Mid 2010 Mac Pro - Thunderbolt External Hard Drive

For Christmas my family gave me a 2T Little Big Disk thunderbolt external drive. I have a mid 2010 Mac Pro which doesn't have a thunderbolt port. Is there a PCI card I can use to connect the drive to my Mac Pro?

Those "adapters" are standard HBA. Like ATTO and others.
eSATA/USB
CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 2 port USB 3.0 & 2 Port eSATA 6Gb/s host adapter
PCIe Bus Extender
Sonnet Express Bus Extender PCIe 2.0
SAS/SATA
ATTO ExpressSAS H680 Adapter
ATTO ExpressSAS H6F0 Adapter
ATTO ExpressSAS H644 Adapter
ATTO ExpressSAS R680 RAID Adapter(2)
Firmtek Seritek/e6G 2 Port eSATA PCI Express (PCIe) Serial ATA Adapter
Newer Technology MAXPower eSATA 6G PCIe 2.0 Controller Card
Newer Technology MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-1e1i Controller Card(3)
Newer Technology MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-2e Controller Card(3)
Sonnet Tempo SATA 6Gb Pro 2-port
Sonnet Tempo SATA 6Gb Pro 4-port
Sonnet 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID Controller(2)

Similar Messages

Will Mackbook pro mid 2010 support 3TB WD external hard drive?

Hi
I am having a MacBook Pro mid 2010 model and I am planing to buy a 3 TB WD external hard drive. So just wondering if my mac support 3 TB WD external hard drive.
Thank you so much for your help
Cheers

Yes, PROVIDED the external enclosure supports those drives. Older enclosures may not go larger than 2.2TB.

Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) using external HD - speed USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA - what are relative speeds - how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)_

    Hi All,
     I'm trying to resume regular scheduled Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) of drives using external HD (to allow off-site redundant backup storage) .
     What are relative speeds of USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA ?
     I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Thanks

Jim Bogy wrote:
...I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Adding a USB 3.0+eSATA PCIe card, which The hatter mentions, is the best solution that I've found. See http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/. The card is not cheap, but the USB 3.0 works flawlessly (which can't be assumed; ask me how I know) and the eSATA connection allows booting from the connected drive. Grant Bennet-Alder's point about HD speed is important to consider; in addition, the size of the individual files being backed up and where on the backup disk they're going will affect overall transfer speed. For example, using the USB 3.0 connection on that CalDigit card going to a Toshiba 3TB external, the transfer rate for a big file (say a virtual machine file) from an internal SSD boot drive was about 145 MB/sec while a bunch of little files might drop to 30 MB/sec and both rates decrease as an inner partition on the external is used. All told, a nearly 700 GB backup took under 1.5 hours. Using a HD as the source added almost an extra hour, though a WD external was used for that. Using a WD green drive plugged into this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/FWU3ES2HDK/ with an eSATA connection took about 2.5 hours also, but that was bootable whereas the USB 3.0 connection is not.
Another point to consider is that USB 3.0 is ubiquitous on PC's now so there's lots of price competition for externals; not so much for eSATA externals.

Is it possible to use one of the mac pro's internal hard drives as a external drive that can be accessed by a macbook etc?

is it possible to use one of the mac pro's internal hard drives as a external drive that can be accessed by a macbook etc?

Only if you move it to an external enclosure and let them both access it through a file server.

Has anyone tried a 4GB HDD in a Mid 2010 Mac Pro?

Has anyone tried a 4GB HDD in a Mid 2010 Mac Pro? I've read that you could go as high as 3GB with no problems although not supported. With the prices of HDD's dropping, I'd like to add more storage to my system, either internally of externally, but I'd like to get a couple of 4GB drives, and was wondering if anyone has used that combination with a Mid 2010 Mac Pro 8 core.

Drives as large as 16TB are directly supported in Mac OS X and behave well when formatted with GUID partition Table -- the default after 10.4.4.
There is a Bug in the Erase function in Disk Utility from 10.8.4, that is unresolved at this writing. Drives over 2.2TB, once erased with this software as an Internal Drive, the drive cannot be further partitioned or erased by that same software. A fix in 10.9.3 or later is anticipated, but not guaranteed. Older versions work fine. External enclosures with Large Drive support work fine.
Western Digital in particular (and others may soon follow) has also shortened the depth of the mounting holes on certain large drives -- the holes adjacent to the platters -- to allow for the addition of an extra platter on certain large drives. A washer may be required to reduce the effective length the drive mounting screw penetrates into the drive.

