MP 7,1 Using the top two TB3 ports for attaching externals and booting up from them

[bxs]

Thanks.... that's a real bummer, not being able to add an extension cable. I'm told that to obtain the TB3's 40 Gbps one should use a cable length of 6" or less. I'm unsure how credible this is, but it does make you wonder why OWC uses a 6" captive cable for their Envoy Pro EX unit.

 

[bsbeamer]

Just need a 40Gbps rated cable, not all of them are. 1m and 2m are common. Longer not yet available.

 

[tommy chen]

Just need a 40Gbps rated cable, not all of them are. 1m and 2m are common. Longer not yet available.

passive are only the 0,5m qualified

longer (1m or 2m) only if the cable is active!

longer as 2m also no active cable has 40Gbps

 

[deconstruct60]

....

At this time I plan to keep my 1TB OWC Envoy Pro EX (OWC replaced the one I purchased in Feb 2018 with their new one, hoping it might operate better with the MP7,1) as it works flawlessly when connected to my Vega II ...

Macsales has tagged it as "New" , but looks to be the inserted internal M.2 Blade is 'new' , not the actual TBv3 enclosure. If look at the specs it is still using a relatively old DSL- 6340 Thunderbolt interface chip. That is a 2015 era TB controller in a supposedly 'new' 2019-20 product? Not really. ( even the JHL 6340 is a 2017 chip. Perhaps the specs are just old as dirt because Intel was phasing out DSL controllers a while back (due to lead composition issues and EU standards problems. ) But even the JHL is relaitvely 'old' for a 'new' product. )


They are missing a bus powered JHL-7340 Drive that could seamlessly do both TBv3 and fallback back USB-C sink mode off the same port . That would be a better "sneaker net" drive enclosure. but there is no way to get to that with still clinging to a 6340 controller.

Not many others have picked that ability up either so not sure if it is Intel promising a new TB controller "just around the corner" so folks are targeting it (and sliding on deployments ) or there are more quirks to making that work well with other devices. Or a bit of both.

The baseline tech in the Envy is pretty dated at this point to have a "new" label on it.

 

[bxs]

Thanks.... that's a real bummer, not being able to add an extension cable. I'm told that to obtain the TB3's 40 Gbps one should use a cable length of 6" or less. I'm unsure how credible this is, but it does make you wonder why OWC uses a 6" captive cable for their Envoy Pro EX unit.

OK.... I have found a solution, although it's not as clean as having/obtaining/using a TB3 extension cable.

I have an OWC TB3 dock so was wondering how I could make use of it to allow me to use the external Envoy Pro EX without having to hang/connect it directly to my Vega II TB3 port for Option key Startups.

I'd like to be able to use any of the TB3 ports my MP7,1 provides; either of the two top TB3 ports, either of the two TB3 ports on the stock Apple i/o PCIe card, and either of the four TB3 ports on my Vega II.

So to test this

1. I connected the OWC TB3 dock to one of the two TB3 ports on the MP7,1's case top using a certified TB3 cable.
2. I then connected my OWC Envoy Pro EX to the 2nd TB3 port on the OWC TB3 dock. Essentially the Envoy was last in line for the TB3 daisy chain; OWC Dock -> Envoy.
3. I then Restarted my MP7,1 with Option key.
4. The Envoy displayed as a boot selection AND IT DID NOT go poof in a cloud and disappear like it would if connected directly to any of the two TB3 ports on the MP7,1's case top or the TB3 ports in the Apple stock i/o PCIe card.
5. I selected the Envoy to boot up from, and this was a complete success.
6. I run the MP7,1 through a number of test and all was AOK.
7. I used AJA to measure the i/o speeds to/from the Envoy and was very pleased. See attachment.
8. I repeated this test with the OWC dock connected to all the other TB3 ports in my MP7,1, one at a time; 2nd TB3 port on case top, the two TB3 ports on the stock Apple i/o PCIe card, and any of the four TB3 ports on the Vega II. In all cases it was a complete success being able to select the Envoy via the Option key Restart process.

