Easily find and download software and drivers for your HP products including pcs, laptops, desktops, printers, tablets, apps and services from HP Customer Support.

item.166990

Charles Rozier

Can anyone suggest a reliable low cost USB 3.0 card for a Mac Pro? I have read of problems with sleep and of compatibility with card readers, among other things. I had thought this would be easy by now..

item.167057

Sam Mullen

For USB3 cards, the RocketU Quad was great for me until I upgraded to Mountain Lion, then it stopped working entirely. HighPoint's support are blaming Apple and saying they don't know when a fix will be available.

item.167103

Joe Ciccio

I installed the Orico PFU3-2P USB 3.0 PCI card in my Mac Pro 3,1. The Fresco chip in it is natively supported in 10.8.2. There are no drivers needed. There appear to be other USB cards now using this chip. The Orico card is only $15! I did not add a power cord, but the bus powered portable drive that I plugged in works fine.

My Passport portable USB 3.0 drive is recognized and the read / write speeds (Blackmagic Speed Test) are about 66 MB/s, which is about double my Iomega portable FW 400 drive. The test numbers are not awesome, but may be due to the limits of my portable drives and Mac Pro.

Only problem I found is if you put your computer to sleep, the drive is not shut down properly. This appears to be a problem with the non-native cards also. Otherwise, the USB 3.0 works well. I have not tried any hubs or booting off the USB 3.0 drive

item.167121

Andy Foster

I'm running a Sonnet Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe card (from OWC) on a 2008 Mac Pro using Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard, the latter when I boot into it. No problems on either OS. Drivers for Mountain Lion are available for this card at the Sonnet website.

[N.B. I took a look at this on Amazon and noted a bunch of negative reviews there. Not sure why it's working for some and not for others. -Ric Ford]

item.167131

Jan-Henrik Preine

The ORICO PFU3-2P card should work out of the box with Lion and Mountain Lion. No driver needed! Available in Germany at Amazon for 17 Euro [here].

item.167143

Charles Rozier

Thanks for the helpful comments. I have ordered the Orico.

This sort of help is one of the best things about MacinTouch.

item.167144

Jim Weisbin

I've been using a Caldigit FASTA-6GU3. It has two 6G eSATA ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. The eSATA ports do not require drivers, but the USB 3 ports do, and they are working on ML. However, I was having problems connecting a USB 3 hard drive at the same time as connecting a USB 2 (non-storage) device. I contacted Caldigit and they told me that this configuration is not supported. I have not tried using both USB 3 ports at the same time for storage devices.

item.167183

Michael Fussell

The question regarding adding USB 3 to a Mac Pro via a card:
I would have a similar question regarding adding USB 3 to a Macbook Pro via the PC Card slot. I suspect that the PC Card slot bus is the limiting factor but I am not sure. Thus a USB3 connection might not be any faster than the built in USB2.

item.167207

Emory Lundberg

Express Card 2 has support for USB 3, and was released in 2009. There are some models of 17' MacBook Pro that have Express Card 2, but that's it.

The problem with those will be that since this is pre-Ivy Bridge, you have different USB 3 controllers and driver/software issues for each card on the market. I'm sure there are some combinations of software/hardware that are functional, but I don't know how reliable any of them would be.

item.167233

James Salkind

I noticed that the Orico PFU3-2P comes with either the Fresco or the NEC chip. Does anyone know if it makes a difference which chip is on the card?

item.167272

James Salkind

I should clarify that Orico makes two different USB3 cards with similar form factors, the PRU3-2P which has the NEC chipset and the PFU3-2P which has the Fresco chipset. The one with the NEC seems to be more available, but does anyone know if it will work in a Mac Pro? Thanks.

item.167986

David Rubright

Having looked at the possibilities to replace a Mac Pro 1,1 with a Mac Pro 5,1, I went to the Dell site and started doing comparison shopping. To get a Xeon processor at Dell does cost plenty, though there are certainly more options for graphics cards. Do I live without USB 3 and Thunderbolt? I've read the reviews of USB 3 PCI cards, and they are awful. If I buy something for the next 5 years, it better be future-proof. I am having a hard time justifying buying the Mac Pro 5,1. It would be nice if Apple could broadcast their Mac Pro intentions.

item.168057

Scott Elliott

David Rubright comments that, in his opinion, after reading reviews of USB 3.0 PCIe cards, that they are 'awful.'

I did extensive research and ended up choosing and purchasing a CalDigit SuperSpeed PCI Express Card

The card and driver software (customized by CalDigit to support Mac OS 10.5, 10.6. 10.7, and 10.8) has worked flawlessly in my brand-new Mac Pro 12-core tower.

Just offering a different point of view.

item.168071

Steven May

Scott Elliott offered a different point of view:

'I did extensive research and ended up choosing and purchasing a CalDigit SuperSpeed PCI Express Card. The card and driver software (customized by CalDigit to support Mac OS 10.5, 10.6. 10.7, and 10.8) has worked flawlessly..'

What is great about the theory of USB3 is that the bus bandwidth, like SATA and unlike legacy USB or FW, should allow a throughput equal to the native drive speed of any given hard drive mechanism. SSDs typically will show the bandwidth limitations of most bus technologies.

So.. have you benchmarked any drives on this card?

item.168079

Joe Ciccio

I installed the Orico PFU3-2P USB 3.0 PCI card in my Mac Pro 3,1. The Fresco chip is natively supported in 10.8.2. There are no drivers needed. The Orico card is only $15! Works fine with or without the additional power cord.

My Passport portable USB 3.0 drive is recognized and the read / write speeds (Blackmagic Speed Test) are about 66 MB/s, which is about double my Iomega portable FW 400 drive. The test numbers are not awesome, but may be due to the limits of my portable drives and Mac Pro.

