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USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

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Cave Man

Cave Man

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Feb 12, 2007
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crjackson2134 said:
Read the review …

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USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

If each controller has a single dedicated PCIe lane, plugging the card into an x1 slot would disable 3 of the 4 ports. This seems counterintuitive to me since “wider” cards in “narrower” slots should just lose bandwidth/performance rather than lose functionality altogether (using an x16 GPU in...
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Click to expand...
Does this card interfere with Bluetooth or WiFi? Mac Pro 5,1.
 
Macschrauber

Macschrauber

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Dec 27, 2015
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The wifi antenna is in the pastic frame around the PCI brackets.

So, no wonder it interfere.

The best solution imho, is to pull the internal Bluetooth board data cable and use an USB dongle near the desktop.
 
mrkapqa

mrkapqa

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Jan 7, 2012
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ActionableMango said:
Are there older revisions with the ASM2142?
Click to expand...

Hello i must have gooten this card HighPoint RocketU 1344A or 1344u 10Gbps 4 port card; is there a big difference to the ASM3142? or is it just function aswell? have not tested toroughly yet.
 

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tsialex

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xxVOXxx

xxVOXxx

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Aug 11, 2020
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I'm currently looking to add USB 3 to my Mac Pro 2012 5,1 (dual booted with 10.8.5 and 10.14.6). The original suggested Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe (USB3-PRO-4PM-E) that gives 5GB/s per port with 4 controllers looks great, but is discontinued and I can't find one second hand. The new Sonnet Allegro Pro Type-A USB 3.2 PCIe Gen 2 (USB3-PRO-4P10-E) has the ASMedia3142 chip and Sonnet said it would not be compatible with any version of OSX earlier than 10.12.6. Sonnet does have the Allegro Type-A USB 3.2 PCIe 4-Port (USB3-4PM-E) which has the Fresco Logic FL1100 chip and is said to work with OSX 10.8.2+. This seems to be my only viable option for the Sonnet cards.

However, Inatek makes the RedComets U21 / RedComets U22 / and the one I really like is the 8-Port Power Supply USB 3.2 Gen 2 PCIe KU8212 which they claim works with Windows 7+ and Mac OSX 10.8.2+. The Chip in these looks like ASM3142.

-Why would Sonnet say the USB3-PRO-4P10-E with ASMedia3142 is 10.12.6+ only if Inatek is claiming 10.8.2+ support with the same chip?
-Does anyone here have experience using The U21/U22 or KU8212 cards on OSX 10.8? or even the Sonnet USB3-PRO-4P10-E card?

I've checked the Definitive Mac Pro Upgrade Guide, and it's a great resource but these cards don't seem to be listed. Any help appreciated.
 
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D

drolson

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Sep 17, 2015
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xxVOXxx said:
I'm currently looking to add USB 3 to my Mac Pro 2012 5,1 (dual booted with 10.8.5 and 10.14.6). The original suggested Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe (USB3-PRO-4PM-E) that gives 5GB/s per port with 4 controllers looks great, but is discontinued and I can't find one second hand. The new Sonnet Allegro Pro Type-A USB 3.2 PCIe Gen 2 (USB3-PRO-4P10-E) has the ASMedia3142 chip and Sonnet said it would not be compatible with any version of OSX earlier than 10.12.6. Sonnet does have the Allegro Type-A USB 3.2 PCIe 4-Port (USB3-4PM-E) which has the Fresco Logic FL1100 chip and is said to work with OSX 10.8.2+. This seems to be my only viable option for the Sonnet cards.

However, Inatek makes the RedComets U21 / RedComets U22 / and the one I really like is the 8-Port Power Supply USB 3.2 Gen 2 PCIe KU8212 which they claim works with Windows 7+ and Mac OSX 10.8.2+. The Chip in these looks like ASM3142.

-Why would Sonnet say the USB3-PRO-4P10-E with ASMedia3142 is 10.12.6+ only if Inatek is claiming 10.8.2+ support with the same chip?
-Does anyone here have experience using The U21/U22 or KU8212 cards on OSX 10.8? or even the Sonnet USB3-PRO-4P10-E card?

I've checked the Definitive Mac Pro Upgrade Guide, and it's a great resource but these cards don't seem to be listed. Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...
I have 2 Mac Pro 5,1's, they both have macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Also they have 2 Sonnet USB3 Pro 4PM E cards in each and they work exalent, If you have the latest OS you can use any of the cards
 
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xxVOXxx

xxVOXxx

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Aug 11, 2020
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drolson said:
I have 2 Mac Pro 5,1's, they both have macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Also they have 2 Sonnet USB3 Pro 4PM E cards in each and they work exalent, If you have the latest OS you can use any of the cards
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for the response but I'm already aware that the latest OS can use any of the cards mentioned. However my current OS'e are not going to be upgraded and that was not my question at all.
 
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drolson

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Sep 17, 2015
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drolson said:
I have 2 Mac Pro 5,1's, they both have macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Also they have 2 Sonnet USB3 Pro 4PM E cards in each and they work exalent, If you have the latest OS you can use any of the cards
Click to expand...
If you are worried about GB/s you are wasting you time with The Mac 5,1, If you can't find any and want a Sonnet USB3 Pro 4PM E there is more than one right now on ebay for $30
 
xxVOXxx

xxVOXxx

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2020
14
3
drolson said:
If you are worried about GB/s you are wasting you time with The Mac 5,1, If you can't find any and want a Sonnet USB3 Pro 4PM E there is more than one right now on ebay for $30
Click to expand...
Yes thank you I would definitely grab the USB3-PRO-4PM-E if I could find one, do you have a link to one on eBay? I cannot find one on there for the life of me. This listing had them for sale but currently unavailable.
 
