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USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
DPUser

DPUser

macrumors 6502a
Jan 17, 2012
990
304
Rancho Bohemia, California
I disconnected the internal Bluetooth card in my 4,1 when I bought it... my Mac is housed in a remote machine room. A cheap Bluetooth dongle plugged into a wired Apple keyboard works perfectly with my wireless mouse.

I think it is a great solution and encourage anyone concerned about USB3/Bluetooth interference to try it!
 
chaosbunny

chaosbunny

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2005
2,114
510
down to earth, far away from any clouds
My ORICO PFU3-2P, which worked great in 10.8.5, is acting weird since I upgraded to 10.9.1.

It will show up in system profiler and mount my lacie rugged external hd when I plug it in. Then it works for about 30 seconds, after that the lacie is still shown in system profiler and on the desktop and I can still use files/folders I have clicked in these 30 seconds, but when I click on different files or folders it will just load forever. I can't eject it either.

USB2 devices work just fine with the ORICO card and it worked in 10.8.5, so I don't think it's a power issue or an issue with the card itself. It can't be the lacie disk either because it works fine when I connect it with firewire800.

Must be something with the drivers, I'd appreciate any ideas.
 
Gav Mack

Gav Mack

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2008
2,194
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Sagittarius A*
Got the Inateck HB5001 4 port plus charge powered hub before their new Mac Pro Card lands.

Nice bit of kit, 4 front USB 3.0 ports and side mounted USB charge only port that supports 2.0 amp charging.

So far it's worked like a dream in both OSX and Windows 7 and having a charge only port means I can fast charge up either the iPad or iPhone without iTunes annoying me asking to sync! Works great on my 4S and the iPad 4.

http://www.inateck.com/inateck-hb5001-4-port-usb-3-0-1-port-charging-hub/

Hopefully the card will land soon!
 
ActionableMango

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Original poster
Sep 21, 2010
9,613
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chaosbunny said:
Must be something with the drivers, I'd appreciate any ideas.
Click to expand...

I can't think of anything you can do about the drivers. However, 10.9.2 was just released as beta, so hopefully there will be an update in that.

Personally I've been avoiding Mavericks because of all the reported problems with USB, sleep, and Nvidia drivers. I am not one to jump into a new OS immediately anyway; I usually wait at least 6 months.
 
crjackson2134

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
Gav Mack said:
Got the Inateck HB5001 4 port plus charge powered hub before their new Mac Pro Card lands.

Nice bit of kit, 4 front USB 3.0 ports and side mounted USB charge only port that supports 2.0 amp charging.

So far it's worked like a dream in both OSX and Windows 7 and having a charge only port means I can fast charge up either the iPad or iPhone without iTunes annoying me asking to sync! Works great on my 4S and the iPad 4.

http://www.inateck.com/inateck-hb5001-4-port-usb-3-0-1-port-charging-hub/

Hopefully the card will land soon!
Click to expand...

Yes, it's a nice hub but unfortunately for me it's only available in Europe according to Inateck.
 
Gav Mack

Gav Mack

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2008
2,194
23
Sagittarius A*
crjackson2134 said:
Yes, it's a nice hub but unfortunately for me it's only available in Europe according to Inateck.
Click to expand...

They are already selling the new Mac Pro PCIe card on the us amazon site afaik so I doubt it won't be long before they are available in the states. The fact they've made a cheap fresco card for the cheesegrater unlike anyone else speaks volumes about their intentions!
 
crjackson2134

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
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Gav Mack said:
They are already selling the new Mac Pro PCIe card on the us amazon site afaik so I doubt it won't be long before they are available in the states. The fact they've made a cheap fresco card for the cheesegrater unlike anyone else speaks volumes about their intentions!
Click to expand...

I got one of the cards from amazon and did a review of it a few posts back. Then, wanting a hub, I contacted Inateck directly about the the hub, and got to speak with marketing. I'm prodding them for a multi-drive USB 3.0 enclosure too.
 
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Gav Mack

Gav Mack

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2008
2,194
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Sagittarius A*
crjackson2134 said:
Yes I know, I got one of the cards from amazon and did a review of it a few posts back. Then, wanting a hub, I contacted Inateck directly about the the hub, and got to speak with marketing. I'm prodding them for a multi-drive USB 3.0 enclosure too.
Click to expand...

I reckon your prodding will pay off cos they have obviously found a niche with us tower users. It seems like another good product from them, though a full review with testing and benchmarks isn't going to happen with 47 days left till XP's demise and work getting busier by the day. A multi drive enclosure - now that's something I could do with soon cos I have a lot of disks to clone in March :D
 
ActionableMango

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Original poster
Sep 21, 2010
9,613
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hfg said:
As mentioned in another thread today ...

CalDigit has an new eSATA / USB 3.0 card ... the FASTA-6GU3 Pro
Click to expand...

Can you help me out? I cannot find it. Did a search for "FASTA" and only this thread came up as having been updated today. I checked a few older ones too.
 
F

funwithdesign

macrumors regular
Dec 9, 2011
141
0
hfg said:
As mentioned in another thread today ...

