drives in a raid0 configuration, it even comes with a trial version of Softraid.
Although I could get APFS on it, it still suffers from the fact that Mojave will not boot from an APFS raid volume.
Needless to say I was dissapointed .
Other then that it appears well built, installed easy and runs nice and cool.
In my MP4,1/5,1 it maxes out at just under 3000mb/sec read-write.

Is it possible to user upgrade the drives ? Because OWC was telling me it wasn’t..

 

[profdraper]

OK, here's my recent experience, YMMV:

I had the Highpoint SSD7101A-1 installed on a MacPro 7.1. 4x512GB Samsung EVO+ configured as RAID 0 for transcoding & cache for FCPX & DaVinci Resolve. The sticks were migrated from a Dell Ultra NVM3 M.2 PCIe that works flawlessly in a Dell T7910 workstation for the same duties (& supports PCIe bifurcation).

Irrespective of RAID format (latest HighPoint drivers & WebGUI, or SoftRAID) the card would regularly crash the computer when doing sustained write duties. I'd also relocated the card a couple of times between x16 slots. The lower x16 slot in the computer 'seemed' to produce a little more reliability & I take this to be related to thermals ... the the uppermost x16 slot is below a couple of populated x8 slots. Still, nothing too outrageous or heat-generating here (UAD-2 & Decklink). In all, is of course it is not suitable to use the entire chassis as a cooling buffer because the lower x16 slots will be valuable for future 2nd MPX or other GPU.

Still, temps were only maxxing out at around 55C, well within the recommended tolerances. But, with sustained writes at these temps the computer somtimes went down. Latest model SSD7101A-1 with fan control; had variously set the fan to low and medium; tried with end-plate removed, yadda yadda .... No sleep enabled on this computer as is usually for studio machines /DAWS /NLEs.

Then spent a week or so back and forth with the Hightech support portal, uploading logs and screen dumps etc. This went on and on and never really got anywhere except for the usual placebo drivel that makes one jump through the most obvious amateur hoops. Subsequently, I returned the card to Amazon for refund.

I then bought the Sonnet M.2 4x4 & one can quickly see why this is priced at another 20% or so above the Highpoint. The build quality is exceptional and in particular, the enormous amount of attention given to cooling. Same rig & use as above for the Highpoint: zero problems now. Lower temps, slightly faster writes, slightly slower reads with SoftRAID. Noise levels are quite and seem no different to the Highpoint.

In general, SoftRAID has been excellent (although I see a bit of bashing about that in these fora). Have been using SoftRAID for RAID 4 and RAID 0, zero issues, good performance. Also am a beta tester for SoftRAID for Windows & which has been impressive to date. One of the upsides is that the RAID volumes will read on both MacOS & Windows platforms (ie, no third party apps required, eg, Paragon NTFS for Mac or Mac Drive Pro for Windows).

In sum: the Highpoint has been a timewaster, mad about speed, unreliable & not a terribly well-thought through physical design, The Sonnet the opposite: a little more reserved in its performance specs but now invisible because constant fiddling & BS not required. Can see why Apple had it up on the big screen at 2019 MP launch.

 

[Adult80HD]

OK, here's my recent experience, YMMV:

I had the Highpoint SSD7101A-1 installed on a MacPro 7.1. 4x512GB Samsung EVO+ configured as RAID 0 for transcoding & cache for FCPX & DaVinci Resolve. The sticks were migrated from a Dell Ultra NVM3 M.2 PCIe that works flawlessly in a Dell T7910 workstation for the same duties (& supports PCIe bifurcation).

Irrespective of RAID format (latest HighPoint drivers & WebGUI, or SoftRAID) the card would regularly crash the computer when doing sustained write duties. I'd also relocated the card a couple of times between x16 slots. The lower x16 slot in the computer 'seemed' to produce a little more reliability & I take this to be related to thermals ... the the uppermost x16 slot is below a couple of populated x8 slots. Still, nothing too outrageous or heat-generating here (UAD-2 & Decklink). In all, is of course it is not suitable to use the entire chassis as a cooling buffer because the lower x16 slots will be valuable for future 2nd MPX or other GPU.

