USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

[Tesselator]

If only there were somewhere a list of usb3 devices and hubs that are "known to work" with Mac.

It would be a complex list me thinks... A lot of devices which work in one version of OS X do not in other versions: 10.6.8 to 10.7.0 to 10.7.5 to 10.8.0 to 10.8.3. Which also makes me think Apple OS developers are kinda on the lame side. (actually I don't need to think it as it's pretty obvious given what they have and haven't done since 10.5.0 !!!)

 

[GP-SE]

I just ordered this:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B009EV5X9Y/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Should work OOTB in Mountion Lion, was pricey, but the other card posted for $20 wouldn't ship to Canada.

 

[Maxpecas]

Insanelymac have a generic driver working With all usb 3.0 cards !!

It Works on X.7.5 to X.8.3 with nec etron fresco etc chips !!

I will check it this week. I've got lot of cards ...

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/286860-genericusbxhci-usb-30-driver-for-os-x-with-source/

I tried the inateck card ( orico product for Europe ). It's very fast. I'd got 195 Mbits write and 205mbits read With an SSD in a generic usb3 adapter !
Very good

 

[Tesselator]

I tried the inateck card ( orico product for Europe ). It's very fast. I'd got 195 Mbits write and 205mbits read With an SSD in a generic usb3 adapter !
Very good

You must mean megabytes... if that's really mbits that's hella-slow! Actually that even damn slow for megabytes...

You should be able to get around 400 to 500 MB/s (megabytes per second) easy.

 

[Maxpecas]

Yes of course you're right ...

The news was the generic xhci driver i think . I saw that on french site Macbidouille

 

[ender78]

Got the FL1009 today but almost fried my motherboard. The molex adapter that comes with the card will not fit into the standard drive sled connector so I clipped the two ends. I guess that this was a very bad idea !!! Is there a better molex cable out there that I dont need to modify that will fit snugly in the drive bay.I saw a little puff of smoke and I can actually see melted plastic on the connector. Would I have expected to see anything different connecting to the molex connector on my optical drive bay?

Can people comment on how they got the connector to fit. All else on the computer looks like its OK, thank god. I am about to give up with trying to expand my mac pro. I've had zero luck with SATA or USB3 add in cards

Now that I compare the pins on a sata drive and the FL1009 bundled connector I see that the pins dont seem to line up. My SATA drive that I am using for comparison has more "longer" pins than my connector.

FYI, I can see the card in System Prefs but I assume that the drive wont power anything until I plug in the molex power? Would I see anything different if using a powerd hub?

 

[GP-SE]

I just got this today: Fresco Logic FL1009-200
It came with the SATA to Molex adapter, I installed it by clipping 1 end off, no problems here, it works without installing\hacking any .kext's, and is transferring at USB 3.0 Speeds!!!

The end of the adapter that I cut off would be the left side in this pic of the connector.

the left side is the one with the plastic tab pointing 90* up.
the right side is all flat, that side you can\should leave the connector, that will ensure it lines up properly when installed. I think that's why you fried yours, because with both sides cut off the connector can't center itself, it needs at least one side.

 

[ActionableMango]

The molex adapter that comes with the card will not fit into the standard drive sled connector so I clipped the two ends.

Connectors are keyed for a good reason. By clipping them off you've disabled the built-in safety barrier.

Can people comment on how they got the connector to fit.

I didn't want to lose any drive capacity, so I used the optical bay power.

The instructions are here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/16621185/

There are two cables involved: [1] The Lindy cable that acts as a Y-cable (so you can still have two drives in the optical bay) AND converts the SATA power to Molex power. [2] The molex extension cable that runs the power from the Lindy cable in the optical bay all the way to the card.

A few other people have used this method and reported success.

If you are having cabling anxiety, you might be better off buying a card that doesn't require external power.

If only there were somewhere a list of usb3 devices and hubs that are "known to work" with Mac.

I cannot find it now, but somewhere in the iMac forum there is a thread listing USB 3.0 hubs that work or do not work with the iMac's built-in USB 3.0 ports.

USB 3.0 appears to be a poorly defined standard.

