FirmTek SeriTek 6G2+2 User Manual

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(SSD not included)

SeriTek™/6G2+2

Bootable, Four Port, Two Internal & Two External Ports,

Serial ATA 6G, PCI-Express 2.0 Host Adapter

With Port Multiplication

Macintosh User Manual

FirmTek, LLC
www.firmtek.com

Copyright

Copyright © 1999-2014 FirmTek, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be
reproduced, translated by any means, photocopied, or transmitted in any form without the prior
written permission of FirmTek.

Trademarks

FirmTek, UltraTek, AV-Tek, SeriTek names and logotypes are trademarks of FirmTek, LLC.
Apple, Macintosh, Mac OS, OS X, and the Mac logo are registered trademarks of Apple
Computer, Incorporated. The "Built for OS X" graphic is a registered trademark of Apple
Computer, Incorporated, and used under license. All other manufacturer product names
mentioned in this manual are for identification purposes only and are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.

Changes

FirmTek reserves the right to make any changes to product design, specifications, or details
without notice. Actual product photos or screenshots may look different from those provided.

Notice

The material content of this manual is for informational purposes only. It is possible the content
of this manual may contain technical inaccuracies, typographical, or other errors. FirmTek
assumes no liability for any errors, omissions, or from the use of this manual that may result from
such errors, including, but not limited to loss of data or profits.

Before installing the SeriTek/6G2+2 or any other hardware or software, you are responsible for
backing up data contained on any storage devices. After hardware or software installation, you
are responsible for backing up data on any storage devices at frequent intervals. FirmTek, LLC is
not liable for any loss of data or damage to equipment resulting from the use of the
SeriTek/6G2+2 host adapter.

External Shielded Serial ATA Cable

The SeriTek/6G2+2 host adapter uses specially shielded external Serial ATA cables to ensure
integrity during data transfers. Please use caution and handle the cables carefully. Hold the
connector at the ends (not the cable itself) when inserting and removing the cable from the
SeriTek/6G2+2 and the external enclosure. To maintain peak performance keep the number of
cable insertions and removals to a minimum.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction.............................................................................................. 4

II. Installing the SeriTek/6G2+2 .....................................................................8

III. Connecting External Enclosure(s).......................................................... 10

IV. Using Hot-Swap Functionality ................................................................ 17

V. Troubleshooting ………...……………………………………………… 19

VI. Product Support...................................................................................... 20

VII. Product Warranty and Disclaimers......................................................... 21

VIII. Regulatory Compliance Statements................................................21

Addendum - Quick Start Internal Drive Install Guide............................. 22

4

I. Introduction

Welcome

Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the SeriTek/6G2+2 Serial ATA host adapter. This
product is another innovative solution made possible by the creative engineers at FirmTek.

About This Manual

This user manual was written with the assumption you are familiar with the Macintosh computer,
and are comfortable with opening its case. For further information, and to get acquainted with
your computer, please refer to your Macintosh user manual.

About Serial ATA Technology

An evolutionary replacement for Parallel ATA, Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Architecture)
provides an interface that allows computer users to connect additional hard disks and peripherals.
Serial ATA offers insulated cables that are thinner and longer with smaller 7-pin connectors which
results in easier installation and improved airflow, compared to wider and shorter Parallel ATA
cables. Improved airflow translates into a cooler operating environment for the Macintosh and
hard disks.

About the Port Multiplier Specification

Originally, Serial ATA adapters and enclosures supported a single drive connected to a single
port via a single cable. The maximum number of hard disks supported on a Serial ATA adapter
depended on the adapter's port count. The Serial ATA port multiplier specification allows multiple
hard disks to share a single port. The SeriTek/6G2+2 Serial ATA adapter features 2 external port
multiplier enabled ports and supports up to 5 hard disks on each port for a total of 10 hard disks
plus two internal drives mounted on the SeriTek/6G2+2 card.

The SeriTek/6G2+2 supports traditional direct-connect enclosures with one drive per port such as
the miniSwap/ES, and port multiplier enabled enclosures with up to 5 drives per port such as the
SeriTek/5PM. Port multiplier enabled enclosures such as the SeriTek/5PM include additional
internal circuitry, which allows the connection of multiple hard disks to a single SeriTek/6G2+2
port.

About the SeriTek/6G2+2 Serial ATA Host Adapter

The SeriTek/6G2+2 host adapter extends Serial ATA's 6.0 Gbit/sec performance to the outside of
the Macintosh computer chassis, enabling users with PCI-Express compatible Macintosh
computers to take advantage of external Serial ATA enclosures.

With two external port multiplier enabled Serial ATA ports and internal PCI-Express connectivity,
the SeriTek/6G2+2 host adapter provides the high bandwidth necessary to meet the needs of
performance-hungry applications while offering hot-swap flexibility similar to that of Universal
Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire. The SeriTek/6G2+2 host adapter provides the latest I-shaped
eSATA connectors.