Some caveats (also seem to be a problem with some the non-native cards available):

1. If you put your computer to sleep, the attached USB 3.0 drive is not shut down properly.

2. If a USB 3.0 drive is plugged into the card and the computer is initially booted, the startup is fine until the User signin window, at which point it freezes until the drive is unplugged (then you can immediately proceed with normal signin and plug the drive back in).

3. I set my computer to never sleep, but 'put hard disks to sleep when possible' checked. In the morning, had to restart for the card to recognize a newly plugged in USB 3.0 drive (the drive showed that it was powered, but it was not recognized by the computer). This probably means that you cannot keep a USB 3.0 hub plugged in. Not sure if this is an OSX driver, PCI bus, or USB card design problem. Either way, it works fine for my main purpose, using inexpensive USB 3.0 drives for storage and backup. I am not leaving them plugged in full time.

item.168086

Allen Ruckle

After some online research of the Orico PFU3-2P and finding, Newegg was out of stock, I ordered an Orico PFU3-4P. The four port unit works natively with OSX 10.8.2 without third party drivers, such as the Caldigit requires.
During my online research, there were several complaints about timely driver updates from third party vendors for their USB 3.0 cards.

I recently purchased a 2012 Mac Mini, which would not recognize an external USB 3.0 drive using bus power but required an external power source. The Orico card works just fine, thank you, using bus-powered drives.
So farm, very satisfied.

item.168099

David Losada Soler

I have the Orico PFU3-4P card in a Macpro 5.1 (mid 2010) and it doesn't provide power even to a pen drive. Any device connected to it has to have its own power supply or get its current from a powered USB hub.

Have those of you that use this card your devices connected to the card or to a hub?

I've also found that some USB hubs can derive power to the card. So now I have one of those hubs connected to the card and the other three ports of the card are able to drive bus powered devices.

item.168131

Barry Levine

While USB 3.0 is welcome, we apparently still have some quirkiness and potential incompatibilities. I could not get the CalDigit card to work with a USB 3.0 hub without a kernel panic. The hub worked fine with both third-party and native Mac USB 2.0 ports. The hub (tried two different hubs) worked with my Mini's native USB3 ports. My guess is, we have a driver issue. I should note the CalDigit card worked perfectly with USB2 and USB3 hard drives, just not with the hub in the middle.

item.168141

Joe Ciccio

I did not install an internal power cable and have had no problem with bus powered portable drives and the Orico PFU3-2P USB 3.0 PCI card on my Mac Pro. The test speeds I listed were using bus power from the card. I just purchased a 6 pin to 4 pin power cable on ebay to install to see if transfer speed and sleep/restsrt issues improve (be sure to get a cable that is at least 13' long to reach the card).

item.168248

John O'Donnell

Based on the few positive reports in this forum, I bought the Orico PFU3-4P card. It shows up in my System Profiler, but the attached WD 3.0 drives do not mount on my Mac Pro 3,1.

When I originally bough the drives I tried a WD USB 3.0 card with it. I could get the system to recognize the card, but it wouldn't work because it showed no drivers installed. I tried some third-party drivers, but none worked. Eventually, WD said their drive is not Mac-compatible, so I sent it back.

I was looking forward to trying the Orico card, and although it says driver is installed, it won't mount the drive.

Any thoughts?

item.168282

David Rubright

I have given up on USB 3 on a Mac Pro 1,1. I'll be happy with eSATA drives for video work. Maybe I was harsh in my criticism of the USB 3 cards, but they are far from perfect IMO. I still live on 10.6.8 and CS4. I think I may wait for the promised Mac Pro update this year. It is bound to have USB 3 and Thunderbolt. Maybe more choices for GPU? It is hard to part with $2 or $3K for USB2 and a 2010 vintage GPU.

item.168280

Joseph Ciccio

I have the same Mac Pro 3,1 and the Orico PFU3-2P card and have not had a problem connecting to USB 3.0 drives like WD My Passport (bus powered) or Seagate Expansion (self powered). Even using USB 3.0 to backup using Time Machine without any hitches. Noted no real difference with or without connecting a power cable to the card (although the power cable appears to interfere a little with the nearby bluetooth card). Perhaps there is less compatibility with the 4 port version of the Orico card? Make sure you running OSX 10.8.2.

item.168263

David Losada Soler

John O'Donnell wrote:

Based on the few positive reports in this forum, I bought the Orico PFU3-4P card. It shows up in my System Profiler, but the attached WD 3.0 drives do not mount on my Mac Pro 3,1. When I originally bough the drives I tried a WD USB 3.0 card with it. I could get the system to recognize the card, but it wouldn't work because it showed no drivers installed. I tried some third-party drivers, but none worked. Eventually, WD said their drive is not Mac-compatible, so I sent it back.
I was looking forward to trying the Orico card, and although it says driver is installed, it won't mount the drive.

Orico supplies no drivers for Snow Leopard. This card is supported directly by Mac OS X Lion or Mountain Lion.

