MOTU 2408mkIII PCIe and Intel Mac Pro Connectivity Issues

mactechla · Post by **mactechla** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:41 pm

I was told that the 8 core MacPro's PCI-e slots have a slight voltage variation, which causes the problem of missing interfaces as discussed in this thread.

I came across this issue with a new 8 Core Mac and the PCIe-424/2408MK3 combo. MOTU is shipping a replacement to me. Hopefully if will work properly.

somaestudios · Post by **somaestudios** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:59 pm

I have a dual 2.5 G5 and my 2408 MK3 randomly goes out of sync.But im sure its nos the card not seating properly because i open the PCI software change clock source and it works for a moment then out of sync again.
Maybe its OSX or the drivers because this same card worked flawlessly when i had 10,2,0 installed.
Dont know waht to do....

thanatopsis · Post by **thanatopsis** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:08 am

This thread scared me, but so far my PCIe 424 card has been fine in my 8-core Mac Pro.
I must say that the combination of the skimpy amount of connectors on the PCIe card coupled with Apple's new "screwless" PCI brace had me worried that it would take many tries to get the card seated properly, but it worked on the first try and has every since.
I did hold off on getting one until recently, though. I kept my 2408mk3 connected to my "old" dual 2.5 G5 and connected the Mac Pro's built-in digital out to the G5's digital in. I thought there would be pops and such, but it worked fine.
Maybe some problem with the card or computer has been fixed?
Well, I wish you luck if you're planning on making the switch.

Renaissance Man · Post by **Renaissance Man** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:48 am

I recently installed a brand new MOTU PCIe card in a brand new Mac Pro. I had great reservations after reading the multitude of postings on this thread but, what alternative is there?
It appears that nothing has changed on the design of the card, so apparently ostriches are right and if you DO stick your head in the sand and ignore the problem it DOES go away. Seriously though, MOTU needs to step up to the plate and address this problem.
Someone was asleep at the wheel on this card design that's for certain. The card doesn't ride straight in the slot and rocks back and forth, giving no confidence whatsoever that it's properly seated or will maintain a reliable connection.
So far I have experienced none of the intermittent problems that some of you are having. Knock on wood.
Christopher

Dave Bourke · Post by **Dave Bourke** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:46 am

thanatopsis wrote:I must say that the combination of the skimpy amount of connectors on the PCIe card coupled with Apple's new "screwless" PCI brace had me worried that it would take many tries to get the card seated properly, but it worked on the first try and has every since.

Dunno about the new Mac Pros but on my Quad Xeon 2.66 GHz there is actually one screw over slot 2 next to the graphics card. That's where I put my PCIe-424 so the screw would hold it firm (in theory).

Kind regards.

eixb · Post by **eixb** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:39 pm

i use a PCIe-424 in my 2.66 mac pro...i have the card in slot 4 (farthest from graphics card) and haven't experienced a single problem since day one. i bought my PCIe-424 direct from motu mid december 2007.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:14 am

Mine seems fine too, but has only endured minor, brief testing.
It too was bought last December.

See sig.

Renaissance Man · Post by **Renaissance Man** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:03 am

Hey guys,
Is there a preferred card slot for the PCIe 424 card? Just curious. I've got mine in slot 1. Don't suppose the new PCIe 2.0 slot on the new Mac Pro presents any advantages if the card itself isn't PCIe 2.0.
Christopher

dix · Post by **dix** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:52 pm

Renaissance Man wrote:Hey guys,
Is there a preferred card slot for the PCIe 424 card? Just curious. I've got mine in slot 1. Don't suppose the new PCIe 2.0 slot on the new Mac Pro presents any advantages if the card itself isn't PCIe 2.0.
Christopher

I'm wondering this too. My connection problems seem to be getting worse. See: http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... sc&start=0

Is there a recommended slot?

LWD · Post by **LWD** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:28 am

has this issue been resolved yet? I notice some time has passed, and no further posts

dix · Post by **dix** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:38 am

No. It lives on for at least two of us here:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... highlight=

Lookinnn · Post by **Lookinnn** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:48 pm

i put my 424e card in my mac pro 8 core 2.8 and it worked flawlessly.
i did notice it tended to "rock back" and didn't seem to be exactly level in the slot .. but it worked perfectly.

i bought my card new from motu a few weeks ago ..
and the mac pro is new too ..
its the pre 2008 .. it has the radeon hd 2600 xt video card ..
this is the mac pro that will install / run tiger .. but it has to be a iMac tiger install .. ** same graphics card **
you can install tiger on other mac pro's but you have to also add that specific graphics card .

LWD · Post by **LWD** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:01 pm

That definitely sounds reassuring considering I got a mac pro 8 core, with the 2048 pci-express card arriving tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it goes.

regards,

Lester

Tonio · Post by **Tonio** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:40 pm

Lookinnn wrote:i put my 424e card in my mac pro 8 core 2.8 and it worked flawlessly.
i did notice it tended to "rock back" and didn't seem to be exactly level in the slot .. but it worked perfectly.

i bought my card new from motu a few weeks ago ..
and the mac pro is new too ..
its the pre 2008 .. it has the radeon hd 2600 xt video card ..
this is the mac pro that will install / run tiger .. but it has to be a iMac tiger install .. ** same graphics card **
you can install tiger on other mac pro's but you have to also add that specific graphics card .

couldn't you just load the grahics card driver into leopard?
How safe is it to install a OEM imac tiger on a MAC PRO? and where to get one? Though there are reasons for installiing Tiger to begin with for Au plug compatability etc..

T

MOTUnation.com

MOTU 2408mkIII PCIe and Intel Mac Pro Connectivity Issues

8 core MacPro and PCIe-424....FYI

So far so good (knock on wood)

Re: So far so good (knock on wood)