Sonnet Technologies SATA 4+4 User Manual

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Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X SATA 4+4

You Should Have

The following items should be included in your product package:

• One Tempo-X SATA 4+4 card

• Two internal Serial ATA data cables

• Eight screws (for mounting hard drives)

• Two legacy to Serial ATA power cable adapters
The following items may be required for installation:

• Medium Phillips screwdriver

• Internal drive mounting hardware (sold separately)

• One or more external drive cases (sold separately)

• One or more additional internal Serial ATA data cables
(sold separately)

• One or more

• One or more legacy (4-pin) power cable Y-adapters (sold
separately)

• One or more legacy to Serial ATA (4-pin to 15-pin) power
adapters (sold separately)

• One or more Ultra ATA to Serial ATA adapters (only used t
parallel ATA drives, sold separately)

xternal Serial ATA data cables (sold separate

-

ATA 4+

8-Port Serial ATA PCI-X Host Controlle

System Requirements

The Tempo-X SATA 4+4 requires the following in order to operate in your sys-

tem:

• One available PCI-X or PCI slot

• One or more available hard drive bays (depending on confi guration)

• Mac OS

Support Notes: We recommend that you make a backup of important

hardware or software.

When handling computer products, you must take care to prevent components
from being damaged by static electricity. Before opening your computer or
removing parts from their packages, always ground yourself first by touching
a metal part of the computer, such as a port access cover, and work in an area
free of static electricity; avoid carpeted areas. Handle all electronic components
only by their edges, and avoid touching connector traces and component pins.
Also, avoid touching the logic board and any of its components.

WARNING : This product is not compatible with the HighPoint

software. If you have the HighPoint product installed in your system, be sure
to remove the HPTRAIDController.kext file before you install the Tempo­X SATA 4+4 into your system. Refer to the RocketRAID documentation for

detailed instructions.

®

X Version 10.2.x or later

information on your system’s current hard drive prior to installing new

RocketRAID product or the kernel extension installed by its supporting

Remember to register your product online at http://registration.sonnettech.com to be informed of future upgrades and product releases.
Software updates and links are available from the Sonnet web site at www.sonnettech.com. • Online support form available at http://supportform.sonnettech.com.
Sonnet Technologies Customer Service hours are Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Pacific Time • Customer Service Phone: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail]
Sonnet Technologies, Inc., Irvine, California USA • Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

©2004 Sonnet Technologies, Inc. Revised 2005. All rights reserved. Sonnet, the Sonnet logotype, Simply Fast, the Simply Fast logotype, and Tempo are trademarks of Sonnet Technologies, Inc. Macintosh and Mac are trademarks
of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Other product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Product specifications subject to change without notice. Printed in the USA.
QS-TSATA-X44-E-B-011405

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X SATA 4+4

Support Note: Technical knowledge may be required to gain access to

the drive expansion bays in certain computers. We recommend you
first consult your computer’s user manual. If you feel you are unable to install
the computer hardware, contact a qualified technician.

Installation Preparation

Prior to installing the Tempo-X SATA 4+4 into your system and connecting
any hard drives, you should familiarize yourself with the parts to be installed.
We also strongly recommend that you read the sections in your computer’s
user manual that address hard drive and PCI card installation.

1. Figure 1 illustrates one of the internal Serial ATA data cables included

with the Tempo card; plug the straight connector into the Tempo card.

right angle

connector

Serial ATA data cable

straight connector

2. Remove a hard drive from its packaging.

3. Locate the connector block on your drive. Many Serial ATA drives are

equipped with both a legacy 4-Pin power connector and a Serial ATA 15­pin power connector (Figure 2). Depending on your computer, you may
need to use 4-pin to 15-pin power adapter cables (sold separately).

Hardware Installation Steps

This section covers the installation of the Tempo-X SATA 4+4 into your system
and connection of one or more hard drives.

1. Shut down the computer.

2. Open your computer to access its expansion card area (PCI slots) and

drive bay(s); refer to your computer’s user manual for specifi c information.

3. If you are installing any hard drives inside your computer, do so now;

otherwise,, skip to step 6 on page 3. (Depending on your computer model,
drive mounting hardware may be required to secure your hard drives.
Refer to your computer’s user manual.)

4. Plug the Serial ATA data cables’ right angles connector into your drives;

verify the connectors are plugged in securely. (If you are connecting

three or more drives, you will need one or two additional internal Serial
ATA data cables.)

Serial ATA power

connector

Serial ATA data

Figure 1

connector

Figure 2

legacy power

connector

5. Locate the power connector plugged into your computer’s existing hard

drive. You should fi nd at least one extra power connector near the existing
drive; if you have installed only one new drive, plug the extra power con­nector into it. Connect only one power connector to the drive. If you
have installed more than one new drive, or there are no additional power
connectors, you may need to use power cable Y-adapters (sold separately)
or other adapters (sold separately) which will provide power to the con­nected hard drives. Verify the connectors are plugged in securely.

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Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X SATA 4+4

6. Locate an available PCI-X or PCI slot inside your computer and remove

its access cover, if present, from the rear of the computer.

7. Remove the Tempo-X card from its packaging.

Support Note: Most faster Power Mac G5 computers feature PCI-X slots

(two 100MHz, one 133MHz, check your computer’s user manual for spe­cific information). The Tempo-X card may be installed in any of the slots and
perform equally well under most circumstances. Users should be aware that when
certain standard 33MHz PCI adapter cards are installed along with the Tempo-X
card in the 100MHz slots (slots 2 and 3), the Tempo-X card’s performance may
be adversely affected.