At least in my case, the card doesn't provide power to the attached devices; thus they need their own power supply or to be connected to a USB hub with a power supply.

item.168299

John O'Donnell

I have powered WD Essential 3TB & 2TB drives attached, so I don't need the power cord. I wound up removing the card as it would not let the Mac Pro power off --- just kept restarting

item.168308

Matt P

Sonnet, Newertech and others make eSata cards that work great with Macs. In the case of USB 3.0 vs eSata, eSata is just as fast, if not faster than, USB 3.0. So if you're looking for speedy hard drive access, and, like me, are just plain tired of Apple taking years to catch up to current PC technology in this respect, I'd suggest using eSata; you won't have to mess around finding drivers that may or may not work.

item.168322

Matt Snider

The 2-port StarTech USB3.0 PCIe card with the NEC chipset is reported to work fine for external powered drives. See this link for further information:
http://retrocosm.net/2012/02/23/ssd-esata-and-usb-3-in-a-mac-pro/
There is also a suggestion for a cheap addition for converting the 2 extra SATA headers in a Mac Pro to eSATA ports.

item.168339

Ron Butcher

I have tried two different USB 3.0 PCIExpress cards in a Mac Pro 3.1.
The first was a LaCie card, which I purchased without fully realizing the vendor-restrictive limitations. (LaCie USB 3 products only compatibilty)
My newest acquisition had been the Orico PVU3-4P USB 3.0 PCI express card. The good news is, the card is recognized with the OS X 10.8.2 native drivers. The bad news is, I cannot get any device recognition (powered or unpowered), without utilizing the 4-pin power plug on the card.
I kludged together power to the card via a splitter on the power cable to the optical IDE drive then running one end to the Orico card. The card now works and recognizes USB flash drives and self-powered devices.
New problem:
Don't know if this is hardware or driver related, but the powered card wreaks havoc with Bluetooth.
My Apple Bluetooth mouse is virtually unusable - very jerky operation. I am not sure about other Bluetooth devices.

So, back to the drawing board to achieve a stable solution.

item.168373

MacInTouch Reader

I just bought an LG monitor (Flatron 29AE93-P) which has resolution of 2560x1080. Connected it to my MacPro 3,1 (early 2008) that has ATI Radeon HD 5770 card installed. The maximum resolution I can get on the LG monitor is 1920x1080.

Any suggestions how to get it to display all pixels would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Goran

item.168378

Ali Kaylan

RE: LG monitor (Flatron 29AE93-P)

Regarding lower resolution on Mac Pro, as suggested here many times, use the other DVI plug in the back of the Mac Pro. Only one is capable of higher resolution.

item.168384

Victor Staggs

Goran can't see more than 1920x1080 pixels on his LG Flatron monitor connected to a Mac Pro with 5770 HD grapics card. The only ways I can see for this to happen are 1) if he is using a mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter instead of the Apple mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter; 2) using an HDMI port on the display, which only supports 1920x1080 pixel resolution.

item.177433

Sterett Prevost

Re: power for a USB card in my Mac Pro:

I have an early 2008 8-core Mac Pro. I want to add a USB 3.0 PCI card, but the card has a molex 4-pin male socket for the power it requires on it. My idea is to use one of the two 6-pin female logic board power points just aft of the front fan assembly to power the card, but I'm having a HARD time finding a correct cable for this purpose. Anyone know of a source for one?
As to using one of the optical drive power connectors, the internal space is way too cramped with the two optical drives already in place for a 'splice in' or piggyback situation to fit. The correct cable would need to be about 18' long.
TIA for any help.

[You might want to read some discussion about this issue we previously had here. -MacInTouch]

item.184200

MacInTouch Reader

Has anyone had any experience using a air filter on your Mac Pro? I recently bought a foam air filter for my 2010 Mac Pro that covers the outside of the front grill. I was expecting slightly higher operating temperatures with the filter installed. Using Hardware Monitor, I saw that most of my temperatures were 5-10 deg (F) hotter except for both of the power supply locations, which were about 45 degrees (F) hotter! This increase was consistent for several hours while only running Mail and Safari. I took off the filter and my temperatures returned to normal after a short time. Curiously, fan speeds were about the same, with or without the filter.

item.184251

MacInTouch Reader

Perhaps a stupid question. I notice the new Mac Pro has 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and my Early 2008 Mac Pro also has 2 Ethernet ports. Why and when would 2 ports be useful? It seems as if the space on the new Pro could be better used.

item.184351

MacInTouch Reader

Just a neophyte from Wyoming chiming in , but I note that thanks to built-in multihoming, the OS X can handle around five separate network connections.. mix and match.. Ethernet, Firewire, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth , even ye olde dialup.. in a hierarchy.

I almost always have both Ethernet (DSL) and my wireless LAN running simultaneously. Two printers and DropCopy run on the wireless between three Macs, as does my DLNA HDTV video streamer (Hulu Plus and XBMC for local files). I don't get hiccups.

Dunno why you couldn't run two ethernet tributaries at the same time, like a file server setup or direct connect to another Mac, and still do internet.

item.184278

Steve Major

Re: Two ethernet ports:

There are couple of things that dual ethernet ports can accomplish.

- If you're on a network with virtual LANs, your Mac can have a 'foot' on each one. This is mainly useful if you're running Server and want/need services on both VLANS.

- You can combine both ports into one virtual Ethernet port. This is called 'link aggregation'. You end up with a 2-gigabyte ethernet port for faster network transfers. Your network electronics also have to support this. Apple's KB article on this is here:

item.184285

MacInTouch Reader

MacInTouch Reader asked:

Perhaps a stupid question. I notice the new Mac Pro has 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and my Early 2008 Mac Pro also has 2 Ethernet ports. Why and when would 2 ports be useful? It seems as if the space on the new Pro could be better used.

I'm no expert on this subject, but a review on The Vergenotes:

'I'm glad they stuck with the dual Ethernet setup, too. It's always been a standout feature in the Mac Pro that you can connect to two wired networks simultaneously, or gang them together for double the bandwidth.'

item.184287

James Cutler

MacInTouch Reader asked,

'.. Why and when would 2 ports be useful? ..'

The primary audience for the Mac Pro is professional audio/photo/video editing. Speed is of the essence. Two ports allow separation of networked storage access from other communications.

item.184296

Lyman Taylor

Re:

Why and when would 2 ports be useful?

