USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

[Macsonic]

I'm looking to add a USB 3.0 card to a Mac Pro1,1 currently running 10.6.8 Server. It looks like the Inateck KT4004 is the best choice, but does it support UASP in 10.7 Lion with the generic drivers, and how is the reliability? I cannot upgrade the OS any further on this machine. The CalDigit card explicitly excludes UASP support in 10.7. Also looking at the RocketU 1144CM, because it has drivers for 10.6. If I cannot get UASP support on any card, is USB 3.0 still a worthy upgrade over FW800? I will be using it strictly for backups to an external HD. TIA

Yes USB 3 is still a good upgrade. It's about 35% faster than FW800 using mechanical external drives. The Inateck is a good choice.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Inateck lists the following requirements for the KT4004.

The Expansion card is applicable to the MAC Pro ( 2008 to 2012 Version)
Mac OS 10.8.2 or Above & Windows 8 - No additional drivers are needed for Mac Pro/ Win8, it has built-in support for the FL1100 chipset

So it appears to not be a good choice for the Mac Pro 1,1 or OS 10.6.8.

Lou

 

[crjackson2134]

I'm looking to add a USB 3.0 card to a Mac Pro1,1 currently running 10.6.8 Server. It looks like the Inateck KT4004 is the best choice, but does it support UASP in 10.7 Lion with the generic drivers, and how is the reliability? I cannot upgrade the OS any further on this machine. The CalDigit card explicitly excludes UASP support in 10.7. Also looking at the RocketU 1144CM, because it has drivers for 10.6. If I cannot get UASP support on any card, is USB 3.0 still a worthy upgrade over FW800? I will be using it strictly for backups to an external HD. TIA

The 1144CM is for newer machines and specifically introduced support for OS X 10.8. It's a PCIe 2.0 4x card. It's not for you.

 

[Macsonic]

Yes USB 3 is still a good upgrade. It's about 35% faster than FW800 using mechanical external drives. The Inateck is a good choice.

Oops My mistake. Inateck's card is not compatible with 1.1 Mac Pros. Caldigit would be the choice for AAU's Mac Pro. Or the Newertech Maxpower eSata-USB 3 combo HERE

 

[jakesaunders27]

Hi guys, I have an Inateck USB 3.0 card in my 1,1 and it works perfectly, but it doesn't charge my retina iPad mini, is there an way to change it in the expansion slot utility or whatever?

Thanks

 

[flowrider]

^^^^You need a "high power" USB Port supplying 900mA for charging. I think this is not part of the USB Standard with 500mA. You need a Apple device with "high power" or a third party product with explicit "high power support".

Lou

 

[jakesaunders27]

^^^^You need a "high power" USB Port supplying 900mA for charging. I think this is not part of the USB Standard with 500mA. You need a Apple device with "high power" or a third party product with explicit "high power support".

Lou

Ahh ok thanks

 

[aau]

Hi guys, I have an Inateck USB 3.0 card in my 1,1 and it works perfectly, but it doesn't charge my retina iPad mini, is there an way to change it in the expansion slot utility or whatever?

Thanks

Thanks for confirming the Inateck card works with MP1,1! May I ask which version of OS X you are using?

 

[jakesaunders27]

Thanks for confirming the Inateck card works with MP1,1! May I ask which version of OS X you are using?

Its runs great! I'm running 10.9.3

 

[flowrider]

Glad you got that to work. I was thinking (an unreliable task for me, but hey, why not). I have a long USB extension cable that came with a dongle like the one you have. I wonder what would happen if you used something like this, and moved the dongle away from your rig.

Hey Jackson, Guess what? My USB 6' Extension cable came today. I plugged it in to the back of the Mac and moved the dongle to the female end of the cable. It's now only about one foot from the mouse. And it's been working GREAT Thanks so much for the idea.

Lou

 

[crjackson2134]

Hey Jackson, Guess what? My USB 6' Extension cable came today. I plugged it in to the back of the Mac and moved the dongle to the female end of the cable. It's now only about one foot from the mouse. And it's been working GREAT Thanks so much for the idea.

Lou

That's GREAT news Lou! Maybe you finally got that cat skinned, and USB 3.0 will give your mouse some peace now.

Here's another thought. I've noticed that some of the people with USB/BT problems have metal desks or cabinets/shelves in close proximity to their rig. My desk is solid wood and I've NEVER had any BT/USB anomalies. I wonder if all the metal plays a roll in radiating the offending RF. Perhaps someone here (someone not confined to a bed all the time) could test that idea out one day to see if it's a contributing factor.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Thank You Again for the Idea. Hope you're up and about real soon. My thoughts are with you.

And as you can see, my Monitor stand is metal. This piece of equipment is probably my oldest piece, dating back to the late 80s. My Mac is located to the left on a 20" high metal file cabinet with a black non-skid top. My Mouse is on an extension on the right side of my keyboard which is on an extension mounted to the front of the Monitor Stand. The shelf directly below the monitor houses the modem, the router and two external HDDs.

Lou

 

[Macsonic]

Hey Jackson, Guess what? My USB 6' Extension cable came today. I plugged it in to the back of the Mac and moved the dongle to the female end of the cable. It's now only about one foot from the mouse. And it's been working GREAT Thanks so much for the idea.

Lou

Thanks Lou for sharing and for your efforts and patience. Good to know we have solutions to the BT problems.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^You're welcome. The final solution is now working great. I can move cables around and no more BT issues. My mouse pointer is rock solid - AT LAST But, thank Jackson for the idea - A Genius!!!!!

