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ICY Dock Full Metal + Intel SSD + Mac Pro = Not Working

Desmo1098

Desmo1098

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 28, 2009
126
0
I just order a new ICY Dock Full Metal version. I installed an Intel 120 GB SSD into it and installed into Bay 1. After booting my 2010 Mac Pro Disk Utility did not recognize it. I shut down, check the connections and insertion and there was no apparent problems. I re-installed it and Disk Utility still did not recognize it.

I proceeded to remove the ICY Dock Full Metal from my Mac Pro. I then removed the Intel SSD from the ICY Dock and connected it to the SATA cable under my DVD drive and then booted my Mac Pro. I launched Disk Utility and it found the Intel SSD.

Does anyone have any experience with these new ICY DOck Full Metal versions? I had a couple of the previous plastic ones and the slider mechanism would not always push the Intel SSD SATA interface into the receiver on the ICY Dock. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Best,
Desmo1098
 
Thanks for the quick response Hellhammer...

No I do not... I just know the drive works fine when connected to the other SATA cable. I spoke with OWC customer service and they think there might be some flux residue remaining from manufacturing... I took some rubbing alcohol and applied it to the ICY Dock connectors. I am waiting for it to dry first, then try it again.

I am going to order another one just in case.
 
Desmo1098 said:
Thanks for the quick response Hellhammer...

No I do not... I just know the drive works fine when connected to the other SATA cable. I spoke with OWC customer service and they think there might be some flux residue remaining from manufacturing... I took some rubbing alcohol and applied it to the ICY Dock connectors. I am waiting for it to dry first, then try it again.

I am going to order another one just in case.
Click to expand...

Hey Desmo1098,

We had tested our MB982IP-1S to our own Mac Pro and we found no issues with the mounting or recognizing of the unit. We think that one other cause could be with the insertion of the SSD/HDD where it may not be inserted correctly and thus lead to the issue. Also, we are motoring the returns on this product closely, and have not seen a significant amount to say that this is a issue with many Mac Pro users. Do you know which Mac Pro do you have?? We are currently looking into whether the internal structure of the Mac Pro's are different by Apples' revisions.

Hope this helps!
 

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Yes, I know which Mac Pro I have... It is in my signature. It is Model #: MC561LL/A and Machine Model: Mac Pro 5.1. In addition I have three more Mac Pro that are all newer 2010 models launched on August 9, 2010. I also have a 2009 model. Fifty-percent (50%) of the ICY Dock units that I have tried have failed.

The first version you offered was a better design because the enclosure ensured that the SSD inserted and seated correctly. I did not have any problems with that version.

Then you released a second version with a removable lid that was, in my opinion, a terrible design. I had to manually ensure the drive was seated correctly. However, I only found this out after troubleshooting it myself. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom did not win that battle.

Now you have a third revision, which I just purchased and tried in all 4 bays of my 2010 Mac Pro (the one in my signature) and it did not work. However, once I removed the SSD and installed it in my DVD SATA connector chain it worked fine. I had a look to ICY Dock Full Metal unit and even though it had the "QC" quality check stickers, it really appeared that the solder joints were very poorly executed. In addition, the reseller in which I purchased it from also mentioned that there had been several cases where solder flux remained on the connectors. That could of been the case, but I did not have time to try to clean the connectors and keep troubleshooting the problem.

In conclusion, I appreciate your input on this, but I think there needs to be a better quality check in your manufacturing. I know that there are several members here that have had success, but a 50% yield on new products is not good.
 
Desmo1098 said:
Yes, I know which Mac Pro I have... It is in my signature. It is Model #: MC561LL/A and Machine Model: Mac Pro 5.1. In addition I have three more Mac Pro that are all newer 2010 models launched on August 9, 2010. I also have a 2009 model. Fifty-percent (50%) of the ICY Dock units that I have tried have failed.

The first version you offered was a better design because the enclosure ensured that the SSD inserted and seated correctly. I did not have any problems with that version.

Then you released a second version with a removable lid that was, in my opinion, a terrible design. I had to manually ensure the drive was seated correctly. However, I only found this out after troubleshooting it myself. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom did not win that battle.

Now you have a third revision, which I just purchased and tried in all 4 bays of my 2010 Mac Pro (the one in my signature) and it did not work. However, once I removed the SSD and installed it in my DVD SATA connector chain it worked fine. I had a look to ICY Dock Full Metal unit and even though it had the "QC" quality check stickers, it really appeared that the solder joints were very poorly executed. In addition, the reseller in which I purchased it from also mentioned that there had been several cases where solder flux remained on the connectors. That could of been the case, but I did not have time to try to clean the connectors and keep troubleshooting the problem.

In conclusion, I appreciate your input on this, but I think there needs to be a better quality check in your manufacturing. I know that there are several members here that have had success, but a 50% yield on new products is not good.
Click to expand...

Hey Desmo,

Thanks for your response and information. We appreciate the suggestion and will contact our factory to do further testing with this specific issue. With that said, we are thinking that it may be a combination of the converter and the Mac Pro. Regardless whether the dock worked in the Mac Pro or not, the unit would work outside of that. But, rest assured that we are working diligently with our factory on this issue to be resolved as soon as possible.

I hope this helps answers some of your concerns at the moment.
 