Problems with EFI Firmware Update to 1.5 for mid 2010 Mac Pro, and sleep issues

Hello to the community, I have run into an annoying issue.
I need to update the EFI firmware on my 8 core mid-2010 Mac Pro. I downloaded the EFI update from the apple website from here : http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1321
But everytime I download it, as I click to install, it gives me the message:
Alert
This software is not supported on your system.
But clearly this is the correct EFI for my computer. I tried burning the Firmware restoration onto a CD from here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1320
But the computer did not respond the way it said it should (with the 3 flashes/beeps etc.) and have the optical drive open for the CD.
So I'm completely stuck.
*Also my Mac Pro had issues with sleep, when I put it to sleep, sometimes when I try to bring it back, it restarts itself, and other times, it just turns itself on and the monitor screen remains black, so I have to hit the power button to turn it off then back on again. This only happnens when the computer has been put to sleep for a slightly extended period of time, roughly 20mins +, sometimes longer. I was trying to solve this problem by first updating the firmware because I think it could be related to that, but I've had this problem with the firmware so I couldn't find out. This is actually the bigger problem for me because it will affect my work. I am currently using an iMac while I fix up this mac pro.
I'm a music composer so I've upgraded many aspects of my system due to work. I have a 1TB Samsung 840 evo SSD, 2 seagate 2 TB HDD, and 1 WD 1TB HD (the original one in the mac pro), along with 32 GB of RAM. So my only problems are the firmaware and the weird activity when the computer is put to sleep.
Some help would be greatly appreciated!
I'm running OS X Mavericks 10.9.2
mid-2010 Mac Pro
8 core processor (2 X 2.4gHz)

According to this article, your EFI firmware is up to date:
Computer
Model identifier
EFI Boot ROM version
SMC version
Mac Pro
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
MacPro6,1
MP61.0116.B04 (EFI 2.0)
2.20f18 (SMC 2.0)
Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
MacPro5,1
MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5)
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
MacPro4,1
MP41.0081.B07 (EFI 1.4)
Mac Pro (Early 2008)
MacPro3,1
MP31.006C.B05 (EFI 1.3)
Mac Pro (8-core)
MacPro2,1
MP21.007F.B06 (EFI 1.2)
1.15f3 (SMC 1.1)
Mac Pro (Original)
MacPro1,1
MP11.005C.B08 (EFI 1.2)
1.7f10 (SMC 1.1)
EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs

I tried transferring my iphoto library from my old macbook onto my new macbook pro (via external hard drive), but when i open the new iphoto, it seems to have transferred ALL images ever used on my old macbook. so i tried to just del

i tried transferring my iphoto library from my old macbook onto my new macbook pro (via external hard drive), but when i open the new iphoto, it seems to have transferred ALL images ever used on my old macbook. so i tried to just delete all those images so i could try a different approach to transferring, but the new iphoto won't let me do anything and every time i try to delete anything it crashes (since the image amount is so high). please help!!
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iphoto '11, version 9.4.2

To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
But however you do choose to link the two machines...
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.

Does anyone know how to access the sound software on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro? I have a Logitech Z906 5.1 surround system with fiber optic in and out, I only seem to be able to get stereo and simulated 5.1 sound .

A mid 2010 Mac Pro, trying to get 5.1 surround out of the onboard sound software using fiber optic out connected to a Logitech Z906 5.1 speaker sys. with fiber optic in and out, all I get is stereo and simulated 5.1 sound out of the speakers. In utilities, Audio Midi Setup I can't get the Mac to see the Logitech speakers for 5.1 speaker configuration. Without being made to feel like a dummy, does anyone have a solution? Thanks, Carl

Hello John, I figured it was a signal issue. All the speakers fire and the sound is great. I was running the speakers thru a Dell PC with a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, THX Certified, 7.1 soundcard using a fiber optic from the Mac Pro to the Z906's, it worked great until the Dell died!!! When I bought the soundcard from Creative I also bought the GigaWorks S750, THX Certified, 700 watt, 7.1 speaker system, used the speakers for 11 years and then the woofer/amp said "I QUIT" Creative quit making the speaker system and the sound card. The satellite speakers from the Creative GigaWorks speaker system still sound great (rated at 78 watt each) and are a little better speaker than the one's that came with the Z906 and the wattage from the 906 is sufficient to drive the satellites without any distortion. Thank you for addressing my issue, you confirmed what I suspected all along, just needed to hear it from someone with the same setup.
One last question, I purchased a Diamond Multimedia USB Soundcard, can't use the fiber optic(not supported by Mac) but the green, tan and black RCA's plug in and produces adequetly. When you plug your 906's into the Mac Pro using the fiber optic how do you set your speaker configuration? When I plug into the mac pro with fiber optic the 'Audio Midi Setup' does not seem to see the 5.1 configuration. Any thoughts there?
Carl

