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High Sierra native support for 10Gb ethernet

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mm2margaret said:
So, I did some research on this Akitio card. It's a Tehuti 3rd generation TN4010 chip, with an Aquantia controller chip. More importantly, Akitio does provide an actual macOS driver......https://www.akitio.com/software/10g-ethernet-driver
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Yep, that's what I was looking at too :mrgreen: Version 1.52 "Mac driver for macOS 10.13.x and macOS 10.14.x" from 11/21/18.

Then add one of these : https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/replacement_for/1358307-REG/buffalo_bs_xp2008_8_port_desktop_rackmount_10_gbe.html

Above is $780 though :( & you're all set. Unfortunately, looks like the $550 8-port version of the Buffalo switch - BS-XP20 - is discontinued. I don't need 12 10GB ports. I can get by on 4 ports for $350 or even 8 for $500 . . .

Another switch:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BV2VYVF/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Wait - Looks like this Buffalo is still available:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XX4H997/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
 
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mm2margaret said:
This is a very good switch with decent management and it's been fine, at least for me so far, and its not too expensive: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0745H63RG/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

There's also this switch, which is also managed (very useful when dealing with 10Gb connectivity), also not terribly expensive: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GTWPTJY/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Managed switches are always a better choice, imo....
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How is the speed on the Edimax? Didn't even know they had 10GB product - always thought of them as a lower-end Mfr.
 
vlad1966 said:
How is the speed on the Edimax? Didn't even know they had 10GB product - always thought of them as a lower-end Mfr.
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Close to a full pipe. I've gotten as much as 950, typically around 900 with the Intel X540-T1, lower with the Aquantia (around 800 to 850)....(MB)
 
mm2margaret said:
Close to a full pipe. I've gotten as much as 950, typically around 900 with the Intel X540-T1, lower with the Aquantia (around 800 to 850)....(MB)
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Nice. Thanks. Looks like it's got a metal case too. Hopefully it's quiet. May have to give that puppy a try eventually.
 
Just placed an order for 1 of the Akitio cards & ordered 1 Intel X540-T1 off eBay for $80 :headbang:
Plan to direct connect my Hack (Akitio) to my Open Media Vault server (X540) to see how they work, before splurging for either the Edimax or Buffalo switch for Xmas.
 
pastrychef said:
  • I think I saw about 800MB/s reads and about 300MB/s writes but the slow write speed is most likely due to my use of extremely slow drives in my NAS.
  • I've done direct connection to the NAS and I'm currently using a switch. No real difference in speed either way.
  • I use an mATX motherboard. I think most Z370 or Z390 motherboard will have enough slots unless you are using dual video cards.
  • I don't understand what you mean about daisy chaining.
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Which NIC do you recommend, pastrychef? I've been trying to figure out if it's worth the hassle to flash the Asus XG-C100C (AQC107) I got in the mail today given that I do not currently have a 10.13.0 install to update, of if I should just get a used X540-T2. I did not realize I would need to flash the Asus card to an Apple specific firmware until I wasn't able to get it to work this evening.

While searching the forums, I saw that you had some Airdrop trouble with the X540, but then I think you also mentioned you had sleep issues with the AQC107. Do you think one works better than the other?
 
nickewing said:
Which NIC do you recommend, pastrychef? I've been trying to figure out if it's worth the hassle to flash the Asus XG-C100C (AQC107) I got in the mail today given that I do not currently have a 10.13.0 install to update, of if I should just get a used X540-T2. I did not realize I would need to flash the Asus card to an Apple specific firmware until I wasn't able to get it to work this evening.

While searching the forums, I saw that you had some Airdrop trouble with the X540, but then I think you also mentioned you had sleep issues with the AQC107. Do you think one works better than the other?
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I have sleep issues with my Gigabyte GC-AQC107 when it is connected to my switch but only on the 10GbE port. When connected to 1GbE ports, no problems sleeping. Not sure if it's the card or the switch, but I suspect it's an isolated issue with this specific switch and card combo. When I connect directly to my NAS, I don't have sleep issues, so that's what I ended up using.

My X540 card did not have sleep issues when connected to my switch. But it would somehow randomly kill AirDrop. Running the macOS combo updater would restore it for a time but would eventually kill AirDrop again. It can work fine for days to 1-2 weeks before I have to run the macOS combo updater again. I got tired of this cycle and reinstalled my Gigabyte card and just connected directly to the NAS. Since no one else has reported this AirDrop issue, I can only guess that it's just me and there's some sort of conflict with my macOS install.

If Sonnet has corrected the early hardware failures they were experiencing, I feel it's the best choice. It should work without the need to go through the macOS 10.13.3 flashing and it should not causing problems with AirDrop.

One user in this thread who had a Sonnet card said his card was not able to establish a link and was never able to pull an IP from the DHCP server. This is the same symptom that those of us who tried the AQC107 cards early on experienced before macOS 10.13.3 flashed the firmware. But mm2margaret said her Sonnet card worked OOB without the need for any flashing or KextsToPatch until it ultimately died of hardware failure and there are reports from Mac Pro users who also said it worked OOB, so I have to think that the user who was having problems simply got a bum card out of the box.
 
vlad1966 said:
Just placed an order for 1 of the Akitio cards & ordered 1 Intel X540-T1 off eBay for $80 :headbang:
Plan to direct connect my Hack (Akitio) to my Open Media Vault server (X540) to see how they work, before splurging for either the Edimax or Buffalo switch for Xmas.
Click to expand...

Very curious about the Akitio card....love to hear what it's like once you've had it for a while....

And, as it relates to 10G switches, there's nothing wrong with purchasing the Netgear, either. That switch is from a well known manufacturer, and the switch has been upgraded, so it's probably a good choice too.....
 
pastrychef - Thanks for detailed response. Also thank you for your mATX build details and EFI directory! I've been running very similar hardware to yours for the past week and everything has been going much more smoothly than my last Hackintosh attempt a few years ago.

Anyway, back on topic:

I got the Synology E10G18-T1 in the mail today. I originally intended to have the Asus card in the Hackintosh and the Synology card in my NAS. The Asus card showed up in the system report on the Hackintosh, but it would always say the cable was disconnected, like other have reported pre-flash.

Given that the Synology card also seems to be an AQC107 card, I decided to try it in my Hackintosh. Surprisingly, without any flashing it seems like it might be working and I am able to get Gigabit speeds. Unfortunately I don't have anything to test speeds past that yet since the Asus card also doesn't work in the Synology NAS. :/ When I open System Preferences > Network > Ethernet (en2) > Hardware, I am able to see speed options for higher speeds, however, so that seems like a good sign.

Is there anything else I can check to see if the card is likely to work at its full potential in this configuration? I am considering ordering another Synology card to put in my NAS and using this card in both machines.
 
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