Velocity Solo X2 Now Available

[Kierkegaard]

Here you go, I added a third card, just for fun. Here's the Disktester number's...

--------------- Averages for "Vertex3" (4GB/start, 5 iterations) ---------------
Transfer Size Write MB/sec Read MB/sec
32K 230 208
64K 329 306
128K 441 407
256K 622 610
512K 771 784
1MB 911 947
2MB 933 1038
4MB 1039 1193
8MB 1123 1324
16MB 1172 1439
32MB 1214 1489
64MB 1233 1528
128MB 1012 1540
256MB 1224 1548

Command "run-sequential-suite" executed in 894.47 seconds on Monday, August 27, 2012 10:05:09 AM PT

and the AJA numbers for each.

Tes débits en lecture et en écriture sont de haut de voltige mais cela n'a rien de si surprenant quand on sait que tu utilises des applications qui traitent des données hautement compressibles. Et les SSD dotés d'un contrôleur SandForce, tels que les fameux Vertex 3, c'est bien connu, ils sont très bons avec ce genre de données.

Mais pour fin de comparaison, si tu voulais faire un test avec tes 3 X Vertex 3 en RAID0 mais cette fois-ci avec une application qui traiterait les données incompressibles, par exemple avec l'application Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, je prends les paris que tes débits en écriture chuteraient environ de moitié.

Les débits atteints en écriture avec des données incompressibles ( mp3 =>audio, .avi => vidéo, .jpg => image ou photo ) reflètent beaucoup mieux un usage courant que ceux atteints avec des données hautement compressibles.

 

[matthewtoney]

Here you go, I added a third card, just for fun. Here's the Disktester number's...

--------------- Averages for "Vertex3" (4GB/start, 5 iterations) ---------------
Transfer Size Write MB/sec Read MB/sec
32K 230 208
64K 329 306
128K 441 407
256K 622 610
512K 771 784
1MB 911 947
2MB 933 1038
4MB 1039 1193
8MB 1123 1324
16MB 1172 1439
32MB 1214 1489
64MB 1233 1528
128MB 1012 1540
256MB 1224 1548

Command "run-sequential-suite" executed in 894.47 seconds on Monday, August 27, 2012 10:05:09 AM PT

and the AJA numbers for each.

Wow - I want those numbers Too bad my slots are full...

 

[phpmaven]

Here you go, I added a third card, just for fun. Here's the Disktester number's...

--------------- Averages for "Vertex3" (4GB/start, 5 iterations) ---------------
Transfer Size Write MB/sec Read MB/sec
32K 230 208
64K 329 306
128K 441 407
256K 622 610
512K 771 784
1MB 911 947
2MB 933 1038
4MB 1039 1193
8MB 1123 1324
16MB 1172 1439
32MB 1214 1489
64MB 1233 1528
128MB 1012 1540
256MB 1224 1548

Command "run-sequential-suite" executed in 894.47 seconds on Monday, August 27, 2012 10:05:09 AM PT

and the AJA numbers for each.

I would love to five this a try while I still am in the return window for my Accelsior, but I only have 2 PCI 2.0 slots and my graphics card (5770) is in one of them. I would have to Mickey Mouse the other drive in somewhere, which I'm not really keen on. I don't want to give up one of my optical drives to do it. Based on your numbers, it would be a bit faster, but probably not worth the trouble. It would save me a bit of money however... Well...

 

[TableSyrup]

Here you go, I added a third card, just for fun. Here's the Disktester number's...

Daaaang! What slots? I take it they are in 2, 3 & 4 ???

I might have to do this.... this is crazy tempting.

 

[VirtualRain]

Here you go, I added a third card, just for fun. Here's the Disktester number's...

--------------- Averages for "Vertex3" (4GB/start, 5 iterations) ---------------
Transfer Size Write MB/sec Read MB/sec
32K 230 208
64K 329 306
128K 441 407
256K 622 610
512K 771 784
1MB 911 947
2MB 933 1038
4MB 1039 1193
8MB 1123 1324
16MB 1172 1439
32MB 1214 1489
64MB 1233 1528
128MB 1012 1540
256MB 1224 1548

Command "run-sequential-suite" executed in 894.47 seconds on Monday, August 27, 2012 10:05:09 AM PT

and the AJA numbers for each.

