Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.

thornslack

macrumors 6502
Nov 16, 2013
410
165
Thanks for the reply. I did some monkeying around and after putting OS X into unsigned kext mode and installing the generic USBXHCI from your link I have met with some success. System profiler now shows it as both a USB 3.0 High-Speed Bus and a USB 30. SupeSpeed Bus. My USB 3 thumb drive is now readable when attached, but as I have it formatted as an install drive for Yosemite I'm going to have to determine another way to benchmark things. Anyhow, thanks for the advice, I'm pleased to have some functionality at least! I'll post back if I make any further determinations.
 

pointvicente

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2014
29
1
inateck usb 3.0 KTU3FR-4P

Just bought a inateck usb 3.0 KTU3FR-4P and it seems to work fine with Yosemite 10.10 but with 1 problem. When I installed it my system no longer recognizes the last bank of memory so now it only registers 3GB out of the 4GB. Once I get 2 sticks of 8GB I probably won't have to worry but that will be a while. I've read its not recommended to use that last bank but how can I get around this problem?
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
Just bought a inateck usb 3.0 KTU3FR-4P and it seems to work fine with Yosemite 10.10 but with 1 problem. When I installed it my system no longer recognizes the last bank of memory so now it only registers 3GB out of the 4GB. Once I get 2 sticks of 8GB I probably won't have to worry but that will be a while. I've read its not recommended to use that last bank but how can I get around this problem?


Try reseating your DIMMs. I've never heard of this specifically causing a memory problem. If it persists, put the Inateck card in a different PCIe slot and retest.
 

Loa

macrumors 68000
May 5, 2003
1,725
76
Québec
I've read its not recommended to use that last bank

We must specify this "not recommended". By only using the first three banks (if you still have more than enough RAM for your usage), you may get 1-2% performance increase in RAM speed. Pretty sure nobody can "see" this type of performance gain.

RAM rule is simple: get at least as much as you need, regardless of how you arrange it in your slots.

I also agree with crjackson: your ram issue is a coïncidence. resetting the chips should solve the problem.

Loa
 

ShawnF

macrumors regular
May 10, 2014
196
16
USB 3.1 cards

Saw a couple of USB 3.1 cards in several manufacturers websites. Not for sale yet but the drivers are downloadable meaning the cards could have been shipped already retailers? Only Windows support at the moment.

Sunix USB2311C

Sunix USB2312
 

pointvicente

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2014
29
1
RAM coincidence

Well I got it working. I moved the Inatech card adjacent to the graphics card in the 2nd PCIe slot (x16). I thought all the slots on the early 2009 mac pro single CPU were the same. I also rearranged the last to memory chips to see if that made a difference. When I booted it recognized a change and provided a message that said all chips are arranged correctly. Now my question is if I buy a velocity X2 card for a SSD what slot should i put it in? I have the top 2 left open right now.
 

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,321
3,003
^^^^My experience with the Inateck card was positive except for the BT issue. I used mine in slot 4 with no issues with the card or RAM. You have something else going on.

The Velocity x2 is a 2 Lane Card and will work well in any of the 4 slots. However, slot 3 and 4 share bandwidth, but I doubt that will be an issue with the Solo or Duo Card. I have two Duos. One is mounted in slot 2 the other in slot 3.

Lou
 

pointvicente

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2014
29
1
You mentioned a BT issue (Bluetooth right?) I don't have any bluetooth devices but i do have a USB wireless keyboard and mouse which seem to be a lot slower to react then normal. I wonder if this has anything to do with this Inatech card. This thread talks about a work around..
.
Didier.ma : "I followed the guide to replace the antennas by moving wire 1 to bluetooth and wire 2 to upper airport card and have wire 3 to lower airport card - guess what? NO more problem!!!"
.
When I did a blackmagic speed test with a new HP USB 3.0 stick it didn't seem to be getting more than 10MB/s.
 

pointvicente

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2014
29
1
The wireless keyboard and mouse is a secured wireless connection & snap-in USB transceiver. The speed is actually measured at about 60MB/S. I guess that's much better than my USB 2 which about 8MB/s not bad.
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
The wireless keyboard and mouse is a secured wireless connection & snap-in USB transceiver. The speed is actually measured at about 60MB/S. I guess that's much better than my USB 2 which about 8MB/s not bad.

I've never had any experience that type keyboard/mouse, but USB 3.0 can interfere with wireless signals too. At any rate, it seems you got it worked out with the PDF guide I posted.

