Magma ExpressBox 3T User Manual
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Magma Manuals
  4. Network Storage Server
  5. ExpressBox 3T
  6. User manual

Magma ExpressBox 3T User Manual

Thunderbolt to pcie expansion
Hide thumbs
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

ExpressBox 3T
User Manual
Thunderbolt™ to PCIe Expansion
Model: EB3T and EB3T with Storage Bays

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the ExpressBox 3T and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Summary of Contents for Magma ExpressBox 3T

  • Page 1 ExpressBox 3T User Manual Thunderbolt™ to PCIe Expansion Model: EB3T and EB3T with Storage Bays...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Backplane Software How to check Magma device - Mac OS X How to Check Magma Device - Windows 7 and 8 How To Check PCIe cards - Mac OS X Thunderbolt Aware Driver is required for PCIe cards How to Check PCIe cards – Windows 7 and 8...

  • Page 3: Expressbox 3T

    Magma Troubleshooting Chapter 4 How to Get More Help Contacting Technical Support Returning Merchandise to MAGMA ExpressBox 3T |...

  • Page 4: Preface

    Disclaimer: We have attempted to identify most situations that may pose a danger, warning, or caution condition in this manual. However, Magma does not claim to have covered all situations that might require the use of a Caution, Warning, or Danger indicator.

  • Page 5: Safety Instructions

    Magma Safety I nstructions Always use caution when servicing any electrical component. Before handling the Magma Expansion chassis, read the following instructions and safety guidelines to prevent damage to the product and to ensure your own personal safety. Refer to the “Advisories” section for advisory conventions used in this manual, including the distinction between Danger, Warning, Caution, Important, and Note.
  • Page 6 Static electricity can harm system boards. Perform service at an ESD workstation and follow proper ESD procedures to reduce the risk of damage to components. Magma strongly encourages you to follow proper ESD procedures, which can include wrist straps and smocks, when servicing equipment.

  • Page 7: Chapter 1 Introduction

    ExpressBox 3T provides an 'outside-the-box' solution for using PCIe® cards with Thunderbolt-equipped computers. High-performance work flows are possible by connecting a Thunderbolt equipped computer to a Magma ExpressBox 3T containing PCIe cards such as video capture, media transcoding, audio processing, and fast data storage. And because Thunderbolt is also based on DisplayPort technology, you can daisy chain a high-resolution display with your Magma ExpressBox 3T.

  • Page 8: Specifications

    30 day money back guarantee 1 year return to factory P re-I nstallation I nform ation Before using the Magma Expansion chassis you should perform the following steps: Inventory the shipping carton contents for all of the required parts •...

  • Page 9: Tools Required For Installation

    Magma Tools R equired for I nstallation To complete the installation of the Magma product you will need a Phillips-head screwdriver and ESD wrist strap to prevent electrostatic discharge. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 1 Introduction...

  • Page 10: Hardware Installation

    Magma Chapter 2 Hardware Installation The following steps will guide you through the installation of your Magma Expansion System. CAUTION Hardware installation shall be performed only by qualified service personnel per UL and IEC 60950- Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Warning All add-in cards are susceptible to electrostatic discharge. When moving cards, it is best to carry the cards in anti-static packaging.

  • Page 11: Install Pcie Cards

    Some card manufacturers recommend that you install their software driver prior to installing the card. If this is the case, be sure to install the card driver before connecting ExpressBox 3T to the computer. Slot 1 accepts x1 or x4 PCIe cards or the provided Fan Blower •...

  • Page 12: Extra Power

    Date Code MG211A1202 (and above) have N OTE: The already 2 Auxiliary power cables (built-in). These are two 4pin Male molex connectors. Y Splitter is no longer included with these units ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...

  • Page 13: Blower

    Blow er If the PCIe cards run hot or are over 20 watts of power, Magma recommends installing the blower in the x4 Slot of ExpressBox 3T. Use caution if loading three cards at once. Check for heat with two cards first.
  • Page 14 The Blue light on the front of ExpressBox 3T is not an on off push button, it simply indicates whether the chassis is on or off. If either end of the Thunderbolt cable is disconnected, ExpressBox 3T will automatically turn off.

