MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[tsialex]

We'll probably eventually see cards with PCIe 4.0 switches (unless there's an issue with the extra heat?). Before that happens, you can probably add PCIe 4.0 slots with a PCIe gen 4 backplane in a PCIe expansion box (I've only tried a gen 3 backplane). Otherwise only AMD motherboards have PCIe 4.0 slots.

PEX88048 have support with macOS?

Even if someone is certified crazy enough to go for this stupidly expensive way to add a PCIe 4.0 blade/GPU/anything to a MP5,1, the backplane ($2.3K) needs a Host to Target Kit ($4k), the PCIe 2.0 x16 throughput limits won't change and the ~6200MB/s usable throughput from a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot will still apply.

Obviously down the road, this will be cheaper enough for someone to try, if anyone still cares enough with a MP5,1 at that point in time.

 

[joevt]

PEX88048 have support with macOS?

Even if someone is certified crazy enough to go for this stupidly expensive way to add a PCIe 4.0 blade/GPU/anything to a MP5,1, the backplane ($2.3K) needs a Host to Target Kit ($4k), the PCIe 2.0 x16 throughput limits won't change and the ~6200MB/s usable throughput from a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot will still apply.

Obviously down the road, this will be cheaper enough for someone to try, if anyone still cares enough with a MP5,1 at that point in time.

It's just a PCIe bridge. We know the PCIe 3.0 bridges work in the cMP. They all work the same. No reason it shouldn't work.

The only advantage with a PCIe 4.0 slot in a PCIe 2.0 computer is that you only need one PCIe 4.0 NVMe to break the 4000 MB/s barrier. Two PCIe 4.0 NVMe will max the PCIe 2.0 x16 connection for both read and write probably.

The 88000 series have a built in ARM processor. That's interesting... The chips support all the PCIe speeds (gen 1, 2, 3, 4). It supports the basic switch mode so it will behave like a normal switch. It has a couple other modes, one for NVMe fanout, the third mode adds software configuration (maybe this will be used in a future Mac Pro).

The backplane idea is stupidly expensive like you say. We'll have to see how expensive an NVMe carrier is with the gen 4 switch.

 

[d-m-a-x]

any msata solutions? this one did not work, as to why is breaking my brain and making me crazy https://www.amazon.com/Syba-HyperDuo-Controller-Marvell-Chipset/dp/B00KKO6N98

 

[joevt]

any msata solutions? this one did not work, as to why is breaking my brain and making me crazy https://www.amazon.com/Syba-HyperDuo-Controller-Marvell-Chipset/dp/B00KKO6N98

The syba website doesn't mention macOS support. Did the sata controller appear in ioreg/IORegistryExplorer.app/System Information.app? Did the sata devices appear? You should be able to see the controller in the PCI list in System Information.app. Then you have to configure the jumpers depending on what is connected to where.

Searching for "88SE9230" "macOS" found this:

Marvell 88SE9230 RAID Support

My Dell motherboard only has 3Gbps SATA ports, so I decided to buy one of these PCIe RAID cards which claimed MacOS compatibility. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ENKQLOQ/?tag=tonymacx86-21 Using the BIOS support I configured a RAID 0 comprising two 480G Kingston SSDs. This works with High...

www.tonymacx86.com

Load a kext for 88se9230 card in 10.13.4

Hi, Marvell 88se9230 Card is detected as pci1b4b,9230 in System Info/ hardware / PCI. Installed AHCI_3rdParty_eSATA.kext with kext utility (/Library/Extensions) it contain info.plist with Marvell 88SE9230 CFBundleIdentifier com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort...

hackintosher.com

Hackintosh-HP-Z420-MacOS-High-Sierra-10.13-10.14/CLOVER/kexts/10.12/AHCI_3rdParty_eSATA.kext/Contents/Info.plist at master · NTT123/Hackintosh-HP-Z420-MacOS-High-Sierra-10.13-10.14

Tips to install Hackintosh MacOS Sierra 10.13 in HP Z420 Workstation. - NTT123/Hackintosh-HP-Z420-MacOS-High-Sierra-10.13-10.14

github.com

3rd Party eSATA not working

Hi guys, After installed AHCI_3rdParty_eSATA.kext in /Library/Extensions using new multibeast, the kext is installed, but is not working, it can't be load. I also have the efi mount error, but its ok i think the program do what is suppose to do. Any one tested this kext? i d love to use my hot...

www.tonymacx86.com

https://www.multibeast.com/MultiBeast_Features.pdf

Those are hackintosh related but the AHCI_3rdParty_SATA.kext (or eSATA) solution might work? The 3rd party kexts are a codeless kext (doesn't contain any code) which consists only of an info.plist file which contains an IOKitPersonality that will match the Marvell 88SE9230 using PCI vendor/device IDs of 1b4b 9230 and PCI class code https://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/1b4b/9230. The match causes the AppleAHCI class of the com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort driver to be used for the PCI device.

