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What USB 2.0 card for Mac Pro

AkuskaUK

AkuskaUK

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 18, 2011
376
177
Shanklin, Isle Of Wight
Hi all,

Due to my ever growing studio, i need extra USB's for the audio interfaces, what card should i be looking for? All i see on eBay is cards with molex connections, can those be used in a Mac Pro 2009?
 
AkuskaUK said:
Hi all,

Due to my ever growing studio, i need extra USB's for the audio interfaces, what card should i be looking for? All i see on eBay is cards with molex connections, can those be used in a Mac Pro 2009?
Click to expand...

Everyone has already pointed you to the best USB 3.0 cards. Do you specifically need/want USB 2.0? Would a powered USB Hub be an option?

Even if you get a USB 3.0 card, I still recommend a hub to go with it.
 
The reason i have chose USB 2 instead of 3 is the amount of comments i have heard about problems with them. I need at least 4 more USB's for the hardware i use. It's also the price; trying to stay on a students budget.
 
AkuskaUK said:
Hi all,

Due to my ever growing studio, i need extra USB's for the audio interfaces, what card should i be looking for? All i see on eBay is cards with molex connections, can those be used in a Mac Pro 2009?
Click to expand...

The Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 is backward compatible to USB 2.0 and supports other USB devices aside from storage HDs.
 
Personally think that using the Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 with a hub is the best option (unless all your devices are self powered, otherwise a hub is recommended)
 
^^^^Correct, and you can use a powered hub along with the Inatek Card. Two pulses to using a Powered Hub:

1. It moves the USB 3.0 ports to the front of the Mac Pro.

2. And, as you pointed out you can use unpowered devices.

Lou
 
Inatek driver?

Hi,

I took the advice on this thread and purchased an Inatek 4 port USB PCI card for the MacPro 3.1 I'm working on - I downloaded the Generic Driver


GenericUSBXHCI
Open Source USB 3.0 xHC driver for OS X 10.7.5 - 10.9


But there's no apparent way to install it. If I simply drag the .kext file into the System Library Extension folder it tells me it's been improperly installed.

When I check the System Profiler I see the Inatek is recognized, but there is No driver installed, so, I'm assuming it isn't going to work. There is no USB 3 superbus that shows up in the USB profile, either.

Could use some help installing the .kext file - the driver, so I can use this card I've purchased. Thanks very much,

Paul
 
paulhartel said:
Hi,

I took the advice on this thread and purchased an Inatek 4 port USB PCI card for the MacPro 3.1 I'm working on - I downloaded the Generic Driver


GenericUSBXHCI
Open Source USB 3.0 xHC driver for OS X 10.7.5 - 10.9


But there's no apparent way to install it. If I simply drag the .kext file into the System Library Extension folder it tells me it's been improperly installed.

When I check the System Profiler I see the Inatek is recognized, but there is No driver installed, so, I'm assuming it isn't going to work. There is no USB 3 superbus that shows up in the USB profile, either.

Could use some help installing the .kext file - the driver, so I can use this card I've purchased. Thanks very much,

Paul
Click to expand...

You may want to check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1501482/

Inateck KT4004 (formerly known as KTU3FR-4PA rev B2). 4-port USB. Does not require supplemental power. About $20-$30.
The nMP uses the FL1100 chipset.
These have native drivers supplied by Apple in Mountain Lion 10.8.2 and newer.
Big review here.

You shouldn't need to do anything with drivers, they are native to current OS X releases since 10.8.2 ... just plug it in and use it! :)
 
believe I need a driver

Thanks for the reply, but I believe I do need a driver - I'm on Lion 10.7.5 - not Mountain Lion, so I understood the earlier posts to mean I need a driver - and I downloaded the Generic driver linked to, unfortunately, I cannot seem to get it installed. There's no automatic installation that occurs when double clicked, the .kext file icon simply appears, and a unix file that opens the Terminal window, but that's it - and nothing seems to activate the driver.

I tried dragging it into the System Library extensions folder where the rest of the kext files live, but am told it is improperly installed.

Looking for help, really, installing this driver:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/genericusbxhci/

Any help would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul
 
Last edited:
Thanks

Thanks for the link to kext drop, I'll give it a try!

----------

The kext drop worked and the Driver is INSTALLED.

THANKS so much!!!!
Really great!!

Thank you thank you!!
 
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