10.7.3 USB Lockup on mid-2010 Mac Pro

Hello,
I updated my mid-2010 Mac Pro to update 10.7.3 this morning. Since then, I have had three occasions today, each one worse than the previous, where all USB devices connected just locked up completely and were totally unresponsive.
This includes my keyboard, mouse, and video camera. Those are the only devices that are connected to this computer.
One at a time I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting each device with no success. Interestingly on a couple of occasions, my keyboard would stop working but the mouse daisy chained out of the keyboard worked without any issues.
The most recent incident absolutely everything locked up and the only option I had was to do a hard reset of the computer. When I logged back in I quickly enabled the Bluetooth support and grabbed my wireless keyboard and mouse so that I can work.
Has anyone else encountered this yet? I know there aren't that many Mac Pro users any more.
In the meantime, Time Machine is performing a full backup and I think I will downgrade back to 10.7.2.
I wish I could go back to 10.6.8 but since this Mac Pro shipped with 10.7.2, it will not accept an earlier version of OS X. :-(

Wow, Same issue here on my Early 2008 Mac Pro. After 10.7.3 update, my USB ports have been behaving erratically. The problem actually seems to be getting progressively worse too.
From what Ive gathered so fat, it seems almost as if the ports are now underpowered. Plugging a keyboard directly into the USB port seems to work indefinitely. As soon as I add other devices to same port, the new device won't work.
My first assumption was that my USB hub was shot, but then I tried the ports on the back of my Cinema Display and they were all jacked up too.
I tried plugging another keyboard directly into the front USB port but That didn't work either, as it seems there was no power for it due to the other devices plugged into the back. I unplugged everything but the front keyboard and it still didn't work until I restarted it.
Extremely hard to troubleshoot how this issue is behaving. Like I said, erratic is probably best description.
This is the worst bug I've personally experienced after an update to an OS since I've been using Macs on System 7.
I really hope Apple fixes this ASAP.

Mid 2010 Mac Pro 10.6.4 Does Not Log In

This is both a MacPro question and an Avid ProTools question...first I need to get the Mac working again and then come up with a longer term ProTool solution....
I am at a new job where I am currently running ProTools 8 using a Digidesign 003 on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro running OS 10.6.4. There are two user accounts, and only one (the adminsitrator account) is marginally functional. It runs extremely slowly (five minutes to launch GarageBand) and the application icons in the dock do not display correctly. When attempting to log into the other account, after a few minutes a blue screen comes up and then it returns back to the log in screen.
I know that the computer would be compatabile with Mavericks OS 10.9, but I know that 10.9 is not reccomended for any Avid Product (even newer versions of ProTools).
How can I make the computer operational while still running OS 10.6? Do I need to upgrade to a newer OS and take on the expense of upgrading to a newer version of ProTools? What about compatability with the 003?

it shipped with an OEM DVD of special build of 10.6.4 but you really need 10.6.8+ at least, or 10.8.5. Depends on if your apps still rely on older PowerPC and Rosetta.
Software Update would have to be turned off it you are not already on 10.6.8 plus all the security updates and new Safari update and others.
I like to have a safety net, clone your system, take the clone off line, then make updates and changes. And have two such backup working clone systems handy. In some cases you can just partition one drive to do that.
Sounds like other issues. Invest in a 250GB or 500GB SSD for t he system. PCIe SSD card and SSD(s) for scratch and media libraries.
Make sure it has 24-48GB RAM.
ATI 5770 drivers really need 10.6.8.

Best Video card for Mid 2010 Mac Pro

I'm currently running a Mid 2010 Mac Pro with a 5870 video card in it. I feel that it's bottlenecking processes, and want to upgrade it. I'm not looking to upgrade the computer itself, but want to get the fastest video card that I can.
Looking for suggestions, and links if possible to what you know works.
Thanks!

