[chasg]

Hi All,

I need a recommendation for a port-multiplier-aware eSATA card for my dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro.

When I upgraded to Snow Leopard, my Sonnet Tempo SATA E2P card stopped working (there was a documented problem with the chipset, according to Sonnet). I was using it to drive a Sonnet 500P 5-drive bay (with port-multiplier).

I've seen a few cards on the market, not from Sonnet, that look quite inexpensive and say that they are port-multiplier aware. Is there a definitive card that people are using? I only need two ports (well, I actually only need one), so 4-port cards are unnecessarily expensive (and yes, the chipset in the Sonnet E2P card has been replaced so that it's now Snow Leopard compatible, but my local retailer carries several cards that are less expensive, so I'd like to see what people are using).

Thanks in advance for any help!

Chas

[mduell]

E4P is the only one I've found that's reliable and performant.

[reader50]

^^ I think mduell means a Sonnet E4P card. My current eSATA card is a Firmtek, and it has worked perfectly. But I've no way to test it with Snow Leopard. Avoid HighPoint - their support sucks.

The really cheap cards you've seen are based on generic Silicon Image chips, with drivers supplied by them. Unfortunately SI stopped updating their Mac drivers in the early 10.5 days - they push that onto the card manufacturers now. Only the Mac-centric card manufacturers bother to write Mac drivers.

[chasg]

Great info guys, much appreciated.

The real kicker is that I bought my whole eSATA setup when I had a G5 tower, with PCI-x slots. I bought the 4-port Sonnet E4P eSATA card, and then that G5 died and my replacement Mac Pro had PCI-e slots, and that's when I bought the replacement Sonnet E2P card (the E4P is not a cheap card!). Bummed when the E2P turned out to have a faulty chipset (and, I seem to remember the Sonnet Tech telling me, the chipset was from Silicon Image).

I still have that PCI-x E4P, anyone want to buy a barely-used eSATA card for their PCI-x machine? :-)

Cheers!

Chas

[reader50]

Put it up in our Marketplace forum. I might be interested if it were G4 PCI compatible.

[mrh63061]

I've been using the Newertech Maxpower eSATA 6G PCIe card and haven't had any problems, best of all is no drivers required, runs native on 10.6, I don't have the one that is port multiplier capable since I really only use it for for back ups and storage.
But check it out and it's reasonably priced, NewerTech MAXPower PCIe eSATA 2-Port SATA 6... (MXPCIE6GRS) at OWC

[chasg]

Thanks for the pointer mrh63061!

I found the port-multiplier version here (I'm in the UK, no OWC here, unfortunately). A bit more expensive, but comparable to the competitors:

TheBookYard

Looks good, though a reported 6GB/sec seems a bit of an exaggeration?? (has the eSATA spec changed since I last looked at it? I thought it maxed out at 3GB/sec).

Thanks for the pointer!

Chas

[Waragainstsleep]

SATA 3.0 equipment recently began shipping so I'm informed.

OWC will ship to the UK. I reckon it would be £70 inc. shipping and tax, still probably slightly cheaper depending how much bookyard want for shipping. Obviously it won't arrive quite as quick.

[chasg]

Sorry Waragainstsleep, I lost track of this discussion.

Many thanks for the info. £70 isn't too bad, I may take a punt!

Cheers!

Chas