I had a USB 3.0 card that was like this. It really did work without supplemental power hooked up, even with bus-powered drives. I don't know why there was a power socket on there.
It makes me wonder what "abnormal" operation is.
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USB 3.1 PCIe for cMP info repository
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I had a USB 3.0 card that was like this. It really did work without supplemental power hooked up, even with bus-powered drives. I don't know why there was a power socket on there.
It makes me wonder what "abnormal" operation is.
Caldigit has just released a portable USB 3.1 enclosure using Gen 2 USB C interface running at 10gbps. bus powered too:
CalDigit Tuff drive
CalDigit Tuff drive
Now that beta versions of both 10.10.4 (Yosemite) and 10.11 (El Capitain) are available to the select, does anyone have anything new to report regarding USB 3.1 cards in a Classic Mac Pro? I would still particularly like to hear any reports about trying the Asrock USB 3.1 Type A+C card.
I can confirm this claim. I just bought the same card and added it to my Mac Pro 4.1 (flashed to 5.1). Placed it in the 4th PCIE slot and it shows as 5GT link. Works in both Windows & and OSX Mavericks WITHOUT any additional driver installation.
Hello I am confirming the Asus USB 3.1 card works in Mac Pro 4/5.1 with following caveats.
This card appears as a USB 3.0 device in Yosemite and also Windows 8.1 Bootcamp. Installing the Asmedia driver in Windows makes it appear as an Asmedia XHCI 1.1 Controller. I have a spare XP941 blade and will test it as an external drive when my NGFF to USB 3.1 adapter arrives.
When I first booted Yosemite the only device I plugged into the card was my Apple keyboard. When I unplugged it the keyboard my computer shut down and automatically rebooted. I'm not going to repeat that in case it damages something.
I received the card for free because eBay gave me a voucher for fifty bucks which I spent on the card and the splicing clips for the Pixlas Mod. Thanks to all.
This card appears as a USB 3.0 device in Yosemite and also Windows 8.1 Bootcamp. Installing the Asmedia driver in Windows makes it appear as an Asmedia XHCI 1.1 Controller. I have a spare XP941 blade and will test it as an external drive when my NGFF to USB 3.1 adapter arrives.
When I first booted Yosemite the only device I plugged into the card was my Apple keyboard. When I unplugged it the keyboard my computer shut down and automatically rebooted. I'm not going to repeat that in case it damages something.
I received the card for free because eBay gave me a voucher for fifty bucks which I spent on the card and the splicing clips for the Pixlas Mod. Thanks to all.
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Looking back I think because my case was still open and the cards were not screwed down.
Guys I can't find any evidence OS X supports the XHCI 1.1 standard for USB 3.1 speed so for now you have USB 3.0 speeds. Even Windows 8.1 needed the Asmedia driver.
Also I am looking for an NGFF to USB 3.1 enclosure but at the moment I only find ones that supports B key format. My XP941 is M key.
Caldigit has just released a portable USB 3.1 enclosure using Gen 2 USB C interface running at 10gbps. bus powered too:
CalDigit Tuff drive
That's cool - but isn't it limited to SATA 3.0? That's about 500MB/sec. if you put in an SSD. I don't see a point in this and you can probably save money and get a USB 3.0 enclosure instead.
This is the funny conundrum Mac Pro users will face.
If you want to copy a file across to USB 3.1 device at full speed you will need an external device that matches 800mb/s write speed such as the XP941 in an enclosure.
Then you will need an internal drive that can copy across at that rate. Things get funny now. Bottlenecks.
But then if the internal storage and USB card share the same bandwidth on slot 3 and 4 the comedy is more obvious.
So you have to make sure they don't share the same bus for optimal transfer speeds.
I think it's rare though that you'll need 1200MB/sec, don't you think? Unless you're copying huge files all the time.
That's right. It's so funny all these bottlenecks and then even funnier all this speed that most will never use for a few years at least.
Hi guys,
I've finally bought the ASUS USB 3.1 USB card (the one with the A type connector).
Don't have (yet) any 3.1 device, only a 3.0 hub and a 128GB flash disk.
No need for a driver under Yosemite 10.10.4.
I've put it in slot 4 in my MacPro 1.1.
The only thing is, the "Expansion Slot Utility" shows the card running at x1 speed.
But slot 4 is configured for x8 an the card support x4.
So, it should run at x4.
Does one knows how-to configure or what should I do?
I've finally bought the ASUS USB 3.1 USB card (the one with the A type connector).
Don't have (yet) any 3.1 device, only a 3.0 hub and a 128GB flash disk.
No need for a driver under Yosemite 10.10.4.
I've put it in slot 4 in my MacPro 1.1.
The only thing is, the "Expansion Slot Utility" shows the card running at x1 speed.
But slot 4 is configured for x8 an the card support x4.
So, it should run at x4.
Does one knows how-to configure or what should I do?
There is no XHCI 1.1 support in OSX yet so no need to try to bench it.
The card is physically x4 lane. It operates at x2 lanes electrically. If it can't negotiate the correct link it will operate at X1 lane. This is an issue with different devices that dont understand Mac EFI.
If it doesn't negotiate in any other of your slots that means you will need to wait to see if a Mac solutions provider offers. For your Mac that has PCIE 1.1 you need a electrically x4 lane card otherwise you will never see USB 3.1 speed
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Thx for the reply.
I thought, XHCI is already with USB3.0.
Anyway, I will try at least another slot for x4.
At the moment, I don't need 3.1, 3.0 is ok as far as I don't the devices, and no need for drivers.
The Apple version of XHCI is still 1.0. Even Windows 8.1 doesn't have built in 1.1 drivers.
Is there any way to check this? I was looking through the drivers and I couldn't find any definitive answer which version of XHCI it is.
If OS X and Windows report a USB 3.0 device then it's XHCI 1.0. Installing the Asmedia driver upgrades it to 1.1 on Windows. But no OSX driver yet. I installed El Capitan today and will report when the situation changes.
The only way to test the speed would be to copy from a very fast internal SSD like SSUAX/BX to an external drive that can write 800mb/s
There is also no need to buy a type C interface card as there are type A male (and female) to type C male cables available.
Thanks for explanation. I was hoping for some terminal command or so. I recently got rid of the only one card I had, but monday I'll get some more. I got one 3.1 to SATA adapter and more on the way from China. The problem with these cards (for more demanding users) is that x2 card is able to give 800MB/s max. So only one port at time will get the full speed.
It's a cleaner, lighter but maybe more expensive solution to get an NGFF USB3.1 enclosure for an XP941. I can only find ones in China that support B key format blades.
So no love for Samsung blades via USB 3.1 for now. Plextor M6M remains.
Or you could get one of these babies, install 2 mSATA and run in RAID0 configuration for close to 750MBps speed.
USB 3.1 Type-C to 2 mSATA SSD enclosure
USB 3.1 Type-C to 2 mSATA SSD enclosure
Or you could get one of these babies, install 2 mSATA and run in RAID0 configuration for close to 750MBps speed.
USB 3.1 Type-C to 2 mSATA SSD enclosure
Nah I want a tiny NGFF enclosure I can just slip in my pocket or put on a keychain. It should be possible even to make one without cables that just has the interface. Like that fast Visiontek drive.