MP 1,1-5,1 PCI bracket connector mismatching issue

[macstatic]

I have a problem with my USB-3 connectors (from my Sonnet Allegro USB3C-4PM-E PCIe card) not allowing full insertion because the connectors are too close to the side of the bracket (see photos below). This results in constant disconnections and other problems. I don't know what Sonnet were thinking by designing it this way instead of having the connectors placed in the middle.

Is there a way I can solve this without having to do any permanent manage to my Mac Pro 5,1 (mid-2010)?

 

[arw]

Is there a way I can solve this without having to do any permanent manage to my Mac Pro 5,1 (mid-2010)?

Yes, do permanent damage to all plugs… 🙈
But seriously, that‘s what I actually did in a similar case. The area in question (of the cables) should only be plastic/rubber mold around the actual electronic/metal insert. Sounds like removing even 1 mm with a boxcutter should be sufficient.

I get the motive for the positioning as it‘s cheaper and more sturdy to solder the sockets directly onto the PCB.
In the MP (and Power Mac G5) the PCI divisor braces are thicker than on any PC I‘ve ever seen.
Nonetheless, that‘s quite the design fail and unusual for Sonnet as they officially show the MP tower.

I‘d contact their support as they‘re quite helpful. Your informative pictures are self-explanatory.

edit: You could losen the screws that secure the PCB on the bracket. Normally there is some space and perhaps if you push them together before re-tightening you gain some clearance.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I have a problem with my USB-3 connectors (from my Sonnet Allegro USB3C-4PM-E PCIe card) not allowing full insertion because the connectors are too close to the side of the bracket.
Is there a way I can solve this without having to do any permanent manage to my Mac Pro 5,1 (mid-2010)?

Very easy. Just use a small file and file off the obstructing metal part on the case.

Or cut-off the obstructing plastic parts on the plugs, like @arw said above.

 

[macstatic]

I get the motive for the positioning as it‘s cheaper and more sturdy to solder the sockets directly onto the PCB.
In the MP (and Power Mac G5) the PCI divisor braces are thicker than on any PC I‘ve ever seen.
Nonetheless, that‘s quite the design fail and unusual for Sonnet as they officially show the MP tower.

I've contacted Sonnet about it and would like to hear what they have to say about it before cutting anything.
I assume by "divisor brackets" you mean the metal on the Mac Pro which blocks the USB cables from fully being inserted? Do you know if they can be removed, or are they a single big part for the whole back panel of the computer?

Unless Sonnet has a better solution I'll look into first loosening the PCIe bracket screw to see if I can reposition the USB-3 card a bit (just a mm or two would solve the issue).

Very easy. Just use a small file and file off the obstructing metal part on the case.

Or cut-off the obstructing plastic parts on the plugs, like @arw said above.

I really don't want to make any irreversible modifications like that to the computer if I can avoid it. Besides, all those metal filings left over could be fatal because it could easily get into the rest of the computer and cause shortcuts. I'd have to remove a lot of the internals before attempting that first.
Between the two I'd probably first go for "shaving" off the USB-3 cables.

There's definitely a design flaw somewhere: IMHO I'd say with the Sonnet card because they surely must have investigated and known about the tight fitting on the Mac Pro rear panel, and they could have chosen to position the four USB sockets in the middle of the PCIe board's metal panel instead of to one side (my ATI 5870 graphic card for instance has its connectors in the middle and don't cause any problems like this).

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I really don't want to make any irreversible modifications like that to the computer if I can avoid it. Besides, all those metal filings left over could be fatal because it could easily get into the rest of the computer and cause shortcuts. I'd have to remove a lot of the internals before attempting that first.
Between the two I'd probably first go for "shaving" off the USB-3 cables.

Totally agree. If you are not confident enough to do the filing without causing any further trouble, don't do it.

 

[rpmurray]

If you don't want to cut either the parts of the pci cage or the cables that came with your devices you could check for some short extension cables on amazon or ebay and do the surgery on those. Pick up some spares you you can try out your skill to see how well that would work. This way you haven't done anything irreversible to either cables or bracket.

 

[macstatic]

I followed the advice of arw and loosened the bracket that secures all the PCIe boards, then carefully pushed the Sonnet USB-3 board to the side farthest away from the metal "frame", then tightened the two screws of the bracket that holds all PCIe boards in place.
This helped a bit, but I was surprised to see that the cables wouldn't go all the way in regardless! I'll have to look closer into this to see if I'm right, but it appeared to be that way. Strange.
It's a little better now, but the USB-C socket closest to the bottom of the PCIe card (where the PCB "fingers" go to the Mac Pro backplane) is still too close to the metal frame.

It's not obvious to see from simply looking at the Mac Pro from behind, but is it possible to remove that metal frame that surrounds all the card openings on the rear? It would mean much more access for dust to get into the machine, but maybe I could mount some sort of dust-proofing fabric instead.

