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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 :)

OSX 10.8.2 and REDRocket over Thunderbolt Compatibility Update???

Rob Lohman said:
We are working on the problem.... as with all debugging, it's hard to give an ETA. We want it out just as much as you do.
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Great news, Rob. Thanks very much for letting us know!

Looks like Apple have announced plans to seed the beta version of their next OSX 10.8.3 update at the end of this month (source: http://appleinsider.com/articles/12...rsion-of-os-x-1083-after-thanksgiving-weekend). Perhaps the most productive thing at this point would be to test, debug, and ensure that Thunderbolt-REDRocket operation is restored for the upcoming version 10.8.3 release?

Or, ideally, I suppose it should work be able to work in both 10.8.2 and 10.8.3, but we've all known for some time that we just can't trust Apple OS updates anymore.

Best,

- Jordan
 
I am also crippled by this update...retina 15 echo combo etc. Anyone know if I can use my windows 7 partition to get the Rocket up and running? I am in need of some heavy debayering at the moment so I appreciate the feedback.
 
Matthew Yaeger said:
You should be able to use it on your windows 7 partition without any issues.
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Thanks matthew, i was able to give a test today on my windows partition the the export speeds appear to work although playback is the same, no performance increase.
 
Hi everyone

I'm having the same problem with my Magma TB chassis / Red Rocket / 15" Retina MBP setup.

Solution was to install 10.8. I'm waiting to see how 10.8.3 evolves the issue before I update.

But I was surprised that the TB setup only functions as 4x so the card is actually under performing as it needs 8x. Neither Sonnet, Magma or Maxx Digital don't mention this problem in any of their info. The card is still super fast and I'm happy, but it's a shame that there is unused capacity.

Cheers

Shane
shanedaly.info
 
Hey Shane,

I could be wrong, but I believe the thunderbolt technology itself is only able to run at 4x. Therefore it's not a Magma/Sonnett thing, but the actual speed of the thunderbolt technology itself.

When I was researching a box for my retina macbook pro (max specs), I was very hesitant to purchase something that only ran at half the speed (i kept looking for 8x). I've heard mixed reviews, but bottom line (for me at least) is the 4x allows 1/2 playback flawlessly and full near perfect with few hiccups only on some longer clips. It gets the job done, but right now without the 10.8.2 driver fix, it's a paperweight.

Thanks,
Mark
 
I still don't have a great way to down-grade to an older OS (maybe I don't have the right info on this?). Some have suggested a Torrent download, but I'm hesitant to go down this road. Still hoping RED will come out with a fix for this issue any day now (please!).

As for 8x vs 4x, my understanding is that there is currently no 8x Thunderbolt chassis on the market as Thunderbolt in its current form can only support up to 4x equivalent bandwidth. Sonnet does in fact discuss this on their Echo Express Pro FAQ here:

http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=451&expand=_a2&action=b717#b717

Best,

- Jordan
 
Here's what Sonnet have to say on their website about Thunderbolt (Magma vs. Sonnet):

Generally, we prefer not to comment on competitor's products, but we get this question so often that we thought it was worth an explanation.

The Red Rocket is a PCIe 1.1 x8 card. In a Mac Pro, it likes to be in an x8 (or faster) slot and will give a warning message if it is not. Does this warning have any meaning in a Thunderbolt expansion chassis, which may have either an x4 or x8 slot?

In a Magma chassis, the connection to a Red Rocket is PCIe 1.1 x8 which has a bandwidth limit of 20Gb/sec. This bandwidth may get as far as the Thunderbolt chip but it is throttled down to the 10Gb/sec bandwidth limit of the Thunderbolt channel dedicated to PCIe. You can't get more bandwidth than the slowest link in the chain. You get transfer, wait, transfer, wait, transfer, wait\u8230 an aggregate bandwidth of 10Gb/sec.

