My Sintech adapter fit perfectly without any modifications.
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NVMe with ST-NGFF2013-C; Vega Internal GPU; Mac Pro 2013 (6,1)
- Thread starter CodeJingle
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My Sintech adapter fit perfectly without any modifications.
I've got Sonnet ExpressBox1T with 1 PCIe slot. It is connected through TB2 to MacPro. In this box there is an extension card with socket for Apple SSD disk (2013-2016). Measured speed is >1.1GB read / >1.3 write. The PCIe slot is x4. The extension card is the same PCIe standard. The card I bought for £5 this year on eBay. Please see attached images
You can put there M2 compatible card. There are plenty of them on eBay - for 1, 2 or even 4 M2 disks
Attachments
I have tried the PC parts 239 adapter with two 2TB 960 Pro ( that is to say, I have tried twice.) On the first occasion, I neglected to install kapton tape and a heat sink. On the second occasion, I did install kapton tape, but no heat sink. It seems like on both occasions I killed the drive. I also have a Mac Pro 5,1, And when I tried those drives in a PCI adapter for that Mac (“Lycom DT 21” I think) they did not show up. I am now making a 3rd attempt.
Before putting the drive in the Mac Pro 6,1, I am putting the new (3rd) drive in the classic Mac Pro first. It has shown up and formatted, and I am now installing High Sierra.
I also have three adapters now: the PC parts 239 and two others. I will post pictures later.
I am wondering whether I somehow short-circuited the first two drives. Also, did I miss some part of the process? The adapters went in, so I don’t think that is the issue. I did the tape just as shown in this thread, so I don’t think that is the issue. PC Parts was kind enough to advise that the drive could overheat and short-circuit without a heat sink - could that be the problem?
Does anyone have any advice?
Before putting the drive in the Mac Pro 6,1, I am putting the new (3rd) drive in the classic Mac Pro first. It has shown up and formatted, and I am now installing High Sierra.
I also have three adapters now: the PC parts 239 and two others. I will post pictures later.
I am wondering whether I somehow short-circuited the first two drives. Also, did I miss some part of the process? The adapters went in, so I don’t think that is the issue. I did the tape just as shown in this thread, so I don’t think that is the issue. PC Parts was kind enough to advise that the drive could overheat and short-circuit without a heat sink - could that be the problem?
Does anyone have any advice?
I installed everything and turned on the Mac with option-command-R. Then I attempted to load High Sierra but there’s no disk showing up to install it on. High Sierra has previously been installed and the adapter and Samsung Pro 960 seemed to fit into O.K. so I’m not sure what I’ve done incorrectly.
I
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Ok I see the new Samsung “disk” in disc utility but when I try to install HS the disk doesn’t show up. Sorry for my ignorance but do I need to use the restore feature in disk utility?
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Ok, I erased the new disk to format it and now it’s showing up as “untitled” but at least now it shows up and I’m currently installing HS on it.
I have no bloody experience with 239 stuff. There are no longer available on Amazon. I did order something like from the bowl link which seams to be the same.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077YXZ7HC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AL7OCEVQ2O38D&psc=1
A quick update........everything worked perfectly. The hours I had allocated to fixing all the problems I anticipated were never required.
As far as the Samsung 960 Pro install is concerned, I simply did a Carbon Copy Clone (v5.0.9) of my System drive to an external HDD using format Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Shut down as usual. Installed the Samsung 960 Pro attached to the Sintech adapter. Booted with Option Key depressed and selected the CCC drive. Ran the Disk Utility to Erase the Samsung 960 Pro using format APFS. Used CCC again to clone the system drive to the Samsung 960 Pro. Shut down as usual. Disconnected the external HDD. Rebooted as usual onto a noticeably faster system. Throughput on the new Samsung 960 Pro is around 1.4GB/sec.
Others have mentioned a slow Cold Boot time with an NVME drive installed. I am not seeing this at all.
While I had purchased some Kapton tape, it wasn't required as the 3 Sintech adapters I had ordered all came with a coating of resin in the appropriate space (see below). Clearly the manufacturer has been watching this thread
While I elected to pay the extra $'s to purchase the Samsung 960 Pro in order to mitigate any risk, I am VERY confident that the Samsung 960 EVO will do the same job at a lower price.
I have one spare Sintech adapter that I probably won't need so if there are any other Australians out there who need one, feel free to reach out.
I used the 'flexible shaft' for 30 minutes or so. You can see in the pics I thinned out the copper in some places and it started tearing. I only have one bit right now, I need to get more bits and experiment which bit works best for various situations. I also need more refills for fiberglass scratch pen. I can order more supplies Friday then finish boring to the next two layers.
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Are the other drives still not working? You could re-seat the drive in the adapter, it may not work if it is slightly mis-aligned. Also check the throughput to make sure you are running at full speed, it may partial short but still work then you would run at half speed.