Awesome... I think two of these cards, each with a single SSD, in RAID0 is the best bang-for-the-buck storage solution available on a Mac Pro. A 256GB M4 can be had around here for $200... that means a dual-card setup is only $600 for half a terrabyte of SSD storage that does 800+MB/s

 

[hfg]

Several posters in this thread have mentioned that the Velocity Solo X2 will not boot in a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 computer. Checking the Apricorn web page for this produce seems to indicate that it does boot on a 2008 Mac Pro.

Is this something that has recently been upgraded?

http://www.apricorn.com/products/desktop-ssd-hdd-upgrade-kits/vel-solox2.html

MAC PRO
The Velocity Solo x2 will function in all Mac Pro models, but will only boot in EFI64 machines which are the last 3 models known as Mac Pro 3,1 4,1 and 5,1 Your Mac model can be found by doing an "About This Mac", and then "More Info". The first two models known as Mac Pro1,1 and 2,1 are EFI32 so won't boot from the Velocity Solo x2, but will function as high performance storage.


-howard

Well ... since the current Apricorn web site doesn't mention the unreliable boot issue with 2008 Mac Pros, I went ahead and ordered a Solo x2 to try. I received it today and attached a Crucial M4 on it and plugged it into the slot-2 (x2.0, 16-lane) on my 3,1 Mac Pro.

Unfortunately, it did not appear in the bootable devices at the optionkey-startup screen. I booted from a HD image and the SSD drive does appear and is fully readable. It just won't appear in the boot list.

Any suggestions ... or must I accept that the 2008 MacPro has an unreliable boot as has been suggested, and just forget it?


I have sent my experience to Apricorn support, but have not heard back.

btw: I also have one of the eBay cards which claims to support SATA III and boot on all Macs. It appears to be a earlier version (Solo x1), and although it does boot, it does not seem to perform any better than with the Crucial M4 mounted in one of the standard drive sleds.

This is the eBay card:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130696186620&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160


Thanks for any help you can provide...
-howard

EDIT: For current readers catching up ... my Velocity x2 is now booting fine on my 2008 Mac Pro 3,1. It turned out that there was some interaction with another PCIe card, a dual eSATA card, which prevented the boot. Removing the other card eliminated the problem.

 

[phpmaven]

Well ... since the current Apricorn web site doesn't mention the unreliable boot issue with 2008 Mac Pros, I went ahead and ordered a Solo x2 to try. I received it today and attached a Crucial M4 on it and plugged it into the slot-2 (x2.0, 16-lane) on my 3,1 Mac Pro.

Unfortunately, it did not appear in the bootable devices at the optionkey-startup screen. I booted from a HD image and the SSD drive does appear and is fully readable. It just won't appear in the boot list.

Any suggestions ... or must I accept that the 2008 MacPro has an unreliable boot as has been suggested, and just forget it?


I have sent my experience to Apricorn support, but have not heard back.

btw: I also have one of the eBay cards which claims to support SATA III and boot on all Macs. It appears to be a earlier version (Solo x1), and although it does boot, it does not seem to perform any better than with the Crucial M4 mounted in one of the standard drive sleds.

This is the eBay card:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130696186620&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160


Thanks for any help you can provide...
-howard

Actually my OWC Accelsior doesn't show on the boot screen either. You have to set it as the default boot device and then it boots every time. I think it's a limitation of the drives being in the PCI slot. It's a little annoying it doesn't show there. I think what they meant by the Solo x2 "not booting reliably" was that it was freezing up on boot or something similar.

 

[hfg]

Actually my OWC Accelsior doesn't show on the boot screen either. You have to set it as the default boot device and then it boots every time. I think it's a limitation of the drives being in the PCI slot. It's a little annoying it doesn't show there. I think what they meant by the Solo x2 "not booting reliably" was that it was freezing up on boot or something similar.

That drive was set as my default boot device prior to moving it to the PCI slot and it did not seem to boot (grey screen). Once I booted from HD, I tried setting it as the startup boot device and rebooting, and again I was presented with a grey screen. I waited for what seemed like a long enough time, but perhaps I should just let it sit there and see what happens. I did notice when I gave up waiting and pressed the power button that the computer shut off immediately without having to hold the button in as when I do a "force power down".

 

[Kierkegaard]

Velocity Solo X2

Hello,

I live in Quebec and I would like to buy the Velocity Solo X2 card. Could someone can inform me and told at which place I could order this card? A web link to order the Solo X2 would be greatly appreciated.