Still, temps were only maxxing out at around 55C, well within the recommended tolerances. But, with sustained writes at these temps the computer somtimes went down. Latest model SSD7101A-1 with fan control; had variously set the fan to low and medium; tried with end-plate removed, yadda yadda .... No sleep enabled on this computer as is usually for studio machines /DAWS /NLEs.

Then spent a week or so back and forth with the Hightech support portal, uploading logs and screen dumps etc. This went on and on and never really got anywhere except for the usual placebo drivel that makes one jump through the most obvious amateur hoops. Subsequently, I returned the card to Amazon for refund.

I then bought the Sonnet M.2 4x4 & one can quickly see why this is priced at another 20% or so above the Highpoint. The build quality is exceptional and in particular, the enormous amount of attention given to cooling. Same rig & use as above for the Highpoint: zero problems now. Lower temps, slightly faster writes, slightly slower reads with SoftRAID. Noise levels are quite and seem no different to the Highpoint.

In general, SoftRAID has been excellent (although I see a bit of bashing about that in these fora). Have been using SoftRAID for RAID 4 and RAID 0, zero issues, good performance. Also am a beta tester for SoftRAID for Windows & which has been impressive to date. One of the upsides is that the RAID volumes will read on both MacOS & Windows platforms (ie, no third party apps required, eg, Paragon NTFS for Mac or Mac Drive Pro for Windows).

In sum: the Highpoint has been a timewaster, mad about speed, unreliable & not a terribly well-thought through physical design, The Sonnet the opposite: a little more reserved in its performance specs but now invisible because constant fiddling & BS not required. Can see why Apple had it up on the big screen at 2019 MP launch.

Interesting report! I don't tax my HighPoint as much as it seems you do, but I've had no problems at all with it. It's been rock solid now for almost two months.

 

[choreo]

I purchased an OWC Accelsior 4M2, albeit only the 2GB version.
This card is simply 4 drives in a raid0 configuration, it even comes with a trial version of Softraid.
Although I could get APFS on it, it still suffers from the fact that Mojave will not boot from an APFS raid volume.
Needless to say I was dissapointed .
Other then that it appears well built, installed easy and runs nice and cool.
In my MP4,1/5,1 it maxes out at just under 3000mb/sec read-write.

So, are you saying that it has to have SoftRAID to even operate?
Is there no hope for Mojave to boot from APFS?

 

[handheldgames]

The 4M2 is an external PCIe to thunderbolt enclosure.
Looking at the specs... https://www.owcdigital.com/products/express-4m2#tech-specs, for compatibility, the 970 Evo Plus needs to be running Firmware revision 2B2QEXM7 or later.

 

[crjackson2134]

So, are you saying that it has to have SoftRAID to even operate?
Is there no hope for Mojave to boot from APFS?

@choreo

you’re on a MP51 like me. l’ve been booting Mojave APFS on my HighPoint SSD7101A almost since the day the card was released. It has never crashed, overheated, had any issues with sleep, or any other anecdotal problem you can think of. I don’t use RAID (APFS doesn’t support RAID0), and I don’t use 970 EVO+ SSD’S. My NVME sticks are 970 Pros & addlink S70’s. I don’t have an MP71 to test on, but with your MP51 you should have no issues.

 

[handheldgames]

@choreo

you’re on a MP51 like me. l’ve been booting Mojave APFS on my HighPoint SSD7101A almost since the day the card was released. It has never crashed, overheated, had any issues with sleep, or any other anecdotal problem you can think of. I don’t use RAID (APFS doesn’t support RAID0), and I don’t use 970 EVO+ SSD’S. My NVME sticks are 970 Pros & addlink S70’s. I don’t have an MP71 to test on, but with your MP51 you should have no issues.

Great write up. Adding to the evidence...

• I've shuttled a 7101a between my office and the house on almost a daily basis for over a year, unprotected in a backpack between two dual core 5,1 mac pros.
• I've never seen a problem in either 5,1 to date. It's been a rock-solid solution. While I cross my fingers every time I pull it from the backpack. it works. Although waiting for the mac pro to recognize 96gb of ram does delay the boot cycle.
• As the early Mac adopter of the 7101a, mine had an annoying fan that was replaced for $15.00
• At the heart of the 70101-a is the the Broadcom PEX8747, is a proven PLX solution designed for PCIe 3.x from the get go. If it works in every solution beyond the Mac Pro 7,1. Unless Apple really screwed the pooch, which is still tbd like every other apple design, it should be fine in a mac.