 

[d-m-a-x]

The syba website doesn't mention macOS support. Did the sata controller appear in ioreg/IORegistryExplorer.app/System Information.app? Did the sata devices appear? You should be able to see the controller in the PCI list in System Information.app. Then you have to configure the jumpers depending on what is connected to where.

Searching for "88SE9230" "macOS" found this:

Marvell 88SE9230 RAID Support

My Dell motherboard only has 3Gbps SATA ports, so I decided to buy one of these PCIe RAID cards which claimed MacOS compatibility. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ENKQLOQ/?tag=tonymacx86-21 Using the BIOS support I configured a RAID 0 comprising two 480G Kingston SSDs. This works with High...

www.tonymacx86.com

Load a kext for 88se9230 card in 10.13.4

Hi, Marvell 88se9230 Card is detected as pci1b4b,9230 in System Info/ hardware / PCI. Installed AHCI_3rdParty_eSATA.kext with kext utility (/Library/Extensions) it contain info.plist with Marvell 88SE9230 CFBundleIdentifier com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort...

hackintosher.com

Hackintosh-HP-Z420-MacOS-High-Sierra-10.13-10.14/CLOVER/kexts/10.12/AHCI_3rdParty_eSATA.kext/Contents/Info.plist at master · NTT123/Hackintosh-HP-Z420-MacOS-High-Sierra-10.13-10.14

Tips to install Hackintosh MacOS Sierra 10.13 in HP Z420 Workstation. - NTT123/Hackintosh-HP-Z420-MacOS-High-Sierra-10.13-10.14

github.com

3rd Party eSATA not working

Hi guys, After installed AHCI_3rdParty_eSATA.kext in /Library/Extensions using new multibeast, the kext is installed, but is not working, it can't be load. I also have the efi mount error, but its ok i think the program do what is suppose to do. Any one tested this kext? i d love to use my hot...

www.tonymacx86.com

https://www.multibeast.com/MultiBeast_Features.pdf

Those are hackintosh related but the AHCI_3rdParty_SATA.kext (or eSATA) solution might work? The 3rd party kexts are a codeless kext (doesn't contain any code) which consists only of an info.plist file which contains an IOKitPersonality that will match the Marvell 88SE9230 using PCI vendor/device IDs of 1b4b 9230 and PCI class code https://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/1b4b/9230. The match causes the AppleAHCI class of the com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort driver to be used for the PCI device.

I did try loading kexts in terminal but catalina permissions bounced them back. The card did show up in system profiler and said it had a driver. The jumpers were confusing as hell, the only thing the manual said was to attach the led light cable, i could only assume they were good to go. I think pulling them would just disable some ports but if nothing is plugged in would not matter - unless they have something to do with the raid / jbod configuration. I checked to see which kexts were disables and the achi kext was among them. The drives are no where to be seen

 

[d-m-a-x]

IT WAS THE JUMPERS NOW I CAN SLEEP

 

[kohlson]

it is MicroCenters in-house brand.

There was a discussion about this around post 950. You may want to poke the relevant people and see if they're still happy after 6 months.

 

[TimmyCrook]

I personally have had good luck with the $98 Inland Premium 1TB SSD (MicroCenter house brand). It's essentially an unbranded OEM blade - no stickers over the chips, blue PCB. I ordered in mid-June 2019 and it came with the newer v12.2 Phison firmware. So far it's working great as a boot drive on a Mac Pro 4,1 > 5,1 with 144.0.0.0.0 firmware, running High Sierra 10.13.6.

Bought Highpoint 7101A - PCIe 3.0 SSD and 4 1TB Inland SSD from MicroCenter for $119 a piece. The people in Microcenter were kind of confused why it said The Inland SSD only supported Windows on the site. I did no driver installs & no updates it works incredibly well.