I tried on Apricorn web site and for whatever reason, the transaction can never be complete. Amazon USA does not ship to Canada.

Thank you.

 

[phpmaven]

That drive was set as my default boot device prior to moving it to the PCI slot and it did not seem to boot (grey screen). Once I booted from HD, I tried setting it as the startup boot device and rebooting, and again I was presented with a grey screen. I waited for what seemed like a long enough time, but perhaps I should just let it sit there and see what happens. I did notice when I gave up waiting and pressed the power button that the computer shut off immediately without having to hold the button in as when I do a "force power down".

Wait... You took and drive that was already your boot drive and then just put it on the card and fired it up? If true, that's why it didn't work. OS X will see it as a different drive once it's moved to the PCI slot. That's why it just sitting there doing nothing. It can't find the boot disk. You have me a bit confused however because you say "Once you booted from HD". How did you do that if you just got a grey screen? I'm guessing you pulled the card out and put the drive back where it was?

You are going to need to clone your existing disk onto a new drive and put that on the card and boot off your existing drive and then set the Velocity Solo Drive as your boot drive and reboot. I guess you also could clone your existing drive onto some old drive you have and then shut down and put your existing drive on the card and then boot off the old drive and then set the Solo as your boot drive.

You are not going to be able to simply put your existing boot drive on the card and have it boot up. You will need to boot from another drive first.

I also certainly hope you have a solid backup.

 

[hfg]

Wait... You took and drive that was already your boot drive and then just put it on the card and fired it up? If true, that's why it didn't work. OS X will see it as a different drive once it's moved to the PCI slot. That's why it just sitting there doing nothing. It can't find the boot disk. You have me a bit confused however because you say "Once you booted from HD". How did you do that if you just got a grey screen? I'm guessing you pulled the card out and put the drive back where it was?

You are going to need to clone your existing disk onto a new drive and put that on the card and boot off your existing drive and then set the Velocity Solo Drive as your boot drive and reboot. I guess you also could clone your existing drive onto some old drive you have and then shut down and put your existing drive on the card and then boot off the old drive and then set the Solo as your boot drive.

You are not going to be able to simply put your existing boot drive on the card and have it boot up. You will need to boot from another drive first.

I also certainly hope you have a solid backup.

That is (I think) what I did. I was running the SSD in Tray1 and I cloned it to a HD in Tray4. Then I shut it all down and moved the SSD from the tray to the PCI card and installed it into slot-2. I then powered up with the option key pressed and looked at my possible boot drives. I have several windows and OS X bootable drives, but the PCI mounted SSD with a OS X and Windows boot partition did not appear as choices.

I then selected the previously cloned HD disk (Tray4) as the boot disk and loaded OS X. I can see both the PCI-SSD OS X and Windows drives on the desktop, and I can open them with Finder and view their contents.

Next, I opened SystemPreferences/StartupDisk and selected the PCI-SSD disk as the boot disk and rebooted. This is when I see the grey screen that doesn't seem to go away.

Are you saying I need to re-clone the SSD while it is mounted on the PCI card in order to use it as a boot device? I did not do that ... I used the image that was already on the card, but I did select it as the boot device while running OS X from the Hard Disk image. I can try cloning the HD back to the SSD while mounted in a PCI slot and see what happens then. Does the image on the disk contain imbedded references as to which logical disk it should be mounted as?

Thanks for you help and suggestion....
(Yes .... I have a solid backup(s) ... )
-howard

 

[phpmaven]

That is (I think) what I did. I was running the SSD in Tray1 and I cloned it to a HD in Tray4. Then I shut it all down and moved the SSD from the tray to the PCI card and installed it into slot-2. I then powered up with the option key pressed and looked at my possible boot drives. I have several windows and OS X bootable drives, but the PCI mounted SSD with a OS X and Windows boot partition did not appear as choices.

I then selected the previously cloned HD disk (Tray4) as the boot disk and loaded OS X. I can see both the PCI-SSD OS X and Windows drives on the desktop, and I can open them with Finder and view their contents.

Next, I opened SystemPreferences/StartupDisk and selected the PCI-SSD disk as the boot disk and rebooted. This is when I see the grey screen that doesn't seem to go away.

