Would providing power help? Is there any way to use the spare power connector from the second optical drive bay?
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Thanks again
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USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro
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Would providing power help? Is there any way to use the spare power connector from the second optical drive bay?
Thanks again
First question, I don't know. Something strange is up. Not working at all in one slot and super slow in another slot. Maybe a defective card or a hardware conflict.
Second question, yes. See the link for power in the first post.
Faster? Possibly, my drives run faster in a usb 3.0 enclosure connected to the RocketU than they do when mounted in the SATAII drive bays of the MP itself. The RocketU really is an amazing controller when it's used for it's intended purposes.
I truly have no regrets or nits to pick. I was reserved about it at first because I was hoping I could plug ANYTHING into it. I knew better though even before I bought it, so I've got nothing to complain about. It has a permanent home in my Mac Pro.
If the snail mail will ever arrive, I've purchased the same Orico card that ActionableMango has. I'll test it out and kick the tires. If by some unexpected miracle it can work in tandem with the RocketU, I'll have the best of both worlds.
Seriously though, all of my USB devices (except for drives) are 2.0. I wouldn't waste my 3.0 ports when 2.0 ports are readily available.
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Just tested the $20 Orico card and got speeds of 337/344MB/s write and read. I was hitting 430/440MB/s on my Macbook Pro Retina USB port. Test was done on a Firmtek U3. It is hooked up and powered through molex.
A tad disappointed, but I guess 300MB+ is sufficient.
A tad disappointed, but I guess 300MB+ is sufficient.
I too am one of those poor devils who is trying to a Mac Pro relevant in a world where it is out-dated and slow. I installed a HighPoint RocketU 1144CM (as well as a Sonnet Tempo SSD PCIe card).
The RocketU works pretty much as described across the Net as follows;
Using Disk Speed Test a WD RE 4TB internal drive writes 141 MB/s and reads 138 MB/s. Via the RocketU a backup WD RE 4TB drive loaded almost the same material and running in an OWC Mercury Rack Pro writes 109 MB/s and reads 115 MB/s. That is a little slower but still better than FW800.
Yes, the RocketU blows up BT. My Magic Mouse connection keeps coming and going. I use a wired Apple keyboard (aka "a real keyboard") and prefer a Microsoft wired mouse so it is not a big deal.
No, the RocketU does not work with Windows 8 or 8.1. I have looked around for Windows drivers for the RocketU 1144CM and have not found them.
Speaking of "no" the Tempo SSD with a Crucial 960GB SSD does disable the Mac Pro Option-key boot screen. It went back in the box. Since I do not have a real Windows computer I'll take the Crucial M500's slower STATA2 Speeds over PCIe speed.
Like I said, just trying to keep the Mac Pro going a while longer. My new cMBP 2.3 quad with an identical Crucial M500 960GB SSD totally kicks the
the Mac Pro's ass in every Geekbench 2 and Geekbench 3 category.
All said I recommend the RocketU 1144CM. It is a reasonable, though not perfect, USB3 solution.
The RocketU works pretty much as described across the Net as follows;
Using Disk Speed Test a WD RE 4TB internal drive writes 141 MB/s and reads 138 MB/s. Via the RocketU a backup WD RE 4TB drive loaded almost the same material and running in an OWC Mercury Rack Pro writes 109 MB/s and reads 115 MB/s. That is a little slower but still better than FW800.
Yes, the RocketU blows up BT. My Magic Mouse connection keeps coming and going. I use a wired Apple keyboard (aka "a real keyboard") and prefer a Microsoft wired mouse so it is not a big deal.
No, the RocketU does not work with Windows 8 or 8.1. I have looked around for Windows drivers for the RocketU 1144CM and have not found them.
Speaking of "no" the Tempo SSD with a Crucial 960GB SSD does disable the Mac Pro Option-key boot screen. It went back in the box. Since I do not have a real Windows computer I'll take the Crucial M500's slower STATA2 Speeds over PCIe speed.
Like I said, just trying to keep the Mac Pro going a while longer. My new cMBP 2.3 quad with an identical Crucial M500 960GB SSD totally kicks the
the Mac Pro's ass in every Geekbench 2 and Geekbench 3 category.
All said I recommend the RocketU 1144CM. It is a reasonable, though not perfect, USB3 solution.
Oops. Data backup to USB 3 failed. At the same time the Time Machine backup via Ethernet/Time Capsule failed. It looks like the RocketU might be going back this week.
Rats!
Rats!
Why do you reckon multiple failures are due to the RocketU? It's been working flawlessly for me.
I had backed up three disc on the Mercury Rack Pro when I got notifications that CCC quit backing up due to losing the disc it was backing up to, each of the four backup disc in the Mercury Rack Pro lost contact and the Time Machine backup failed because the disc was connected.
All six notifications appeared at once.