Spoke to soon. Fan on the 7101 is super loud Jet Engine, and I noticed the logic board is a bit bowed/curved not straight. Going to return, see if replacement is any better. High Point says they have a new driver and software for the Mac pro 2019 coming out on Monday, so hopefully in the new unit, and these updates will remedy my issues, will update

 

[rylim]

Has anyone here tried a Corsair MP660 SSD? Besides that, is it possible to use 2x Highpoint 7101A PCIE Card with 2 SSDs on each card and then RAID 0 them?

 

[joevt]

is it possible to use 2x Highpoint 7101A PCIE Card with 2 SSDs on each card and then RAID 0 them?

You could do that, but why? If you are using a cMP, put one in slot 1 and the other in slot 2 and try to break the 8 GB/s barrier? Disk Utility Raid Assistant can set that up.

Can the Highpoint raid utility create a hardware raid across two cards?

 

[rylim]

You could do that, but why? If you are using a cMP, put one in slot 1 and the other in slot 2 and try to break the 8 GB/s barrier? Disk Utility Raid Assistant can set that up.

Can the Highpoint raid utility create a hardware raid across two cards?

I will be installing it on my MP 7,1, and I'm not sure if it makes sense to install two raid card? I think I saw one of forum members has done it and posted somewhere here.

 

[joevt]

I will be installing it on my MP 7,1, and I'm not sure if it makes sense to install two raid card? I think I saw one of forum members has done it and posted somewhere here.

MP7,1 doesn't benefit from splitting the four NVMe drives between two slots, unless both slots are 8x and you're doing a RAID.

 

[jasonmvp]

Can the Highpoint raid utility create a hardware raid across two cards?

Yes, it can.

I will be installing it on my MP 7,1, and I'm not sure if it makes sense to install two raid card? I think I saw one of forum members has done it and posted somewhere here.

I have two HighPoints, but both are packed full with 4 x 2TB NVMe drives. They're combined together using HighPoint's config utility into a single RAID01 volume (8TB). My only testing was done with a single card (RAID0) and then adding the second, mirrored into the first. I didn't stripe across the cards such as you're thinking about. So I don't know from first hand experience if that'll improve the speed.

A single card in RAID0 got 10GB/sec reads and damned near it in writes. Once I mirrored the two cards together, the reads stayed the same, but I lost about 1GB/sec in writes; and that's expected. Writes to a mirror are going to usually be a bit slower than to a stripe.

 

[TimmyCrook]

Yes, it can.



I have two HighPoints, but both are packed full with 4 x 2TB NVMe drives. They're combined together using HighPoint's config utility into a single RAID01 volume (8TB). My only testing was done with a single card (RAID0) and then adding the second, mirrored into the first. I didn't stripe across the cards such as you're thinking about. So I don't know from first hand experience if that'll improve the speed.

A single card in RAID0 got 10GB/sec reads and damned near it in writes. Once I mirrored the two cards together, the reads stayed the same, but I lost about 1GB/sec in writes; and that's expected. Writes to a mirror are going to usually be a bit slower than to a stripe.

Config utility did not work for me on the 7101. Did you go through the Recovery Mode to get it to work?

 

[jasonmvp]

Config utility did not work for me on the 7101. Did you go through the Recovery Mode to get it to work?

You have to boot into Recovery Mode, disable Secure Boot (leave it disabled permanently), and then install the HighPoint kernel drivers. Once they're installed, you should be able to run the utility.

 

[TimmyCrook]

You have to boot into Recovery Mode, disable Secure Boot (leave it disabled permanently), and then install the HighPoint kernel drivers. Once they're installed, you should be able to run the utility.

Does that smooth out the overall performance of the card? My fans are running super loud on this unit.
What is the downside to disabling Secure Boot permanently? When I spoke to High Point on the phone, they said they had a new driver specific to the Mac Pro coming on Monday. Thanks.

 

[jasonmvp]

Does that smooth out the overall performance of the card? My fans are running super loud on this unit.
What is the downside to disabling Secure Boot permanently? When I spoke to High Point on the phone, they said they had a new driver specific to the Mac Pro coming on Monday. Thanks.

