USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

[fErM]

As far as I know, with PCIe USB 3 cards, they're not supported in Sleep Mode. It could be an OS limitation, not sure. The sleep mode problem is mentioned at the start of this thread.

Ok thanks
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It could be any number of things. Search for "wake reason" in the system log. Every time the system wakes, it makes a note of why it woke in the log. There are probably many entries, but the relevant one will have timestamp matching the event time you are concerned about.

Will try that, if I can fix it I will post it here asap!
Thanks 4 ur help

 

[VaZ]

Ok thanks
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Will try that, if I can fix it I will post it here asap!
Thanks 4 ur help

Okay so will the ASM2142/ASM3142 chips be able to pull off 10GB/s where the ASM1142 will cap out at 8GB/s per port on the Mac Pro 5,1 ?

I'm using this card https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=657&area=en and it works wonderfully in Slot 3 with Link Width: x2 Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s

 

[joevt]

Okay so will the ASM2142/ASM3142 chips be able to pull off 10GB/s where the ASM1142 will cap out at 8GB/s per port on the Mac Pro 5,1 ?

I'm using this card https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=657&area=en and it works wonderfully in Slot 3 with Link Width: x2 Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s

I said 10 Gb/s (which will allow around 980 MB/s) and 8 Gb/s (which allows something like 760 MB/s). I don't think you'll be able to tell the difference.

lowercase b = bit.
uppercase B = Byte = 8 bits.
M = 1000000
G = 1000000000

The ASM2142/ASM3142 will be limited to 8 Gb/s like the ASM1142 unless you have a PCIe 3.0 slot or you have a PCIe card with a PCIe 3.0 switch.

The ECU05 uses the ASM1142 so it is limited to 8 Gb/s.

 

[jimboguest]

A bit off current topic but after an NVRAM reset the Asus USB 3.1 dual Type-A PCIe card works a treat. A cheap solution on fleabay.

 

[joevt]

A bit off current topic but after an NVRAM reset the Asus USB 3.1 dual Type-A PCIe card works a treat. A cheap solution on fleabay.

What does NVRAM have to do with the USB card?

It uses the ASM1142 according to the review at https://www.legitreviews.com/asus-usb-31-type-a-card-review_160622
This means it's limited to 8 Gb/s. In Windows, with the ASUS drivers (ASUS USB 3.1 Boost utility), there's a Turbo mode to get up to 800 MB/s but that's still less than what you can get with ASM2142/3142 or Thunderbolt add-in card (980 MB/s).

The manual has a strange comment:

• For optimal performance, please ensure to operate PCIe card at Gen2 x2 mode, Gen3 x1 mode or higher.

While the ASM1142 can work at either PCIe 2.0 x2 (8 Gb/s) or PCIe 3.0 x1 (7.877 Gb/s), I believe there's no way to allow both modes from the same PCIe card - the manufacture must choose one of those options. If anyone has contradictory evidence (a card that runs at PCIe 2.0 x2 in one computer and PCIe 3.0 x1 in another computer), then I would like to know.

 

[bsbeamer]

I just bought and installed the Allegro USB-C 4 port and am happy to say it works perfectly! For some reason the two port version didn't work with an Anker USB-C to USB 3.0 hub, so I was on Amazon returning that one, when this one caught my eye.

Sonnet Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe Card (USB3C-4PM-E)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L8KCQPT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't seen the 4 port listed on the forum anywhere and weirdly, it' isn't listed on Sonnet's own web site. But here it is in all it's glory....and according to my Amazon price tracker, it's been available since December 22nd. I wonder why they haven't put it on their site and why they haven't even announced it yet, but yet it's on Amazon and B&H.

Any chance you can confirm this card is still working with Mojave 10.14.6?

Do you happen to have any read/write speed reports for USB-C 10Gbps devices when used with MP5,1?

 

[tommy chen]

Any chance you can confirm this card is still working with Mojave 10.14.6?

Do you happen to have any read/write speed reports for USB-C 10Gbps devices when used with MP5,1?

will work from 10.13.6 up, but better in mojave

Sonnet Technologies

on my HP1344 USB3.1gen2 card the speed of ext. USB SSD is about 500 MB/s
and with a NVMe USB housing is about 900 MB/s

 

[bsbeamer]

will work from 10.13.6 up, but better in mojave

Sonnet Technologies

on my HP1344 USB3.1gen2 card the speed of ext. USB SSD is about 500 MB/s
and with a NVMe USB housing is about 900 MB/s

Thanks, but not looking for reports on the Sonnet M.2 4x4 NVMe PCIe card. Looking for reports on the Allegro USB-C 4-Port. Know it "works" on paper with MP3,1/MP4,1/MP5,1/MP7,1 but was looking for a real world report/confirmation and any possible speed reports with USB-C 10Gbps when used with MP5,1.