Considering the issues reported by one user were with the 970 evo+, a consumer drive, perhaps the issues were caused the use of a lower cost drive that's being pushed beyond it's limits? Let's be honest, Samsung SSD's have had occasional blunders over the years, including the 970 eve plus, that have required firmware updates to address.

Now.. While this doesn't explain why one user was reporting an issue, it could be:

• a bad 7101-a
• a bad mac pro 7
• the sensitivity of consumer NVMe SSD's used in a raid, when placed in a particular order.

Bottom line... One never knows. Troubleshooting hardware configuration issues is never straight-forward and sometimes requires the logic of a HP Polish Calculator to find the right approach.

 

[ekwipt]

OK, here's my recent experience, YMMV:

I had the Highpoint SSD7101A-1 installed on a MacPro 7.1. 4x512GB Samsung EVO+ configured as RAID 0 for transcoding & cache for FCPX & DaVinci Resolve. The sticks were migrated from a Dell Ultra NVM3 M.2 PCIe that works flawlessly in a Dell T7910 workstation for the same duties (& supports PCIe bifurcation).

In sum: the Highpoint has been a timewaster, mad about speed, unreliable & not a terribly well-thought through physical design, The Sonnet the opposite: a little more reserved in its performance specs but now invisible because constant fiddling & BS not required. Can see why Apple had it up on the big screen at 2019 MP launch.

Thanks Professor, very informative

 

[flowrider]

So, are you saying that it has to have SoftRAID to even operate?
Is there no hope for Mojave to boot from APFS?

I have a Highpoint 7103. It has two 970 Pros, one 970 Evo and one SM951 AHCI. It was fist mounted in my 5,1 cMP and now resides in my NcMP 7,1. Formatted AFPS and booted fine in both. Absolutely no issues with the card in either the 5,1 or the 7,1. I do not utilize RAID.

As far as build quality. I also have a Syba I/O Crest 2 M.2 card. there are two 970 Evos in that card formatted AFPS. Booted fine in the 5,1. I currently don't have an OS on either SSD, so can't comment on bootability in the 7,1, though I am sure it would not be an issue. Looking at both cards, the build quality of the I/O Crest card is superior to the Highpoint. Though I modified the thermal pads in both card with copper heat spreaders.

Lou

 

[jbarley]

So, are you saying that it has to have SoftRAID to even operate?
Is there no hope for Mojave to boot from APFS?

Without SoftRaid the OWC Accelsior 4M2 is seen as 4 separate drives and will operate just fine this way.
To get the higher speeds that OWC mentions you need a Raid0 volume, which if formatted as APFS will not boot Mojave.
A Raid0 volume will however boot and run just fine if formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

 

[Adult80HD]

Great write up. Adding to the evidence...

• I've shuttled a 7101a between my office and the house on almost a daily basis for over a year, unprotected in a backpack between two dual core 5,1 mac pros.
• I've never seen a problem in either 5,1 to date. It's been a rock-solid solution. While I cross my fingers every time I pull it from the backpack. it works. Although waiting for the mac pro to recognize 96gb of ram does delay the boot cycle.
• As the early Mac adopter of the 7101a, mine had an annoying fan that was replaced for $15.00
• At the heart of the 70101-a is the the Broadcom PEX8747, is a proven PLX solution designed for PCIe 3.x from the get go. If it works in every solution beyond the Mac Pro 7,1. Unless Apple really screwed the pooch, which is still tbd like every other apple design, it should be fine in a mac.

Considering the issues reported by one user were with the 970 evo+, a consumer drive, perhaps the issues were caused the use of a lower cost drive that's being pushed beyond it's limits? Let's be honest, Samsung SSD's have had occasional blunders over the years, including the 970 eve plus, that have required firmware updates to address.

Now.. While this doesn't explain why one user was reporting an issue, it could be:

• a bad 7101-a
• a bad mac pro 7
• the sensitivity of consumer NVMe SSD's used in a raid, when placed in a particular order.

