Number of thunderbolt ports?

[stubbsonic]

Ah. Wrong question. Nice.

[musicman691]

Far be it for me to butt in here, but Mike H answered a different question than the OP asked.

Mike answered this question:

How many peripherals can be run on a TB chain and is there a specific order that they should be run in?

The question was very clearly written. I'm curious about this too. So I'll rephrase it:

My RMBP has two TB ports. I know I can run 6 devices on the TB bus. Would that be 6 devices per port, or do the two ports share the same bus?

That's the question mm691 was asking, as I read it. I only did a quick google and didn't really turn up a clear answer. I'd suggest talking to a "genius" at an apple store. I think that can still be done for no charge.

You have it exactly as to what I needed to know. Funny how you got it and Mike H didn't.

[musicman691]

I did give the correct answer. By assuming there is a Thunderbolt bus a la FW and USB, you asked the wrong question.

The correct question: How many TB devices can I run on an iMac with two TB ports? See? Simple, direct and relevant to your situation.

The correct answer: It depends. The theoretical limit is 6 per port. Contact the device manufacturers to see if they work correctly – many don't.

(Am i incorrect that you can multiply 2x6 = 12?)

Please refrain from back channeling me with your usual rants when you disagree. I don't read them nor will I look at this thread again.

Re-read my original post again. I did not assume there was a Thunderbolt bus. I asked if the ports were seen a individual TB ports or were they on a bus like the USB ports are. That is not an assumption on my part like you think it is.

You're making the assumption with the question you think I should have asked. I already know how many ports I can run on a single TB port and that assumes the ports are individual ports and not on a bus like the USB ports are. You're completely going off on the wrong path dude. You're answering a question that was never asked. If you can't understand the question as asked that's not my problem but yours. If another person here got right what I was asking then why couldn't you? This is not the first time you've exhibited reading comprehension problems with a question, that if I asked it on a forum like the DUC no one would have a problem with and would have been able to answer it without all this sideshow.

[musicman691]

Ah. Wrong question. Nice.

Yeah - Mike H couldn't get it right so he blames me for asking the wrong question.

[bayswater]

Maybe when giving an answer to a different question to the one asked, it would be useful to tell us that the question was wrong and to restate it, rather than assume we will all magically realize what the correct question would have been. Otherwise, what may be helpful and useful information appears obtuse and antagonistic.

And it would be great if you guys could stop constantly pressing each others' buttons.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Tough crowd! LOL

[cleamon]

How can I tell if my iMac's two Thunderbolt ports are on separate data streams or just jumper-connected together and fed off one data stream? I know the USB2 ports on the back are all off the same stream. The reason I'm asking is I'm going to be doing some reconfiguration of my system with adding some more h/w on the TB ports. Depending on exactly what I get I may end up with more than the usual 6 peripherals that can be fed off one TB port/stream. I'd like to know before I start ordering drives and such.

This may or may not help, plus you may not be so inclined, BUT in the developers tools (xcode), there is/was a tool called USB prober. This tool listed all the ports and devices, whether they were internal/external, etc., etc. This was in an older tool set before TB, but I'd imagine there would be such a tool in a more recent version for probing the TB ports/channels/devices. It could be very telling. The tool kit is free for the downloading.

[musicman691]

How can I tell if my iMac's two Thunderbolt ports are on separate data streams or just jumper-connected together and fed off one data stream? I know the USB2 ports on the back are all off the same stream. The reason I'm asking is I'm going to be doing some reconfiguration of my system with adding some more h/w on the TB ports. Depending on exactly what I get I may end up with more than the usual 6 peripherals that can be fed off one TB port/stream. I'd like to know before I start ordering drives and such.

This may or may not help, plus you may not be so inclined, BUT in the developers tools (xcode), there is/was a tool called USB prober. This tool listed all the ports and devices, whether they were internal/external, etc., etc. This was in an older tool set before TB, but I'd imagine there would be such a tool in a more recent version for probing the TB ports/channels/devices. It could be very telling. The tool kit is free for the downloading.

Thanks for the heads-up on the software; there might well be something i a newer version that also probes the TB ports. That would make sense. I gather this would be something I'd get through the AppStore?

[cuttime]

What does your System Info say? I have one port and have this:

Status: Device connected
Link Status: 0x2
Speed: Up to 10 Gb/s x1
Receptacle: 1
Port Micro Firmware Version: 2.1.3

Wouldn't this indicate one data stream?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

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!

[cleamon]

How can I tell if my iMac's two Thunderbolt ports are on separate data streams or just jumper-connected together and fed off one data stream? I know the USB2 ports on the back are all off the same stream. The reason I'm asking is I'm going to be doing some reconfiguration of my system with adding some more h/w on the TB ports. Depending on exactly what I get I may end up with more than the usual 6 peripherals that can be fed off one TB port/stream. I'd like to know before I start ordering drives and such.

This may or may not help, plus you may not be so inclined, BUT in the developers tools (xcode), there is/was a tool called USB prober. This tool listed all the ports and devices, whether they were internal/external, etc., etc. This was in an older tool set before TB, but I'd imagine there would be such a tool in a more recent version for probing the TB ports/channels/devices. It could be very telling. The tool kit is free for the downloading.

Thanks for the heads-up on the software; there might well be something i a newer version that also probes the TB ports. That would make sense. I gather this would be something I'd get through the AppStore?

https://developer.apple.com/resources/
You'll need a (free) account to login.

[HCMarkus]

Gosh, i thought my Deep Googling (well, not really THAT deep) pretty much provided the answer the OP seeks. Interesting how a perceived (and certainly unintended) "snark" warrants an irked response, but the time I spent seeking an actual answer and spoon feeding it to the OP doesn't deserve a peep.

Such is life.

On a brighter note, happy Friday Eve to all. May it be a good day tomorrow. Let's make some great music.

[monkey man]

Crumpets!

[stubbsonic]

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.

[musicman691]

Gosh, i thought my Deep Googling (well, not really THAT deep) pretty much provided the answer the OP seeks. Interesting how a perceived (and certainly unintended) "snark" warrants an irked response, but the time I spent seeking an actual answer and spoon feeding it to the OP doesn't deserve a peep.

Such is life.

On a brighter note, happy Friday Eve to all. May it be a good day tomorrow. Let's make some great music.

Forgive me if I don't know what 'Deep Googling' means. Like I said I Googled and couldn't come up with anything specific to the question I asked. Just saying 'Deep Google' as an answer without explanation of what that is to me qualifies as snark.