 

[Sqrl007]

USB 3.0 Hubs

It would be a complex list me thinks... A lot of devices which work in one version of OS X do not in other versions: 10.6.8 to 10.7.0 to 10.7.5 to 10.8.0 to 10.8.3. Which also makes me think Apple OS developers are kinda on the lame side. (actually I don't need to think it as it's pretty obvious given what they have and haven't done since 10.5.0 !!!)

Since the subject of the moment is the Fresco/Orico adapters that are working with current Mountain Lion 10.8.2 and 10.8.3, how about a list of hubs that work with these particular adapters under these current OS versions?

I have struggled for MONTHS with this with the CalDigit adapters. I have both models. Each works reasonably well although not perfectly with the current CalDigit drivers (which are modifications of the Mac OSX USB2 driver, replacing that driver). Externally powered HDDS (3.5" Seagate and WD) need to be kept awake. NEITHER adapter will work with ANY hub I have found and CalDigit apparently admits this. Somehow this does not sound like it could possibly be truly in accordance with the USB3 spec, but I leave that question to others. I just want to find a hub that will work with either the CaDigit adapters or the Orico/Fresco adapters. Does anyone have an Orico hub?

 

[vcuares]

This thread has helped me a lot. I've been following USB 3.0 on the MP ever since they released USB 3.0 for macs (macbook). It is only now that I've pulled the trigger. Firstly, it's now affordable and secondly it makes use of the built OS driver (no more third part drivers). The Fresco Logic FL1009-200 works on my Mac 3,1

As for the cable I did this cheap setup.
1) OEM power for the 3,1 optical bays are Molex. Optical drive is PATA. I have an SATA SSD in the 2nd bay so I used this splitter.
2) I used the cable included with the card and connected it with #1
3) I bought this Molex extension cable and connected it to #2 and the card. Monoprice ships very slowly I've noticed.

 

[Tesselator]

affordable and secondly it makes use of the built OS driver (no more third part drivers). The Fresco Logic FL1009-200 works on my Mac 3,1

Although I think the card is only a single controller with essentially just a built in hub, I wonder if the FL1100 works in the same way - with the existing Apple drivers?

http://www.frescologic.com/products_show.php?ms=2&ps=6



.

 

[ActionableMango]

Although I think the card is only a single controller with essentially just a built in hub, I wonder if the FL1100 works in the same way - with the existing Apple drivers?

Yes it does. I have one of those.

Since the subject of the moment is the Fresco/Orico adapters that are working with current Mountain Lion 10.8.2 and 10.8.3, how about a list of hubs that work with these particular adapters under these current OS versions?

Okay I'll start the list. My Orico works with the USB 3.0 hub built into my Dell U2713HM monitor. Verified with transfers to and from a Seagate USB 3.0 3TB Backup Plus drive.

The USB 3.0 Hub's chip in the Dell monitor seems to be Texas Instruments, if that helps any. Perhaps someone can find a TI-based USB 3.0 hub.

 

[Tesselator]

Yes it does. I have one of those.

Good to know! Thank you!

It's a shame those ports are shared (like a hub) and not dedicated tho.

Still, I guess for those who just need dongle, slow-drive, thumb-drive, scanner, and etc. type support this is a great option and saves the cost of having to add an external hub.

 

[Sqrl007]

I emailed Orico and asked what hubs are compatible with the Orico PFU3-4P card and OS X 10.8.2 and 10.8.3. They replied:

1. 4 Port USB3.0 HUB with Power Adapter:

http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-BC-U3H5...d=1369444732&sr=8-7&keywords=ORICO+USB3.0+HUB

2. 7 Port USB3.0 HUB with Power Adapter. It is Plugable brand and Powered By ORICO:

http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Powe...45516&sr=8-1&keywords=ORICO+USB3.0+HUB+7+port

3. 7 Port USB3.0 HUB with Power Adapter:

http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-BC-U3H1...d=1369444732&sr=8-6&keywords=ORICO+USB3.0+HUB

"However please kindly know that unexpected compatibility problem may happen and we can't guarantee if incompatible."

Anyone have any experience with any of these?