Allegro USB-C 4-Port USB 3.2 Gen 2 - Sonnet

www.sonnettech.com

 

[tommy chen]

had before the HP the sonnet with the USB-a connectors ,it had the same results

 

[joevt]

on my HP1344 USB3.1gen2 card the speed of ext. USB SSD is about 500 MB/s
and with a NVMe USB housing is about 900 MB/s

had before the HP the sonnet with the USB-a connectors ,it had the same results

What chip is the HighPoint RocketU 1344A using? If it's giving 900 MB/s, then it is a better chip than the ones used by the Sonnet. Pictures show that it uses a Asmedia chip. But we don't know if it uses the ASM2142 or the ASM3142.

The Sonnet uses two older Asmeda ASM1142 chips, each limited to 8 Gbps (≈750 MB/s).

Better chips like the ASM2142 or ASM3142 or any of the Thunderbolt 3 add-in cards can do 10 Gbps (≈970 MB/s).

 

[VaZ]

What chip is the HighPoint RocketU 1344A using? If it's giving 900 MB/s, then it is a better chip than the ones used by the Sonnet. Pictures show that it uses a Asmedia chip. But we don't know if it uses the ASM2142 or the ASM3142.

The Sonnet uses two older Asmeda ASM1142 chips, each limited to 8 Gbps (≈750 MB/s).

Better chips like the ASM2142 or ASM3142 or any of the Thunderbolt 3 add-in cards can do 10 Gbps (≈970 MB/s).

Maybe the difference is in the port multiplier ?

 

[tommy chen]

What chip is the HighPoint RocketU 1344A using? If it's giving 900 MB/s, then it is a better chip than the ones used by the Sonnet. Pictures show that it uses a Asmedia chip. But we don't know if it uses the ASM2142 or the ASM3142.

The Sonnet uses two older Asmeda ASM1142 chips, each limited to 8 Gbps (≈750 MB/s).

Better chips like the ASM2142 or ASM3142 or any of the Thunderbolt 3 add-in cards can do 10 Gbps (≈970 MB/s).

the HP1344A has two ASM2142 with a PEX 8714 switch

here the result with icybox external NVMe enclosure
holds a 1TB 970evo

 

[tommy chen]

the result of a 1TB samsung T5 at HP 1344A

 

[joevt]

the HP1344A has two ASM2142 with a PEX 8714 switch

here the result with icybox external NVMe enclosure
holds a 1TB 970evo

Thanks for checking. Did you look at the chip on the card and read the numbers from it or did you look in PCI info?

system_profiler SPPCIDataType

I think I've heard that the ASM2142 and ASM3142 have the same PCI product ID so you have to look at the chip to be sure.

929 MB/s is slightly less than the numbers I get with a GC-TITAN RIDGE (975 MB/s, Orico transparent NVMe enclosure, Intel 660p) or GC-ALPINE RIDGE (952 MB/s, Plugable.com USBC-NVME, Samsung 950 Pro) in my Mac Pro 2008 (using a PCIe 3.0 slot in an expansion box connected to slot 2). I guess this ma

 

[tommy chen]

oh, i have the new revision with two of ASM3142

 

[joevt]

oh, i have the new revision with two of ASM3142

Interesting. Did "system_profiler SPPCIDataType" report pci1b21,2142 ?

 

[crjackson2134]

oh, i have the new revision with two of ASM3142

what card is that on exactly?

 

[flygbuss]

Thanks, but not looking for reports on the Sonnet M.2 4x4 NVMe PCIe card. Looking for reports on the Allegro USB-C 4-Port. Know it "works" on paper with MP3,1/MP4,1/MP5,1/MP7,1 but was looking for a real world report/confirmation and any possible speed reports with USB-C 10Gbps when used with MP5,1.

Allegro USB-C 4-Port USB 3.2 Gen 2 - Sonnet

www.sonnettech.com

I have this card in one of the Mac Pro 5,1

Allegro Pro Type A USB 3.2 Gen 2 - Sonnet

Besides the connectors it should be similar to the USB-C version.

If you like I can run some tests during the holidays.

 

[VaZ]

oh, i have the new revision with two of ASM3142


View attachment 884194


View attachment 884195

Whats with the watermarks so quick ?!?!

