Sonnet Technologies SATA Pro 6Gb User Manual

Tempo™ SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port

6Gb/s eSATA PCIe 2.0 Host Controller for PCI Express® Slot

Quick Start Guide

You Should Have

The following items should be included in your product package:

• One Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port card

The following items are required (sold separately):

• One or more external Serial ATA drives

• One or more external Serial ATA (eSATA) data cables

System Requirements

The Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port host adapter card requires the
following in order to operate in your system:

• One available PCI Express 1.1 or 2.0 (PCIe) slot*

®

Version 10.5 or later; or Windows® 8, 7, or Vista®

• OS X

* This card is not currently compatible in PCIe 3.0 slots

eSATA connector

SATA I connector

Hardware Installation Steps for All Users

1. Shut down your computer or Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion
chassis, and then open it to access the expansion card area (PCI
Express slots); refer to the user’s manual for specific information.

2. Locate an available PCI Express slot and remove its access cover.
Windows users and Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis users
skip to the next panel; Mac Pro users:

®

• Mac Pro

2009) and pre-2008 Mac Pro users may install the card into
any available slot; Mac Pro (Early 2008) users must only use
slot 3 or 4.

(Mid 2012), Mac Pro (Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early

Hardware Installation Steps for All Users (continued)

3. Remove the Sonnet card from its packaging, and then install it
into the slot; make sure the card is firmly seated and secured.

4. Close your computer or Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis.

5. Connect the eSATA data cable(s) between the Tempo card
and the drive enclosures; make sure all cables are connected
securely to the Tempo card and the enclosures.

Driver Information—OS X

The drivers that enable the Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port card to work
in your computer or Thunderbolt expansion chassis are installed as
part of OS X; the Tempo card is ready to use when you power on
your computer.

Driver Information—Windows

After starting up Windows, the drivers that enable the Tempo
SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port card to operate in your system are installed
automatically. A Found New Hardware popup will appear. Then,
information regarding the process of identifying the card, and
searching for and installing the appropriate software will appear.
Finally, the message “Your new hardware is installed and ready to
use” will be displayed, and then the popup will disappear.

• Power Mac

®

G5 users should use slot 2 or 4, or slot 3 if necessary.

Using the Tempo Card—OS X Users

Listed here is some general information about using the Tempo card
with your computer or Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis:

• Before disconnecting cables from the Tempo card or attached
drives, eject any mounted drive or volume by dragging its icon to
the Eject icon in the Dock, or clicking its Eject button in a Finder
window; otherwise, data may be corrupted.

Formatting Drives—OS X Users

Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port supports one to four direct-connected
drives, or up to 16 drives in enclosures with hardware RAID
controllers. Use Disk Utility (found in the Utilities folder within the
Applications folder) to set up connected drives for use.

Creating RAID Sets—OS X Users

Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port features two SATA controllers, one each
for the top two eSATA ports (ports 1 and 2), and one for the bottom
two (ports 3 and 4). To obtain the best performance when using a
striped RAID set (RAID 0) or mirrored RAID set (RAID 1), you should
use drives connected to ports 1 and 3 together, and 2 and 4 together.

Booting From Attached Drives—OS X Users

Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port supports booting OS X 10.6.8 and
later from attached drives, including those configured as a RAID
set, when installed in early 2008 and later Mac Pro computers and
Thunderbolt-to-PCIe expansion chassis, as described below:

• All Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-port cards support booting from
attached drives when the card is installed in a Thunderbolt-to-PCIe
expansion chassis.

• Installed in a Mac Pro (Early 2008 model and newer), revision B
(serial number starts with B) and later cards support booting out of
the box.

• Revision A cards may be updated to support booting when the card
is installed in a Mac Pro (Early 2008 model and newer). You may
obtain the software to update the card by visiting www.sonnettech.
com/support kb/kb.php, navigating to the Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb
4-Port support page, and downloading the firmware updater.

Please note that in some cases it may be necessary for you to hold the
option key during a start or restart, and then select the startup disk
attached to the Tempo card.

Using the Tempo Card—Windows Users

Listed here is some general information about using the Tempo card
with your Windows desktop computer:

• Always shut down your computer and drives before disconnecting
the drives or their cables from the Sonnet card.

Formatting Drives—Windows Users

Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port supports one to four direct-connected
drives, or up to 16 drives in enclosures with a hardware RAID
controller. If you intend to format drives connected to the Tempo card
using Windows drive formatting tools (Disk Management), you may
locate the information by using “format volume”, and “create striped
volume” as search items in Windows Help.

Creating RAID Volumes—Windows Users

Depending on which version of Windows you are using, you may
be able to configure drives attached to the Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb
4-Port card in a striped (RAID 0) or mirrored (RAID 1) configuration
to provide faster performance, or automatically mirrored data,
respectively. Because the Tempo card features two SATA controllers
(one each for the top two eSATA ports [1 and 2], and one for the
bottom two [3 and 4]), you should use drives connected to ports 1 and
3 together, and 2 and 4 together, to obtain the best performance when
using RAID volumes.

Booting From Attached Drives—Windows Users

Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port supports booting from a single drive or
drive volume when the card is installed in a PC running Windows 8
or 7. However, booting from a software-created RAID volume is not
supported.

Limited Warranty

For complete warranty information, go to www.sonnettech.com/
support/warranty.html

Contacting Customer Service

USA Customers

The Sonnet web site located at www.sonnettech.com has the most
current support information and technical updates.

Before you call Sonnet Customer Service, please check our Website
for the latest updates and online support files, and check this user’s
guide for helpful information. When you call Sonnet Customer
Service, have the following information available so our customer
service staff can better assist you:

• Product name • Date and place of purchase • Computer model

If further assistance is needed, please contact us at:

Sonnet Customer Service:
Tel : [phone]

(Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–4 p.m. Pacific Time)

E-mail: support@ sonnettech.com
Online Service Form: http://serviceform.sonnettech.com

For Customers Outside the USA

For support on this product, contact your reseller or local distributor.

Visit Our Web Site

For the most current product information and online support files,
visit the Sonnet web site at www.sonnettech.com. Remember to
register your product online at http://registration.sonnettech.com to
be informed of future upgrades and product releases.

©2013 Sonnet Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sonnet, the Sonnet logotype, Simply Fast, the Simply Fast logotype, and Tempo
are trademarks of Sonnet Technologies, Inc. Mac , the Mac logo, Mac Pro, OS X and Power Mac are trademarks of Apple 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. QS-TSATA6-PR0-E4-E-C-020513