There are three major usages. They depend in part upon the network infrastructure the Mac Pros will be used in conjunction with; just by themselves, the ports aren't useful.

1. Port aggregation. You can 'bond' those two ports together, which will give the system a 2 GbE connection to the network. If there is a server with effectively 2-4 GbE ports on it, then the result is quicker connections. This requires being connected to a switch which can also 'bond' ports. Those kinds of switches are not rare and unusually expensive anymore.

Shared storage environments (NAS - network attached storage - or SAN - storage area network) is increasing where Mac Pros are targeted.

2. Traffic segregation. There can be two independent networks. One for general Internet traffic (email, web, basic stuff) and one for just NAS/SAN traffic. This can leave the NAS/SAN network with better latency and bandwidth without the much more random-traffic, generic Internet. The storage network can also be secured in a must tighter fashion.

3. Super-expensive router (somewhat a narrow specialization of the previous one). Some folks use Mac Pro as a 'inside/outside' router, VPN server, and/or gateway. One port is connected to the outside world and one to the inside network. That marginally made sense before. With the new design, it does [not] seem all that cost effective (there is lots of hardware, two GPUs, that have nothing to do with networking).

In a single-machine network, with everything directly connected (or inside) the system, they won't be very useful but that doesn't seem to be a major target.

item.184312

Pat Wilson

I use the second ethernet port on my Mac Pro for a LAN which is otherwise isolated from the rest of the network and which does not have direct access to the outside world. This LAN hosts development hardware. It is also used for packet generation and throughput testing, which would disrupt the main LAN and which should definitely not reach the outside world.

Another use for multiple ethernet ports is to use the host as a customisable router. Indeed I use a 1st-gen Mac Mini running Linux for this purpose, with a USB-Ethernet adapter.

item.184315

RIck Ward

Xsan/StorNext in particular requires three network interfaces: one for all the usual TCP/IP networking stuff like authentication, one dedicated to data from the SAN, and one dedicated to the metadata that accompanies the SAN data. For practical reasons, the best way to do that is have two separate Gigabit ethernet interfaces and one high-bandwidth interface. Your 2008 Mac Pro needed a fiber-optic interface card to connect to a SAN. Newer Macs can use a Thunderbolt-to-fiber adapter for their interface.

item.184318

David Charlap

An anonymous MacInTouch Reader wrote:

'Perhaps a stupid question. I notice the new Mac Pro has 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and my Early 2008 Mac Pro also has 2 Ethernet ports. Why and when would 2 ports be useful? It seems as if the space on the new Pro could be better used.'

Dual network interfaces is common among servers. There are typically three applications:

1: Fault tolerance. You attach both ports to the same IP subnet (via the same switch or different switches). Software is configured to automatically fail-over to the secondary port if connectivity is lost on the primary,

2: Direct connection to two networks. If you have two IP subnets, you attach one port to each. This means users can access the server directly from each subnet without having to go through a router.

3: Extra bandwidth. There are many ways to do this. A popular one is link aggregation. Connect both ports to a single managed Ethernet switch and configure the ports (both on the computer and on the switch) to be aggregated. The aggregate will behave as a single 2Gbps link as far as IP and higher-layer protocols are concerned.

If your Mac is acting as a server, any of the above scenarios can be useful. As a host/workstation, maybe not.

item.184324

MacInTouch Reader

Re:

'Perhaps a stupid question. I notice the new Mac Pro has 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and my Early 2008 Mac Pro also has 2 Ethernet ports. Why and when would 2 ports be useful? It seems as if the space on the new Pro could be better used.'

Server applications, mainly.

item.184330

Jamie Pruden

Two Ethernet ports are useful for folks with servers, as you can assign different services to separate ports.. in fact, you can even put a machine on two separate networks.

You can also use the Mac Pro as a very high powered router for your network with the external network on one port and the internal network on the other. Makes it *really* simple to put services on the broader internet.

The last reason (that I know of) is using both ports in aggregate so that you can get the potential of 2 Gbit to the network. I think this takes some work on the switch side to make it work, but it can be a GoodThing for those who need maximum networking speed.

item.184344

Michael Fryd

A MacInTouch reader asked when two Ethernet ports might be useful.

There are a number of advanced configurations where two ports are helpful:

- I have a publicly accessible server in my office. I can use one port for the public IP address, and the second port to connect to my local private address LAN space. This allows local machines to see the server via Bonjour and to access it quickly without bogging down our router.

- I can use one port to connect to the LAN and the other port for dedicated iSCSI connected storage.

- I can distribute network traffic across both ports doubling network throughput.

- I can use the Mac Pro as my office router. One port connects to the Internet, and the other to the local LAN.

I am sure there are other uses, these are just the first few to come to mind.

item.184377

Todd Miller

Link aggregation and more to the story..

Just because you bond two ethernet connections into one may not increase speed of reading and writing to a server.

Here are some quick numbers.

Test file: 3.87GB QuickTime movie.

Test Server: 16-drive RAID 6 with over 1000MB/sec transfer rate.

10GB Ethernet Switch (16 10GB Ports) to multiple 10GB Ethernet switches with 48 ports 1GB.

.35 seconds to transfer from test server to 480GB PCI SSD card in Mac Pro. On 1 gig ethernet.

.35 seconds to transfer from test server to 1GB 7200rpm startup drive on a different server, connected by 10GB Ethernet.

.12 seconds to copy from test server to another server on 10gb ethernet, a RAID 6, with over 800MB/sec.

Conclusion..

If you don't have a fast drive(s) on both sides of the pipe 1, 2 or 10GB not going to make any difference.

You want faster speeds.. make sure everything is fast along the chain.