  • Page 15: Control Fan Speed

    1 = fast 2 = medium (default) 3 = slow 4 = slowest Daisy Chaining IMPORTANT For best performance, it is recommended that ExpressBox 3T be the first device in the Thunderbolt Daisy-chain. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...

  • Page 16: Attaching Displays

    You can use an appropriate Display Port connector to add a Display Port, HDMI, DVI, or VGA Display. The Display Port connector can plug into the other Thunderbolt port on ExpressBox 3T Make sure your display is plugged in and the appropriate adapter is connected.
  • Page 17 Magma The “Storage Kit” is composed of the following items: 3MM Centering Screws 3MM Panhead Screws PCB Interface PCB Molex Power Cable SAS / SATA CABLE DRIVE BAY w/ DRIVE Trays ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 18 Magma 1. Connect Power Cable to Drive Interface Board Connect SAS / SATA Cable to Interface Board Connect EB3T Aux Cable to Interface Board Power Cable ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 19 Magma Mount Interface Board 4pin Connector is closer to the front fan as shown from the picture below. Secure the Interface board. Remove all 4 Drive Trays as shown from the pictures below. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 20 Magma Install Drive Cage as shown from the pictures below. The Label orientation should be far away from the Front fan. Align and latch Metal Tab in SLOT. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 21 Magma 10. Secure Drive Cage / Housing 11. Place drive inside the tray as shown from the pictures below. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 22 Magma 12. Turn the tray over and secure the drive. 13. Drives are now ready 14. Install Drive Tray ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...

  • Page 23: Controller Card Installation

    Windows Operating system and Apple Mac OS X. for Mac OS, make sure it has an Apple Thunderbolt compatible driver. Below are pictures of two Arecas PCIe Controller cards. 8-port Controller card support 8 drives. 4-port Controller card support 4 drives. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...

  • Page 24: How To Configure Sas / Sata Raid

    Under "Windows-ArcHTTP" click, Version V2.3.4 to download Save File "winhttp_V2.3.4_130325.zip" Extract the File Click Install.exe to install Archttp After Installation, shutdown computer. Connect Thunderbolt cable to Magma EB3T and computer. Turn on the computer ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 25 If you are unable to start or launch the Areca Web Management do these steps: Clear Internet History. Reset Internet to default setting. Shutdown computer. And unplug power from Magma EB3T. Disconnect Thunderbolt Cable Remove and reseat Areca controller card.
  • Page 26 Magma ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 27 Magma ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 28 Magma ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 29 Magma ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 30 Magma ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 31 On Mac OS you have to use the Disk Utility. On Windows you have to use Disk Management. IMPORTANT “The Disk Utility on Mac OSx and Disk Management on Windows OS” are applicable to all disk controller cards / vendors. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 2 Hardware Installation...

  • Page 32: Chapter 3 Verify Installation

    If you are only seeing Two Green LEDs that are illuminated on the Thunderbolt Interface card after the Magma Roben-3 is turned on, this indicates that there a hardware failure within your expansion unit. Check your Thunderbolt cable, make sure it is connected firmly and the Thunderbolt Interface card is seated in the PCIE slot properly.
  • Page 33 LEDs D700 and D701 on the Thunderbolt™ 1 Interface card are illuminated when power cord is attached to expansion unit. This means the expansion unit is on standby-mode. See picture below. FIGURE T1-C ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...

  • Page 34: Thunderbolt™ 2 Interface Card

    Please check the Standby-power cable is firmly connected to Thunderbolt™ 2 Interface card power connector (J7). Make sure the Thunderbolt™ 2 Interface card is seated all the way in the PCIe slot. Try reseating the card in the PCIE slot. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...
  • Page 35 If you reconnected an external Display device, LEDs D1 and D5 should come on immediately. Otherwise, the Thunderbolt™ 2 Interface card is not properly working or the monitor Displayport cable is faulty. FIGURE T2-B Thunderbolt™ 2 Interface Card LEDs: Functional Mode - without external display device attached ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...
  • Page 36 If the above LEDs are not coming ON, please check the power standby cable make sure it is firmly connected to Thunderbolt Interface card power connector (J7). See page 25. Thunderbolt™ 2 Interface Card LEDs: Standby-Mode ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...