CalDigit has an new eSATA / USB 3.0 card ... the FASTA-6GU3 Pro

It has faster USB 3.0 ports which now support UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol).

There are 2 additional internal SATA ports, but the FAQ is confusing about their usage with a MacPro.


http://www.caldigit.com/Fasta-6GU3pro/
Click to expand...

Not really confusing. All it says is that the card doesn't provide power to internal SATA devices and you will have to provide your own, just like any other SATA card on the MacPro.
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
ActionableMango said:
Can you help me out? I cannot find it. Did a search for "FASTA" and only this thread came up as having been updated today. I checked a few older ones too.
Click to expand...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1708502/

Not much info, but here it is ... :)

----------
funwithdesign said:
Not really confusing. All it says is that the card doesn't provide power to internal SATA devices and you will have to provide your own, just like any other SATA card on the MacPro.
Click to expand...

1.Can I connect extra storage to the two SATA ports on the back of the FASTA-6GU3 Pro?
If you are using a Windows PC you can connect a SATA cable from your internal HDD to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro's SATA ports.
Then connect a power cable to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro and you will benefit from extra storage.
If you are using a MacPro you will not be able to use the FASTA-6GU3 Pro's SATA ports.

Connect a power cable to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro? :confused:
SATA ports not MacPro compatible? :confused:
Yeah ... the last one is certainly pointing out power connector issues, but I assume it will work if you route the SATA data cable up into the optical bay and mount drives with power there (not difficult)
 
F

funwithdesign

macrumors regular
Dec 9, 2011
141
0
hfg said:
1.Can I connect extra storage to the two SATA ports on the back of the FASTA-6GU3 Pro?
If you are using a Windows PC you can connect a SATA cable from your internal HDD to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro's SATA ports.
Then connect a power cable to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro and you will benefit from extra storage.
If you are using a MacPro you will not be able to use the FASTA-6GU3 Pro's SATA ports.

Connect a power cable to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro? :confused:
SATA ports not MacPro compatible? :confused:
Yeah ... the last one is certainly pointing out power connector issues, but I assume it will work if you route the SATA data cable up into the optical bay and mount drives with power there (not difficult)
Click to expand...

Odd.

This is what I see. I think they may have updated it.

"Can I connect extra storage to the two internal SATA ports on the back of the FASTA-6GU3 Pro?
If you are using a Windows PC, you can connect an internal SATA cable from your internal HDD or SSD to the FASTA-6GU3 Pro's internal SATA ports. You will need to connect a SATA power cable to the internal drive from your power supply. If you are using a Mac Pro, you may not be able to use the FASTA-6GU3 Pro's internal SATA ports unless you have a method of providing power to the internal SATA drive you wish to connect."
 
crjackson2134

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
ActionableMango said:
Ok thanks. I will mention it on the first post. Lots of questions though.

Is it still a storage-only solution with NEC chipset and third party drivers? Anyone actually using it in a MP yet?
Click to expand...

While the product page doesn't explicitly state that it will work with non-storage devices the diagram implies that it will. Notice that it shows printer, keyboard & microphone icons as possible connected devices.
 
F

funwithdesign

macrumors regular
Dec 9, 2011
141
0
crjackson2134 said:
Yeah I got that too, that's why I said it implies. I guess we'll have to wait until it's available. It seems to still require proprietary driver support.
Click to expand...

Only needs drivers for lower than 10.8.4

----------
ActionableMango said:
Hilariously they are connected to the eSATA ports. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if you watch the video they show the printer etc connecting to the usb ports so looks like they forgot to include the line on the web image.
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
crjackson2134 said:
Yeah I got that too, that's why I said it implies. I guess we'll have to wait until it's available. It seems to still require proprietary driver support.
Click to expand...

Looks like you can order it now ... no indication that it isn't currently available to ship (I didn't buy it, just put it in my cart to see if it would take it).
 
crjackson2134

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
hfg said:
Looks like you can order it now ... no indication that it isn't currently available to ship (I didn't buy it, just put it in my cart to see if it would take it).
Click to expand...

Good to know, looks like I just pulled the trigger too soon. Oops. I spoke too soon, I tried all the check out options, still not adding to my cart.
 
Last edited:
chaosbunny

chaosbunny

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2005
2,114
510
down to earth, far away from any clouds
ActionableMango said:
I can't think of anything you can do about the drivers. However, 10.9.2 was just released as beta, so hopefully there will be an update in that.

Personally I've been avoiding Mavericks because of all the reported problems with USB, sleep, and Nvidia drivers. I am not one to jump into a new OS immediately anyway; I usually wait at least 6 months.
Click to expand...

Thank you. It worked again yesterday right after a restart, but I don't know for how long - maybe I have to reboot to use USB3. I'm at that point where I start to believe in mythical sollutions. :eek:

Of course you are right about waiting, I thought 3 months and 10.9.1 would do ... at least I don't have any problems apart from the USB3 issue. So I'll just hope for 10.9.2!
 
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