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If you remove the power source after booting down Mac Pro 2013 and wait 30 seconds before applying power and turning on you should force the pre-boot checklist. Cold boot is slower regardless even if you do not have NVMe installed. Can you verify how long boot takes after performing these steps with NVMe installed as your main boot drive? Thanks!
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Everything working fine but had issues with the Migration Assistant. I was using my Time Machine backup which completed and left everything off my desktop and no photos or music.
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To make the Aura SSD fit in there, you'll have to fold it three times.
(Note that the Aura Pro X is a very different device)
I don't think there's any external enclosure that's big enough and has the right connector. Selling The Aura might be the way to go. There's also a trade in program from OWC.
To make the Aura fit in there, you'll have to fold it three times.
I don't think there's any external enclosure that's big enough and has the right connector. Selling The Aura might be the way to go.
Yea I know, the Aura SSD is too big for either of those enclosures. OWC also told me they don't make an external enclosure for one of these:
I depopulated the IO board. Though still focusing on the CPU Riser Card for excavating the layers.
I/O Board Front
I/O Board Back
I Apologize for slow progress. I usually write firmware I am new to hardware engineering. Trying to 'Colin Furze' this independent project turns out to be a high road of sorts no easy solution. My day job is a startup, and they underpay, so I have to be frugal with buying supplies. Some people have been helpful, but in general, I have no sponsor for this project it is self-funded. Having a family and a day job I also have to be frugal with my time. Might not have an adapter made in time but still shooting for at least solving the pinout by WWDC. It will be a tight schedule.
Bought another 93 USD worth of supplies so that should be good to finish uncovering at least two more layers. The count for fully revealed layers for the CPU Riser Card is three right now. I am hoping five brings me halfway.
After looking up some tutorials for the scratch brushes, it seems only the fiberglass is good for consistently removing large amounts of material. Metal (brass or steel) scratch brush is only for artistic use such as the brushed metal look, literal 'skeuomorphism' (or more generally 'anthropomorphic personification'). The nylon scratch brush is mostly useless it works the same as a fine nylon paint brush except you would use it only for clean-up or adding fine lines to a previously wet surface that is just barely dry.
The fiberglass shards are nasty. I have to run the vacuum the whole time I use the fiberglass scratch brush. I am using fiberglass so much I should really 'up my game' concerning respirator and eye mask. They get trapped inside the protective gloves I am using making the gloves garbage it is sometimes infuriating. I hope no more fiberglass sanding at home. It is no joke tracking tiny shards of glass around the home even into the bed. Grind glass down small enough, and it turns back to sand, but at least you don't get microscopic splinters from sand. But even as sand no one enjoys tracking sand all over their home either.
PC Parts 239 adapter still out of stock. I will contact the seller to confirm status.
https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/support
I/O Board Front
I/O Board Back
I Apologize for slow progress. I usually write firmware I am new to hardware engineering. Trying to 'Colin Furze' this independent project turns out to be a high road of sorts no easy solution. My day job is a startup, and they underpay, so I have to be frugal with buying supplies. Some people have been helpful, but in general, I have no sponsor for this project it is self-funded. Having a family and a day job I also have to be frugal with my time. Might not have an adapter made in time but still shooting for at least solving the pinout by WWDC. It will be a tight schedule.
Bought another 93 USD worth of supplies so that should be good to finish uncovering at least two more layers. The count for fully revealed layers for the CPU Riser Card is three right now. I am hoping five brings me halfway.
After looking up some tutorials for the scratch brushes, it seems only the fiberglass is good for consistently removing large amounts of material. Metal (brass or steel) scratch brush is only for artistic use such as the brushed metal look, literal 'skeuomorphism' (or more generally 'anthropomorphic personification'). The nylon scratch brush is mostly useless it works the same as a fine nylon paint brush except you would use it only for clean-up or adding fine lines to a previously wet surface that is just barely dry.
The fiberglass shards are nasty. I have to run the vacuum the whole time I use the fiberglass scratch brush. I am using fiberglass so much I should really 'up my game' concerning respirator and eye mask. They get trapped inside the protective gloves I am using making the gloves garbage it is sometimes infuriating. I hope no more fiberglass sanding at home. It is no joke tracking tiny shards of glass around the home even into the bed. Grind glass down small enough, and it turns back to sand, but at least you don't get microscopic splinters from sand. But even as sand no one enjoys tracking sand all over their home either.
PC Parts 239 adapter still out of stock. I will contact the seller to confirm status.
Those protruding copper sheet blobs are supposed to make contact with the external casing. So probably gets hot if it requires both the heatsink plate and to pass-thru heat to the exterior shell.
All of OWC's ready-to-buy external drives work only with the original Apple drive, not OWC's drives. Based on OWC's description I would guess their drive does not work well as a generic M.2 drive. Try asking OWC directly since I can't find anything otherwise ('Other World Computing' also known as 'MacSales.com').
https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/support
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I checked with OWC and they said they do not make an enclosure for this.