Bottom line... One never knows. Troubleshooting hardware configuration issues is never straight-forward and sometimes requires the logic of a HP Polish Calculator to find the right approach.

My suspicion is that some piece of hardware in his mix is bad; I agree with your conclusion. I have the HighPoint 7101A-1 in my MP 7,1 and I'm also using the Samsung 970 EVO Plus cards, all 2TB cards with the latest firmware, and I have had zero issues.

 

[jasonmvp]

I have the HighPoint 7101A-1 in my MP 7,1 and I'm also using the Samsung 970 EVO Plus cards, all 2TB cards with the latest firmware, and I have had zero issues.

Same; in fact I have two of them. No issues.

 

[Itconnects]

I don’t need any raid features. Thinking about switching from syba to owc acceslsior... the price is about the same however, owc can carry 4. Is there a catch? Syba has a fan and pads. The ACCELSIOR is passive

 

[tsialex]

I don’t need any raid features. Thinking about switching from syba to owc acceslsior... the price is about the same however, owc can carry 4. Is there a catch? Syba has a fan and pads. The ACCELSIOR is passive

ASM2824 is a x8 PCIe switch, this constrains the simultaneous access to 4 blades. It's a bad choice, the moment that you look with more detail.

Amazon constantly has promos or sell open-boxes of HighPoint SSD7101A-1 for around $300. It's really a bad choice to buy a x8 card for the same price of one of the best x16 ones.

 

[R3k]

Without SoftRaid the OWC Accelsior 4M2 is seen as 4 separate drives and will operate just fine this way.
To get the higher speeds that OWC mentions you need a Raid0 volume, which if formatted as APFS will not boot Mojave.
A Raid0 volume will however boot and run just fine if formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

This is something I don’t understand. A NVMe by itself can sustain reads of about 3000 MB/s. In the OWC 4M2, why would 4 of these need to be raid 0 just to achieve 2800 MB/s?

 

[flygbuss]

This is something I don’t understand. A NVMe by itself can sustain reads of about 3000 MB/s. In the OWC 4M2, why would 4 of these need to be raid 0 just to achieve 2800 MB/s?

It’s about the pci lanes. Please have look at post #42
If I remember correctly @tsialex explained it several times.

 

[R3k]

Ok, I've been looking into the Sonnet M.2 4 x 4.

I would like to use 4 x 2TB NVMe sticks in a JBOD configuration. However, it seems the Sonnet only supports single sided NVMe's while all the 2TB NVMe's i can find are double sided.

Anyone have any experience with this? Does the Highpoint support double sided? Is it even possible to get a single sided 2TB NVMe? Is there an easy way to find out how many sides a NVMe module is using? Its not often listed in the specs.

ty

 

[tsialex]

Ok, I've been looking into the Sonnet M.2 4 x 4.

I would like to use 4 x 2TB NVMe sticks in a JBOD configuration. However, it seems the Sonnet only supports single sided NVMe's while all the 2TB NVMe's i can find are double sided.

Anyone have any experience with this?

You can hack the Sonnet to use double sided blades. Sonnet support has a FAQ answer about it I would like to use double-sided SSDs. How can I do this?.

FROM FAQ:
I would like to use double-sided SSDs. How can I do this?

Here is an guideline for users with some technical skills. Sonnet does not support or warranty this modification, but if you are up for it, here you go. Read the complete instructions before starting.

The thermal pad on the M.2 4x4 is pre-installed for single-sided SSDs. If you would like to use double-sided SSDs, you need to make a modification to the cooling system.

1. Remove the thermal pad pre-attached to the PCIe card. (Do not remove the thermal pad pre-attached to the heat sink!)
2. Get some thermal tape that is 20mm wide x 0.25mm thick. This is available on Amazon.
3. Cut four 70mm strips of tape, peel off the bottom covers from the tape, and stick a strip of tape under each M.2 position. This is the correct thickness for the two FLASH memory chips on the back end of the M.2 stick.
4. Peel off the top covers from the tape.
5. Cut four 30mm strips of tape, peel of the bottom covers from the tape, and stick a strip of tape under each M.2 position near the connector end. Two strips stacked is the correct thickness for the SRAM memory chip on the front end the M.2 stick.
6. Peel off the top covers from the tape.
7. Install the SSDs in their sockets and screw them down.