Are you saying I need to re-clone the SSD while it is mounted on the PCI card in order to use it as a boot device? I did not do that ... I used the image that was already on the card, but I did select it as the boot device while running OS X from the Hard Disk image. I can try cloning the HD back to the SSD while mounted in a PCI slot and see what happens then. Does the image on the disk contain imbedded references as to which logical disk it should be mounted as?

Thanks for you help and suggestion....
(Yes .... I have a solid backup(s) ... )
-howard

Ok, that sounds a lot better I would definitely clone it while it's mounted to the card. The OS sees it as an external drive when it's in the PCI slot, so it could definitely be confusing the boot manager. I still don't think you will see it on the boot screen, but it should boot from it. If that doesn't work, then perhaps it's not compatible with the 2008 Mac Pro after all.

 

[Kierkegaard]

Refund

That is (I think) what I did. I was running the SSD in Tray1 and I cloned it to a HD in Tray4. Then I shut it all down and moved the SSD from the tray to the PCI card and installed it into slot-2. I then powered up with the option key pressed and looked at my possible boot drives. I have several windows and OS X bootable drives, but the PCI mounted SSD with a OS X and Windows boot partition did not appear as choices.

I then selected the previously cloned HD disk (Tray4) as the boot disk and loaded OS X. I can see both the PCI-SSD OS X and Windows drives on the desktop, and I can open them with Finder and view their contents.

Next, I opened SystemPreferences/StartupDisk and selected the PCI-SSD disk as the boot disk and rebooted. This is when I see the grey screen that doesn't seem to go away.

Are you saying I need to re-clone the SSD while it is mounted on the PCI card in order to use it as a boot device? I did not do that ... I used the image that was already on the card, but I did select it as the boot device while running OS X from the Hard Disk image. I can try cloning the HD back to the SSD while mounted in a PCI slot and see what happens then. Does the image on the disk contain imbedded references as to which logical disk it should be mounted as?

Thanks for you help and suggestion....
(Yes .... I have a solid backup(s) ... )
-howard

Si tu n'arrives toujours pas à démarrer sur un SSD avec ton Mac Pro 2008, via cette carte Solo X2, cela ne devrait poser aucune difficulté à te faire rembourser puisqu'il est très clairement indiqué sur le site Apricorn qu'on peut démarrer aussi avec cette Solo X2 sur les Mac Pro 2008. Ce serait dommage si cette carte Solo X2 n'était pas compatible avec les Mac Pro 2008. Je te souhaite de trouver une solution à ton problème.

« The Velocity Solo x2 will function in all Mac Pro models, but will only boot in EFI64 machines which are the last 3 models known as Mac Pro 3,1 4,1 and 5,1 Your Mac model can be found by doing an "About This Mac", and then "More Info". »

http://www.apricorn.com/products/desktop-ssd-hdd-upgrade-kits/vel-solox2.html

 

[hfg]

Ok, that sounds a lot better I would definitely clone it while it's mounted to the card. The OS sees it as an external drive when it's in the PCI slot, so it could definitely be confusing the boot manager. I still don't think you will see it on the boot screen, but it should boot from it. If that doesn't work, then perhaps it's not compatible with the 2008 Mac Pro after all.

I feel I may have reached the end of the line here...

I put a spare SSD on the Solo x2 and reinstalled the PCI card into my 2008 3,1 Mac Pro, then booted into OS X from my existing drive. I used Disk Utility to format the PCI-SSD to start fresh. Then I did a clean install of Mountain Lion to the PCI-SSD ... it did the short 3 minute load, then rebooted and did the full 20 minute install, then rebooted to a grey screen for a couple of minutes until it finally booted my original OS X disk.

I looked at the PCI-SSD and it appeared to be a normal 4-folder OS X install and was 6.3 GB and said "Version 10.8.1" with Get_Info. Looking at the default StartDisk in SystemPreferences showed it to be the target boot disk. Just to be sure, I had it reboot with the PCI-SSD as the StartDisk, and it repeated the previous boot sequence ... long grey screen after startup followed by a boot to my original OS X image in Tray-1.

I guess I am out of ideas to try ... apparently the Velocity Solo x2 will not boot in a 2008 Mac Pro ... at least not on mine.

Odd that the eBay SATA III Solo x1 does boot, but doesn't provide much of a speed improvement over just putting the SATA III disk into a SATA II slot.

Thanks for listening and trying to help me....

-howard

(I suppose trying the card in a non-PCI_2.0 slot wouldn't accomplish anything. The 2008 unfortunately only has the one 2.0 compliant slot other than the video card slot).