We have done some extensive research on the issue with the MB982IP-1S in combination with the Mac Pro. We have found that the SATA connection between the MB982IP-1S and the Mac Pro is causing the issue. This is because of two things; the female SATA connector on the Mac Pro is much shorter than any other system that we have seen, second we have found that a very small amount of the SATA connectors have some sort of residue on the actual SATA connector on the MB982IP-1S maybe making a bad connection. The supplier of the SATA connector has been notified of the issue. We have also told our production line to check the connector to address any issues. Some of our customers that have had this issue have found that cleaning the SATA connector on the MB982IP-1S with rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush have solved the problem. We recommend trying this solution to fix the problem, if problem still persists please contact us for further instructions.
 
Last edited:
Hey.

Try plug the ssd, by it's self, into the secondary Optical Bay Sata connection. I have mine there just placed without any kind of adapter.

Boot it and see if it starts. That way you can eliminate if it is the drive or the adapter.
 
DeeEss said:
Hey.

Try plug the ssd, by it's self, into the secondary Optical Bay Sata connection. I have mine there just placed without any kind of adapter.

Boot it and see if it starts. That way you can eliminate if it is the drive or the adapter.
Click to expand...
He did that already.

Desmo1098 said:
I proceeded to remove the ICY Dock Full Metal from my Mac Pro. I then removed the Intel SSD from the ICY Dock and connected it to the SATA cable under my DVD drive and then booted my Mac Pro. I launched Disk Utility and it found the Intel SSD.
Click to expand...
 
@ICY DOCK

Dear ICY Dock,

Thank you for the prompt and thorough follow-up. It is great to see your company taking a proactive stance on this issue. It goes a long way from a customers' viewpoint. I take it that you will soon have this problem rectified with future production runs; therefore when would you propose that I could feel confident in ordering a new unit? Specifically the Full Metal revision, since it has the best design to-date.

Best,

Desmo1098
 
Desmo1098 said:
@ICY DOCK

Dear ICY Dock,

Thank you for the prompt and thorough follow-up. It is great to see your company taking a proactive stance on this issue. It goes a long way from a customers' viewpoint. I take it that you will soon have this problem rectified with future production runs; therefore when would you propose that I could feel confident in ordering a new unit? Specifically the Full Metal revision, since it has the best design to-date.

Best,

Desmo1098
Click to expand...

Hi Desmo1098,

At this time, we found that our customers solved their issue with the MB982IP-1S by cleaning the SATA connector as mentioned previously. However, there have not been enough tested with this method enough to work consistently. With that said, please check if this method does indeed work for you. We really appreciate it because this will give us valuable information about the real issue, and feedback to us. Also, regarding a time where we will feel confident at this time is hard to say at this point. This is because resolving this issue will take time in order to verify the exact problem and then implementing it. Depending on what the problem is, it can take some time.
 
Last edited:
Sitting here with an ICY Dock Full Metal adapter, a OWC SSD and an incoming Mac Pro.

We'll see if I experience the same problems.
 
jamesdmc said:
He did that already.
Click to expand...
No he did not. He removed the ssd and only connected the ssd to the second odd connection. There is no icy dock full metal in that equation so the dock itself hasn't been tested (the ssd however has and is working properly). If what icy dock told us is right, you'd see a working icy dock full metal when connected to the second odd connection. There still is a chance the dock is faulty. That isn't abnormal since quality control is sheer statistics. You get false positives (the device is defective but it passes qc) and false negatives (the devices is working properly but it fails qc). This may very well be an example of a false positive.
 
I had one of these in my Mac Pro recently and whilst they worked I couldn't wait to return it. I also had their RAID unit which didn't work. I wouldn't use their products again although they did support their product as best they could.

I went the Mac Upgrades Sled route. but I have my main SSD just hanging on Optical port and two Samsung SSDs on MaxUpgrades sleds.

Desmo1098 said:
I just order a new ICY Dock Full Metal version. I installed an Intel 120 GB SSD into it and installed into Bay 1. After booting my 2010 Mac Pro Disk Utility did not recognize it. I shut down, check the connections and insertion and there was no apparent problems. I re-installed it and Disk Utility still did not recognize it.

I proceeded to remove the ICY Dock Full Metal from my Mac Pro. I then removed the Intel SSD from the ICY Dock and connected it to the SATA cable under my DVD drive and then booted my Mac Pro. I launched Disk Utility and it found the Intel SSD.

Does anyone have any experience with these new ICY DOck Full Metal versions? I had a couple of the previous plastic ones and the slider mechanism would not always push the Intel SSD SATA interface into the receiver on the ICY Dock. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Best,
Desmo1098
Click to expand...
 
I have the Icy Dock plastic 2.5" SSD case, it's worked great on multiple machines in our office.

Don't have any experience with the metal version. What's the advantage of the full metal version? Plastic one seemed fine to me.
 
Velin said:
I have the Icy Dock plastic 2.5" SSD case, it's worked great on multiple machines in our office.

Don't have any experience with the metal version. What's the advantage of the full metal version? Plastic one seemed fine to me.
Click to expand...

Hey Velin,

The metal version is different from the MB882 series in that it allows the user to insert any size drive up to 1TB, wherein the former could only support up to 750GB. That's one advantage that it has over the previous model. This comes in very handy for people who use bigger size drives as the physical height is increased in anything greater than 750GB, generally speaking.

Hope this helps you with your question!
 
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