Original L-shaped

Serial ATA connector

Newer rectangular

eSATA I-shaped

connector

5

Package Contents

• SeriTek/6G2+2 Serial ATA host adaptor

• Six 2.5” SSD/HDD mounting screws

• CD-ROM Containing Macintosh User Manual

Key Features and Benefits

• Two high performance external eSATA ports with hot-swap capabilities

• Two high performance 2.5” internal SATA mounting connections on the PCIe card

• Bootable with Mac OS X 10.6.x thru 10.9.x using a direct connect eSATA enclosure like the

miniSwap/ES. Mac OS X is also bootable with PM enabled enclosures like the SeriTek/5PM.

• Thunderbolt aware for use with Thunderbolt PCIe Expansion Chassis or in a PCIe slot

• Boosts overall performance, per-port data transfer burst rates up to 600 MBytes/sec or 6Gbits/sec

• Compatible with Apple Mac Pro and Windows 7/8 PCI-Express 4x equipped computers

• PCI-Express Base 2.0 specification compliant and SATA 6Gb/s Compliant

• Supports PCIe communication speeds of 5.0Gbps and 2.5Gbps

• Includes 32 and 64-bit support for Intel-based Mac Pro models

• Native SATA 6G SSD and HDD support: Backward compatible with 3G and 1.5 Gbps devices

• SMART Application support for 3rd party Macintosh utilities

• Supports Apple Disk Utility RAID and JBOD drive configurations

• Port Multiplier Support: Connect up to 10 drives using SeriTek/5PM enclosures

• Direct Connect Support: Connect up to four 2.5” drives with miniSwap/ES and on-board connections

• Complete CRC error checking for all bits transmitted, offers enhanced data protection

• Bus Mastering off-loads data I/O handling from CPU

• Supports Native Command Queing (NCQ)

• User-upgradeable firmware

• Perfect for upgrading and expanding Macintosh computers by leveraging the power of PCI-Express

Host interface with external 6G SATA connectivity

• Bus master operation enhances multitasking during disk transfers and increases CPU efficiency: The
CPU is free to handle other tasks during data transfers between the PCI-Express Bus and system

• Ideal for multimedia-intensive applications: audio/video capture and editing, and graphics
manipulation/publishing

• Ideal for a variety of applications: Desktop publishing, Audio/Video storage and editing, photo storage
and editing, servers, and gaming

6

Specifications

Hardware
Requirements

• PCI-Express based Macintosh or PC with available
PCI-Express 4x expansion slot

• Supports Thunderbolt PCIe Expansion Chassis

Operating Systems
Supported

• Mac OS X version 10.6.x or later

• Windows 7/8 32 or 64-bit

Bus Type

• PCI-Express 2x - Compatible with 4x, 8x, 16x slots

External & Internal
Connectors

• Serial ATA 6G interface supports up to 2 external
drives with eSATA connectors and two additional

2.5” drives mounted on the PCIe card

Drive Types
Supported

• SATA 6G SSD and HDD devices, backward
compatible with SATA 3G, 1.5G drives. Internal PCIe
mounting supports 2.5” HDD or SSD

Data Transfer
Rates

• Up to 600 MBytes/second or 6.0 Gbits/second burst
data transfer rate per channel

Drive Modes
Supported

• SATA with or without Native Command Queuing

Advanced Data
Features

• Bootable with Mac OS X 10.6.x or later

• Ultra High Performance SATA 6G design

• Fully compliant with SATA Revision 3.0 specification

• Port multiplier support: Run up to 10 drives with

SeriTek/5PM Port Multiplier enclosures

• SATA Drive Hot Swap compliant

• Bus Mastering off-loads data I/O handling from CPU

• CRC error checking, for all bits transmitted

(command, data, and status), offers enhanced data
protection for high-speed Serial ATA drives

• Four independent data channels allows for separate
device timings

• Automatically identifies and configures drive types

Onboard Flash
ROM

• Allows easy upgrades to the latest firmware

Cables Supported

• 7-pin shielded SATA cable, up to 2 meter in length

Warranty

• One year limited parts & labor

Physical
Dimensions

• 160mm(L) x 7mm(W) x 110mm(H) (not including
bracket or internal 2.5” SSD/HDD)

Power
Requirements

• 5V ± 5%

Environmental

• Temperature:

Operating: +5°C to +55°C
Non-Operating: -25°C to +70°C

• Relative humidity:

Operating: 20% to 80%
Non-Operating: 15% to 90%

EMC Compliance

• EN55022/1998, EN55024/1998 (European
Community)

• FCC Part 15 Class B (US)

7

System Requirements

Operating System

• Macintosh OS X version 10.6.x or later

• Windows 7 or 8, 32 or 64-bit

Hardware Requirements

• PCI-Express based Macintosh with available PCI-Express 4x expansion slot or a
Thunderbolt PCIe Expansion Chassis

• Internal 2.5” SSD/HDD and/or external powered enclosure (with or without port
multiplication support) equipped with SSD or HDD(s)

• If used in ThunderTek/PX, two mounting posts are needed (included when
SeriTek/6G2+2 is purchased in ThunderTek/PX-6G2+2 bundle)

Materials Required

• Standard medium-sized Phillips screwdriver may be required if computer does not have a
PCI bracket with captive screws

SSD not included with SeriTek/6G2+2