  • Page 37: Backplane

    A functional / operational backplane will illuminate three One solid green LED on the backplane signifies “standby mode”. The magma device is” switched off” on the electronic interface (but it draws some power) on standby mode. It is waiting to be activated by a remote power or remote controller.

  • Page 38: Software

    Magma requires no driver in Apple Mac Operating System. To verify a successful installation of Magma Roben-3 on Mac select “About This Mac” under the Apple Icon. Your first step will vary depending on which version of Mac OS X you are using: Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard or earlier:...
  • Page 39 The picture below applies for Thunderbolt™ 2. “Tbolt2 Series” is the new device name for Thunderbolt™ 2. IMPORTANT Thunderbolt™ 2 requires Mac OS 10.9 and above. It is highly recommend to update your Mac to the latest Operating system before using the Thunderbolt™ 2 hardware. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...

  • Page 40: How To Check M Agm A Device - W Indow S 7 And 8

    If, however, the installation was unsuccessful, you may not see the PCI to PCI Bridge, or it will have a small yellow symbol in front of it as shown below. IMPORTANT Magma requires no driver in Windows Operating System, Unix OS, Linux and other flavor of Operating Systems. This applies to Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt™ 1...

  • Page 41: How To Check P Ci E Cards - M Ac Os X

    OS X Lion 10.7 or later: Open System Information by choosing About this Mac from the Apple ( ) menu. Then, click System Report • Click PCI cards This applies to Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt™ 1. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...

  • Page 42: Thunderbolt Aware Driver Is Required For Pcie Cards

    NOTE Magma does not provide nor supply any third party PCIe drivers. If you need driver you must contact the vendor or manufacturer of the PCIE card. If you would like to determine whether the party PCIE card has a Thunderbolt Compatible driver or not you must also contact the vendor or manufacturer of the PCIe card.
  • Page 43 Magma System Profiler showing two PCIE cards with One PCIe card with a non-thunderbolt driver installed System Profiler showing no PCIe cards being detected or recognized. ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...

  • Page 44: How To Check P Ci E Cards - W Indow S 7 And 8

    This applies to Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt™ 1 expansion units. Screenshot of Windows Device Manager showing Magma EB3T Expansion ith PI Ce card installed. device is being recognized / detected and w...
  • Page 45 Magma PCIe slot PCIe slot PCIe slot PCIe slot Thunderbolt Interface card Slot PCIe slot PCIe slot PCIe slot ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...

  • Page 46: Troubleshooting

    A: If the Thunderbolt card is properly seated and connected, there should be two green LEDs (shown) when black power cable is plugged in, as shown below. Q. If ExpressBox 3T does not power up how do I determine whether I have a bad power supply, a bad interface card or defective cable? A: A working system should illuminate - Five Green LEDs D519, D7000, D701, D24 AND D21 on the interface card, which are located on the top left corner.
  • Page 47 This troubleshooting is only applicable to Rev A5.1 backplane. The main function of this DIP Switch is as follows - To set the 1st PCIe slot to train to either GEN1 or GEN2 To allow a x8 or x16 PCIE card to run under x4 slot ExpressBox 3T | Chapter 3 Verify Installation...
  • Page 48 If a daisy chain device doesn’t work; check to see if a RED led (on the Magma Thunderbolt Card in the first slot of ExpressBox 3T) is on. If so, the daisy chained device is drawing too much power and the current limiting has kicked in and has turned off the power to the downstream device.
  • Page 49 Magma In Windows Control Panel  Device Manager  View by connection You should see these three PCI-to-PCI bridges. Right click on it and select “Properties”, select Hardware Ids from dropdown list, you should see PCI\Ven_111D ExpressBox 3T |...

  • Page 50: Chapter 4 How To Get More Help

    30-day money back guarantee, you will need to package the product in a manner similar to the manner in which it was received from our plant. Magma cannot be responsible for any physical damage to the product or component pieces of the product (such as the host or expansion interfaces for the expansion chassis) that are damaged due to inadequate packing.
  • Page 51 Cetappareilnumériqué de la classe A estconformé à la norme NMB-003 du Canada The product(s) described in this manual complies with all applicable European Union (CE) directives. Magma will not retest or recertify systems or components that have been reconfigured by customers...
  • Page 52 Manual P/N 09-09989-01 Rev F1...

Table of Contents