In the Sonnet chassis the connection at the Rocket is PCIe 1.1 x4 which has a bandwidth limit of 10Gb/sec. This bandwidth can be passed through the Thunderbolt chip at full throttle at the same 10Gb/sec bandwidth of the Thunderbolt channel dedicated to PCIe. You can't get more bandwidth than the slowest link in the chain. You get transfer, transfer, transfer, transfer, transfer\u8230 an aggregate bandwith of 10Gb/sec.

If there was any difference in performance, Sonnet would have designed a bridge from Thunderbolt to x8, but Sonnet's tests showed that there was no difference in performance between a Thunderbolt PCIe bridge to x8 and a Thunderbolt bridge to x4. The limit is Thunderbolt, so Sonnet put money into other aspects of the Echo Express Pro (designed and manufactured by Sonnet in California) that provide benefits to the user\u8212 like a rugged chassis, automatic temperature-controlled variable-speed fans, three fans for quieter operation, generous ventilation holes so that a fan card in one of the precious PCIe slots is not required, and a value price point.
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Best,

- Jordan
 
Rob Lohman said:
And here's a release for you guys to try:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...0-amp-firmware-1-1-6-11&p=1106710#post1106710
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Thanks, Rob. Initial testing on my end looks very good! I am currently testing with a brand new MacMini and was able to transcode a 4K 2.33:1 clip at slightly better than realtime (the clip is 3.5 minutes and the transcode to ProRes 4444 1920x1080 took just 2 minutes and 17 seconds).

Playback of 4K material seems pretty smooth, with an occasional stutter. At "half" quality playback is smooth so far. Most importantly, no crashes yet.

Please note - there's nothing scientific about my test. I'm simply loading the clips I have on hand with the drives I have on hand and using my phone as a stopwatch. The point is - it's working!

I also have a 13" MacBook Pro Retina on hand that I'm about to test in the same manner as well. I will post right away if I see any significantly different results.

Thanks again,

- Jordan
 
Looking good so far! Putting Rocket through the motions in CineX FCPX and Premiere, everything's looking good. Will report back if problems encountered. Thanks for putting in the hard work to provide the fix!
 
Have issues on and off. I just updated: Pr to 6.0.0.2 - new RR driver/firmware - OSX 10.8.2 in that order. Had some osx crashes and problems in RCX and Pr. Installed the RR driver again in OSX 10.8.2 and it seems to be working fine.
Will see if it holds up after a few restartes and uses of Pr and RCX.

Running rMBP and Magma Chasis.


@jordan - are you using a MBP or rMBP? It seems the update is for the MBP and not the rMBP.. at least I'm not getting an update notification for it.
 
Tehben Dean said:
@jordan - are you using a MBP or rMBP? It seems the update is for the MBP and not the rMBP.. at least I'm not getting an update notification for it.
Click to expand...

Hi Tehben,

I've been testing with a 13" Retina MacBook Pro and the latest edition MacMini. I'm using the Sonnet Echo Express Pro chassis as well as the Sonnet xMac Mini Server chassis.

Have not yet tried to install the Supplemental Update 2.0 or the new Thunderbolt Firmware Update.

Best,

- Jordan
 
After latest OSX updates my REDRocket in Sonnet Pro Thunderbolt chassis no longer works again! I have tried re-installing drivers, re-starting computer, etc. This time around the REDRocket doesn't even show up in the system profiler! What gives?! Does anybody know how to get Rocket-over-Thunderbolt working (and stay that way)?! RED, please help!!!

Thanks,

- Jordan
 
Can someone from RED please come to the rescue ASAP? Once again, it's the 11th hour and the mission-critical system is a brick. Is it too much to depend on REDRocket drivers to work with the current Apple hardware and software? Please let me know when I can expect this issue to be fixed again. Thanks very much!

- Jordan
 
I've been beta testing the M-Logic RED Rocket Thunderbolt enclosure and it has been ROCK solid with every Mac I have tested it on. So far it works flawlessly with a MacBook Air, Retina MacBook and 2012 iMac.

If M-Logic is solid I wonder if it is Sonnet that is the issue...
 
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