Number of thunderbolt ports?

[musicman691]

Here's what my System info has to say about my two ports (some data omitted)

Thunderbolt Bus:

Vendor Name: Apple Inc.
Device Name: MacBook Pro
UID: ...
Firmware Version: 23.4
Domain UUID: ...

Port:
Status: No device connected
Link Status: 0x7
Receptacle: 1
Link Controller Firmware Version: 0.12.3

Port:
Status: Device connected
Link Status: 0x2
Receptacle: 2
Link Controller Firmware Version: 0.12.3

Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter:

Vendor Name: Apple Inc.
Device Name: Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter
Vendor ID: 0x1
Device ID: ...
Device Revision: 0x1
...etc.

Mine says essentially the same thing except I have two devices connected - one to each port - one is the TB to FW800 adapter cable and the other is my LaCie 2big drive. There's nothing there that I can see that says they are two separate data streams. Deciphering this seems to be like deciphering a crashlog - unless you really understand what you're looking at it doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot.

[musicman691]

From here...



So, if TB 2 essentially doubles "throughput in both directions" of TB1, then it would be logical to presume that on a TB 1 machine, you are sharing the access through both ports, whereas in TB 2 you are not. Now the question is whether your machine is TB1 or TB2.

And frankly, what difference does it make? What is going to change so drastically for anyone with the knowledge of whether or not you are sharing data streams?

If you are having performance issues and you juggle the peripherals around to no avail, then you're stuck.

If you need drives, order the damn drives. If it's a problem, send them back or find a workaround, but this endless whining over "he said this and I said that and I'm right and you're wrong" is so incredibly childish.

It is what it is and you will not change that. Figure it out already!

Now who's making dangerous assumptions? What you assume is NOT logical. BTW I have TB1 ports.

What difference does it make? A whole lot especially when it comes to drives. I have a lot of sample libraries and if I go SSD from the spinners I now have I'm going to need more than what can work on a single TB1 port and that doesn't even factor in the Apogee Ensemble or UAD Apollo 8 TB I'm looking at. Granted I can't change what I have but at least having the info in hand will allow me to make an educated decision. So I want to do due diligence - what's so bad about that?

If only people would learn to answer the question that was actually asked rather than the one they want to answer or think was asked then this wouldn't be going on like this.

[stubbsonic]

Mine says essentially the same thing except I have two devices connected - one to each port - one is the TB to FW800 adapter cable and the other is my LaCie 2big drive. There's nothing there that I can see that says they are two separate data streams. Deciphering this seems to be like deciphering a crashlog - unless you really understand what you're looking at it doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot.

Yea, it's like reading a crash report to me, too. I didn't know if there'd be some clues there. It does differentiate them as ports 1 & 2, it doesn't really specify whether they are sharing one bus. It does show that it is called a "Thunderbolt Bus" for whatever that may be worth.

I doubt I will ever have more that six devices, and I'm still running lots of old gear, so my curiosity about this is more theoretical-- i.e., if I suddenly have lots of money (?!), maybe I'd buy a couple bigger drives and a couple nice monitors.

[stubbsonic]

This looks like it will answer the question, but it is a little difficult for me to follow. There are a few terms in there I'm not very savvy with.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the- ... -review/11

[musicman691]

This looks like it will answer the question, but it is a little difficult for me to follow. There are a few terms in there I'm not very savvy with.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the- ... -review/11

Talks more about the newer Macs and TB2. Something I was able to find out is that the vintage iMac I have has a different setup with it's two TB ports than what a similar vintage MacBookPro has with it's TB ports. See this page: http://www.macworld.com/article/1163773 ... chain.html
and I quote:
(For your reference: The iMac (Mid 2011) uses the same Light Ridge Thunderbolt controller as the MacBook Pro, but the iMac has two Thunderbolt ports and offers up to four bi-directional, 10Gbps channels. The MacBook Air (Mid 2011) uses an Eagle Peak Thunderbolt controller that allows for two bi-directional 10Gbps channels.)
Answers my question in a round-about way if one assumes it's spread as 2 channels per TB port. This is turning out to be a somewhat difficult question to answer in a straight fashion.

[stubbsonic]

Yea, it seems complicated. Especially if there is a TB bus, ports, and channels and those are not clearly defined per model. Most of what I've seen assumes some prior knowledge of those terms, etc.

Next time I make a genius bar appt. I'll bring my list of questions. Though, in my experience, you can get a mixture of right and wrong info in that setting as well.

[musicman691]

Yea, it seems complicated. Especially if there is a TB bus, ports, and channels and those are not clearly defined per model. Most of what I've seen assumes some prior knowledge of those terms, etc.

Next time I make a genius bar appt. I'll bring my list of questions. Though, in my experience, you can get a mixture of right and wrong info in that setting as well.

You to eh?
I once asked how do I know when to change the battery in my iMac and they came back with 'what battery - it's AC line powered'.

[cuttime]

You to eh?
I once asked how do I know when to change the battery in my iMac and they came back with 'what battery - it's AC line powered'.

