MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[KeesMacPro]

Slots 3 and 4 share bandwidth, is just 4 lanes of PCIe 2.0 (~1500MB/s) available for both slots.

A better approach is to move your GPU to slot 2, will lose access to slot 3, and install a switched adapter like the Syba/IOCrest on slot-1. This way you will have around 3000MB/s. If you need even more, look at HighPoint SSD710x cards.

You will need to upgrade your BootROM to 144.0.0.0.0, see the sticky thread about Mojave/BootROM upgrade.

With a good NVMe blade like 970 EVO Plus you have enough bandwidth to keep system and user/data files inside one blade, but maybe it’s better to have a separate scratch disk for your audio work, you will have less latency and more bandwidth.

Based on your idea (and reality=my bankaccount) I came up with the following scenario:

Since you mentioned the BootROM ,I understand that with this you can move the GPU from slot 1 and still the MP boots (which I thought impossible).
Then as a Low Budget version I could put:
Drive1- slot 1 Max. speed of the 970 EVO/Kryo
Gpu- slot 2
Drive 2- slot4 Speed limited to 1500 R/W 970 EVO/Kryo (scratch Disk/Audio)

MIght this work as well ?

 

[tsialex]

Based on your idea (and reality=my bankaccount) I came up with the following scenario:

Since you mentioned the BootROM ,I understand that with this you can move the GPU from slot 1 and still the MP boots (which I thought impossible).
Then as a Low Budget version I could put:
Drive1- slot 1 Max. speed of the 970 EVO/Kryo
Gpu- slot 2
Drive 2- slot4 Speed limited to 1500 R/W 970 EVO/Kryo (scratch Disk/Audio)

MIght this work as well ?

No, you are missing the fact that a M.2 blade is a PCIe 3.0 x4 device, when you are using it with a MP5,1 you are limited to PCIe 2.0 x4 with any slot.

Slot-1 or slot-4, will never change the fact that it’s a x4 device.

Only a PCIe switched card can overcome this, converting x16 or x8 PCIe 2.0 into x4 PCIe 3.0.

Don’t do it this way, wait until you have the money and buy a switched card.

 

[KeesMacPro]

No, you are missing the fact that a M.2 blade is a PCIe 3.0 x4 device, when you are using it with a MP5,1 you are limited to PCIe 2.0 x4 with any slot.

Slot-1 or slot-4, will never change the fact that it’s a x4 device.

Only a PCIe switched card can overcome this, converting x16 or x8 PCIe 2.0 into x4 PCIe 3.0.

Don’t do it this way, wait until you have the money and buy a switched card.

Thx again tsialex , I'll start saving some money

 

[rivangom]

Dear readers,

Can anyone help me with the following issue.
Got an issue with a new bought kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter for M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD, M-Key controler card that I can’t get working with a Adata XPG SX8200 PRO NVME 1TB M.2 SSD

Issue steps:
1. Kryo with Adata slot 2 => No screen after startup into Mac OS Mojave
2. Kryo with Adata slot 2 => Blue screen after startup into Win10 Pro
3. Kryo without Adata slot 3 => No screen after startup into Mac OS Mojave
4. Kryo without Adata slot 3 => No screen after startup into Win10 Pro
5. Kryo without Adata slot 4 => No screen after startup into Mac OS Mojave
6. Kryo without Adata slot 4 => No screen after startup into Win10 Pro
7. Kryo without Adata slot 2 => Starts up into Mac OS Mojave, but in System Report , the card not been identified
8. Kryo without Adata slot 2 => Starts up into Win10 Pro, but in Device Manager , the card not been identified and also can’t find an error of a device not having the right drivers or having trouble to start up

The Kryo card: https://www.amazon.de/kryoM-2-PCIe-Adapter-M-Key-Passivkühler/dp/B01H0BC8FG

The Adata 1TB NVME: https://www.megekko.nl/product/5093/1019906/SSD-M-2/ADATA-XPG-SX8200-Pro-NVME-1TB-M-2-SSD

System: Mac PRO 2012 64GB with a MSI AMD Radeon R9 280X Metal card EFI Bootscreen Bootrom 140.0.0.0, Mojave and W10 Pro both on two separate disks.

