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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 :)

Magma ExpressBox 3T

Häakon said:
Can you elaborate on 'the hardware isn't as robust...
Click to expand...

The Sonnet is built like a rock. The Magma felt like a....PC.
But Magmas 3 cards and the 8X is worth it.
Both are great though in their own way.
 
What drivers are you using for the 690

Neil W. Smith said:
GPUs not working with the Sonnet expansion boxes is not specific to Sonnet or any Tbolt manufacturer for that matter .... most modern PCIe GPUs are x 16 lane PCIe cards with very high speed I/O to the MB and CPU .... Tbolt by definition is only x 8 lanes maximum ... so though you can get 10GBs I/O speed on the Tbolt bus you don't have enough PCIe lanes to carry the tremendous amount of data that modern GPUs typically process.

Believe me, I've tried every which way to get our Sonnet Tbolt expansion boxes to work with nVIDIA GPUS ... but no luck (if anyone cracks the code - please let us all know) ... Tbolt will not even see a x 16 lane GPU.

Also, the bandwidth requirements for CUDA based image processing are incredibly high ... in one of our Mac Resolve Systems I'm using three EVGA GTX 690 cards (i.e., six GTX 680 cards) to push Resolve to the limits .... only the PCIe bus can handle that data throughput.

The Sonnet Tbolt expansion boxes are terrific for adding RedRocket, Fiber Channel, 10GigE and eSATA cards but alas not GPUs .... still a Retina Display MBP with a couple of Sonnet Tbolt boxes attached is a beast of a machine .... now if there was just someway to snuck a couple of EVGA 690s in there somehow, we'd be happy as Larry.

Will be interesting to see how Apple incorporates Tbolt and USB 3 as well as PCIe 3 into next year's Mac Pro Tower upgrade.

Cheers,
Neil
Click to expand...
 
I have my rocket in X8 lane 1 in Magma Express Box 3T. The system is showing x8 width. Why I am getting a X4 warning in RCX? How could I fix it?
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I am getting the same warning in RCX, any help to get to full 8x would be appreciated.
 
Im not sure but doesnt it work anyway even with the warning?

We had the same issue on the Sonnet and it still worked in Full Debayer.

However we dont get the warning with the Magma.
 
Bump up top. Any news on GPUs or saturating the TB ports on Retina's? Is there any sort of bottle necking with 3 cards in the magma? What if you utilize two chassis expanders (one in each TB port) and not load up the Magma to full capacity to help bandwidth?
 
Just got word that our ROCKET/MAGMA combo is acting up.
Basically the 4X LANE pop-up is constant.
Images are not showing up on playback.
I dont think the 4X LANE error stops you from using RCXPro (from my past experience).
I think the OS got updated to 10.8.2.
Anyone else using this version?
The RCXPro and ROCKET firmware is from 3 weeks ago.
The console spits out a ton of errors one being RR callback - decode failed.
 
All is good now with rMBP and Magma w/ROCKET.
Running 10.8.2 along with latest RCXPro and ROCKET firmware.
The 4X warning is still there but can be shut-off easily.
According to OS X the ROCKET is on 8X.
 
4x warning gate?

4x warning gate?

Anybody could clarify or explain the situation with the "4x warning"?
I have the same thing as a lot of users here, on RCX, the RR in the Magma shows up at 4x but it's listed at 8x in the system info.
So, how does it actually run? 4x? 8x?
 
vincent kardasik said:
Anybody could clarify or explain the situation with the "4x warning"?
I have the same thing as a lot of users here, on RCX, the RR in the Magma shows up at 4x but it's listed at 8x in the system info.
So, how does it actually run? 4x? 8x?
Click to expand...

Thunderbolt only operates at 4x. Even though the card is physically in an 8x slot, the maximum throughput via the thunderbolt cable you're going to get is only 4x. Hence the 4x warning in REDCINE-X.
 
Grant Limberg said:
Thunderbolt only operates at 4x. Even though the card is physically in an 8x slot, the maximum throughput via the thunderbolt cable you're going to get is only 4x. Hence the 4x warning in REDCINE-X.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the clarification Grant.
If I understand well, whose saying in that thread that their Rockets inside the Magma works or worked at 8x are wrong?
 
vincent kardasik said:
If I understand well, whose saying in that thread that their Rockets inside the Magma works or worked at 8x are wrong?
Click to expand...

It definitely shows up to the OS as an 8x card slot, but you're not going to get that kind of bandwidth from a Thunderbolt enclosure.

Theoretically, the thunderbolt cables could handle 8x, but not in its current implementation. Half of the lanes in the thunderbolt cable are dedicated to DisplayPort for video output. That's what allows you to daisy-chain a monitor inline with other Thunderbolt devices to a single port on your computer, and what prevents you from utilizing the full bandwidth capability of the cable when connecting to a single device.
 
Grant Limberg said:
It definitely shows up to the OS as an 8x card slot, but you're not going to get that kind of bandwidth from a Thunderbolt enclosure.