***Warning, the SSDs will be difficult to remove once stuck to the tape.***
If you need to remove and replace the SSDs, proceed carefully.

Does the Highpoint support double sided?

Yes, I have 4 double sided blades with SSD7101A-1.

Is it even possible to get a single sided 2TB NVMe?

AFAIK, not with current tech, only when NANDs with more density will be used.

Is there an easy way to find out how many sides a NVMe module is using? Its not often listed in the specs.

ty

Sonnet has a support document about what major blades are single and double sided.

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

Btw, read the first post of the PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI thread, all these info are there.

 

[R3k]

You can hack the Sonnet to use double sided blades. Sonnet support has a FAQ answer about it I would like to use double-sided SSDs. How can I do this?.



Yes, I have 4 double sided blades with SSD7101A-1.


AFAIK, not with current tech, only when NANDs with more density will be used.


Sonnet has a support document about what major blades are single and double sided.

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

Btw, read the first post of the PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI thread, all these info are there.

Thanks man!

 

[Sugerc4t]

I've had HUGE problems with the Sonnet 4x4 M.2 on a MacPro 5.1 2010, 12-core 3.46Ghz, 80Gb, on Mojave 10.14.6 (Boot ROM version is latest 144), with RX580 Sapphire Pulse 8Gb, Samsung 860 Pro Sata SSD Boot (on OWC Accelsior S card in Slot 4). Have 4 x 24" BenQ monitors connected to RX580.

Sonnet 4x4 (in 16x Slot 2) has been bought 3 x Samsung 970 Pro 1Tb, and 1 x Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb.

All 970s have been pre-formatted before-hand, one at a time using an Anyoyo external USB-C 3.1 drive as Extended (Journaled) with Apple Disk Utility. All double green lights are ON in the Sonnet 4x4 so all the Samsung M.2 cards are new and fine. All are intended for Premiere and After Effects work.

The MacPro simply won't boot when the Sonnet 4x4 is installed.

Unfortunately, I've a non-flashed RX580 (thus far, but seriously thinking about flashing with MacVidCards) so black screen start-up of course, but only Boot cycles over and over.

When the Sonnet 4x4 is removed it starts up perfectly with the archived crash screen showing a kernal panic and full crash report (attached Jpeg if you want to read).

Sonnet have already replaced it immediately I complained to them, but the second one is doing exactly the same thing.

I even tried it in a near identical MacPro except it's only a 6-core 3.46Ghz and not a 12-core as my main production machine, but its RX580 only runs 3 x 24" HD Monitors. Exactly the same thing happened on it. Doesn't work. Doesn't boot.

WHAT I'VE TRIED (with the second REPLACEMENT Card Sonnet sent) - that still didn't work:
- Starting up as clean, new Admin User with no drivers, no additional hardware, disabled Sophos security, no additional HDs
- Removing everything (all drives and PCIe cards but the Boot drive and RX580 GPU) to reduce power draw
- Using only 1 x Samsung 970 Pro or 970 Evo M.2 (Extended Journaled) on the Sonnet 4x4 on its own
- Reset the SMC Reset / EFI and NVram
- Put the Boot Drive on a standard OWC Mount Sled and put on the SATA board in Slot 1 instead of PCIe board with Accelsior card
- Tried Sonnet 4x4 in Slot 1, and the RX580 up one in Slot 2.
- Ran diagnostics test on internal hardware, sensors, RAM and other things in Techtool Pro 12 — all Passed Green

- Watched the start-up lights with the side door open watching the lights on the 4x4…

• All 4 rows of the 8 dual green lights are on immediately, thus all Samsung 970 NVMes are pre-formatted and working fine.
• Fans on to start-up, activity green light flashes slowly
• OWC Accelsior Boot-up card blue light comes on which boots from the 860 Pro Sata
• After about 45secs, the left-hand 4x4 Activity light flashes red – once – and the blue light on 860 Pro goes out, the fans on MacPro power down, and the right-hand 4x4 Activity light flashes at twice the speed of before.
• Cycles again and tries to start up yet again.
• This continues ad infinitum
  
  
  Absolutely at my wit's end and have spent hours trying to get this damn thing to work. Sonnet have been less than helpful (thus far) in any out-of-the-box thinking but physically replacing the first one promptly (which was fair enough).
  