Objective: Have the Kryo + Adata 1TB properly running on the system and then clone W10 Pro system to the Adata NVME.

Any help into the right direction or guidance is highly appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[tsialex]

Dear readers,

Can anyone help me with the following issue.
Got an issue with a new bought kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter for M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD, M-Key controler card that I can’t get working with a Adata XPG SX8200 PRO NVME 1TB M.2 SSD

Issue steps:
1. Kryo with Adata slot 2 => No screen after startup into Mac OS Mojave
2. Kryo with Adata slot 2 => Blue screen after startup into Win10 Pro
3. Kryo without Adata slot 3 => No screen after startup into Mac OS Mojave
4. Kryo without Adata slot 3 => No screen after startup into Win10 Pro
5. Kryo without Adata slot 4 => No screen after startup into Mac OS Mojave
6. Kryo without Adata slot 4 => No screen after startup into Win10 Pro
7. Kryo without Adata slot 2 => Starts up into Mac OS Mojave, but in System Report , the card not been identified
8. Kryo without Adata slot 2 => Starts up into Win10 Pro, but in Device Manager , the card not been identified and also can’t find an error of a device not having the right drivers or having trouble to start up

The Kryo card: https://www.amazon.de/kryoM-2-PCIe-Adapter-M-Key-Passivkühler/dp/B01H0BC8FG

The Adata 1TB NVME: https://www.megekko.nl/product/5093/1019906/SSD-M-2/ADATA-XPG-SX8200-Pro-NVME-1TB-M-2-SSD

System: Mac PRO 2012 64GB with a MSI AMD Radeon R9 280X Metal card EFI Bootscreen Bootrom 140.0.0.0, Mojave and W10 Pro both on two separate disks.

Objective: Have the Kryo + Adata 1TB properly running on the system and then clone W10 Pro system to the Adata NVME.

Any help into the right direction or guidance is highly appreciated.

Thanks!!

NVMe and Windows 10 is a no go with MP5,1. W10 needs to be installed with UEFI mode to boot from a NVMe drive. MP5,1 is a EFI Mac, released years before UEFI 2.3.1 spec was defined, and it's not compatible with several of the resources of the UEFI 2.3.1 spec that Windows require, like SecureBoot.

Using W10 installed with UEFI mode will bring a lot of problems in the long run, various people here including me bricked MP5,1 because of W10 UEFI.

Anyway, seems that your blade or adapter is defective or you already have BootROM corruption.

Edit: added UEFI 2.3.1 / SecureBoot

 

[AidenShaw]

NVMe and Windows 10 is a no go with MP5,1. W10 needs to be installed with UEFI mode to boot from a NVMe drive. MP5,1 is a EFI Mac, released years before UEFI spec was defined, and it's not compatible with UEFI.

Using W10 installed with UEFI mode will bring a lot of problems in the long run, various people here including me bricked MP5,1 because of W10 UEFI.

Anyway, seems that your blade or adapter is defective or you already have BootROM corruption.

UEFI - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

​

Tiano was the first open source UEFI implementation and was released by Intel in 2004.​

The MP1,1 was introduced in 2006 - and used EFI after the UEFI fork.

The MP5,1 was introduced in July 2010 - long, long after UEFI was standardized.

The first EFI Apple was released after the UEFI spec was published. Did Apple just try to pull a vendor lockin by using an out-of-date implementation?

 

[tsialex]

UEFI - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

​

Tiano was the first open source UEFI implementation and was released by Intel in 2004.​

The MP1,1 was introduced in 2006 - and used EFI after the UEFI fork.

The MP5,1 was introduced in July 2010 - long, long after UEFI was standardized.

The first EFI Apple was released after the UEFI spec was published. Did Apple just try to pull a vendor lockin by using an out-of-date implementation?