I got a reply from Sonnet and they told me that "Cables, adapters and thumbdrives with connector overmolds > 6.5mm will not fit in the Mac Pro PCIe backplate opening. If available, try using cables with smaller overmolds.". They also mentioned the above bracket for loosening the PCIe card(s) in order to shift them a little to the side.
Still, in my opinion, having sockets mounted on the sides of those boards is a design flaw compared to putting them in the middle.

 

[arw]

This helped a bit, but I was surprised to see that the cables wouldn't go all the way in regardless! I'll have to look closer into this to see if I'm right, but it appeared to be that way. Strange.

To test, have you plugged in a cable into the card while it is not installed in the Mac? It is not unusual that there remains a 2-3 mm gap by design that gives the impression the plug is not inserted correctly/completely. The important thing is that it you hear/feel it snap in.

It's not obvious to see from simply looking at the Mac Pro from behind, but is it possible to remove that metal frame that surrounds all the card openings on the rear?

No, it is welded to the back (case).
Perhaps with the loosened screws it isn‘t actually necessary anymore.
If you don‘t hear the cables snap in and still have connection issues, then you can chose from one of the suggested workarounds.

EDIT: This is the offset my Sonnet eGFX enclosure has. It's 2,4 mm fully pressed in. The same adapter is completely flush in my MacBook!
Assuming Sonnet uses the same socket for all of their devices, you should be good as I remember measuring slightly less for the thickness of the Mac Pros frame in that area. The Power Mac G5 has <2,3mm and they should be almost the same.

 

[mode11]

I‘d sooner eBay the Sonnet and buy a different model of USB card than start filing stuff. It does seem like a design oversight.

Or find some cheap / slim extenders like @rpmurray suggested.

 

[macstatic]

To test, have you plugged in a cable into the card while it is not installed in the Mac? It is not unusual that there remains a 2-3 mm gap by design that gives the impression the plug is not inserted correctly/completely. The important thing is that it you hear/feel it snap in.

No, I haven't tried that, but I noticed that one of the cables do "click" when plugged in, and yet it doesn't go flush with the rear panel.It seems that at least that particular cable doesn't go any further into the PCIe card's socket as it (as far as I can see) stops before the plastic around the plug touches the Mac Pro metal sides of the rear panel.

No, it is welded to the back (case).
Perhaps with the loosened screws it isn‘t actually necessary anymore.
If you don‘t hear the cables snap in and still have connection issues, then you can chose from one of the suggested workarounds.

EDIT: This is the offset my Sonnet eGFX enclosure has. It's 2,4 mm fully pressed in. The same adapter is completely flush in my MacBook!
Assuming Sonnet uses the same socket for all of their devices, you should be good as I remember measuring slightly less for the thickness of the Mac Pros frame in that area. The Power Mac G5 has <2,3mm and they should be almost the same.
View attachment 2101757

Too bad about the welded rear case. I really don't want to make any non-reversible changes to the computer.

It did help the two outermost connectors to get some more space around them when loosening the PCIe card mounting screw inside the computer, but of course that won't help the innermost USB-3 connectors. One of them are having a very bad connection, so either the cable has gone bad because of the many times I've unplugged and replugged it (sounds unlikely as I always do it carefully) or they've perhaps bent the connector terminals on its socket (on the USB-3 card) which I surely hope isn't the case, or .... the plug just doesn't snap properly in place (in which case I'll just cut off the plastic sides of the cable's connector as you already suggested). I'll be sure to test the same cable first with the USB-3 connectors farthest way to make sure the cable is OK.

Thanks for looking into this! I still believe Sonnet has made a mistake when designing that particular USB-3 board, but using your suggestions I'll do one or several of the workarounds. Thanks again.

 

[macstatic]

Two new discoveries!
First, I removed my Sonnet USB-3 card from the computer, then tried to insert my different cables into its four sockets. Guess what? Just like you (arw) experienced, they don't go flush with the sockets! They all stop roughly around 2mm out (I didn't have any accurate way of measuring, so they may very well be 2.4 or 2.3mm as you measured. So with this mind I can relax a bit more about the Mac Pro metal frame edges not allowing me to insert the cables fully into their sockets, because it's supposed to be like that!

My second discovery was that the cable I had problems with wiggled more than the others (they all wiggle a little bit) and I'm concluding that it just doesn't make contact as well as it should. I bought it from a reputable dealer (or so I thought), even though the brand (Goobay) sounds like some cheap Chinese junk.

Unfortunately I don't have any other similar cable (USB-C to USB 3.0 Micro-B) to test with, but I should probably go out and find a new one from a reputable brand. In the meantime I do have a USB 3.0 Micro-B to USB-A cable (the one that came with the card reader), so that makes it possible to use my SD memory card-reader, but with USB 2 speeds.