If I have a moment, I'll bond two ethernets on a Mac Pro and test speed to the server.

item.184392

Michael Jackson

Related to multiple ethernet ports, I actually purchased a PCIe dual Ethernet card to put into my Mac Pro, so I have a total of 4 Ethernet ports. I am a developer of cross-platform software, and I typically have 3 Parallels virtual machines running at any one time. Giving each VM a dedicated ethernet port with a dedicated IP address allows me to directly address each VM with things like screen sharing (VNC, Remote Desktop) from offsite through my VPN connection. It also allows each VM to run network services (file sharing, web server, etc.), again where each VM will get a dedicated IP address.

Cheers

item.184416

Samuel Herschbein

Michael Jackson said:

.. Giving each VM a dedicated ethernet port with a dedicated IP address allows me to directly address each VM with things like screen sharing (VNC, Remote Desktop) from offsite through my VPN connection. ..

I accomplish the same thing in VMware using its Network Adapter settings. The adapter is set to Bridged Networking, and the virtual machine's OS is set to use DHCP. My VPN router does Static IP via DHCP; when it sees a certain MAC request an IP address, it always assigns that MAC the same IP.

Also, in Network Adapter's Advanced Options, a custom MAC can be specified if necessary.

item.184423

David Charlap

Todd Miller wrote, regarding link aggregation:

'Just because you bond two ethernet connections into one may not increase speed of reading and writing to a server. .. If you don't have a fast drive(s) on both sides of the pipe 1, 2 or 10GB not going to make any difference. You want faster speeds.. make sure everything is fast along the chain. If I have a moment, I'll bond two ethernets on a Mac Pro and test speed to the server.'

If you bond two Ethernet ports together (and assuming your switch supports aggregation), you still may see no improvement using your test (copying a large file).

When you perform a file transfer, both computers need to have a link that's fast enough. Furthermore, most good link aggregation implementations will try to avoid splitting a single flow of packets across multiple links, because doing so tends to result in out-of-order delivery, causing TCP's congestion control mechanisms to kick in, slowing down everything.

In order to test link aggregation, you really will want to hit your server with a lot of requests for large files, originating from multiple clients on the network. This way, you will have multiple flows that can be properly distributed across the two links, and your clients won't need to have aggregated links.

item.184432

Michael Carnes

My old Nehalem CPU should continue to get good use when the new Mac Pro arrives. Because I do cross-platform development, I run Parallels VMs most of the time and Boot Camp when I have to. I'm planning on running the old machine headless whenever I can. This brings up the question of network aggregation in the links between old Mac and new Mac. So far I haven't found any way to do this under Win 8.1. I wonder if anyone has performed this particular experiment successfully.

item.187560

Brian McPherson

I need information regarding the antenna wires that attach to the MB363Z/A AirPort card.
There are three antenna wires labeled 1-2-3 that are loose, and the information I found said to connect #1 & #3 to the card. (I have found web instructions that say use #2 & #3.)
It's a tight fit and #1 terminal broke off as I attempted the install. I don't think resoldering is an option (too tiny and very little space).
Anyone with insight as to the config of the wires?
Will it work with only one antenna?
Is #2 & #3 the correct placement or will it work?
I'd give it a try except it's so tight of a fit - I fear another break while experimenting.
Thanks in advance

item.187613

Tony Aguila

To Brian McPherson, you lucked out! You only need terminals 2 and 3 for the AirPort card. I have done close to a dozen installations of AirPort cards in Mac Pros (several reinstallations when the AirDrop-compatible cards came out).

I have heard of some installations using terminals 1 and 2, or 1 and 3, to work, so I experimented with the combinations during several of mine in the beginning. Invariably, I found that terminals 2 and 3 worked better, or, at worst, the same, as the other combinations, and I have been using these two ever since.

It's not the easiest after-market installation in a Mac Pro. Patience is a must, and small hands a great advantage.

item.187617

Stephen Hart

Brian McPherson wrote:

'It's a tight fit and #1 terminal broke off as I attempted the install. I don't think resoldering is an option (too tiny and very little space).'

You might try silver-based conductive epoxy. It's expensive, but if you can fix the connector instead of replacing a whole part, it might be worth the cost.
Part of the problem is going to be removing any insulation from the tip of the broken wire. Another part of the problem is going to be getting enough magnification so you can see what you're doing.

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item.188202

Brian McPherson

Thanks Tony! And MacInTouch!

That was the info I needed. I got my wife w/petite hands to help and used plastic chop sticks (with flat blunt end) to push to connectors into the card. It's tricky to get the alignment right.
Back together and success! Using #2 & #3 leads.
It's good to be able to fix things with a little help from the community.

You solved my dilemma.
Cheers

item.188260

John Feinberg

I've got a tower Mac Pro I keep on the floor, and a 1-year-old. I'm not really worried about the toddler beating on it, but I would rather that she doesn't learn to press the power button. Has anyone ever rigged up some kind of cover for the power button? I can probably come up with something, but if there's a solution out there already it will work better than what I'll come up with and it will look better too.

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Robin Lake

After my mother set fire to the toast in her microwave at the Assisted Living facility, the powers-that-be wanted to confiscate her microwave. Rather than let them do that, I fabricated a clear plastic cover for the keys that only gave access to the 30-second button. For my Mac Pros, I would consider something much the same --- a piece of clear plastic with a pointed screw, fit into the face grid and screwed down just enough that a one-year-old might not be able to swing it.

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MacInTouch Reader

John Feinberg writes,

'I've got a tower Mac Pro I keep on the floor, and a 1-year-old. I'm not really worried about the toddler beating on it, but I would rather that she doesn't learn to press the power button. Has anyone ever rigged up some kind of cover for the power button? I can probably come up with something, but if there's a solution out there already it will work better than what I'll come up with and it will look better too.'