Apple was an oficial licensee of the full Intel EFI spec, not TIANO. MP5,1 is a tweaked MP4,1 platform (Bloomfield/Gainestown processors with Tylersburg platform with MP4,1 and Gulftown/Westmere with the same Tylersburg for MP5,1) and that started to be developed around late 2007/early 2008.

UEFI only become widespread after Intel removed BIOS and out-of-date EFI spec support from Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge platforms. Even Intel did not supported UEFI initially with lots of it's own Sandy Bridge motherboards, it was a nightmare at the time since one hand did not talk to the other, lot's of bricks with firmware updates for Intel own motherboards.

If I remember correctly, Apple adhered to UEFI 2.3 after 2011/2012 Macs were released and gradually implemented the spec up to 2014. Some of the 2013 Macs have what I like to call hybrid EFI/UEFI, MP6,1, for example, is almost UEFI 2.3 to the letter of the spec, except for GOP support.

Lots of vendors were late adopters of the UEFI spec too, even participating of the UEFI Consortium or being promoters of it, HP sold lot's of EFI workstations, Dell sold lots of EFI servers up to Westmere.

 

[tsialex]

Apple was an oficial licensee of the full Intel EFI spec, not TIANO. MP5,1 is a tweaked MP4,1 platform (Bloomfield/Gainestown) and that started to be developed around late 2007/early 2008.

UEFI only become widespread after Intel removed BIOS and out-of-date EFI spec support from Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge platforms. Even Intel did not supported UEFI with lots of it's own Sandy Bridge motherboards, it was a nightmare at the time since one hand did not talk to the other, lot's of bricks with firmware updates for Intel own motherboards.

If I remember correctly, Apple adhered to UEFI 2.3 after 2011/2012 Macs were released and gradually implemented the spec up to 2014. Some of the 2013 Macs have what I like to call hybrid EFI/UEFI, MP6,1, for example, is almost UEFI 2.3 to the letter of the spec, except for GOP support.

Lots of vendors were late adopters of the UEFI spec too, even participating of the UEFI Consortium or being promoters of it, HP sold lot's of EFI workstations, Dell sold lots of EFI servers up to Westmere.

Btw, W10 adheres to the UEFI 2.3.1 spec. The last errata for 2.3.1, version D, was released in April 2013.

UEFI Specification Version 2.3.1 (Errata D) (released April 2013)

 

[rivangom]

Anyone an advise how to proceed? I’ve seen with some adapters that they state Windows compatible e.g. Highpoint SSD7x0xx , so I don’t get it that Windows on an NVME is no option. Does this count also with a bootcamp installed Windows? Bare with me that I’m no expert like some of you are. I just rely on your expert judgment and thank you for your voluntary support.

 

[tsialex]

Anyone an advise how to proceed? I’ve seen with some adapters that they state Windows compatible e.g. Highpoint SSD7x0xx , so I don’t get it that Windows on an NVME is no option. Does this count also with a bootcamp installed Windows? Bare with me that I’m no expert like some of you are. I just rely on your expert judgment and thank you for your voluntary support.

Its not the adapters, it’s Mac Pro 5,1 firmware/BootROM. MP5,1 firmware is too old and never was intended for Windows NVMe support.

BootCamp is CSM, not UEFI and cant boot from NVMe.

There’s no workaround, if you use Windows 8,1 or 10 installed with UEFI mode, required for NVMe boot, you risk a brick.

 

[rivangom]

Ok. Clear to me now. I’ll have a Windows installed on a separate Sata II SSD. What brand do you recommend for doing that?
Thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Ok. Clear to me now. I’ll have a Windows installed on a separate Sata II SSD. What brand do you recommend for doing that?
Thanks!

Any good SATA that is not QLC should work.

Lot's of people reports success with Samsung 860 EVO and 860 Pro. Do not buy 860 QVO.

