MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[timjph]

Anyone seen this: 2009 Mac Pro 5,1 with a Samsung 970 Plus that works fine with a DT-120 single M.2 card, but crashes repeatedly with a DT-130 dual M.2 card? Originally I bought the DT-130 and thought it was a problem with the 970 Plus (despite the 970 Plus having the most recent firmware, which is supposely compatible). The disk worked fine with BlackMagic Disk Speed test - showing ~2500 MB/s read and write. However if I copied a substantial amount of data from another disk, the entire computer would crash, with no log file (Mojave, latest 5,1 firmware) - completely repeatable. DT-130 is a two disk card, and I read something somewhere about a DT-130 crashing with only one of the two disk slots use, so I bought a DT-120 and tried that. The same Samsung 970 Plus mounted on the DT-120 copying the same data works just fine without any crashes - just with lower performance as measured using BlackMagic Disk Speed test of course.
Of course I bought the DT-130 for the higher performance, so am I bit reluctant to give up on it.
Anyone else seen this? Does DT-130 have to have both disk slots populated to work correctly, or is it some other issue?

 

[joevt]

Anyone seen this: 2009 Mac Pro 5,1 with a Samsung 970 Plus that works fine with a DT-120 single M.2 card, but crashes repeatedly with a DT-130 dual M.2 card? Originally I bought the DT-130 and thought it was a problem with the 970 Plus (despite the 970 Plus having the most recent firmware, which is supposely compatible). The disk worked fine with BlackMagic Disk Speed test - showing ~2500 MB/s read and write. However if I copied a substantial amount of data from another disk, the entire computer would crash, with no log file (Mojave, latest 5,1 firmware) - completely repeatable. DT-130 is a two disk card, and I read something somewhere about a DT-130 crashing with only one of the two disk slots use, so I bought a DT-120 and tried that. The same Samsung 970 Plus mounted on the DT-120 copying the same data works just fine without any crashes - just with lower performance as measured using BlackMagic Disk Speed test of course.
Of course I bought the DT-130 for the higher performance, so am I bit reluctant to give up on it.
Anyone else seen this? Does DT-130 have to have both disk slots populated to work correctly, or is it some other issue?

I don't think the problem is with not having both M.2 slots populated or not. I think it's the actual PCIe switch chip that might be the problem. Read the first post about the ASMedia x8 ASM2824. Maybe there are some ASM2824/NVMe combinations that are reliable but I don't know about that. I think one hang is one too many so it should be replaced.

If you want reliable performance then you may need to switch to something using a PLX chipset which is much more expensive but they can have x16 upstream for even more performance. And there exist PCIe Gen 4 cards that you can use Gen 4 SSDs at near full speed.

 

[edgerider]

just to let you guys know that I am using a Highpoint SSD 7140 8 slot ssd adapter on my Mp7.1, and I have very mixed results…
with 8 samsung pm961 1tb , benching is fine but on long file transfer the speed goes down and the machine crash. I see the 8 ssd in the hpt raid utility.

with 4 samsung pm961, benching is ok, large file transfer slows after a while, but no crash

with 4 samsung pm961 1tb + 4 SM951 AHCI , benching is fine but on long file transfer the speed goes down on pm961 but keep steady on SM951, no crash so far. I see the 4 PM961 ssd in the hpt raid utility, but the 4 SM951 just pop up on the desktop, cant see them in the highpoint raid utility…

so far all crashes have happened while doing very large (3/4Tb) file transfer and letting the computer alone…

when i work on the computer, no crashes…

all energy economy and sleep is off.

interesting enough, the pcie slot utility wont let me do what i want switching from pool A to pool B , if I switch my areca 1882 to pool B, it is not recognized… so my ssd7140 is on pool B and have to share bandwith with the gpu and the guenuine IO card, seting my pool B to 125% while my pool A is at 50%….

I tried any possible combination of slot all the same…

so either the PM961 dont play well with the highpoint 7140, either the macpro dont play well with plx on top of each other.

what would you guy recommend as ssd model/brand that have the ability to be filled up all the way without speed drop?

 

[kindkind]

The lesson learned here is that it seems the reports of the Startech Dual M.2 card (PEX8M2E2) needing blades installed in both NVMe slots in order to work on (some?) Mac Pro 5,1 models are true!

This is interesting, but i ended up getting a 970 pro and have both it and a 980 installed in the PEX8M2E2. I did get hard crashes with the Amorphous Diskmark test with both blades installed. I want to get a PLX chipset card...