  Again, tried this on a 12-core and a 6-core 3.46Ghz and both do the same thing. But have a look at the Crash log Screengrab from my 12-Core attached to this post.
  
  Any ideas guys would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Adult80HD]

I've had HUGE problems with the Sonnet 4x4 M.2 on a MacPro 5.1 2010, 12-core 3.46Ghz, 80Gb, on Mojave 10.14.6 (Boot ROM version is latest 144), with RX580 Sapphire Pulse 8Gb, Samsung 860 Pro Sata SSD Boot (on OWC Accelsior S card in Slot 4). Have 4 x 24" BenQ monitors connected to RX580.

Sonnet 4x4 (in 16x Slot 2) has been bought 3 x Samsung 970 Pro 1Tb, and 1 x Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb.

All 970s have been pre-formatted before-hand, one at a time using an Anyoyo external USB-C 3.1 drive as Extended (Journaled) with Apple Disk Utility. All double green lights are ON in the Sonnet 4x4 so all the Samsung M.2 cards are new and fine. All are intended for Premiere and After Effects work.

The MacPro simply won't boot when the Sonnet 4x4 is installed.

Unfortunately, I've a non-flashed RX580 (thus far, but seriously thinking about flashing with MacVidCards) so black screen start-up of course, but only Boot cycles over and over.

When the Sonnet 4x4 is removed it starts up perfectly with the archived crash screen showing a kernal panic and full crash report (attached Jpeg if you want to read).

Sonnet have already replaced it immediately I complained to them, but the second one is doing exactly the same thing.

I even tried it in a near identical MacPro except it's only a 6-core 3.46Ghz and not a 12-core as my main production machine, but its RX580 only runs 3 x 24" HD Monitors. Exactly the same thing happened on it. Doesn't work. Doesn't boot.

WHAT I'VE TRIED (with the second REPLACEMENT Card Sonnet sent) - that still didn't work:
- Starting up as clean, new Admin User with no drivers, no additional hardware, disabled Sophos security, no additional HDs
- Removing everything (all drives and PCIe cards but the Boot drive and RX580 GPU) to reduce power draw
- Using only 1 x Samsung 970 Pro or 970 Evo M.2 (Extended Journaled) on the Sonnet 4x4 on its own
- Reset the SMC Reset / EFI and NVram
- Put the Boot Drive on a standard OWC Mount Sled and put on the SATA board in Slot 1 instead of PCIe board with Accelsior card
- Tried Sonnet 4x4 in Slot 1, and the RX580 up one in Slot 2.
- Ran diagnostics test on internal hardware, sensors, RAM and other things in Techtool Pro 12 — all Passed Green

- Watched the start-up lights with the side door open watching the lights on the 4x4…

• All 4 rows of the 8 dual green lights are on immediately, thus all Samsung 970 NVMes are pre-formatted and working fine.
• Fans on to start-up, activity green light flashes slowly
• OWC Accelsior Boot-up card blue light comes on which boots from the 860 Pro Sata
• After about 45secs, the left-hand 4x4 Activity light flashes red – once – and the blue light on 860 Pro goes out, the fans on MacPro power down, and the right-hand 4x4 Activity light flashes at twice the speed of before.
• Cycles again and tries to start up yet again.
• This continues ad infinitum
  
  
  Absolutely at my wit's end and have spent hours trying to get this damn thing to work. Sonnet have been less than helpful (thus far) in any out-of-the-box thinking but physically replacing the first one promptly (which was fair enough).
  
  Again, tried this on a 12-core and a 6-core 3.46Ghz and both do the same thing. But have a look at the Crash log Screengrab from my 12-Core attached to this post.
  
  Any ideas guys would be greatly appreciated.

have you checked the firmware versions on the Samsung blades?

 

[tommy chen]

have you testet without the OWC Accelsior S card?

has not emerged from your posting.