BTW, you have to install from DVD, if you use a W10 USB installer it will install as UEFI. You will have to buy a double-layer DVD, since recent W10 builds don't fit in a single layer anymore.

 

[Objectivist-C]

NVMe and Windows 10 is a no go with MP5,1. W10 needs to be installed with UEFI mode to boot from a NVMe drive. MP5,1 is a EFI Mac, released years before UEFI 2.3.1 spec was defined, and it's not compatible with several of the resources of the UEFI 2.3.1 spec that Windows require, like SecureBoot.

Using W10 installed with UEFI mode will bring a lot of problems in the long run, various people here including me bricked MP5,1 because of W10 UEFI

This info should probably be in bold at the top of the OP.

 

[Synchro3]

Just for info, the adapter JEYI VolleyStar-PRO https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32888030841.html? fits fine in a Mac Pro with Sapphire RX 580 installed. It does not touch the fans of the graphics card.

Temperature of the 970 EVO around 43° C.

 

[Pressure]

Would something like the U.2 ES3000 V5 NVMe Disk work in MacOS? I'm not thinking boot drive but simply storage.

 

[tsialex]

Would something like the U.2 ES3000 V5 NVMe Disk work in MacOS? I'm not thinking boot drive but simply storage.

Should work even for boot, the question is if the ES3000 V5 firmware will downgrade correctly from PCIe 3.0 to PCIe 2.0 or will go to 1.0. It's problem with some of the older HHHL drives when using with MP5,1.

 

[kings79]

I just got a Aqua Computer kryoM.2 evo PCIe 3.0 x 4 ( Double sided version) adapter and a >>>
HP SSDs:
EX920: SM2262 controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
3D TLC
Available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,200 MB/s read, up to 1,800 MB/s write (1TB)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good

Can't get it to work. I've managed to get it to be seen in disk utility twice but it shows up as 1.07GB drive and has a few errors. See pictures.

Is the SSD faulty or am I doing something wrong?

 

[DJ_Road]

Would anyone know if the following is possible? I'd like to use a 256gb NVMe pull from my Macbook Pro Mid 2015, and install it in my 5,1 Mac Pro. I've tested other NVMe's in the unit for installation elsewhere using the Kryo w/heat sink recommend here, and those worked fine. The MBP NVMe has the Apple propriety fitting. Is it possible to make this work?

I don't post much anywhere, so if I'm in the wrong place, kindly guide me in the right direction.
Everything I learned about setting up my cMac Pro, I learned right here on this forum, and I am grateful for all the info!

 

[splifingate]

Would anyone know if the following is possible? I'd like to use a 256gb NVMe pull from my Macbook Pro Mid 2015, and install it in my 5,1 Mac Pro. I've tested other NVMe's in the unit for installation elsewhere using the Kryo w/heat sink recommend here, and those worked fine. The MBP NVMe has the Apple propriety fitting. Is it possible to make this work?

I don't post much anywhere, so if I'm in the wrong place, kindly guide me in the right direction.
Everything I learned about setting up my cMac Pro, I learned right here on this forum, and I am grateful for all the info!

Thanks for posting . . . you're in the appropriate space

I re-purposed the 512GiB ssd from my 2015 MBP when I got the Sabrent, with a Sintech m.2>12+16 adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0173ODBCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Only caveat is that said adapter increases the vertical height by almost 9mm:



In this photo, the m.2>12+16 ssd adapter is attached to a EZDIY-FAB m.2>pic-e 4X adapter...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GCXCR7W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It gets the Job done

I do not know 'why' said m.2>12+16 interface needs-be twice the vertical height of the {industry} standard m.2 interface, that's just the way it (currently) is ;(

There are multiple options for the m.2>pic-e variants, and I've had no failures with any of the ones I've purchased/used.

hth

Regards, splifingate

 

[Azatos]

Hello! Sorry for the bad English. I write through an online translator. I'm still working on a mac pro 1.1 flashed to 2.1 in which I upgraded the processor, graphics card and added memory. Made it to ssd. Ordered ordered such an adapter https://ru.aliexpress.com/item/32978231795.html?spm=a.. But only later found out that Macs with nvme lot of problems. Does anyone have experience with nvme on mac pro 1.1? Will it work?