 

[zzzippp]

Another report on my mid-2010 MacPro 5,1 + Startech PEX8M2E2 with 1TB ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro & 256GB Sabrent Rocket blades setup:

My Mojave boot install on the SX8200 Pro continues to work great with zero issues, and it's responsive enough to feel comfortable doing my print production work with large / complex layouts and art in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.

I migrated an old Windows 7 VM install to one of my HDDs, upgraded it to a BIOS-boot Windows 10 (for free - thanks Microsoft!), and plan to see if I can move that over to the Sabrent Rocket blade after I do an NVMe Secure Erase in GParted. If I can ever get rEFIndPlus to display on my GTX 760, that is.

I don't think the problem is with not having both M.2 slots populated or not. I think it's the actual PCIe switch chip that might be the problem. Read the first post about the ASMedia x8 ASM2824. Maybe there are some ASM2824/NVMe combinations that are reliable but I don't know about that. I think one hang is one too many so it should be replaced.

If you want reliable performance then you may need to switch to something using a PLX chipset which is much more expensive but they can have x16 upstream for even more performance. And there exist PCIe Gen 4 cards that you can use Gen 4 SSDs at near full speed.

For me personally any of the PLX chipset cards are prohibitively expensive, so (thanks to Amazon's return policy), I took a low-risk gamble on the Startech PEX8M2E2 which has turned out to be a fantastic investment at $135. I think your exactly right when you say that some ASMedia ASM2824 switch chipset-based cards & NVMe blade combinations are reliable. Reading through this thread and elsewhere, the group of three nearly visually identical cards that mine is a member of - the Startech PEX8M2E2, Ableconn PEXM2-130, and Lycom DT-130 - have been both reported to work really well and on the other hand, cause crashes / kernel panics or work at much slower speeds than expected. In a few outlying cases, users exchanged their card for a new one that worked, but otherwise whether the cards worked or not seems directly related to which blade(s) are installed. I think it may be helpful to aggregate all of the reports into a list showing which blade(s) worked and which didn't.

This is interesting, but i ended up getting a 970 pro and have both it and a 980 installed in the PEX8M2E2. I did get hard crashes with the Amorphous Diskmark test with both blades installed. I want to get a PLX chipset card...

Wasn't the 980 installed alone working for you, albeit more slowly than expected?

 

[zinge]

Noticed that the Samsung 980 isn't on the list yet, so wanted to add another +1 for it.

Just installed a RIITOP M.2 NVMe to PCIe Adapter and 1TB 980 and set it up as my boot drive on a cMP 5,1. Working great so far. Speed test with Amorphous attached; I know I could get much faster speeds from the 980 with a nice adapter, but going from my very old SATA SSD getting ~200MB/s to the NVMe drive with 1500+MB/s is plenty for a boot drive, and was only $136 after tax for adapter + drive. After this screenshot was taken I also set up Innie so it properly appears as an internal drive now. I followed the instructions for upgrading my BootRom to 144, and then went back to my High Sierra install.

 

[rondocap]

I have a perfectly running Sonnet PCIE 4x4 in a 2019 Mac Pro.

I decided to also try out the OWC 4m2 Accelsior in a different system, but it's problems right away - has a build date of July 2020.

System will hang on boot, and sometimes the NVME drives show up, sometimes it doesn't. Always sometimes gives a weird graphic artifact on screen making it look "split". No issues when OWC card is removed.

I know these had issues with the 2019 mac pro in the past, but I just got this one yesterday directly from OWC - what could be the issue? I even tried in different slots, 16x, 8x, etc.

Have 4 different drives in it - Inland 4tb, samsung 980 pro, 980 regular, and an adata x8200.

 

[Max Black]

After a super successful upgrade earlier this year from all the help in this forum(Tsialex) of my Mac Pro 5.1 to Mojave and using the PCIe Adapter NVME set up, I am tempted to get the Highpoint Adapter to get more speed. I currently have the RiiTop adapter, but wanted to see if the Ablecom or Startech adapters which have a slot for two Nvme and has almost the double speed for Riitop is a good option, my concern is that these units below do not have heatsink and very little is said about these two cards on this forum. I am not interested in running raid, or windows, just want to move up one step from where I am at. Looking forward to forum response. PS. All the PCIE slots are pretty full of cards, so heat is a concern for me, I do monitor with Fan Control.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PRN2QCV/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=A1C54F8LN6PEOV&psc=1



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081SJYCTL/ref=ox_sc_act_title_14?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[Boatboat]

(Macpro 7.1 macOS Catalina)
I have an issue with OWC Accelsior 1M2(samsung 980ssd 1TB none pro) the read speed about 26xx MB/s but write only 9xx MB/s.
Any idea for solve this?