How will you protect against her pulling the cords out of the back?

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John Smith

Look for CableBox at the Container store

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10028020

They have a mini CableBox with power strip. Look at that, too

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Stephen Hart

John Feinberg wrote:

'I've got a tower Mac Pro I keep on the floor, and a 1-year-old. I'm not really worried about the toddler beating on it, but I would rather that she doesn't learn to press the power button.'

I'd be more worried about her tipping it over on herself.

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MacInTouch Reader

I'd just set the power settings so the power button puts the machine to sleep. It's actually a surprisingly difficult thing for a toddler to push that particular button down long enough to shut down the machine. I've had my three-year old attempt it, and while she can do it instantaneously to turn it on, she cannot hold it down long enough to force the power off.

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Robert Mohns

John Feinberg writes:

'I've got a tower Mac Pro I keep on the floor, and a 1-year-old. I'm not really worried about the toddler beating on it, but I would rather that she doesn't learn to press the power button. Has anyone ever rigged up some kind of cover for the power button?'

I had exactly this problem. I took a small piece of acrylic, scored and cut it to about an inch and a half wide and a few inches tall, drilled holes near each corner, and then ran safety wire through the holes, through the Mac Pro's cheese grater front and back out. Twist together, and voila - no more power button access!

Granted, this means you can never power down (or up) the machine without removing the wired-in shield, but my Mac Pro is either in use or sleeping; using the power button is a very rare event. It also covers the front USB and FireWire ports; I decided this was probably a net gain, lest she start trying to shove things in..

In response to the person who asked, more or less, why wouldn't this stop the kid from pulling the rear power cord: The Mac Pro's power cord is in there tight. A 1-year-old could pull i0010t, if they get a good grip, wrap it around their arm, and fall backwards. But since the back of the Mac is about 6' from a wall, it's a non-issue. My daughter made it through her toddlerhood without ever investigating the back of the Mac. After she learned the front was no longer responsive, it became furniture to her.

So far, my 10-month-old shows no sign of going after the Mac. But I'm sure that button cover will return to duty soon. :-)

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Russell Haines

Re:

Has anyone ever rigged up some kind of cover for the power button?

I had a toddler in the house a few years ago who kept eyeing the button on my UPS and eventually pressed it. I eliminated his curiosity by covering the button with a 2x2 piece of cardboard, stuck on with clear packing tape. It wasn't pretty, but it did the job.

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Pete Van Der Goore

Great idea! Hows this for an improvement? Drill a tiny hole right over where the button is. Then you can push it with an itty bitty screwdriver but the kid still can't get at it.

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John Feinberg

I like the suggestion of the clear acrylic piece over the power button held in place with wire run through the cheese grater holes. And big bonus points to go to the suggestion of the small hole drilled in the acrylic over the power button, for continued access!

To answer the other concerns, I've got the mac pro wedged betweeen a desk and a wall, so the toddler can't get to the wires in the back, nor can she knock it over. She can just bang on the front of it, and press the power button (which she's already done once).

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Robert Mohns

Stephen Hart writes:

'I'd be more worried about her tipping it over on herself.'

Nah. The Mac Pro weighs twice as much as a toddler. By the time my daughter was heavy and strong enough to move something as massive as a Mac Pro, she no longer needed to grab things to pull herself into a standing position.

Really, it's a non-issue.

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MacInTouch Reader

Re:

'I've got a tower Mac Pro I keep on the floor, and a 1-year-old. I'm not really worried about the toddler beating on it, but I would rather that she doesn't learn to press the power button.'

It's not much of a button, more like a subtle dimple or something. I usually have trouble finding it, groping around in the dark under my big desk and running my fingers over the Mac's front -- I invariably end up grabbing a flashlight. Maybe in a lit-up place, and at eye-level for a toddler it would be different.. but I find it surprisingly difficult for an adult to find or to push.

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MacInTouch Reader

Has anyone experience with trying to use an HP Thunderbolt 2 PCIe I/O card in older, pre-2013 Mac Pros? The HP model number is F3F43AT and it's for sale by B&H Photo for $149.

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Steven Shepperd

Looks very much like this is a proprietary card designed for very specific HP (PC) systems only.

From the verbiage, it doesn't even look like it would work with other Windows-based PCs. There are also no Mac drivers (although there is a possibly-non-zero chance there might be built-in Mac OS-based support? I'd wager that to be highly unlikely, though!)

If someone actually purchases this card and gets it to work on an older Mac Pro, I'd be happy.. but color this a far-fetched possibility..

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Lyman Taylor

Re:

.. trying to use an HP Thunderbolt 2 PCIe I/O card in older, pre-2013 Mac Pros?

The specs of this HP card mention an internal 5-pin connector. It is highly likely that this is a GPIO connector, and it is required for the card to work. Hence, why none of the HP workstations pre 2013 work/certified with this card either.

If the card doesn't work with the vast majority of older HP systems, the chances of it working with old Apple systems is pretty slim. It isn't an 'Apple' thing. A 2013+ Dell/Lenovo/etc system that was designed for a GPIO header cable and Thunderbolt support firmware support might work with this card, but going back several years, there were no Thunderbolt card standards. So systems are probably not going to be designed to work with them.

Thunderbolt is not another 'flavor' of PCIe. Systems need more than just PCIe for the functionality to work.

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Richard Ripley

I've been running my Mac Pro for about two months now, and it is a 'cherry' machine - quiet, quick and trouble free. I have a 6-core Mac Pro with 16 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD, and D500 GPU. Great machine!