 

[tsialex]

Hello! Sorry for the bad English. I write through an online translator. I'm still working on a mac pro 1.1 flashed to 2.1 in which I upgraded the processor, graphics card and added memory. Made it to ssd. Ordered ordered such an adapter https://ru.aliexpress.com/item/32978231795.html?spm=a.. But only later found out that Macs with nvme lot of problems. Does anyone have experience with nvme on mac pro 1.1? Will it work?

Not possible.

NVMe requires Sierra (4K bytes / sector blades) / High Sierra (512 bytes / sector blades) and MP1,1/2,1 can only run up to hacked ElCapitan, which do not support NVMe.

 

[tsialex]

To add to the first post, edit error still not resolved Added to the first post, @arn found the problem, thx!

Mac Pro year models NVMe support:​

Mac Pro 2006 (MP1,1): not possible, can't run Sierra/High Sierra.
Mac Pro 2007 (MP2,1): not possible, can't run Sierra/High Sierra.
Mac Pro 2008 (MP3,1): possible but risky procedure, need to inject APFS/NVMe EFI modules inside the BootROM and run 10.12/10.13*.
Mac Pro 2009 (MP4,1): use MP5,1 firmware and update to at least 140.0.0.0.0 and 10.12/10.13*.
Mac Pro 2010/2012 (MP5,1): upgrade to BootROM 140.0.0.0.0 or newer, current one is 144.0.0.0.0, and install 10.12/10.13* to have full native support.
Mac Pro 2013 (MP6,1): upgrade to BootROM MP61.0120.B00 or newer, current one is 133.0.0.0.0, and install 10.12/10.13* to have full native support

* 10.12 only supports 4Kib / sector blades while 10.13 and newer macOS releases supports both 4Kib /sector and 512 bytes / sector blades.

 

[Orionator]

The 128 did not work until the firmware was updated...

Alex, how did you update/check the firmware on the pm961? Do you use the Magician software from samsung? I just got one of these to use as a boot drive for my 4,1 pro and cant get it to install OSX Mojave. Yes bios is version 144 and I'm using the aquacompute m.2 pcie adapter. I know this is all working because I was just using a 970 pro as my boot drive and it worked fine. The 970 is just more useful in my other system at the moment.

Please let me know I you can remember. Thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Alex, how did you update/check the firmware on the pm961? Do you use the Magician software from samsung? I just got one of these to use as a boot drive for my 4,1 pro and cant get it to install OSX Mojave. Yes bios is version 144 and I'm using the aquacompute m.2 pcie adapter. I know this is all working because I was just using a 970 pro as my boot drive and it worked fine. The 970 is just more useful in my other system at the moment.

Please let me know I you can remember. Thanks!

Lenovo SSD firmware upgrader, have to be a Lenovo OEM blade, and if remember correctly, you need a Lenovo notebook/PC to do it.

I don't remember where exactly to look for the firmware version with Windows, maybe this will help:

"To check your SSD’s firmware version, press key combination [windows+R] and type in “devmgmt.msc” and hit enter. This will take you to device manager. Double click on your SSD model under “Disc drives”. Under the “details” tab, click on the dropdown menu and choose “hardware Ids”. This will show your SSD’s firmware version.

Samsung Magician don't support OEM blades at all.

 

[Orionator]

Lenovo SSD firmware upgrader, have to be a Lenovo OEM blade, and if remember correctly, you need a Lenovo notebook/PC to do it.

I don't remember where exactly to look for the firmware version with Windows, maybe this will help:


Samsung Magician don't support OEM blades at all.

Fantastic, thank you. One more question, aside from nvram and time discrepancies, can you think of any reason the message "an error occurred while preparing the installation try running this application again" would come up when trying to install Mojave onto this drive?