Yes, this is not as convenient as having an extension cable for the Envoy, but it does allow me to have the Envoy use ANY of the MP7,1's TB3 ports via the use of the OWC TB3 dock, which unfortunately does require its own power supply and having to live with some extra cabling.

I like the OWC Envoy Pro EX as it runs much faster (see i/o test results attached) than my Samsung T5 500GB unit and is more useful being 1TB in size. The Samsung T5 can be used directly in any of the MP7,1's TB3 ports which is nice and a decent alternative to having extra cables that the Dock+Envoy combo requires.

I use the OWC Envoy Pro EX and Samsung T5 for testing the Apple macOS beta systems and at this time I'm testing and reporting issues I find on my MP7,1 running 10.15.4 Build 19E224g.

 

[OkiRun]

OK.... I have found a solution, although it's not as clean as having/obtaining/using a TB3 extension cable.

I have an OWC TB3 dock so was wondering how I could make use of it to allow me to use the external Envoy Pro EX without having to hang/connect it directly to my Vega II TB3 port for Option key Startups.

I'd like to be able to use any of the TB3 ports my MP7,1 provides; either of the two top TB3 ports, either of the two TB3 ports on the stock Apple i/o PCIe card, and either of the four TB3 ports on my Vega II.

So to test this

1. I connected the OWC TB3 dock to one of the two TB3 ports on the MP7,1's case top using a certified TB3 cable.
2. I then connected my OWC Envoy Pro EX to the 2nd TB3 port on the OWC TB3 dock. Essentially the Envoy was last in line for the TB3 daisy chain; OWC Dock -> Envoy.
3. I then Restarted my MP7,1 with Option key.
4. The Envoy displayed as a boot selection AND IT DID NOT go poof in a cloud and disappear like it would if connected directly to any of the two TB3 ports on the MP7,1's case top or the TB3 ports in the Apple stock i/o PCIe card.
5. I selected the Envoy to boot up from, and this was a complete success.
6. I run the MP7,1 through a number of test and all was AOK.
7. I used AJA to measure the i/o speeds to/from the Envoy and was very pleased. See attachment.
8. I repeated this test with the OWC dock connected to all the other TB3 ports in my MP7,1, one at a time; 2nd TB3 port on case top, the two TB3 ports on the stock Apple i/o PCIe card, and any of the four TB3 ports on the Vega II. In all cases it was a complete success being able to select the Envoy via the Option key Restart process.

Yes, this is not as convenient as having an extension cable for the Envoy, but it does allow me to have the Envoy use ANY of the MP7,1's TB3 ports via the use of the OWC TB3 dock, which unfortunately does require its own power supply and having to live with some extra cabling.

I like the OWC Envoy Pro EX as it runs much faster (see i/o test results attached) than my Samsung T5 500GB unit and is more useful being 1TB in size. The Samsung T5 can be used directly in any of the MP7,1's TB3 ports which is nice and a decent alternative to having extra cables that the Dock+Envoy combo requires.

I use the OWC Envoy Pro EX and Samsung T5 for testing the Apple macOS beta systems and at this time I'm testing and reporting issues I find on my MP7,1 running 10.15.4 Build 19E224g.

When you Option Key Startup using your Envoy Pro EX, does this make any changes to your original 7.1 system? Can you exit the Envoy Pro EX and reboot normally again?

 

[bxs]

When you Option Key Startup using your Envoy Pro EX, does this make any changes to your original 7.1 system? Can you exit the Envoy Pro EX and reboot normally again?

[automerge]1581816587[/automerge]
You wrote: When you Option Key Startup using your Envoy Pro EX, does this make any changes to your original 7.1 system?
Answer: No

You wrote: Can you exit the Envoy Pro EX and reboot normally again?
Answer: Yes, and if the Startup Disk was set to my internal Apple's SSD boot image, it boots up using that without issues.

I always use Option key + Startup when I wish to run on an external boot image and leave the Startup Disk configured for the internal Apple's SSD boot image. This avoids me having to frequently change the Startup Disk in System Preferences. It also means if I'm running on an external device and want to Restart or Power off/Startup and want to use the external device I'm forced to use the Option key + Startup.