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Robert Sorrels

As a professional photographer, I have been flogging my mid-2010 dual quad 2. GHz Mac Pro for over 4 years. It has been hot-rodded as far as the machine will go: 32 GB RAM, PCI-e SSD boot/root drive, 6G SSD for photo storage. It still has the HD 5770 graphics processor. It is getting long in the tooth, as the latest iMac with fastest processor is clearly quicker in most photo applications.

I am both a photojournalist (mostly HS sports) and a 'fine art' image maker. The photojournalism part is always on deadline, and I'll often have 1,000 raw files per event to sort, discard, and edit to get the 2-3 that make publication.

As every photographer knows, the raw files continue to grow, and likely the deadlines get shorter. I just read (thx) the BareFeet analysis, which is quite interesting. I was more than a little surprised at how well the top-end iMac holds up against the base new Mac Pro. It appears that the nMP kicks butt on 'large sequential transfers' and on OpenGL rendering. I am curious as to why the nMP has superior SSD performance. Different type of SSD, or more likely superior data paths and handling?

I believe that some of the measures: the LuxMark and the AJA System Test are actually aimed more at video and rendering performance, thus have little to do with how well the nMP deals with static raw image files manipulated via say Photoshop. Is this assumption correct? (It's generally accepted that Adobe doesn't put a lot of energy into multi-threading and multi-processor optimization with its software relying more on brute CPU speed.)

This leads me to ask the MacInTouch community for responses from photographers who are using the new Mac Pro. Has the newer hardware made a noticeable/demonstrable improvement in your work flow? The price delta between a trick iMac and the base nMP is only a couple of hundred dollars, plus the nMP needs a monitor and an infusion of 3rd party RAM. Don't know how well my 7-year-old 30' Cinema HD display will play with the nMP.

Thanks for any info.

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Robert Mohns

Robert Sorrels writes:

'Don't know how well my 7-year-old 30' Cinema HD display will play with the nMP.'

It will require Apple's $99 MiniDisplayPort to DualLink DVI adapter. (MonoPrice now sells a $79 equivalent, but I haven't used it.)

I've been using the Apple adapter to drive a Dell 30' with the same panel for a few years now. One tip: plug in the MiniDisplayPort connector before the USB connector. Doing it the other way around sometimes doesn't work. No idea why.

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MacInTouch Reader

I just upgraded to a new Mac Pro, and my old Cinema HD display works just fine with the Apple Dual DVI adapter. It will suffice until Apple release a 4K monitor.

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Stephan Strasser

I have Dual 30' monitors. They work with Apple's dual DVI adapters. You cannot watch movies or TV on your displays, because the encryption on the TV or Movies cannot be verified.

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Robert Sorrels

Thanks, Robert Mohns and MacInTouch reader, for the information on the Cinema Display. I hang on to monitors far longer than CPUs, and while my Cinema HD is beginning to show its age, adding the cost of a replacement monitor would make purchasing a new Mac Pro prohibitive.

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Stephen Hart

Samuel Herschbein wrote:

I bought an Apple Studio Display in 2002 with my Power Mac G4 MDD. The G4 died; the monitor is still in use daily as a second display for my MacBook Pro..
If today's computers and peripherals were made that well, MacInTouch readers would hear a lot less from this curmudgeon..

I suspect that today's Macs are made that well. Witness the many MacInTouch readers who are running Snow Leopard. I've given away several Macs that are still in use today.
What any computers can't do is keep up with changing OS versions, which have new features and speed, driven by consumer demand.

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Samuel Herschbein

Robert Sorrels said:

.. I hang on to monitors far longer than CPUs ..

I bought an Apple Studio Display in 2002 with my Power Mac G4 MDD. The G4 died; the monitor is still in use daily as a second display for my MacBook Pro. I did have to replace some internal parts from a dead one, and the stand broke and is held together with tie-wraps.

If today's computers and peripherals were made that well, MacInTouch readers would hear a lot less from this curmudgeon..

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David Charlap

Stephan Strasser wrote:

'I have Dual 30' monitors. They work with Apple's dual DVI adapters. You cannot watch movies or TV on your displays, because the encryption on the TV or Movies cannot be verified.'

To be more precise, some DVI-based monitors support HDCP encryption. Some do not. Those that do will play movies from protected sources just fine. Those that don't, won't.

That being said, Apple's 30' Cinema display does not support HDCP. Some 30' DVI displays from other vendors do have this support.

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Jeremy W

Since I sold my MacBook Pro to move to a new Mac Pro, I've been thinking how to best make it super portable for on-location jobs (photo/video). Being that the Mac Pro itself easily fits in a backpack (ie: ThinkTank), how could I reduce my kit down to also include a display?

The recent ASUS MB168B+ USB display looked like it could fit the bill, being full 1920x1080 and only .8mm thick. Basically, a nice laptop display without the laptop and fully powered by a simple USB3 cable.
The problem is that the display as shipped has a blue tint to it. I never expected it to be 100% color accurate, but I did expect that I'd be able to use a Monitor Profile and/or create a manual profile/calibration for it so that it was neutral. This appears to not be the case with DisplayLink at all!
These USB monitors aren't new technology, so what have Mac users been doing with them? Is it a DisplayLink issue or is it an Apple issue? I hope a reader might have an answer.. Thanks.

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Kathryn Jenkins

Alternatively, I'd love to find a newer, 802.11ac, mini PCI-e WiFi daughter card for it, but that may be asking too much?

Check out the reader-submitted feedback on adding AC cards and adapters at http:/www.xlr8yourmac.com.

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Harald Striepe

Re:

'So, as a reminder, I'm on the lookout for any company that might manufacture a compatible mini PCI-e, Bluetooth 4 daughter card to replace the Bluetooth (2?/3?) card in my old Mac Pro. If such a beast even exists.'

