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G-Speed eS not working with Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard in a Thunderbolt adapter
I have this 6 TB G-Speed eS, which works connected to a MacPro with a G-Tech supplied eSATA card.
Now I’m trying to connect the same G-Speed eS to a MacBook Pro over Thunderbolt. For this, I’ve just got a Sonnet Echo Express Thunderbolt to ExpressCard adapter and a Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard 34 adapter.
I’m on a MacBook Pro 15″ 2.2 GHz i7 with 8 GB RAM and MacOSX 10.7.4.
My connections and cables are fine and Sonnet drivers are installed. With the above connected, I can access a single external eSATA drive in an enclosure.
Even a bare drive on a eSATA dock works fine. And, even the G-RAID, two drive RAID works fine with this combo.
But when I connect the G-Speed eS, all four drive lights come on, and I get four windows on my MacBook Pro telling me I’ve inserted a drive that Mac cannot read. With the ‘Initialize’, ‘Ignore’, and ‘Eject’ options.
Of course, I clicked on ‘Ignore’ as the G-Speed contains data.
Also, in Disk Utility I see 4 separate drives, but no RAID.
Like I said earlier, the same G-Speed eS works fine and all data is visible in a MacPro with a G-Technology eSATA card. It also works fine with a MacPro with a Sonnet Tempo SATA card E4P on another system I had tried earlier.So why does the G-Speed eS not with with a Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard which is port-multiplier aware.
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Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India -
3 Replies
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I think I may have found the answer here at the
G-Tech web site…https://www.g-technology.com/kbase/users/kb.php?id=20&category_id=10
Looks like the G-speed eS RAID only works with the supplied eSATA card, and only in a MacPro.
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Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India -
Compatibility issues like this really bother me and I’m sorry to hear you’ve found one “after the fact.”
Here was my most recent: a Sonnet Echo Pro ExpressCard adapter didn’t work with the Sonnet Tempo SATA Expresscard 3/4 adapter I have, only the non-pro Thunderbolt adapter works… it’s crazy out there right now with lots of hidden proprietary features being embedded into some solutions.
I find eSATA to be a real challenge on the Mac which is too bad since USB3 isn’t any better for machines that didn’t ship with native USB3 (and even then it seems there are issues.)
Sure, we could could both looked up a compatibility list before hand (and will from now on I’m sure), but hey, it isn’t unreasonable to think that port-multiplied-eSATA is what is says it is….
Here’s to hoping Thunderbolt develops into a more friendly ecosystem.
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There is no intuitive interface, not even the nipple. It’s all learned. – Bruce Ediger -
That’s exactly it: G-Speed eS’s RAID “brain” is on that eSATA card. G-Speed Q is the model with the brain inside the box – that one can be used on anything with an eSATA, USB or FireWire connection.
If you want G-Speed eS to be accessible on an MBP, your best bet might be sharing it on a Mac Pro, and accessing it from MBP over the network.
Alex Gerulaitis
Systems Engineer
DV411 – Los Angeles, CA
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