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Level 2

166 points

Thunderbolt Pegasus R4 Experience?

Has anyone else got any first hand experience of the Promise Pegasus R4 (or R6) with their iMac? I bought mine this week and managed to load it up with around 1.4Tb (it holds around 3Tb) no problem. Now, today I can't get the drive to stay connected before it ejects for more than 5 minutes. It's driving me mad and I'm very concerned as I moved all my family video onto it from another drive and it won't stay connected long enough to get it back onto another drive again.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2011 i7 3.4, 256Gb SSD and 16Gb RAM

Posted on Jul 16, 2011 8:38 AM

455 replies

Sep 12, 2011 3:52 AM in response to davidfrompinner

We don't think it is a faulty unit. The problem is well known now. Tomorrow we have an appointment with the developer of Promise Technology. They came to our office and going to check what this problem may be.

Till than i can't help you with the unmouting problem. You can trie to disconnect any iPod, iPad or iPhone cable to see if the disk still unmount it selfs. See some messages back by infotech 24 7.

Infotech 24 7 Author

Level 2

166 points

Sep 12, 2011 4:27 AM in response to davidfrompinner

I don't think the unit is faulty as such unless they all are but certainly your problem is consistent with my experience. I believe the issue will ultimately need an iMac firmware update because mine works fine if it is connected to my MacBook Pro but ultimately I bought it for the iMac so I am waiting on a refund but it may take weeks I'm told for me to get my refund.

Sep 12, 2011 2:15 PM in response to Infotech 24 7

Just spontaneously unmounted again - had no iPhone etc connected - and this time it caused the iMac to crash! Immediately after the usual warning re drive being unplugged, a dark veil slowly descended from the top of the screen like a curtain dropping and then I got the message: "You need to restart your computer: hold down the power buton...."

Who have you contacted for a refund - cos I think I'll go down that path cos it is unusable as it is and I've put in a ticket to Promise but had no respose as yet?

Infotech 24 7 Author

Level 2

166 points

Sep 13, 2011 1:56 AM in response to davidfrompinner

I just emailed Promise directly rather than use the ticket system as it's hopeless. If you just email the support and sales email addresses and vent your frustration you'll get a pretty quick response. I'll warn you now though, I'm still waiting for my refund weeks later. They have agreed to refund it but the process is LONG.

The moral of this thread is, have an iMac? DON'T buy a Pegasus Thunderbolt just yet. Seems to be fine with other machines though.

Sep 13, 2011 4:40 AM in response to Infotech 24 7

I think I will return it to Apple rather than Promise since Apple were the "retailer" (I bought it from the Apple website, they invoiced me and took my money prior to delivery) and under the sale of goods act it is the retailer to whom you return goods that you have rejected because they are not of "satisfactory quality". The rejection, however has to be done quite quickly (within a few weeks according to the Which? website.

Infotech 24 7 Author

Level 2

166 points

Sep 13, 2011 4:53 AM in response to davidfrompinner

That's fine if you order as a consumer but unfortunately we bought through the business and Jigsaw (who we bought from) refused to offer any refund so we have to go directly through Promise. If you buy as a business in the UK you have ZERO rights for return or refund, even if faulty, you have to go through the manufacturer.

Sep 13, 2011 5:02 AM in response to davidfrompinner

Return of "faulty" R6 unit to Apple now arranged - they were extremely helpful as usual.

Infotech 24 7 Author

Level 2

166 points

Sep 13, 2011 5:05 AM in response to davidfrompinner

Yes, I'd have bought from Apple myself but they didn't have stock. Wish I'd been more patient now. Jigsaw we're out and out unhelpful and this after we'd spent thousands with them over the years. I guess you find out how good people are when things go wrong. You never get a discount with Apple but you never get any trouble either.

Sep 13, 2011 5:26 AM in response to Infotech 24 7

Just deleting my data in preparation for returning the unit when I noticed a warning on the control panel: fan speed too slow .... perhaps it is just as well I am returning it.

Sep 13, 2011 6:29 AM in response to davidfrompinner

Hello PEGASUS users!!!

We have just met Victor from Promise Technology, the senior Manager. He went over our iMac to figure out the unmounting problem. He took a lot of data out with some terminal commands and email them to himself.

He is flying back home tonight en is going directly to the office tomorrow to find out what this issue may be.

So we have good faith that the problem will be found. Victor sees with his own eyes now what we meant.

Also for users who can't delete the Master Images true Aperture from the Pegasus R6/R4 will be looked in to.

So stay tuned for more info! We have now an direct link with Promise Technology Inc.

Greetings Levin, from the Netherlands.

Sep 14, 2011 1:47 AM in response to levindenboer1975

Excellent, please let us know as soon as they come back with an answer!

This is utterly frustrating and dangerous, who knows what issues this is causing to our projects!

Infotech 24 7 Author

Level 2

166 points

Sep 17, 2011 5:36 AM in response to levindenboer1975

Do you know if today's Thunderbolt firmware update has any fixes?

Sep 20, 2011 4:32 AM in response to Infotech 24 7

Anybody knows which brand and model # of the HD's in R6 ?

Infotech 24 7 Author

Level 2

166 points

Sep 21, 2011 4:54 AM in response to Infotech 24 7

I'm being told by Promise that the firmware update last week was indeed to fix Aperture ejects but I don't know if it fixes other ejects. Can anyone confirm the Aperture problem is fixed? I've tried various stuff but mine stays connected. Then again I had a few weeks of no problems before and got disappointed later.

Sep 21, 2011 4:56 AM in response to Infotech 24 7

I wasn't aware of this issue. I bought R6 this week and noticed very frequent external USB drive ejects.

Thunderbolt Pegasus R4 Experience?