Re: Number of thunderbolt ports?
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 10:28 am
Ah. Wrong question. Nice. 

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You have it exactly as to what I needed to know. Funny how you got it and Mike H didn't.stubbsonic wrote: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.
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.mikehalloran wrote: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.
Yeah - Mike H couldn't get it right so he blames me for asking the wrong question.stubbsonic wrote:Ah. Wrong question. Nice.
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 wrote: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.
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?cleamon wrote: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 wrote: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.
https://developer.apple.com/resources/musicman691 wrote: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?cleamon wrote: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 wrote: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.
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.HCMarkus wrote: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.