D

drolson

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2015
58
23
WI
drolson said:
If you are worried about GB/s you are wasting you time with The Mac 5,1, If you can't find any and want a Sonnet USB3 Pro 4PM E there is more than one right now on ebay for $30
Click to expand...
Just put Sonnet USB3-PRO-4PM-E in search on ebay, I see 2 right now going for $29, They are always on ebay for that price, Have been for at least a year all the time
 
xxVOXxx

xxVOXxx

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2020
14
3
drolson said:
Just put Sonnet USB3-PRO-4PM-E in search on ebay, I see 2 right now going for $29, They are always on ebay for that price, Have been for at least a year all the time
Click to expand...
Unfortunately eBay is still telling me there are no results and only offering me the USB3-4PM-E which is not the same card, would you mind just sending a direct link for a listing that you found?

Capture.PNG
 
D

drolson

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2015
58
23
WI
drolson said:
Just put Sonnet USB3-PRO-4PM-E in search on ebay, I see 2 right now going for $29, They are always on ebay for that price, Have been for at least a year all the time
Click to expand...
www.ebay.com

Sonnet USB3-4PM-E PCIe 4 Port Expansion Card | eBay

There is a chip to the plastic covering on one of the coils as shown in pictures, this does not affect functionality. Filing a claim should be reserved as a last resort to solving an issue. Cash on pick up.
www.ebay.com

I see 3 for $29 and about 8 more for more money Even 3.1
 
xxVOXxx

xxVOXxx

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2020
14
3
xxVOXxx said:
I'm currently looking to add USB 3 to my Mac Pro 2012 5,1 (dual booted with 10.8.5 and 10.14.6). The original suggested Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe (USB3-PRO-4PM-E) that gives 5GB/s per port with 4 controllers looks great, but is discontinued and I can't find one second hand. The new Sonnet Allegro Pro Type-A USB 3.2 PCIe Gen 2 (USB3-PRO-4P10-E) has the ASMedia3142 chip and Sonnet said it would not be compatible with any version of OSX earlier than 10.12.6. Sonnet does have the Allegro Type-A USB 3.2 PCIe 4-Port (USB3-4PM-E) which has the Fresco Logic FL1100 chip and is said to work with OSX 10.8.2+. This seems to be my only viable option for the Sonnet cards.

However, Inatek makes the RedComets U21 / RedComets U22 / and the one I really like is the 8-Port Power Supply USB 3.2 Gen 2 PCIe KU8212 which they claim works with Windows 7+ and Mac OSX 10.8.2+. The Chip in these looks like ASM3142.

-Why would Sonnet say the USB3-PRO-4P10-E with ASMedia3142 is 10.12.6+ only if Inatek is claiming 10.8.2+ support with the same chip?
-Does anyone here have experience using The U21/U22 or KU8212 cards on OSX 10.8? or even the Sonnet USB3-PRO-4P10-E card?

I've checked the Definitive Mac Pro Upgrade Guide, and it's a great resource but these cards don't seem to be listed. Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...
UPDATE: Leaving this here for reference in case this information is useful for anyone else.

I went ahead and took the risk and purchased the Inateck KU8212 card after speaking with support and them claiming that it did work with OSX 10.8.2+. After installation of the card, booted into 10.8.5 Mountain Lion and checked out the System Information. The card shows up as "pci1b21,2142" with no Type but the USB 3.0 hubs are now present as shown in the first and second images attached. An external HDD conected via USB 3.0 (5Gb/s max) was tested with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test and it was reading/writing around 200 MB/s which was the same speed as an internal HDD connected via SATA III on the same Mac Pro 5,1. When connected via a USB 2.0 port, the same external drive was only getting about 40-50 MB/s so that is a huge improvement in speed and it seems to be working well.

In 10.14.6 Mojave, the card is shown as "PXS3" with type "USB eXtensible Host Controller" (3rd and 4th photos).

-So far, everything is working as it should, with no noticeable interference with bluetooth function (Logitech MX Master 3s Mouse w/ Dongle currently in use).

-Some assembly required on the Inateck KU8212, the faceplate has to be mounted to the board with provided screws).

Still going to keep searching for a used Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe (USB3-PRO-4PM-E) and if I can find one will compare the two cards with 10.8.5/10.14.6 on the Mac Pro 5,1.
 

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mrkapqa

mrkapqa

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Jan 7, 2012
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MIKX said:
I live in Japan and the Inateck 4 port SATA powered Fresco FL1100 UASP capable USB 3.0 card is called the " KT4001 " here. On the Inateck website it is called the " KTU3FR-4P.
Mine was delivered this morning via Amazon for about US $23

Works OOTB in Mavericks 10.9.5 and Sierra 10.12.5
Click to expand...

Hello i am interested in the card, could this one function correctly also without the extra need of Sata-Power via Connector on the backside of card? Thanks.

EDIT: seems already been answered in another post, sorry for doublepost; should be affirmative then.
 
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