8. Install the Tempo-X card into the slot; make sure the card is fi rmly
seated. Please note, if you are connecting external drives to the Tempo-

X card, do not fasten the mounting screw yet; you must connect the
external cables before securing the card.

9. Route the internal Serial ATA data cable(s) to the Tempo -X card; avoid
heat sinks and make sure the cables will not get crushed or pinched by any
part of the case when the computer is reassembled.

10. Plug in the internal Serial ATA data cable(s) to the Tempo-X card.

11. Check the cable connections; make sure all cables are connected
securely to the Tempo -X ca rd and the hard drives.

Support Note: If you will use external Serial ATA drives in your setup,

we strongly suggest you use external Serial ATA data cables (sold
separately) to connect them to the Tempo-X card. These cables are more robust
and offer benefits such as better shielding from electrical interference.

12. If you are using any external drives, connect the external Serial ATA data
cable(s) between the Tempo-X card and the drives; make sure all cables
are connected securely to the Tempo-X card and the hard drives.

13. Secure the Tempo-X card firmly in place with the mounting screw, and
then close the computer; be very careful not to pinch the cables.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR EXTERNAL DRIVE USERS!

A very small number of Tempo-X SATA 4+4 users have reported a condition
in which connected drives installed in an external case intermittently do not
appear when their computer is booted. To avoid this issue, follow the steps
below:

1. Power on the external drive enclosure(s) at least 30 seconds BEFORE
powering on the Power Mac.

2. Select Shut Down from the Apple Menu and wait for the Power Mac
to shut down completely BEFORE powering off the external drive
enclosure(s).

This issue is under investigation by Sonnet; for further updates, check
www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo-x_sata44.html

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Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X SATA 4+4

Drive Formatting—Individual Drives (Not in a RAID Array)

This section describes the process of formatting (initializing) individual hard
drives connected to the Tempo-X SATA 4+4 using Disk Utility under Mac OS X
Version 10.2; the process under Version 10.3 is very similar. If you intend to cre­ate a RAID array with the drives attached to the Tempo-X card, skip to “Drive
Formatting—RAID Arrays” on the next page.

1. Turn on your computer. During startup, your computer may display a
message(s) referring to “unreadable volumes”, click Initialize… to launch
Disk Utility (Figure 3).

2. If it is not already open, launch Disk Utility (Figure 4). Note that all
attached drives appear in the information window, regardless of being for­matted or not.

3. Select the drive you want to format by single clicking the drive symbol or
the “name” of the drive (Figure 4). In the information window, the drive
capacity and Connection type are listed.

Figure 3

4. Click on the Partition tab (Figure 5). In the Partition frame, click on the
drop down menu beneath “Volume Scheme:” and select a number of par­titions for the volume; you may optionally choose to partition each drive
to create two or more smaller “virtual” drives.

5. Click to highlight a partition, and then type a name in the Name fi eld;
repeat for each partition (Figure 5). After formatting, each will appear in
the Finder window as a drive. If you need to access a drive or partition
from Mac OS 9, be sure to click the Install Mac OS 9 Drivers checkbox.

6. Click Partition (Figure 5).

Figure 4

Figure 5

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Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X SATA 4+4

Drive Formatting—Individual Drives (continued)

7. When the Wa rn ing window appears, click the Partition button (Figure 6).
If necessary, repeat steps 3–6 to partition any other drives connected to the
Tempo-X card. When partitioning and formatting are complete, close the
Disk Utility application; you can now use your drive(s).

Drive Formatting—RAID Arrays

This section describes the process of formatting (initializing) individual hard
drives connected to the Tempo-X SATA 4+4 using Disk Utility under Mac OS X
Version 10.3; the process under Version 10.2 is very similar. If you choose to
do so, you may format your drives using SoftRAID 3.1 or later; refer to that
product’s documentation for instructions.

Figure 6

1. Turn on your computer. During startup, your computer may display a
message(s) referring to “unreadable volumes”, click Initialize… to launch
Disk Utility (Figure 7).

Support Note: All hard drives connected to the Tempo-X card will be

described by Disk Utility as having an internal connection (Figure 8).

2. If it is not already open, launch Disk Utility (Figure 8). Note that all
attached drives appear in the information window, regardless of being for­matted or not.

3. Select one of the drives you want to format in a RAID array by single­clicking the drive symbol or the “name” of the drive (Figure 8). In the
information window, the drive capacity and Connection type are listed.

Figure 7

Figure 8

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Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X SATA 4+4

Drive Formatting—RAID Arrays (continued)

Support Note: The remaining steps in this section describe the creation

of a RAID 0 (striped) array. If you intend to create a RAID 1 (mirrored)
array, the procedure is similar to the remaining steps. Please refer to Disk Utility
help for further information.

4. Click the RAID tab in the Disk Utility window, select all the drives you

will use to create your RAID 0 (Stripe) array, and drag them into the disk
fi eld (Figure 9). Be careful to NOT accidentally drag in a drive you
don’t want included in the RAID.

5. From the drop-down menus, select the RAID scheme (stripe) and the vol­ume format, and then type in the name for your RAID volume (Figure 9).

6. When the Creating RAID window appears, click the Create button; all
of the selected drives will be formatted and the RAID volume created
(Figure 10). Close Disk Utility; your drives are now ready to use and your
installation is complete.

Figure 9

Figure 10

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