It does nothing for the fans unless you have a brand new unit with a PWM fan and the appropriate firmware on it. Then you can control the fan speed from the utility. Otherwise, the fan runs 100% speed 100% of the time.

The down side of disabling Secure Boot is that you potentially leave your Mac Pro open to being rooted or other badness. And if you're in the habit of surfing to places you don't recognize and downloading software from questionable source, you'll get what you deserve. Otherwise it won't be a problem. Basically: Secure Boot is for imbeciles that don't know how to keep their systems secure manually.

 

[TimmyCrook]

It does nothing for the fans unless you have a brand new unit with a PWM fan and the appropriate firmware on it. Then you can control the fan speed from the utility. Otherwise, the fan runs 100% speed 100% of the time.

The down side of disabling Secure Boot is that you potentially leave your Mac Pro open to being rooted or other badness. And if you're in the habit of surfing to places you don't recognize and downloading software from questionable source, you'll get what you deserve. Otherwise it won't be a problem. Basically: Secure Boot is for imbeciles that don't know how to keep their systems secure manually.

Thanks. Any thoughts on adding Heat Sinks inside the unit? I'm going to go this route. They sent me directions. Thought I'd share them here.

 

[jasonmvp]

Thanks. Any thoughts on adding Heat Sinks inside the unit? I'm going to go this route. They sent me directions. Thought I'd share them here.

There are lots and lots of posts on this topic. Search. Several of us have gone through the gymnastics of cooling this unit both passively and with quieter fans.

 

[TimmyCrook]

There are lots and lots of posts on this topic. Search. Several of us have gone through the gymnastics of cooling this unit both passively and with quieter fans.

I went through and searched the entire thread, but have not seen any actual posts that show the fixes, or parts used to do so. Is this possibly in another thread on here?

 

[majus]

I went through and searched the entire thread, but have not seen any actual posts that show the fixes, or parts used to do so. Is this possibly in another thread on here?

Yes. A number of posts are in this thread:

Highpoint 7101A - PCIe 3.0 SSD performance for the cMP

Introduction Stumbling into an Amazon warehouse Deal, I picked up the HighPoint 7101a NVMe PCIe adapter, equipped with a MacPro friendly Broadcom 8747 PCIe bridge at a great price. While Highpoint's acknowledgement of MacPro compatibility was sketchy at best, I ordered one to go along with a...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[rylim]

Yes, it can.



I have two HighPoints, but both are packed full with 4 x 2TB NVMe drives. They're combined together using HighPoint's config utility into a single RAID01 volume (8TB). My only testing was done with a single card (RAID0) and then adding the second, mirrored into the first. I didn't stripe across the cards such as you're thinking about. So I don't know from first hand experience if that'll improve the speed.

A single card in RAID0 got 10GB/sec reads and damned near it in writes. Once I mirrored the two cards together, the reads stayed the same, but I lost about 1GB/sec in writes; and that's expected. Writes to a mirror are going to usually be a bit slower than to a stripe.

Wow. It seems like no one has tried to stripe both of the cards, and I think it doesn't make any senses to stripe both cards in order get 20GB/s +

 

[joevt]

Wow. It seems like no one has tried to stripe both of the cards, and I think it doesn't make any senses to stripe both cards in order get 20GB/s +

Stripe four cards in the MacPro7,1 for 40 GB/s + ?
That would require slot 1, slot 3, slot 4 (pool A), and slot 5 (pool B) and a non-MPX GPU in slot 2.

 

[Mikis]

Looks like I/O crest have released a 4 bay Nvme Highpoint 7101 copy.

http://www.iocrest.com/en/product_details637_a.html

https://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1052

Would be interested to see the benchmarks of this.

At present this is not available in the uk where I’m at. There is a listing on eBay that says Mac 5.1 compatibility.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/254423159216

 

[tsialex]

Looks like I/O crest have released a 4 bay Nvme Highpoint 7101 copy.

http://www.iocrest.com/en/product_details637_a.html

https://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1052

Would be interested to see the benchmarks of this.

At present this is not available in the uk where I’m at. There is a listing on eBay that says Mac 5.1 compatibility.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/254423159216

Already discussed around here, it's has a PCIe switch, Switchtec PFX-L 32xG3, that need serious kernel patches with Linux.

Please don't take eBay listings allegations as proof of compatibility.

No one should buy it for Mac use without a very good return police.