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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

SONNET QIO - real world useage?

Chris Parker said:
I've heard conflicting reports about the Sonnet QIO. Anyone use it a lot and have an opinion?
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

I've posted a lot about the Qio here before. I've used it since day one, and in general I truly love it, but there are two annoying bugs that have never been corrected for me in any iteration of the drivers / software updates.

1.) You have to re-install the Qio drivers every time you transition from non-use to use:

If you boot your system without the Qio, and then decide to use the Qio again, you have to first re-install the drivers, then re-boot WITHOUT the Qio attached, then immediately shut down, then immediately start up again with the Qio attached. This magic formula always works, and after the cycle the Qio will work consistently through as many re-starts and shut-downs as you throw at it, provided the system is never started up again without the Qio attached. As soon as the computer is ever booted without the Qio, the cycle must be repeated again in order to regain use of the Qio.

2.) You can't insert a new card during a Finder drag-and-drop process:

Not that anybody should be using drag-and-drop anyway, but in case you do for some reason, and you decide to insert a new card during a pending process, I have found that one or more of your eSATA drives immediately unmount causing your operation to abort and requiring a full system shutdown / restart. Inserting additional cards during an R3D Data Manager or ShotPut Pro process doesn't seem to cause this issue.

I know that not everyone experiences these same bugs, but I have encountered them consistently on both of my media management systems (a 15" Core i5 MacBook Pro and a 17" Core i7 MacBook Pro). Again, the benefits do still outweigh the annoyance in my view.

If you, like me, can easily get around these two bugs then the product works great! Transfer speeds to eSATA drives are by far the fastest I've encountered with any competing card reader. Also, the ability to connect x4 eSATA drives to a laptop is unrivaled in any other product (note, your performance will slow depending on how many eSATA drives you are using at one time). Finally, the ability to have CF, P2, and SxS in a single product is also unrivaled anywhere else.

Best,

- Jordan
 
hey Jordan,

How old is your Qio?
I'm only asking as I read that sonnet may have released a newer one.
I also wanted to mention that some of the problems people were having with the qio due the device not
liking to work with machines capable of booting in 64bit mode.
If I remember correctly the orginal qio wouldn't work at all (or was extra buggy) on any machine booted in 64bit mode.

Have you used it to read SxS media?
I am considering a qio for offloading alexa footage as it HAS to be faster than the card slot into my MBP and out via FW800 to a raid drive.
It would be great to offload two cards at once or at least have them in cue as I always seem to get two cards at a time.

With any luck they will get this device debugged and thunderbolt/lightpeek capable ....it would then be fantastic.
 
I would agree with Jordan. I have experienced the same problems with having to re-intall after running without it. When I start my computer, it will sometimes take up to about 20 minutes for it to become operational again.

The other issue that I had with it... the slots would work intermittently. Although, that has settled down, but one of the P2 slots does not work.

Ryan, I have used it with SXS cards without any issues.

It's a decent piece of equipment, fast when it's working, but it's still kinda buggy. I would only recommend it to someone with some tech knowledge.
 
Thanks Steve

Which slots were intermittant? card slots or esata ports?
can you elaborate on that 20 min to become operational again?

I'd like to use it but... worry about using it on a show and having it end up being more counterproductive.
I wouldn't want to spend all the time it's supposed to save be eaten up figuring out why it's not working on another day.
Too bad nobody rents them.
 
Ryan,

I don't have any issues with the SxS slots in particular - or with any slots in particular. The one issue that I have experienced (and I know other users have as well) is that if a transfer is in progress, inserting or ejecting another card in another slot (i.e. NOT the same slot that is currently transferring) can cause attached eSATA drives to unexpectedly dismount, effectively causing the transfer in progress to fail.

The device generally works great, and is really fast, if you baby it. One transfer at a time. Trying to multitask too much, or inserting and ejecting multiple cards, will work great sometimes and cause major headaches other times. As Steve said, it's buggy, intermittent, and should be used only by experienced data techs who can calmly recover from minor technical glitches. I still maintain that if used conservatively the performance benefits outweigh the cons.

Worth noting, Sonnet just recently released another update to the Qio drivers for MAC. I have not yet had a chance to test the latest version, but it's at least possible that some or all of these bugs have been addressed.

Best,

- Jordan
 
hey that's great to know the drivers have been updated.
I look forward to hearing what fixes might come of these new drivers.

let us know

R
 
Indeed, looking forward to hear results, been holding out buying a Qio all this time now just for how temperamental it can be. If and when it gets more stable I'm all over it like butter on toast.
 
The new drivers are working much better for me. I am still in the habit of babing my QIO, but it seems much better. I have found if I don't use the left SxS slot, it doesn't crash. If I do use the left SxS slot it kills my system when I remove the card one out of ten times. I haven't tried to use the eSATA ports in a while.