 

[letscopro]

I had the Velocity X2 in the x16 slot in my 2010 Mac Pro. Yes, had. I was having some issue with the Velocity RAID set up, so I removed the card. I'm now using the 2 SSD's with the internal SATA II RAID.

I'm now running the X2 with 2 SSD's in RAID 0 with no problems. Originally, I tried the second SSD in an OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini enclosure. It worked, but I experience some strange behaviour, so I had to remove it. I've now got a SATA cable connected directly to the second SSD which is installed in the second optical bay.

 

[VirtualRain]

I'm now running the X2 with 2 SSD's in RAID 0 with no problems. Originally, I tried the second SSD in an OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini enclosure. It worked, but I experience some strange behaviour, so I had to remove it. I've now got a SATA cable connected directly to the second SSD which is installed in the second optical bay.

What are your AJA benchmarks now?

 

[Kierkegaard]

2 Velocity Solo X2 and 2 Plextor M3 256GB RAID0

L'application Blackmagic Disk Speed Test traite exclusivement les données incompressibles.

 

[letscopro]

What are your AJA benchmarks now?

Here are the latest results.

 

[Kierkegaard]

Disk Speed Test et données incompressibles

AJA offre de très beaux débits avec les données hautement compressibles mais ces débits sont impossibles à reproduire en utilisation courante, sauf dans les benchs.

Je préfère un logiciel qui traite les données incompressibles dont les débits reflètent beaucoup mieux un usage courant.

 

[maximage]

OK, so I have a Velocity Solo X2 in my Pro with a SSD on it for bootcamp. Also have an X1 with a regular 2.5" drive in another slot for backups. With just the X2, Windows boots fine, but when i chuck the X1 in there, it just hangs at a black screen with a flashing cursor after all the Apricorn BIOS stuff flashes up for both cards. I imagine Windows is trying to boot from the X1 first but it has no OS on the HD, as opposed to booting from the X2 with the SSD and Windows. Any ideas?

 

[lastmile]

Can you have both OS X and Windows installed on an SSD on the Velocity Solo X2 and be able to boot into both OSes? i know users reported that the original Mac version couldn't boot Windows.

 

[hfg]

OK, so I have a Velocity Solo X2 in my Pro with a SSD on it for bootcamp. Also have an X1 with a regular 2.5" drive in another slot for backups. With just the X2, Windows boots fine, but when i chuck the X1 in there, it just hangs at a black screen with a flashing cursor after all the Apricorn BIOS stuff flashes up for both cards. I imagine Windows is trying to boot from the X1 first but it has no OS on the HD, as opposed to booting from the X2 with the SSD and Windows. Any ideas?

I suppose I should update my experience with the Solo X2 not booting in a 2008 Mac Pro as detailed above in post #114 ...

As further troubleshooting, I reset the PRAM and SMC processors, and I removed the one other PCIe card that was in the system throughout all this. That other card was a simple dual channel eSATA interface that I run my external backup RAID-5 system on. Without the additional disk controller on the PCIe bus ... the Solo X2 now would boot!

Perhaps your problem with the X2 and X1 both on the PCIe bus has something to do with multiple disk controllers unable to co-exist?


-howard

 

[maximage]

Perhaps your problem with the X2 and X1 both on the PCIe bus has something to do with multiple disk controllers unable to co-exist?

Yeah, that's exactly what I figured, but was hoping maybe someone knew how to alter the DOS/BIOS boot type thingy that flashes up on screen before Windows boots. Figured it may have been something that could be tweaked in there. Oh well.

 

[beto2k7]

I have two of those booting in raid0 without a problem. According to apricorn site they will only boot in MacPro3,1 and later.

 

[maximage]

I have two of those booting in raid0 without a problem. According to apricorn site they will only boot in MacPro3,1 and later.

Yeah, it's only a problem when I boot Windows (Bootcamp). My Mac OS is on a striped 6x SSD RAID running from an Areca 1882 card, the Velocity card has a single SSD running Windows, but I also have a second Velocity card with a 2.5" drive on it for backups etc. Didn't really think it through too well when ordering, should have only bothered with one card. Using a drive on the second card is a bit superfluous as my system already backs up to a drive in the second optical bay as well as a Time Capsule. Have taken it out for now and all runs well without the second card interfering with Windows.