The speed of USB sticks varies greatly. There are some fast ones, but many of the ones that are labeled USB 3 aren't particularly fast. I did a little research long ago looking for a faster model and finally decided the prices (at that time) weren't worth it for me. I may look into that again now that some time has passed.
 

Earl Urley

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2014
793
438
Rocket 1144C

Just a reminder that the RocketU 1144C USB 3.0 card with four external USB 3.0 ports is now down to $70 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/HighPoint-RocketU-PCI-Express-Controller-1144C/dp/B00DW5QGLM

Popped one in the other day into a Mac Pro 1,1 running 10.9.5. Card is recognized as described earlier in the thread automagically, no drivers needed for 10.9.5 and up. No extra power cable.

Most stuff clocks the same as the Inatech, however crap noname USB sticks I gave up on before mount on this card, and fast USB sticks mount much faster than with the Inatech.

There are four separate ASMEDIA 1043 controller chips and they haul ass. Was copying a 330 GB disk image from a Toshiba 3.0 drive to a WD Elements drive hooked up to separate ports and it was finished in much less time than usual.

Gonna have to change my recommendation from the Inatech KT4004 to this card, it is a godsend for people who have to move bulk data between different USB devices. If you don't have to move gigs every day then the KT4004 is still okay.

The 1144C is twice the price of the KT4004 but for the time savings, it's totally worth it to me.
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
The 1144C is twice the price of the KT4004 but for the time savings, it's totally worth it to me.

Glad it's working out well for you, here's a review.

It's in a class way above other cards. I do USB to USB transfers all the time and this card flies. I also have my primary TM backup running off this card. If you ever need to do a full TM recovery from USB you'll really appreciate the USB 3.0 speeds. If booting from your recovery partition, it's fully recognized and gives full speed during restore. My Inateck is recognized too, but it' not able to do a full restore. My kt-4004 disconnects rather quickly and fails to restore.

HP RocketU 1144C
is highly recommended.
 

Childs

macrumors member
May 28, 2010
48
4
Well I got it working. I moved the Inatech card adjacent to the graphics card in the 2nd PCIe slot (x16). I thought all the slots on the early 2009 mac pro single CPU were the same. I also rearranged the last to memory chips to see if that made a difference. When I booted it recognized a change and provided a message that said all chips are arranged correctly. Now my question is if I buy a velocity X2 card for a SSD what slot should i put it in? I have the top 2 left open right now.

Thats funny, I bought the Inateck last week and had the same problem. Thumb drives were fine, but bus powered hard drives would not show up. If I used a powered hub they would. In slot 2 it was fine, but not in slot 3 or 4. I tried it in another MacPro5,1 at work and it was the same. Inateck blamed it on my machine, but that doesn't seem to be the case so I'm gonna send it back. I know the Orico card works, so I'll just get another one of those.

Has anyone done anything with converting the front USB ports to USB 3? Looks like all the front ports are using a custom cable to connect to the motherboard.
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
Thats funny, I bought the Inateck last week and had the same problem.

Your issue does not sound like the same problem. I think you have something else going on. It doesn't always work with ALL hardware configurations (I know of 2 users who had conflicts), and I suspect a defective unit happens once in a while too.

Although I've never had a problem with buss powered drives, it's not hard to imagine that some drives require more power than the Inateck provides. Inateck advertises upto 1GB for buss powered portables. I actually have 2x 1GB drives permanently attached to my Inateck. Who knows, perhaps quality isn't what it used to be. Good luck.

Just for informational purposes.

I have a 5,1 single CPU 3.33GHz W/48GB RAM (Yosemite 10.10.2 & Mavericks 10.9.5)
Slot1 - AMD 7970 GPU
Slot2 - Velocity SoloX2 W/512GB Samsung 840 Pro
Slot3 - Inateck KT-4004 USB 3.0 Adaptor
Slot4 - HighPoint RocketU 1144C USB 3.0 Adaptor

I have placed the card in every slot except slot1 at various times without negative issues. I don't think the problem is endemic to the KT-4004. I personally favor the HighPoint RocketU-1144C, but there are several alternatives. I have several working Orico cards, but these are my least favored (dependability & performance) for my particular uses.

