MP 7,1 Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.1 PCIe problem

[Hydle]

Hi guys,

I bought this PCIe card to connect some usb hardware without having to use another hub or dock like I had in my previous iMac.

Two days ago it stopped recognising stuff whenever I start/restart the MP. I always need to reconnect everything before they appear as connected.

Does anyone know why this is happening?

Thanks

 

[tommy chen]

plug some power-hungry devices without self-power together will kill the card

i have 2 of this sonnet before i go to the highpoint card
and use self-powered USB3.1 hubs between for this devices
they don't need the full speed of the card

 

[Hydle]

I'm using it for a Powered usb 3.0 hub and a secondary audio interface at the moment. Is this too much? It's my first time using PCIe with a mac.
Right now I have to unplug them and plug them back in every time I start the MP.

You say power-hungry devices will kill the card but it is still working... just not on startup?

 

[tommy chen]

may be the hub has a problem?

 

[erroneous]

Does anyone know why this is happening?

Thanks

Unplug all the devices you have attached to this PCIe card.

Restart your Mac.

Then then...

1. Plug in one device.
2. Restart your Mac.
3. Check how the device behaves after your reboot and note it down.
4. Unplug this device.
5. Restart your Mac.
6. Plug in the next device.
7. Restart your Mac.
8. ...repeat until you run out of devices.

If all devices behave themselves individually, plug in one then repeat the above for all your remaining devices.

Repeat until you find all devices that work together and, hopefully, the one that causes everything to show the problematic post-restart behaviour you when you add it to the previous "good" devices.

If you don't find any weird behaviour, it could be positional - a particular set of devices in a particular combination of ports that share power, say.

It's boring, I know, but gives you data to work with.

 

[Hydle]

Hi erroneous! Thank you for the detailed explanation. I will try that and see what device is causing the problem.

 

[macstatic]

Did you find a solution?
I see it has built-in fuses -could this be the cause?

Resettable Fuses
The Allegro features a resettable fuse on each port to protect the card and computer should there be a cable or peripheral failure. Should a fuse trip on the Sonnet card, you can reset it simply by shutting down the computer.

... just in case you don't turn off the computer but leave it in sleep mode...

I'm considering buying this card myself (assuming you're referring to the 2 port USB-C Allegro USB3C-2PM-E). They all have very similar names which is confusing.

 

[pbsxr]

I bougt the USB3C-4PM-E (four port version of the card)

this one has no USB after reboot (warmboot)... for an unknown reason...

actually i habe 3 USB cards form Sonnet, no one is working as expected:

USB3-4-PM-E - BT / WiFi problems
USB31-PRO-PCIE - random disconnects
USB3C-4PM-E -no USB after restart

Alt. cabels tried frim Lindy, Belkin... Cards swopped already...

maybe the HighPoint 1344a is a better alternative?!

 

[macstatic]

I bougt the USB3C-4PM-E (four port version of the card)

this one has no USB after reboot (warmboot)... for an unknown reason...

I've got this card as well, but have had no problems as far as I can remember.
I mostly use it with a Kingston USB-3 memory card reader. It's directly connected to the card (no hub) and I'm using MacOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra).

 

[pbsxr]

maybe my problem is with opencore / big sur...

do you habe the ASMedia 1142 or the 3142 controller chip on your card... mine is 3142...

 

[macstatic]

Yes, mine has two 3142 chips as well.
I see from the "tech specs" on Sonnet's USB3C-4PM-E page says as a sidenote about the chips:

7. The initial version with serial number starting with “A” uses the ASMedia 1142 controller. The later versions with serial number starting with “B” and above (shipping since July 2020) use the ASMedia 3142 controller.

So it's apparently not a given that this card has 3142 chips, but I specifically asked the vendor about checking the type of chips in use before ordering it, so I know mine has those.

 

[pbsxr]

I am now on a Startech PEXUSB321C with ASMedia ASM3242 and absolutely do not have problems anymore...

...but it is a single chip card... maye this makes the difference