Lou

 

[powervideo]

Rocketraid 1144C Doesn't Work in a 2012 Mac Pro

Just got my new 1144C card, pulled the 1144CM, installed the 1144C, then.....nothing. OSX 10.9.3 doesn't recognise the card at all. Have I missed something? I thought OSX had native support for this card.

For those of you who are interested, HighPoint has released an upgraded part, the RocketU 1144C.

This card requires no additional power, has full support for UASP, 4 independent controllers for full speed simultaneous transfers on all 4 ports, and NO additional drivers needed for OS X 10.9.x This card is also a general purpose USB card. It supports virtually all devices now (no more storage only).

According to HP (direct contact), OS X 10.9+ has native drivers built in to support the card. It's not advertised on their marketing page, but I'm assured it's there. I'll be buying one soon for testing, but it'll be a few weeks before I test it. Sorry about that!

If anyone else wants to take the plunge and verify the card, it can be had on Amazon or newegg for $109 right now.

If no one else has posted anything by the time I'm out of the hospital, I'll document my findings here.

 

[powervideo]

UPDATE: It's working! I checked the seating of the card, rebooted and my USB devices are now recognised. My Sony SxS reader transferred a 20gb folder in 1min 42secs via the 1144C, vs 8mins on USB 2.0.

 

[Macsonic]

UPDATE: It's working! I checked the seating of the card, rebooted and my USB devices are now recognised. My Sony SxS reader transferred a 20gb folder in 1min 42secs via the 1144C, vs 8mins on USB 2.0.

Congrats and enjoy your USB 3 card. Good to know all is fine. May I know if your Sony SxS Reader, does it support UASP for file transfers?

 

[crjackson2134]

I've had the card installed for a while now, and it's working MOSTLY as advertised. I haven't fully recovered yet so I also haven't fully tested everything and didn't want to post an incomplete review.

One issue I have found is that my Seagate Backup+ 4TB model doesn't like the ASmedia chipset in the 1144C. I've had no other problems with it, but as I said, I haven't fully tested it yet. So far I'm MOSTLY pleased but the issue with the Seagate Backup+ is something to be considered, however the 1144CM also balked at that particular drive as well.

The card is PNP as advertised, very fast, and FULLY supportss UASP & Sleep modes (unlike the 1144CM).

It's a HUGE upgrade over the 1144CM but for me, it doesn't replace the Inateck card because of the Seagate drive. It should be noted that the issue with the Seagate Backup+ isn't a 4TB issue, it's an issue with the enclosure. 4TB drives work fine in other enclosures.

 

[Riwam]

It should be noted that the issue with the Seagate Backup+ isn't a 4TB issue, it's an issue with the enclosure. 4TB drives work fine in other enclosures.

...................

Unfortunately not all makers of external enclosures state in their advertisements and specs the largest size of HDD their product support.
Many accept only drives up to 1.5 GB and any larger drive is not recognized!
Before buying any external enclosure for larger drives one must therefore always ask the dealer to avoid disappointments.

 

[crjackson2134]

...................

Unfortunately not all makers of external enclosures state in their advertisements and specs the largest size of HDD their product support.
Many accept only drives up to 1.5 GB and any larger drive is not recognized!
Before buying any external enclosure for larger drives one must therefore always ask the dealer to avoid disappointments.

True, but the Seagate Backup+ 4TB includes the drive & enclosure. The incompatibility is between the enclosure electronics and the ASMedia card. 4TB Desktop drives work fine in compatible Docks (So far the RocketStor & The Inateck Dock).

I've got some other enclosures to test, but I have to get some more large drives before I can test them. So far, only the Seagate Backup+ 4TB enclosure is a problem.

 

[powervideo]

Congrats and enjoy your USB 3 card. Good to know all is fine. May I know if your Sony SxS Reader, does it support UASP for file transfers?

No I don't know, and I couldn't find out any info on the web. It is blazingly faster than USB 2 though.

----------

All my 3tb and 4tb external Seagate Desktop Flex drives are working perfectly with the 1144C.

 

[crjackson2134]

All my 3tb and 4tb external Seagate Desktop Flex drives are working perfectly with the 1144C.

Yes it seems that the problem lies with only the 4TB Backup+ drive so far. I intend to do a full review of the 1144C, but my health hasn't cooperated. Perhaps you would consider doing a full review. I'm sure many would benifit from your report.

 

[malcbo]

About the trackpad becoming slow to response, I understand that the USB 3.0 controller interferes with the BT, correct?

It doesn't happen all the time but occasionally only, sometimes with a HDD connected, sometimes with no device plugged in, which is annoying.

I wonder if we isolate with metal (covered with plastic to avoid short circuit) the PCI card, would it stop the interference?
Just a thought...

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Have you seen my previous posts in this thread? I was exasperated with the interference I was having, and my posts spell out my issues. My Post #985 describes how I finally solved the problem. Apple software, BT dongle and a USB 6' male to female cable. I've had no interference since this mod.

Lou

 

[DPUser]

Since I don't need or use USB3, it never occurred to me to mention my situation... Glad you got it nailed Lou.

My MP sits in a machine room on the other side of five layers of drywall and about 10' away from my studio desk. After hearing about all the Bluetooth reception troubles folks had experienced with Mac Pros, one of the first things I did when I bought my used 4,1 quad (which is now for all intents and purposes a 5,1 hex) was to disconnect the internal Bluetooth chip and plug a USB Bluetooth adaptor into my wired Apply keyboard. My wireless mouse is inches away. Perfection!

Another similar solution is to plug Bluetooth into local hub or monitor USB port.