A quick update........everything worked perfectly. The hours I had allocated to fixing all the problems I anticipated were never required.
As far as the Samsung 960 Pro install is concerned, I simply did a Carbon Copy Clone (v5.0.9) of my System drive to an external HDD using format Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Shut down as usual. Installed the Samsung 960 Pro attached to the Sintech adapter. Booted with Option Key depressed and selected the CCC drive. Ran the Disk Utility to Erase the Samsung 960 Pro using format APFS. Used CCC again to clone the system drive to the Samsung 960 Pro. Shut down as usual. Disconnected the external HDD. Rebooted as usual onto a noticeably faster system. Throughput on the new Samsung 960 Pro is around 1.4GB/sec.
Others have mentioned a slow Cold Boot time with an NVME drive installed. I am not seeing this at all.
While I had purchased some Kapton tape, it wasn't required as the 3 Sintech adapters I had ordered all came with a coating of resin in the appropriate space (see below). Clearly the manufacturer has been watching this thread
While I elected to pay the extra $'s to purchase the Samsung 960 Pro in order to mitigate any risk, I am VERY confident that the Samsung 960 EVO will do the same job at a lower price.
I have one spare Sintech adapter that I probably won't need so if there are any other Australians out there who need one, feel free to reach out.
View attachment 751821
Hey man, sent you a PM. I'd like to take that spare card if you still have it. I'm in Brisbane.
[doublepost=1520230355][/doublepost]Has anyone had the flashing question mark after installing High Sierra on a Samsung EVO 960 NVMe drive in a MacPro 6,1? Initially everything was working but now every time I boot it's a flashing question mark. I've tried erasing and reformatting the drive and putting a clean install of High Sierra on it which all goes swimmingly until it goes to boot from the drive. Then it gets stuck in the flashing folder syndrome?
I had this problem with my previous OWC Aura drive but not the Samsung Pro 960 NVMe. Whenever this happened with the OWC drive I had to hold in the power button on the MacPro 6,1 until it powered off, then pushed the power button back in to power it back up and it would boot up O.K. It was just an annoyance and although the Samsung has yet to do this, it does boot up more slowly than the OWC did.
I've used the same adaptor for this build and it worked perfect on the previous build. This time I can't get it to see the drive at startup at all yet in Disk Utility booted from a USB HS installer it sees it just fine.
Yes
Yes it happens with the older Sintech adapters, even the one the user you prelied to : crhendo, has used.
Yes it happens with the older Sintech adapters, even the one the user you prelied to : crhendo, has used.
Yes these ones I have are the Sintech ones. These ones I had delivered earlier this month and I've used the kapton tape on them. So even though they're showing up in Disk Utility and you can format them and install High Sierra on them without a hitch they're still known to bring up a flashing question mark?
Yes - they are rubbish and cause the har drive to be invisible on restart and sometimes when resuming from sleep.
I am awaiting the latest longer version from Sintech, which other users reports to work perfectly on the Macbook NVME thread.
A quick update........everything worked perfectly. The hours I had allocated to fixing all the problems I anticipated were never required.
As far as the Samsung 960 Pro install is concerned, I simply did a Carbon Copy Clone (v5.0.9) of my System drive to an external HDD using format Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Shut down as usual. Installed the Samsung 960 Pro attached to the Sintech adapter. Booted with Option Key depressed and selected the CCC drive. Ran the Disk Utility to Erase the Samsung 960 Pro using format APFS. Used CCC again to clone the system drive to the Samsung 960 Pro. Shut down as usual. Disconnected the external HDD. Rebooted as usual onto a noticeably faster system. Throughput on the new Samsung 960 Pro is around 1.4GB/sec.
Others have mentioned a slow Cold Boot time with an NVME drive installed. I am not seeing this at all.
While I had purchased some Kapton tape, it wasn't required as the 3 Sintech adapters I had ordered all came with a coating of resin in the appropriate space (see below). Clearly the manufacturer has been watching this thread
While I elected to pay the extra $'s to purchase the Samsung 960 Pro in order to mitigate any risk, I am VERY confident that the Samsung 960 EVO will do the same job at a lower price.
I have one spare Sintech adapter that I probably won't need so if there are any other Australians out there who need one, feel free to reach out.
View attachment 751821
Are you experiencing reboot issues? We are experiencing a whole lot of them with some drives.
We have only 960 PRO here, same issue
[doublepost=1520248911][/doublepost]Just as a note - when I cold boot with alt pressed, the internal Samsung 960 PRO NVME drive is seeing after external drives, and as an external drive itself.
Does this tell us something?
[doublepost=1520251217][/doublepost]@CodeJingle do you have this reboot issue?
Basically for me reboot is not possible (shows map with question mark).