 

[joevt]

(Macpro 7.1 macOS Catalina)
I have an issue with OWC Accelsior 1M2(samsung 980ssd 1TB none pro) the read speed about 26xx MB/s but write only 9xx MB/s.
Any idea for solve this?

I would say don't use Thunderbolt or don't use Samsung 980 SSD 1 TB non pro.
But you're not using Thunderbolt? so it should be better than that.

I just got a mushkin delta gen 4x4 4 TB which does 2800 MB/s sequential read/write in a Thunderbolt enclosure but it's QLC so I don't know how long it can sustain that.

 

[Boatboat]

I would say don't use Thunderbolt or don't use Samsung 980 SSD 1 TB non pro.
But you're not using Thunderbolt? so it should be better than that.

I just got a mushkin delta gen 4x4 4 TB which does 2800 MB/s sequential read/write in a Thunderbolt enclosure but it's QLC so I don't know how long it can sustain that.

Thank for recommend, but I'm not using thunderbolt it's Pcle card. yes it's should be better.

If I couldn't solve I would try to use external enclosure.

 

[rondocap]

Thank for recommend, but I'm not using thunderbolt it's Pcle card. yes it's should be better.

If I couldn't solve I would try to use external enclosure.

I have used that same OWC card - with a Samsung 980 Pro and non pro I got faster speeds, but with some NVME like WD 750n 2TB, I got similar slower results like you did.

Sometimes it may be the PCIE lane allocation, make sure they're not saturated. Aside from that, I could not explain why you get fast speed on some NVME, but slower on others. I just chalked it up to some type of PCIE lane or compatibility issue with certain NVME on the OWC adapter.

 

[kindkind]

I think it may be helpful to aggregate all of the reports into a list showing which blade(s) worked and which didn't.


Wasn't the 980 installed alone working for you, albeit more slowly than expected?

Hi! Love the idea of a list showing blades working with the PEX8M2E2. To answer your question, i had the 980 installed alone and had hard crashes when transferring files and when downloading or using the amorphous test. I think any confusion stems from my original attempt at using a known non-compatible nvme ssd, and then reporting that a 980 finally allowed my system to boot...

So, i can report that with the Startech PEX8M2E2 I have gotten hard crashes with either/both a 970 pro and a 980 installed. I do get full speeds with both cards.

 

[basslik]

Would the trim have anything to do with it ?

 

[basslik]

I have a Sapphire Pulse RX580 in slot 1 and a Syba / IO Crest SI-PEX40129 in slot 2. The RX580 does threaten to bump up against the IO Crest, but if I keep them spread apart while tightening down the mounting thumbscrew it’s ok. I’ve used a random plastic HDMI port cover as a spacer to keep them apart for some airflow in between.

I don’t currently have anything in slot 3 but it doesn’t look like the IO Crest would interfere with it.

atonaldenim​

I have the same Syba. How's that configuration working regarding heat build up on the RX580?

I'm thinking of sacrificing a PCI slot and reverse the video with the Syba.

Will only let me run the Syba at half the speed at 4x. But I still have enough speed to do what I need in Pro Tools audio work.

Also how do you like the Syba ?, are you running any raid if on open Core ?

 

[Boatboat]

I have used that same OWC card - with a Samsung 980 Pro and non pro I got faster speeds, but with some NVME like WD 750n 2TB, I got similar slower results like you did.

Sometimes it may be the PCIE lane allocation, make sure they're not saturated. Aside from that, I could not explain why you get fast speed on some NVME, but slower on others. I just chalked it up to some type of PCIE lane or compatibility issue with certain NVME on the OWC adapter.

I never try OWC with WD cuz never seen the review but seem like WD cheaper than Samsung. I will try to switching the PCle lane and I hope it will be better thank you so much.

 

[kindkind]

I took a low-risk gamble on the Startech PEX8M2E2 which has turned out to be a fantastic investment at $135.

I took another gamble on another Startech PEX8M2E2, this time purchasing on amazon instead of ebay. So far, after several days of use and testing, NO CRASHES!!

Maybe there is an older batch out there that was funky that some of us got ahold of?

 

[Jupeman]

I have a problem that has been going on for 6+ months and I have been through the ringer to the point that Apple has replaced my Mac Pro (7,1) entirely with a brand new machine. So I am literally starting from scratch with a completely new and virgin machine and still having kernel panics (watchdog).

I am all but certain that the issue is when I used either Disk Utility or SoftRAID to create a software raid using a Sonnet Sonnet M.2 4x4 PCIe Card (Silent) running 4 970 EVO Plus' (correct firmware). I have tried all combinations of formatting these drives as HFS+, APFS, all RAID0 (tried both HFS and APFS). The system runs fine and has not yet kernel panicked when the four SSDs are not in RAID and just appear as four drives.