 

[DearthnVader]

On a side note:

I've been trying to get XHCI working for bootable XHCI PCI cards. I think @LightBulbFun also tried this, trying to load XHCI .efi drivers from a shell resulted in lockups as soon as the driver loaded.

I tried the drivers from OVMF/Clover/EDKII and a few extracted from Mac firmware updaters distributed with the macOS installers. All the one's I tried resulted in lockups of the EFI Shell as soon as the driver load command returned success.

Until now, it seems the XHCI driver from the Mac Pro6,1 will work, load returns success and doesn't lock up the shell. If I look at the drivers command from the shell, I can see that the driver is linked to my XHCI card, however the other USB drivers( UsbMassStorage, UsbKeyboard, UsbMouse, UsbHub ) don't link to any devices on the PCI-E cards bus.

So, it's half the battle, we just need to figure out what else is needed to link the other drivers to the XHCI card, then we would be able to boot from USB 3.x drives connected via the PCI-E bus.

One thought would be to extract the other USB drivers from the MP6,1 and replace the older ones in our bootrom, but my 3,1 doesn't support a MATT card, so I'm not that brave. I did, however, place the XHCI driver in bootrom, and it loads and links with no issue.

 

[bsbeamer]

I have this card in one of the Mac Pro 5,1

Allegro Pro Type A USB 3.2 Gen 2 - Sonnet

Besides the connectors it should be similar to the USB-C version.

If you like I can run some tests during the holidays.

Thanks for the offer. Just found one with a good return policy if it doesn’t live up to expectations, so should be able to first hand test in next few weeks.

 

[flygbuss]

Thanks for the offer. Just found one with a good return policy if it doesn’t live up to expectations, so should be able to first hand test in next few weeks.

What I like about the card is that it actually provides sufficient power for several drives. I had some older external spinners from Sony which are known as quite power hungry. Those HDs always caused problems with other USB 3 or 3.1 cards. I kept one for testing purposes and it works flawlessly with the sonnet card.

 

[LightBulbFun]

I've been trying to get XHCI working for bootable XHCI PCI cards. I think @LightBulbFun also tried this, trying to load XHCI .efi drivers from a shell resulted in lockups as soon as the driver loaded.

indeed, although IIRC, it did not freeze Right away, but only once I plugged in a USB device to the USB 3.0 card, then it would hard lock up

curiously with a USB 3.0 stick the activity light would remain solid on, rather then stay off when there's no activity or blink on and off when there is activity

 

[joevt]

On a side note:

I've been trying to get XHCI working for bootable XHCI PCI cards. I think @LightBulbFun also tried this, trying to load XHCI .efi drivers from a shell resulted in lockups as soon as the driver loaded.

I tried the drivers from OVMF/Clover/EDKII and a few extracted from Mac firmware updaters distributed with the macOS installers. All the one's I tried resulted in lockups of the EFI Shell as soon as the driver load command returned success.

Until now, it seems the XHCI driver from the Mac Pro6,1 will work, load returns success and doesn't lock up the shell. If I look at the drivers command from the shell, I can see that the driver is linked to my XHCI card, however the other USB drivers( UsbMassStorage, UsbKeyboard, UsbMouse, UsbHub ) don't link to any devices on the PCI-E cards bus.

So, it's half the battle, we just need to figure out what else is needed to link the other drivers to the XHCI card, then we would be able to boot from USB 3.x drives connected via the PCI-E bus.

One thought would be to extract the other USB drivers from the MP6,1 and replace the older ones in our bootrom, but my 3,1 doesn't support a MATT card, so I'm not that brave. I did, however, place the XHCI driver in bootrom, and it loads and links with no issue.

Why not build an XHCI driver from source?

edk2/MdeModulePkg/Bus/Pci/XhciDxe at master · tianocore/edk2

EDK II. Contribute to tianocore/edk2 development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Just need a build environment (examples: rEFInd, Clover, OpenCore).
With the source code, you can find where the problems are and add workarounds. Add debugging stuff. Add compatibility to the existing USB drivers are make XHCI specific USB drivers.

 

[DearthnVader]

Why not build an XHCI driver from source?

edk2/MdeModulePkg/Bus/Pci/XhciDxe at master · tianocore/edk2

EDK II. Contribute to tianocore/edk2 development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Just need a build environment (examples: rEFInd, Clover, OpenCore).
With the source code, you can find where the problems are and add workarounds. Add debugging stuff. Add compatibility to the existing USB drivers are make XHCI specific USB drivers.

Had not thought of trying that, I do have a EDKII build env setup for rEFInd building, but I'm not real good at building debug code.