2 cards that I don't own that get incredibly good reports by other users are the newest Caldigit card and the Sonnet Allegro
 
Last edited:

Cactusface

macrumors member
Mar 24, 2015
74
12
Leicester. UK
USB-3 and Mac Pro 3.1

Hi All,
I see this is a very old thread, but here goes! I have just got a secondhand Mac pro 3.1, this includes a 4x USB-3 pci card, but this also has a power lead that connects to HHD slot 4, meaning I can't use that slot for a HHD. It uses the chip mentioned above FL110 I think.

Not looked up the archtecture of the pci bus but it seems to have some contacts with the ground plane. So does it need this EXTRA power connector? I suppose it depends what it's connected too!!

How will Lion/Marericks deal with this? I hope to put one or two SSD's on the top floor.

Regards

Mel.
 

Childs

macrumors member
May 28, 2010
48
4
Your issue does not sound like the same problem.

Yeah, now that I reread it, it doesn't seem like the same at all. I must have skimmed the post and saw Inateck and slots and assumed it was the same thing. Or I meant a similar problem with this card and the slot placement.
 

Troy2000

macrumors regular
Oct 21, 2009
201
77
Has the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle been confirmed to work with any of these cards? I plan to purchase a USB 3.0 card for my Mac Pro (which arrives tomorrow) but compatibility with the Shuttle is imperative.
 

Earl Urley

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2014
793
438
Has the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle been confirmed to work with any of these cards? I plan to purchase a USB 3.0 card for my Mac Pro (which arrives tomorrow) but compatibility with the Shuttle is imperative.

If you look in their forums, a couple of people verify that it works so long as you have a natively supported USB 3.0 card with the Fresco Logic chipset, if the card uses third party drivers then it's a no go.

http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=13693#p108815

Pretty sure it would work with the Inateck card at least since it uses the FL1100 chipset. The Sonnet Tango USB 3.0 was verified though.
 

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Original poster
Sep 21, 2010
9,613
6,909
If you want USB 3.0 only with FL1100 chipset for maximum compatibility and high powered charging ports;
Sonnet Allegro USB 3.0 4-Port - Special feature(s): FL1100 chipset (same as nMP) & up to 2A output per port

I installed this card yesterday. Although Sonnet specifically mentions that it will charge iPads...

Supports USB 3.0 charging port handshake, and will simultaneously synch and charge iPads and other devices that support USB 3.0 charging at 1.5A per device

...this desirable functionality does not make it through my powered Delock USB 3.0 hub. Plugging in a single iPad, I get the "not charging" message.

This is too bad; I specifically bought a high-end hub which uses a 4AMP power supply and the Sonnet USB card on the assumption that they could charge a single iPad. The iPad's charger is I believe 2.1AMP.
 

mikeboss

macrumors 68000
Aug 13, 2009
1,546
862
switzerland
I installed this card yesterday. Although Sonnet specifically mentions that it will charge iPads...



...this desirable functionality does not make it through my powered Delock USB 3.0 hub. Plugging in a single iPad, I get the "not charging" message.

This is too bad; I specifically bought a high-end hub which uses a 4AMP power supply and the Sonnet USB card on the assumption that they could charge a single iPad. The iPad's charger is I believe 2.1AMP.

did you install the KEXT allowing the higher power output to be recognized?

http://www.sonnettech.com/support/downloads/software/dskcd-usbpwr-101.dmg

I'd try to connect the iPad to the card and not to a USB hub.
 

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
I installed this card yesterday. Although Sonnet specifically mentions that it will charge iPads...



...this desirable functionality does not make it through my powered Delock USB 3.0 hub. Plugging in a single iPad, I get the "not charging" message.

This is too bad; I specifically bought a high-end hub which uses a 4AMP power supply and the Sonnet USB card on the assumption that they could charge a single iPad. The iPad's charger is I believe 2.1AMP.

I'm pretty sure it has to be plugged in directly to the card, the hub is receiving output from the card, the iPad is receiving output from the hub. I think it would have to be a direct pass through for it to work the way you have it connected.

There are hubs that have specifically designed ports for charging but I'm pretty sure you don't have a data connection when using them.

If you apply the usb power kext and connect the iPad directly it should get you there. I haven't personally tested this card but many others here report good results.

----------

did you install the KEXT allowing the higher power output to be recognized?

http://www.sonnettech.com/support/downloads/software/dskcd-usbpwr-101.dmg

I'd try to connect the iPad to the card and not to a USB hub.

Thanks for the link mike.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.