I'm wondering if anyone has found a plug-in card for the MacPro that provides an expressCard slot for those cute little SxS cards.... I don't own the Macbook Pro (obviously) (yet).
Dual G5; 30" Cinema Display; FCP Studio 2,
Mac OS X (10.4.11),
JVC SR-GS30 deck, DVX-100a, Sony XDCAM EX
Cute, but the USB plug-in doesn't qualify as an adapter card for a Mac Pro (nor does it provide the ability to read the files at ExpressCard speeds). I'm looking for a card that will give my Mac Pro the ability to read expresscards directly. Not something Apple supports at the moment, as far as I can see.
I'm going the other way around (Expresscard-to-PCIE) on my Macbook Pro, no drivers required for the adapters, so I figured there MUST be a way for you. I don'y know if this is the answer, but I found a reference to SxS here:
Like … how? There's no SxS slot in your Mac. If you want to add one, you're gonna have to use one of the existing interfaces, like USB.
I guess conceivably somebody could build a PCI Express board that includes a slot of some kind for SxS cards. But I'm not sure why anyone would. In order to insert a card you'd have to go into the equipment room and dig around behind your Mac, and that's assuming you've got a spare PCI Express slot for one. Between your graphics board, your video board, your Fibre Channel or eSATA board that leaves just one slot left, and if you need additional Firewire buses or anything, that's it. You're full.
A USB reader seems like pretty much the perfect way to go here.
I have both a "PCIE host"-to-Expresscard adapter for my (Windows) desktop, and an Expresscard-to-"external PCIE" adapter for my Macbook Pro. In both cases the adapter itself is transparent to the system, because the adapters (the PCIE card on the desktop and the Expresscard on the Macbook) are just physical extensions and don't change the protocol as far as the host is concerned. I didn't need drivers for the adapters themselves, and they aren't seen even now. Only the external controller is seen (and need drivers). Perhaps the OP could write to the poster on that other forum and report back here?
In response to Jeff:
See the links I posted above. This is exactly what PCIE slots are for! A generic passage to your CPU for other protocols (e.g.: SCSI) and physical connections (e.g.: CX4).
David: Yes, I just re-read your post, and I think I reversed your "EC" and "P2," assuming by P2 you mean the PCIE card. So, perhaps the OP could ask the poster on the other forum for his configuration to see if that person really got his Mac Pro to work in PCIE-to-Expresscard-to-SxS style.
