DaVinci 2008 MacPro Compatibility

DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci 2008 MacPro Compatibility

Posted by Dave Barnard on June 12, 2011 at 1:50 pm

I’m setting up Da Vinci Resolve on a 2008 Mac Pro system and seem to have run into a compatibility issue.

I am using Fibre Channel RAID storage connected to an Apple/LSI 4Gb Fibre Channel card.
When the machine boots up, mouse & keyboard clicks are not recognised.

Apart from this, everything works fine! Cards in the slots are:

1 NVidia GTX 285
2 NVidia GT120
3 Blackmagic Multibridge
4 Apple 4Gb Fibre Channel card

I have a feeling that the problem is caused by the Apple Fibre Channel card.
Although it will operate at full speed in a 4 lane PCIe slot, the board is physically 8 lane.
8 lanes would exceed the total bandwidth available on the PCIe bus, even though the extra bandwidth is not needed.

If I put a 4 lane Highpoint eSATA card into slot 4, no problem.

Has anyone else seen this problem, or used an Atto Fibre Channel card successfully with a 2008 Mac Pro?

Thanks All
Dave

Dave Barnard replied 14 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Mikhail Puzyrev
June 12, 2011 at 2:40 pm

Try to Insert the USB keyboard plug into the USB slot on the MacPro, not in the Apple Cinema Display or any other kind of USB hub.
Dave Barnard
June 12, 2011 at 4:21 pm

I’m using an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard & Mighty Mouse, but I get the same thing happening with an Apple USB keyboard and mouse plugged into the front port
Jason Myres
June 13, 2011 at 5:49 pm

[Dave Barnard] ”
I have a feeling that the problem is caused by the Apple Fibre Channel card.
Although it will operate at full speed in a 4 lane PCIe slot, the board is physically 8 lane.
8 lanes would exceed the total bandwidth available on the PCIe bus, even though the extra bandwidth is not needed.”

You’re fine. Your slot assignments are perfect. The Apple/ LSI fibre card works in 4x and 8x, but operates at full bandwidth in 4x.

JM
Dave Barnard
June 13, 2011 at 11:40 pm

I’ve tested it with another 4Gb Apple Fibre Channel card and it does exactly the same thing.
The mouse pointer moves, but no clicks are detected and no keyboard input.

If I leave the machine for some time after booting, both start working again but the Fibre Channel card is not detected in System Profiler.

If I substitute the 4 lane Blackmagic Multibridge card for a 1 lane Intensity Pro card, the system works but of course has no dual link SDI.

It should work with the Multibridge & Apple Fibre Channel card, but clearly does not!

Does anyone have a similar system working or can test with a 2008 MacPro and Apple Fibre Channel card?

Thanks!
Dave
Dave Barnard
July 22, 2011 at 4:30 pm

Just swapped out the Apple Fibre Channel card for an Atto FC42-ES and now everything works fine!

Clearly there is a problem using the Apple card for Da Vinci on this machine

It looks like the 8x/4x PCIe design of the card is the root of the problem

Hope this is helpful to someone

Dave

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