- Joined
- Jul 29, 2011
- Messages
- 3
- Motherboard
- Dell Latitude 7390 2-in-1
- CPU
- i5-8350U
- Graphics
- UHD 620
Since it hasn't been discussed much, I figured I'd mention an alternative to software-based "fusion" drive and RAID approaches. The Highpoint Rocket 640L (not RocketRAID 640L) is a 4-port PCI-e SATA3 card (2x, so max ~1000MB/s throughput) that is natively supported by ML (and Unibeast). It's a good alternative for those who would rather drop $70 than have a slightly non-standard build. The card is based on the Marvell 88SE9230 controller, which is actually better than the 88SE9235 on the RocketRAID 640L:
http://www.marvell.com/storage/system-solutions/assets/Marvell-88SE92xx-Product-Brief.pdf
It supports RAID0,1,10 as well as "HyperDuo", which is a Fusion drive type solution that dynamically moves content that is accessed often to an SSD. All of this is transparent to the OS, so no need for dd'ing or Chameleon plist edits. I've been running on the card for a week (using RAID0, not HyperDuo) and everything seems stable.
A few issues I ran into in the course of my build:
* Firmware updates to the card destroy your RAID configuration. That isn't mentioned by Highpoint, but ruined my day the first time through.
* The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H requires beta BIOS 15m for the card to boot in AHCI mode. Banged my head against the wall for days until I figured that out!
*I've disabled the on-board Marvell controllers as they seemed to slow down boot-up, but that may have been another issue.
* You can find an updated BIOS on-line (2.3.0.1043) for the controller here: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm
Remember, flashing the card will kill your RAID configuration (and, therefore, your installation). It didn't seem to affect performance and also required that I dd boot1h, which the standard BIOS does not. I did the flash, but I don't see any real reason to unless, like me, you think bigger version numbers are "better".
Once you are up and running, the controller shows as unknown. To get it recognized, replace /System/Library/Extensions/AppleAHCIPort.kext/Contents/Info.plist with the one attached. I got that from here:
http://benjenq.pixnet.net/blog/post/30988001-黑蘋果啓用硬體raid磁碟陣列
As long as you install third-party SATA in MB, there should be no need for the other change he shows (to make the attached drives appear as internal).
The Syba SD-PEX40054 is based on the same controller, also has 2 eSATA ports, and goes for $50. I haven't tried, but it may work. There is a sketchy review on Amazon that recommends the Rocket 640L instead, but it may be a good science project for someone.
Hope this is useful!
http://www.marvell.com/storage/system-solutions/assets/Marvell-88SE92xx-Product-Brief.pdf
It supports RAID0,1,10 as well as "HyperDuo", which is a Fusion drive type solution that dynamically moves content that is accessed often to an SSD. All of this is transparent to the OS, so no need for dd'ing or Chameleon plist edits. I've been running on the card for a week (using RAID0, not HyperDuo) and everything seems stable.
A few issues I ran into in the course of my build:
* Firmware updates to the card destroy your RAID configuration. That isn't mentioned by Highpoint, but ruined my day the first time through.
* The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H requires beta BIOS 15m for the card to boot in AHCI mode. Banged my head against the wall for days until I figured that out!
*I've disabled the on-board Marvell controllers as they seemed to slow down boot-up, but that may have been another issue.
* You can find an updated BIOS on-line (2.3.0.1043) for the controller here: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm
Remember, flashing the card will kill your RAID configuration (and, therefore, your installation). It didn't seem to affect performance and also required that I dd boot1h, which the standard BIOS does not. I did the flash, but I don't see any real reason to unless, like me, you think bigger version numbers are "better".
Once you are up and running, the controller shows as unknown. To get it recognized, replace /System/Library/Extensions/AppleAHCIPort.kext/Contents/Info.plist with the one attached. I got that from here:
http://benjenq.pixnet.net/blog/post/30988001-黑蘋果啓用硬體raid磁碟陣列
As long as you install third-party SATA in MB, there should be no need for the other change he shows (to make the attached drives appear as internal).
The Syba SD-PEX40054 is based on the same controller, also has 2 eSATA ports, and goes for $50. I haven't tried, but it may work. There is a sketchy review on Amazon that recommends the Rocket 640L instead, but it may be a good science project for someone.
Hope this is useful!