Why do you a) need a "fast" video card, and b) think it is the bottleneck (it might)?
Maybe you need dual AMD's and a 2nd 5870 (with the addition of 2nd 450W PSU to drive it).
This: July 25th, 2014 -- GeForce GTX 780 6G: Mac Pro Tower 'Sweet Spot'?
Do you have some SSDs for system and scratch? that often is where you can attack a bottleneck and improve performance.
Graphics can need as much RAM as possible. Dual or single cpu? many are choosing to install one or two faster cpus of the 3.4GHz variety to help.

I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?

I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?
What I am ultimately wanting to do is make more room on my computer by backing up all of my files onto the external hard drive and then deleting them off of my computer. However, neededing to be able to retrieve them from the external hard drive later down the road.
From what I have read and am trying to understand, is that I probably shouldn't have used time machine. I need to use the external hard drive like a basic flash drive where I can put things on and get things off without having it automatically update through time machine everytime I connect it to my computer.
Not tech savvy at all and barely understand basics. I need very simple and easy to understand explanations.

sydababy wrote:
and then deleting them off of my computer.
BIG BIG MISTAKE ..... youre making a linchpin deathtrap for your data trying to shove everything on a single fragile HD.
Dont suffer the tragedy other people make, buy another or 2 more HD, theyre cheap as dust.
The number of people who have experienced terror by having a single external HD backup is enormous. One failure that WILL HAPPEN, and kaput,......all gone!
Dont do it, its all about redundancy, redundancy, redundancy.
follow here:
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Deleting them off your computer is fine....having only ONE copy is extremely BAD.
The Tragedy that will be, the tragedy that never should be
Always presume correctly that your data is priceless and takes a very long time to create and often is irreplaceable. Always presume accurately that hard drives are extremely cheap, and you have no excuse not to have multiple redundant copies of your data copied on hard drives and squirreled away several places, lockboxes, safes, fireboxes, offsite and otherwise.
Hard drives aren't prone to failure…hard drives are guaranteed to fail (the very same is true of SSD). Hard drives dont die when aged, hard drives die at any age, and peak in death when young and slowly increase in risk as they age.
Never practice at any time for any reason the false premise and unreal sense of security in thinking your data is safe on any single external hard drive. This is never the case and has proven to be the single most common horrible tragedy of data loss that exists.
Many 100s of millions of hours of lost work and data are lost each year due to this single common false security. This is an unnatural disaster that can avoid by making all data redundant and then redundant again. If you let a $60 additional redundant hard drive and 3 hours of copying stand between you and years of work, then you've made a fundamental mistake countless 1000s of people each year have come to regret.

Connecting 2 Macs to an external hard drive

Hi,
I have an iMac G4 and a Mac Mini (with Panther on them). The hard drives for these two macs are running out of space due to a large library of music, video, and photo. I am thinking of getting an external hard drive and move all these to there.
My question is, am I able to hook these two macs to the external hard drive and access the file? Do I have to partition the hard drive into two so that each Mac will have its own partition on the hard drive?
Thanks, guys.
iMac G4, Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.3.9) Mac Mini

An external hard drive can be shared by two computers, but both computers can't be plugged into the hard drive at the exact same moment. However, if you have iTunes or iPhoto running on the one computer with the hard drive, you can share your music and pictures to the other one. You could also turn on File Sharing on the computer with the hard drive and then you could connect to the hard drive across your network to access or share other types of files.
-Doug

I can't transfer files from my mac to an external hard drive. what can i do?

i have tried to transfer files from my mac to my external hard drive but i just couldn't.. help me

leemamacita wrote:
i have tried to transfer files from my mac to my external hard drive but i just couldn't.. help me
More information would help. How is the external connected? Does the external appear on your Desktop? Has the external been formatted for a Mac? What method do you use to transfer files? When you try to move a file to the external, what does happen?

I have a Mac Pro with four hard drives. I currently have Lion installed on one hard drive. I want to have the option to boot from either Lion or Snow Leopard. How can I do this?

I have a Mac Pro with four hard drives. I currently have Lion installed on one hard drive. I want to have the option to boot from either Lion or Snow Leopard. How can I do this?

It's best to install Snow Leopard on one of the three remain drives without an Operating System.
You can then install the applications you need from the original media. Create a User Account using Setup Assistant.
Do you want to migrate User Accounts from the OSX LIon boot drive, or are you keeping the User Accounts separate?
Dual-booting just requires holding the option key during startup and selecting either Lion or Snow Leopard.

Mid 2010 Mac Pro - Thunderbolt External Hard Drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for