Sonnet Tempo Sata E2P driver

Question

Sonnet Tempo Sata E2P driver

I just installed a new Sonnet Tempo SATA E2P card, but for some reason it's not recognizing the driver. I've tried installing the driver several times, and each time it tells me the install is successful. But when I open System profiler, the PCI card shows up just fine, but under "driver installed" it says "No."

I've got a Dual-core 2.3GHz PowerPC G5 running OSX (10.5.7), and it's supposed to be compatible. Any ideas?

Dual-core 2.3GHz PowerPC G5, Mac OS X (10.5.7), 4 GB RAM

Posted on Jul 10, 2009 2:07 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Steve Boultbee

Level 5

4,100 points

Jul 10, 2009 2:39 PM in response to Tracy Hollifield

What's the first character of the card's serial number? According to Sonnet's website with regard to G5 compatibility: "Only Tempo SATA E2P with serial numbers starting with A or B compatible; Tempo SATA E2P with serial numbers starting with C are not compatible in Power Mac G5."

If that's not the case, are you trying to install drivers from an installation CD or have you downloaded the latest drivers from Sonnet's website?

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Answer 2

Jul 10, 2009 3:38 PM in response to Tracy Hollifield

It may be that there's enough info in the card's ROM to let the G5 recognize it, but it doesn't contain the code to allow it's use in the G5.

You may want to consider FirmTek's SeriTek 2SE2-E eSATA host adapter. I've been using one in my G5 Quad for several years and it's a great performer. It's even possible to boot the computer from an attached drive (something that wasn't possible with the Sonnet).

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Answer 3

Jul 10, 2009 4:06 PM in response to Steve Boultbee

Thanks again for the help and suggestion. I may give that one a try. I was originally going to get one made by CalDigit (http://www.CalDigit.com/FASTA-2e.asp) since that's what type of drive I'm using, but the store I ordered my drive from didn't have any of the cards in stock so I went with the Sonnet. Oh well, that's what I get for being impatient.

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Answer 4

Jul 10, 2009 4:31 PM in response to Tracy Hollifield

You may want to wait for the CalDigit card if you're going to be doing video (depending on the number and speed of the drives). The SeriTek card is limited to about 150 MB/sec per FirmTek's testing. Fast enough for SD, but may not be for HD.

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Answer 5

Jul 10, 2009 3:00 PM in response to Steve Boultbee

Serial number does start with a "C".

Thanks for the info. I thought I'd researched it pretty good, but never saw that. I just find it odd that the computer does recognize it though.

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