Dusty
 
Ours is a workhorse, ran 6 weeks on a Red/Alexa shoot, we had the unexpected dismount bug but kept an eye on it and it was a champ. Wish the triple-E34 version had dropped earlier :)
 
Ryan - I am having trouble with one of the P2 slots. It just isn't working. I will try the update and see if that helps.
As for the 20 minute delay, when I start my Macbook Pro with the QIO installed, it takes about 10-20 minutes for the computer to become responsive again. I can move the cursor around but cannot click on anything. Once it is done installing, everything operates fine.
 
Hi,

Just received Qio today and do some testing on my MBP Thunderbolt 17", run on OSX 10.6.7. I installed the Qio 1.0.6, then asked to restart, and resulted that my MBP did not recognise anything as if there is no OSX installed. Tried to re-install the OSX but it still won't boot.
A message "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button until it turns off, then press the Power button again" appeared and after restarting again that message keep appeared. NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....!!!!!!!!

This means I have to re-format the MBP and lose everything inside, no? Fully hopeless right now and instructions on User's Guide, the FAQ from the website, and updated emails are all mixed-up and gives different information. Can anyone help? Pleaseeeeeeeee..........
Any kind of answers or experience in this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks heaps, guys.
 
Dewi Bungsu said:
Hi,

Just received Qio today and do some testing on my MBP Thunderbolt 17", run on OSX 10.6.7. I installed the Qio 1.0.6, then asked to restart, and resulted that my MBP did not recognise anything as if there is no OSX installed. Tried to re-install the OSX but it still won't boot.
A message "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button until it turns off, then press the Power button again" appeared and after restarting again that message keep appeared. NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....!!!!!!!!

This means I have to re-format the MBP and lose everything inside, no? Fully hopeless right now and instructions on User's Guide, the FAQ from the website, and updated emails are all mixed-up and gives different information. Can anyone help? Pleaseeeeeeeee..........
Any kind of answers or experience in this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks heaps, guys.
Click to expand...

Dear Dewi,

Please DO NOT re-format your hard drive! You do not have to do that... As it turns out, there are several fairly severe incompatibilities between the Qio and the new Thunderbolt MacBook Pros. Furthermore, there are additional intrinsic incompatibilities between the Qio and Apple's latest software update 10.6.8 (are you sure you're still running 10.6.7?).

For what it's worth, I naively installed 10.6.8 as it was "recommended for all users" and consequently 'bricked' my MacBook Pro as a result. The system would Kernel Panic immediately upon powering up - it was as if no OS was even installed - and the system would refuse to boot. Apple Care telephone support told me definitively that I had to re-format. They were so wrong!

The Sonnet support site very clearly posted their compatibility matrix just yesterday. The news is not great, but it's clear that they're working pro-actively to restore Qio functionality to both the Thunderbolt MacBook Pros, as well as to 10.6.8 users. They also outline the steps you can take to recover from a bricked / Kernel Panic situation, like ours. Essentially, you need to boot off a backup drive (you do carry a bootable system clone drive everywhere you go, right?!) or from your OSX startup disk, and launch the "Terminal" application. From there, you can manually excise the drivers that are causing the instant Kernel Panic.

Here's a link to their instructions on the Sonnet support site (this info should theoretically change as they continue to solve this problem):

http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=402&expand=_a2&action=b576#b576

I've also taken the liberty of reproducing their documentation, current as of 07/01/11 @ 8:45am PST:

Do not upgrade to 10.6.8 at this time. If you have Qio 1.0.5 software installed and you upgrade to 10.6.8, or you will no longer be able to boot. Sonnet strongly recommends that you install Qio 1.0.6 software but do not yet upgrade to 10.6.8. If you have installed 10.6.8 prior to installing Qio 1.0.6 software and are not able to boot, you can recover with the following steps.

1) Boot from an Mac OS X external drive or DVD.
2) In the Finder, remove the spaces from the name of your system disk that won't boot. For example, rename Macintosh HD to MacintoshHD. (If your system disk has another name use that name in place of MacintoshHD in the next two steps.)
2) Launch Terminal and type:
sudo rm -r /Volumes/MacintoshHD/System/Library/Extensions/STPCIFamily.kext
3) Type:
sudo touch /Volumes/MacintoshHD/System/Library/Extensions
4) Restart

Your system will now boot. If you are running 10.6.8, you can connect your Qio but it may be only partially functional. Sonnet expects to fully support 10.6.8 by mid-July.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MacPro/10.6.7/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart.........Functional
Hot Plug Qio.........Not Supported

MacPro/10.6.8/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards.............Must insert SxS card and restart, then SxS cards will be seen. Should be fixed by mid-July
P2 Cards..............Not Functional. Should be fixed by mid-July, but note that Panasonic P2 driver is not 64-bit compatible.
Boot/Restart.........Functional
Hot Plug Qio.........Not Supported