Just to add to this, as it could easily become a thread on its own, but I would not trust an Apple "Genius" with my old toe nail clippings. I have horror stories that could curl your hair and then make it fall out.

[mikehalloran]

Interesting. This is still going on... really? You hated my answer and have been throwing a tantrum looking for another for how long, now?

Have you found one yet? No.

Why? Because the spec is for 6 devices per port but not all devices work properly. Contact the manufacturers of any devices that interest you to see how well they play within the spec.

If you want a better answer than that, become a hardware engineer and contact Intel. They control the spec. Discuss it with their engineers. Ask them why they made it a wire device when the original Thunderbolt spec was optical only. Have fun.

Why in the world would a Genius Bar employee know when to change the battery? Apple's line is that they never need replacing. This is flat out not true, btw, but the guy behind the counter will never know and there's no reason to expect that he should.

Apple recently announced that they will no longer support nor service 2009 and earlier iMacs. At that rate the Genius Bar might not even know who made your iMac. Want fries with that?

Mac Pro batteries should be replaced every 5 years or so — enough go bad so that experienced techs know the average life span.

If you want to know the health of your battery, disconnect Ethernet and turn off wifi. Close all apps and shut down. Disconnect all cables from the back of your iMac including the power as if to reset the SMC (not a bad idea every few years). Leave it disconnected for at least 15 seconds. Plug it back in and reconnect everything except Ethernet. After 5 or more seconds, boot your Mac. If your clock, energy settings and other NV RAM settings are intact, the battery is still good. Now you can reconnect Ethernet and re-enable wireless.

The most common symptoms besides your settings changing are your Mac not waking from sleep or starting unless you disconnect the power cable first or your fans roaring on startup.

iMacs are harder to gauge but if you have to go in for any reason, it's a good idea. The battery in your 2011 can be replaced in about 15 minutes by someone who knows the tricks like I do. It adds about 5 minutes to replacing the hard drive (another 15 minute job). Plan an hour the first time you do one. If you follow the OWC video or iFixIt directions, it will take a few hours with plenty of opportunities to screw up. Same goes for the early 2009 Intel iMacs and earlier.

The 2009-2010 27" iMacs take a few hours for me to do the battery but replacing the drive is only about 20 minutes and involves a tricky step unnecessary for any other model.

[musicman691]

Interesting. This is still going on... really? You hated my answer and have been throwing a tantrum looking for another for how long, now?

Have you found one yet? No.

Why? Because the spec is for 6 devices per port but not all devices work properly. Contact the manufacturers of any devices that interest you to see how well they play within the spec.

If you want a better answer than that, become a hardware engineer and contact Intel. They control the spec. Discuss it with their engineers. Ask them why they made it a wire device when the original Thunderbolt spec was optical only. Have fun.

Why in the world would a Genius Bar employee know when to change the battery? Apple's line is that they never need replacing. This is flat out not true, btw, but the guy behind the counter will never know and there's no reason to expect that he should.

Apple recently announced that they will no longer support nor service 2009 and earlier iMacs. At that rate the Genius Bar might not even know who made your iMac. Want fries with that?

Mac Pro batteries should be replaced every 5 years or so — enough go bad so that experienced techs know the average life span.

If you want to know the health of your battery, disconnect Ethernet and turn off wifi. Close all apps and shut down. Disconnect all cables from the back of your iMac including the power as if to reset the SMC (not a bad idea every few years). Leave it disconnected for at least 15 seconds. Plug it back in and reconnect everything except Ethernet. After 5 or more seconds, boot your Mac. If your clock, energy settings and other NV RAM settings are intact, the battery is still good. Now you can reconnect Ethernet and re-enable wireless.

The most common symptoms besides your settings changing are your Mac not waking from sleep or starting unless you disconnect the power cable first or your fans roaring on startup.

iMacs are harder to gauge but if you have to go in for any reason, it's a good idea. The battery in your 2011 can be replaced in about 15 minutes by someone who knows the tricks like I do. It adds about 5 minutes to replacing the hard drive (another 15 minute job). Plan an hour the first time you do one. If you follow the OWC video or iFixIt directions, it will take a few hours with plenty of opportunities to screw up. Same goes for the early 2009 Intel iMacs and earlier.

The 2009-2010 27" iMacs take a few hours for me to do the battery but replacing the drive is only about 20 minutes and involves a tricky step unnecessary for any other model.

I hated your answer because you answered the question you wanted to answer which was not what I asked. I did NOT ask how many devices per port but were the ports on individual data streams (which I found out they were - no thanks to you).

As to the battery life thing and asking someone at the genius bar I asked that as a test of the knowledge of the person there.

Why are you talking about a 2009 and earlier iMacs? That makes no sense in this thread as my machine is a mid 2011. As does your sentence about MacPro machines. And yakking about 2009-2010 iMacs. YOu can't seem to confine yourself to what the thread is actually about.

As to why is this thread still going on? It only is because you brought it back to life. I had long ago let it go so why can't you? I was responding to stubbsonic who was the only one here that treated me with any respect.