 

[jasonvp]

how about a list of hubs that work with these particular adapters under these current OS versions?

This post in this very thread has one such hub listed.

jas

 

[crjackson2134]

Have a look at this one http://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Premi...1369154019&sr=8-1&keywords=satechi+7+port+hub

 

[Tesselator]

Have a look at this one http://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Premi...1369154019&sr=8-1&keywords=satechi+7+port+hub

That looks pretty cool! States it's specifically for Mac too. So if there is ever a problem I guess we could just send it back?!

 

[ActionableMango]

Have a look at this one http://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Premi...1369154019&sr=8-1&keywords=satechi+7+port+hub

People are asking for hubs verified to work with Fresco Logic chipset cards. Are you verifying this hub works with the cards in question, or just pointing out a nice looking hub that lists compatibility with certain Macs?

Totally fine either way, it's just good to be clear.

 

[pastrychef]

Why wouldn't any powered hub work?

 

[ActionableMango]

Why wouldn't any powered hub work?

I don't know, but many do not. I can only speculate that the USB 3.0 standards are poorly defined, thus enabling a wide degree of incompatibility.

Many, many complaints:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1433387/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1493121/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1519705/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1478788/

For those not bothering to look at the threads, it appears to be a widespread problem across many models and makes.

 

[crjackson2134]

People are asking for hubs verified to work with Fresco Logic chipset cards. Are you verifying this hub works with the cards in question, or just pointing out a nice looking hub that lists compatibility with certain Macs?

Totally fine either way, it's just good to be clear.

The latter, it popped on a news feed and since it's dealing with the same subject matter I thought someone might want to have a look at it. I can't verify anything.

 

[Earl Urly]

I emailed Orico and asked what hubs are compatible with the Orico PFU3-4P card and OS X 10.8.2 and 10.8.3. They replied:

1. 4 Port USB3.0 HUB with Power Adapter:

http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-BC-U3H5...d=1369444732&sr=8-7&keywords=ORICO+USB3.0+HUB

NewEgg has it for $14 less.. only $31.99 at the moment. Have it on order along with the Orico PFU3-2 card and cables, will see how it goes.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1DS0PS1239

2. 7 Port USB3.0 HUB with Power Adapter. It is Plugable brand and Powered By ORICO:

http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Powe...45516&sr=8-1&keywords=ORICO+USB3.0+HUB+7+port

Ugh. It has a VIA chipset and they're recommending it? I'd sooner trust their own brand rather than someone else's.

 

[crjackson2134]

I was wondering if the latest update effected anyone with regards to USB3.

 

[popcorn-in-sac]

I was wondering if the latest update effected anyone with regards to USB3.

I initially thought it did. I loaded an SD card into my Lexar USB 3.0 reader and the read speed was very low...basically unusable. I had tested it when I installed the Orico card and it was quite fast, reaching near 90MB/sec with the Sandisk Extreme Pro card.

I had used the Mac App Store method of upgrading to 10.8.4, and had heard about some issues for some folks, so I downloaded the combo update and installed that. After the reboot I tried the download from SD card again, and it seemed fast like before.

So I don't think 10.8.4 is causing me any issues with my USB 3.0 card, but it did have me thinking it might for a bit there.

Mark

 

[crjackson2134]

I initially thought it did. I loaded an SD card into my Lexar USB 3.0 reader and the read speed was very low...basically unusable. I had tested it when I installed the Orico card and it was quite fast, reaching near 90MB/sec with the Sandisk Extreme Pro card.

I had used the Mac App Store method of upgrading to 10.8.4, and had heard about some issues for some folks, so I downloaded the combo update and installed that. After the reboot I tried the download from SD card again, and it seemed fast like before.

So I don't think 10.8.4 is causing me any issues with my USB 3.0 card, but it did have me thinking it might for a bit there.

Mark

Did you do a second reboot after the upgrade, but before reinstalling it from the combo download? I read elsewhere that some users needed a second reboot after the upgrade to get some glitches like this sorted out. Don't know how accurate that information is, but I'd like to here from some other users, especially the ones who use the High Point 4 Port card. Thanks for the reply.