MacPro/10.6.8/Qio 1.0.7 (mid July)
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards.............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart.........Functional
Hot Plug Qio.........Not Supported
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.7/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart........Functional
Hot Plug Qio........Not Supported

MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.8/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Must insert SxS card and then restart or insert SxS cards and hot plug Qio, then SxS cards will be seen. Should be fixed by mid-July
P2 Cards..............Not Functional. Should be fixed by mid-July, but note that Panasonic P2 driver is not 64-bit compatible.
Boot/Restart........Functional
Hot Plug Qio.......Functional

MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.8/Qio 1.0.7 (mid-July)
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart........Functional
Hot Plug Qio........Functional

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.7
Qio......................Not Functional

MacBook Pro (Thunderbolt)/10.6.8/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Must insert SxS card and then restart or insert SxS cards and hot plug Qio, then SxS cards will be seen. Should be fixed by mid-July
P2 Cards..............Not Functional. Should be fixed by mid-July, but note that Panasonic P2 driver is not 64-bit compatible.
Boot/Restart........Not Functional (Requires Apple EFI update. To be determined.)
Hot Plug Qio........Functional

MacBook Pro (Thunderbolt)/10.6.8/Qio 1.0.7 (mid-July)
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart........Not Supported (Requires Apple EFI update. Support to be determined.)
Hot Plug Qio........Functional
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...

I am not a Sonnet "apologist" but as somebody who recently went through the heart-sinking scare of thinking that I would have to re-format my own hard drive, I simply want to assure you that you DO NOT have to do this! Also, I do sympathize with Sonnet here, who are clearly victims of a total lack of communication and support on the part of Apple. Apple drops these 'recommended for all users' bombshells and specialized companies like Sonnet are left out in the cold, forced to support hordes of enraged users (like me!). These days, it seems more and more like Apple "upgrades" are a disruptive concept, but we won't go down that road here, now, will we?

Best,

- Jordan
 
Awesome info Jordan thanks for that!
I'm sure it will come in handy for me.

the 1.0.5 drivers readme file does say it has support for thunderbolt MBPs
Qio (as far as I know) doesn't play nice on 64bit


When I downloaded 1.0.5 from sonnet (a week ago) I thought it was the newest.
The drivers were updated again on June 30/2011.

I still haven't bought one yet but I think will will be soon....but plan to use it with my
2008-9 17"MBP

Fingers crossed.
 
Jordan,

I found the mixed up of what Dewi said...

from the instruction list :
MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.7/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart........Functional
Hot Plug Qio........Not Supported

and then on below :
MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.7
Qio......................Not Functional


Which one is correct ? if this is a some kind of history of previous version, why they didn't put an explanation ? Just like Red's firmware. If there's a new one, they always put explanation of previous build, so that we know what is the updates.

Can you share, the steps to install the driver based on your experience ?


thanks,
d.p
 
danu prasd said:
Jordan,

I found the mixed up of what Dewi said...

from the instruction list :
MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.7/Qio 1.0.6
SATA Ports...........Functional
CF Cards..............Functional
SD Reader............Functional
SxS Cards............Functional
P2 Cards..............Functional (32-bit mode only)
Boot/Restart........Functional
Hot Plug Qio........Not Supported

and then on below :
MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt)/10.6.7
Qio......................Not Functional


Which one is correct ? if this is a some kind of history of previous version, why they didn't put an explanation ? Just like Red's firmware. If there's a new one, they always put explanation of previous build, so that we know what is the updates.

Can you share, the steps to install the driver based on your experience ?


thanks,
d.p
Click to expand...

Danu,

My interpretation of the above is that the Qio IS functional ONLY w/ the new 1.0.6 Qio drivers, which were not available prior to yesterday. I agree that it is confusing. In my case, I followed Sonnet's instructions (found in my prior post above) to first REMOVE the drivers, which then allowed me to boot, which then allowed me to re-install v. 1.0.6 (only just yesterday). In my experience, v. 1.0.6 + OSX 10.6.8 w/ non-Thunderbolt MacBook Pro DOES boot up, although I have not yet tested the Qio functionality extensively.

Best,

- Jordan
 
Jordan,

Thanks for sharing your experience. But still, for $900+, this is something uncomfortable situation. If we still need to Re-install the driver, and then install again from non use to use, what I can say is, thanks but no thanks. If I am on the road to shoot some comm or movie, will stick with Red station or Lexar for CF.

Btw, Happy birthday, Jordan. All the best.


cheers,
d.p
 
I have also found with mine that if you have two cards in, say SxS, and you eject just the right one it would kernal out my MP. But if you eject both of them at the same time everything is fine. Other then that the only other problem that I have had is that I had my pcie card fail and my MP would't even start up, just kernal out. Sonnet replaced it.
 
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