Theoretically, the thunderbolt cables could handle 8x, but not in its current implementation. Half of the lanes in the thunderbolt cable are dedicated to DisplayPort for video output. That's what allows you to daisy-chain a monitor inline with other Thunderbolt devices to a single port on your computer, and what prevents you from utilizing the full bandwidth capability of the cable when connecting to a single device.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for all these infos Grant.
 
ExpressBox and Thunderbolt 2

ExpressBox and Thunderbolt 2

For those who are wondering about the ExpressBox and future Thunderbolt 2 standard, I have posted a response I received from Magma on the subject here
 
I started out with a Preproduction one from Magma.
Only one bug and it was fixed quick and its been woking good.
Till just a week or so ago.

I ran in to a problem.
RR not showing up on any Thunderbolt device with Magma 3T.
Tried all kinds of things to get it to work. Been working with Magma and they been a big help going above and beyond.
Magma tells me theres a lot of people having the same problem I am having.
The card will show up in a pc tower and work.
Just not in a 3T by thunderbolt hooked up to a new up date MBPR or a not updated MBP17.
I send in the 3T to magma and there RR works in it. They send me a new one and still does not show up.
Need to test it in a Mac pro tower. But if it works in a PC tower windows it should work in a mac or the 3T.

If any one is having the same problems post them up and let me and every one know what worked to fix the problem.
 
James Peach said:
I started out with a Preproduction one from Magma.
Only one bug and it was fixed quick and its been woking good.
Till just a week or so ago.

I ran in to a problem.
RR not showing up on any Thunderbolt device with Magma 3T.
Tried all kinds of things to get it to work. Been working with Magma and they been a big help going above and beyond.
Magma tells me theres a lot of people having the same problem I am having.
The card will show up in a pc tower and work.
Just not in a 3T by thunderbolt hooked up to a new up date MBPR or a not updated MBP17.
I send in the 3T to magma and there RR works in it. They send me a new one and still does not show up.
Need to test it in a Mac pro tower. But if it works in a PC tower windows it should work in a mac or the 3T.

If any one is having the same problems post them up and let me and every one know what worked to fix the problem.
Click to expand...

This definitely sounds like another Apple OS issue...

:sifone: Peter
 
Peter Majtan said:
This definitely sounds like another Apple OS issue...

:sifone: Peter
Click to expand...


This happened at almost every OS/RCXPro update for us.

Currently our Magma works with rMBP.

Will keep it from updating.
 
In response to the red rocket not running at PCIe x8 lanes in the Magma case, remember its Gen1 x8 lane, which is the same bandwidth as Gen2 x4 lane (thunderbolt), and in Redcine X it still has the warning and shows up as a Gen2 x4 lane PCIe connection, however, in the real world with 5k HD material I get around 28-29 fps transcodes with the rocket in slot_1 at the x8 link speed (around 65% system resources used) and only 23-24 fps transcodes when I have the rocket in slot_2 at the x4 link speed (around 40% system resources used).

MBPR SYSTEM SETTINGS/RESOURCE INFORMATION

ExpressBox 3T:
Vendor Name: Magma
Device Name: ExpressBox 3T
Vendor ID: 0x19
Device ID: 0x2
Device Revision: 0x2
UID: 0x0019000000002460
Route String: 1
Firmware Version: 26.1
Port:
Status: Device connected
Link Status: 0x2
Port Micro Firmware Version: 0.2.5
Cable Firmware Version: 0.1.18
Cable Serial Number: ####
Port:
Status: No device connected
Link Status: 0x7
Port Micro Firmware Version: 0.2.5


RED Rocket:
Type: Video
Driver Installed: Yes
Tunnel Compatible: Yes
MSI: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: Thunderbolt@19,0,0
Vendor ID: 0x1a55
Device ID: 0x0070
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1a55
Subsystem ID: 0x0070
Revision ID: 0x0000
Link Width: x8
Link Speed: 2.5 GT/s


When the red rocket loses thunderbolt connectivity, that's usually right before the card dies altogether, usually works for another couple days in a MAC or PC tower, then nothing. At least thats what happened to my previous two rockets, each lasted a little more than a year, but I didn't expect to get more than that with such heavy day-in day-out field/onsite use.
 
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Took the plunge today and bought the Magma Express Box 3T. Also bought a RED Rocket. We have a fully loaded new iMac and 2 MBPr maxed out. Any reason to be concerned or any advice on this addition?


Thanks
 
Put the Rocket in slot_1, next to the PCIe TB adapter, and never move it or touch it again, lol. It should show up as an x8 link speed and run full throttle over TB, at Gen2 x4 speed. Both the Magma and Sonnet cases tend to warm up or run hot during long transcodes, I'd set the intake fan to maximum speed and use the supplied PCIe blower fan on the Magma case or add your own low profile side fan (92mm x 14mm Noctua fan works well) if you feel comfortable modding the case and want more cooling.
 
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