Check at http://www.osxwifi.com

BTW, I have both a Mac Pro 2,1 running Mavericks, a 3,1, and a 5,1. The (upgraded to) 3.02GHz 12 core 5,1 is quite fast, but interestingly the 2,1 performs better than the 3,1.

The ExpressCard to PCMCIA PC Card and CardBus Read-Writer DuelAdapter™ is designed to connect the new generation of ExpressCard equipped laptops with legacy PCMCIA 32-Bit PC CardBus and 16-Bit PC Cards. This cross-platform device seamlessly converts data at the highest throughput speed from PC Cards designed for cellular broadband, wireless networking, video, audio and memory expansion to the new ExpressCard format.

Using special electronics to convert PCMCIA PC Card input to an ExpressCard compatible signal, the adapter can reach transfer rates up to the full 2.5Gbit/sec supported by the ExpressCard interface--five times faster than USB 2.0. The adapter works with ExpressCard equipped laptops or desktops running Windows XP and Mac OS X operating systems. Installation is a snap and the DuelAdapter™ has been tested with a wide range of existing PC Cards including: Panasonic P2 cards, and 3G wireless cards from Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobile, and Verizon. If the drivers exist on a supported platform for a specific PC Card, then it should work without any issues. DuelAdapter™ comes with a one year limited warranty. Please check the Unsupported Systems List before purchasing.

Features and Specifications

• Windows XP and Mac OS X compatible
• Works great with Panasonic P2 Cards!
• Fits in 34mm or 54mm ExpressCard slots
• Works with standard PCMCIA 32-Bit PC CardBus and 16-Bit PC Cards
• Connects PCMCIA PC Cards to ExpressCard equipped notebook and desktop computers
• Also works with CompactFlash, Memory Stick, MMC SD Card, and other consumer memory cards using suitable adapters
• Data transfer rate up to ExpressCard maximum, limited by PC Card application
• Convenient 2-part module with cable for easy desktop configuration
• Easy driver installation and set up

• 1 Year Limited Warranty

• Please check the Unsupported Systems List before purchasing.
• ExpressCard 54 or 34 equipped PC
• Windows XP and Vista
• Drivers must exist for any PC Card being used

• ExpressCard 54 or 34 equipped Mac (ie. MacBook Pro)
• Mac OS X 10.6 (NOTICE: The DuelAdapter does not support Apple SNOW LEOPARD software upgrade)
• Mac OS X 10.5 (no drivers required)
• Mac OS X 10.4.8 (on CD-ROM)
• Mac OS X 10.4.9 and 10.4.10 drivers are available for download from Duel System's download site.
• Drivers must exist for any PC Card being used

• Village Tronic has informed their customers that their VTBook product does not work with the DuelAdapter.

• Allienware M5550
• Allienware M5551
• Dell Latitude 131L
• HP/Compaq DV2416US
• HP/Compaq DV6000 Series Models
• HP/Compaq DV9000 Series Models
• Nobilis N4026
• Sony VAIO VGN-CR123 E
• Sony VAIO VGN-CR203 E
• Sony VAIO VGN-F2180 E/B
• Toshiba Satellite A205 6468
• Toshiba Satellite P205
• Toshiba Satellite S4607
• Toshiba Satellite S4807
• Toshiba Satellite X205
• Macs Running Mac OS X 10.6 and above

• TI

• Host: ExpressCard
• Peripheral: PCMCIA 32-Bit PC CardBus Cards
• Peripheral: PCMCIA 16-Bit PC Cards

• Host: ExpressCard 34
• Peripheral: up to Type II PCMCIA PC Card

• Up to the full ExpressCard specification (x1 PCI Express)
• Limited by maximum data rate of PC Card used

• 16-Bit PCMCIA PC Cards
• 32-Bit CardBus PC Cards
• Wide Area Network cellular cards
• 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN cards
• ATA Flash Cards and Drives
• Port expansion cards
• Ethernet LAN cards
• Memory cards
• Modem cards

• DuelAdapter ExpressCard to PC Card Adapter
• 1-year limited warranty and support card
• Product registration card
• Driver CD-ROM
• Install Guide

• Dimensions Interface Module: 34 x 110 x 15mm
• Dimensions Interconnect Cable: 225 x 6mm diameter
• Dimensions PC Card Module: 72 x 141 x 26mm
• Weight: 115g (approximate)

• Meets all PCMCIA and ExpressCard requirements
• 3.3V ± 0.3V @ 500mA (max.) directly from ExpressCard socket
• Approvals: UL, CE, FCC, RoHS

Support

ExpressCard FAQ for ExpressCard 34 and ExpressCard 54

Answers a broad range of ExpressCard questions including form factor, compatibility, etc.

Drivers For DuelAdapter

Drivers for this device, including BETA drivers for Mac OS X 10.4.9.

Links for P2 Drivers

Links to P2 drivers for Windows and Mac OS X, to use in conjunction with DuelAdapters

Troubleshooting Guide

Troubleshooting guide for Windows XP

Troubleshooting Guide

Troubleshooting guide for Mac OS X

Notice to Customers Running Mac OS X

Due to a peripherals management limitation in Mac OS X, the MacBook Pro or other Apple computers must be restarted before reinserting the DuelAdapter into the ExpressCard card slot. We are actively working with Apple and expect to have this situation corrected in a future Mac OS X release. Please check this page for updates.

Running Cingular's Sierra Wireless Air Card 860 under the DuelAdapter

How-to for AC860 with Windows XP

Unsupported Systems List

List of systems have ExpressCard firmware issues and are known not to work with the DuelAdapter. Some other ExpressCard equipped computers may also have compatibility issues, this list is by no means comprehensive.

Duel Adapter is a trademark of Methode Electronics, Inc.