My issue seems so similar to just about every watchdog error I read: when the system is idle (e.g., I've walked away for some period of time) is when it will die. I've tried never putting the monitors to sleep, preventing the hard drives from sleep, etc. None of that works, the machine still KPs with these SSDs in a software RAID setup.

Any suggestions what else to try? Brand new Mac Pro, only non base Big Sur 11.4 kext was softRAID (now removed as going SoftRAID didn't work, either).

I have saved all the kernel panics from the past 10 days. In all but one of them (which is disturbing because it isn't all of them), the "last loaded kext" is filesystem.smbfs: "last started kext at 118648627669: @filesystems.smbfs 3.6 (addr 0xffffff7fb2b3a000, size 487424)". I've tried to turn off file sharing, that doesn't help, either.

 

[macguru9999]

I have a problem that has been going on for 6+ months and I have been through the ringer to the point that Apple has replaced my Mac Pro (7,1) entirely with a brand new machine. So I am literally starting from scratch with a completely new and virgin machine and still having kernel panics (watchdog).

I am all but certain that the issue is when I used either Disk Utility or SoftRAID to create a software raid using a Sonnet Sonnet M.2 4x4 PCIe Card (Silent) running 4 970 EVO Plus' (correct firmware). I have tried all combinations of formatting these drives as HFS+, APFS, all RAID0 (tried both HFS and APFS). The system runs fine and has not yet kernel panicked when the four SSDs are not in RAID and just appear as four drives.

My issue seems so similar to just about every watchdog error I read: when the system is idle (e.g., I've walked away for some period of time) is when it will die. I've tried never putting the monitors to sleep, preventing the hard drives from sleep, etc. None of that works, the machine still KPs with these SSDs in a software RAID setup.

Any suggestions what else to try? Brand new Mac Pro, only non base Big Sur 11.4 kext was softRAID (now removed as going SoftRAID didn't work, either).

I have saved all the kernel panics from the past 10 days. In all but one of them (which is disturbing because it isn't all of them), the "last loaded kext" is filesystem.smbfs: "last started kext at 118648627669: @filesystems.smbfs 3.6 (addr 0xffffff7fb2b3a000, size 487424)". I've tried to turn off file sharing, that doesn't help, either.

I think i'll keep my 2 mac pro 5,1s a bit longer

 

[WayneStewart]

I have a 2013 Mac Pro with a 512mb HD that I need to run 10.10 on. I’d like to upgrade the HD but as far as I can see the only upgrade available for me is a HD pulled from another Mac.
Hopefully I' wrong about this.

 

[tsialex]

I have a 2013 Mac Pro with a 512mb HD that I need to run 10.10 on. I’d like to upgrade the HD but as far as I can see the only upgrade available for me is a HD pulled from another Mac.
Hopefully I' wrong about this.

Nope, you are right. For 10.10 you are limited to Apple OEM blades and for better compatibility look only for the models that are AHCI like SSUAX and SSUBX.

 

[WayneStewart]

Nope, you are right. For 10.10 you are limited to Apple OEM blades and for better compatibility look only for the models that are AHCI like SSUAX and SSUBX.

Thanks, I guess I'll start looking for a 1tb pull

 

[14dcutaneo]

Guess I'll report my findings on Crucial P5. Most definitely NOT compatible with a Mac Pro 4,1 flashed to 5,1. Tried it on two machines, and caused kernel panics on both of them. The disk would also randomly eject. Ended up returning it.

 

[Grumply]

Is anyone interested in a Highpoint 7104 4-slot M.2 NVME SSD RAID Controller? I've just replaced one of mine with the 8-slot version of the same card (the 7140), so am putting the second 7104 up for sale.

No fans, so it's totally silent, and works a treat with both the 5,1 and the 7,1.

I'm in Melbourne, Australia. But happy to ship wherever.

$425 AUD / $315 USD + shipping.

Also selling the four 1TB Samsung 970 Pro M.2 NVME SSDs that I used with it (if anyone's interested in those too).

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Wow, is the 7104 or the 7140 bootable?

M.2 Non-Bootable - Gen3 | HighPoint-tech.com

SSD7000 series controllers are fully independent NVMe RAID storage solutions. Unlike the vast majority of NVMe controllers available for mainstream PCIe 3.0 host platforms, SSD7000 series controllers are not restricted to a particular chipset or motherboard series, and require no bifurcation...

www.highpoint-tech.com

Do they need drivers?