I wonder if you tried the HighPoint RocketU 1144C drivers for Windows 7/8/8.1?
http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series_RocketU1144C.htm
I have the original RocketU 1144M (presumably 'A' revision), and when I wanted to get it working in Windows 7 I installed the drivers from the equivalent Windows version of the card (RocketU 1144 in my case), and the card then worked in Windows. Of course, HDD only and not any hubs or other devices work.
Well I recently installed the Inateck USB 3.0 card, and it worked right away.
Just the huge bunch of power cables is a mess. Nothing a decent cable tie didn't solve.
Getting an average of 180MB/s read and writes with Black Magic on my Lacie D2 3TB drive.
My 2.5" Seagate Portable gets at best ~80MB/s read and writes.
Sadly when the computer sleeps all the drives get ejected, and I get the message saying they weren't ejected properly. Then there's the odd bit of interference with my Magic Mouse, but that's expected with USB 3 sadly.
No drivers needed at all, is a plus.
EDIT: Okay, since my USB 3 drives are in the desk right below my Mac Pro, it makes my Magic Mouse entirely useless. Even if they're turned off, but plugged in. I unplugged them, and it's been smooth sailing since.
I hope that with the new Mac Pro there won't be much Bluetooth Interference. It's enough to make you mad
Just the huge bunch of power cables is a mess. Nothing a decent cable tie didn't solve.
Getting an average of 180MB/s read and writes with Black Magic on my Lacie D2 3TB drive.
My 2.5" Seagate Portable gets at best ~80MB/s read and writes.
Sadly when the computer sleeps all the drives get ejected, and I get the message saying they weren't ejected properly. Then there's the odd bit of interference with my Magic Mouse, but that's expected with USB 3 sadly.
No drivers needed at all, is a plus.
EDIT: Okay, since my USB 3 drives are in the desk right below my Mac Pro, it makes my Magic Mouse entirely useless. Even if they're turned off, but plugged in. I unplugged them, and it's been smooth sailing since.
I hope that with the new Mac Pro there won't be much Bluetooth Interference. It's enough to make you mad
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I think that is good advice. I will try the various drivers tonight.
Also the problem could be my OWC Mercury Rack Pros. I really hate those things. At $199.95 each they would be OK. At $450 each their performance is way off par. They tend to drop in and out occasionally whether on USB 3, eSATA or FW800. Only USB 2 stays connected.
Good to know. I've transferred several terabytes continuously on the RocketU + TimeMachine backup always running and I've never had a drop-off or eject. Sleep/resume has never caused an error nor required a remount.
I was thinking your unit may have gave up the ghost, but not due to being inherently buggy. Do let us know when you nail it down.
i just installed the orico pfu3-2 in my 2009 mac pro and it's not mounting any usb drives. I've tried it in slot 3 & 4 and nothing. the card is power by the optical bay and the usb drive powers up, but it won't mount. in system profiler the card shows up as a second gtx 780. is this a dead card?
I can't really read anything in that screen shot, the resolution is too low.
Click on the USB section and see if there is anything stating "superspeed" in there.
I would guess dead card unless it shows up in the USB section.
there is nothing in the usb section called "superspeed"... i guess i'll contact the ebay seller.
@ sunnyj:
Yes, contact them and try to exchange for another or get a refund. It looks like you have a defective card.
Yes, contact them and try to exchange for another or get a refund. It looks like you have a defective card.
My guess is that the card is DOA.
Alternatively there might be a conflict with one of your other cards. I haven't heard of this yet with the Orico's, but I remember someone discovering and confirming that one of the USB 3.0 cards sold by OWC conflicts with one of the SATA cards they sell, and yet they will happily sell you both of the cards together anyway.
Thank you everyone for the help. I've contacted the eBay seller and I'll keep this thread posted on my progress.
Can anyone confirm that they are able to boot directly from a USB 3.0 drive with the CalDigit card installed in their Mac Pro, or with any of the other cards that are available? In other words, I install Mac OS or Linux on a USB 3.0 thumb drive for example, plug it in, hold down Option, select it, and it boots successfully? I've read that a number of the USB 3.0 cards out there do NOT support booting from them, so I'm wanting to make sure that I get a confirmation before I purchase one.
First, let me admit I haven't actually tried booting from the USB 3 ports on the CadDigit card.
However, any card which requires a driver to operate is going to have a problem with booting since that driver isn't present for the boot sequence. This may be a case where a USB 3 card which uses native drivers would be an advantage.
First, let me admit I haven't actually tried booting from the USB 3 ports on the CadDigit card.
However, any card which requires a driver to operate is going to have a problem with booting since that driver isn't present for the boot sequence. This may be a case where a USB 3 card which uses native drivers would be an advantage.
Even the cards that use native drivers won't work. Drivers are drivers native or not. Only some sort of firmware support would allow it to boot. Remember even the kernel isn't loaded yet so the drivers make no difference.
I've booted from a drive connected to the Caldigit card, but it may have been via the eSATA ports. I'd confirm it again, but my Voyager Q dock is broken so I can't.