Mac Pro - different versions, different card configuration - expansion slot utility
Hi Mike, I am about to start switching from my DP 1.8GHz G5 to a new 2.8GHz 8 core Mac Pro. I plan to go slowly so if there are any major problems I can continue working on the G5 until they are (I hope) resolved.
I sent the following to AJA tech support:

I just purchased a Seritek PCI-e eSATA card. I which slot should I install the Kona LSe card and in which slot should I install the SeriTek/2SE2-E PCI Express (PCIe) card.

This was their reply (which I'm sure is based on extensive testing):

"Go to: about this mac -> more info --> hardware --> model identifier.
For v3.1 ("early 2008") Mac Pro : install Kona in slot 2 and Seritek in slot-4.
For V1.1 or 2.1 Mac Pro: install the Kona in slot-3 and Seritek in slot-4.

Then go to: /system/library/core services; launch the expansion slot utility.
Configure the PCIe slots for 16:1:4:4 (option 2).

I'm not sure if the V1.1 and V2.1 are the early models or not, (they're the pre-2008 models, original model used dual-core Xeons, then Quad-Core (Clovertown) CPUs. The 2008 is Quad-core Harpertown CPU based with faster memory, PCIe 2.0 slots, etc.) but regardless some of your readers might be interested in the fact that different versions of the Mac Pro behave better with the same cards in different slots.
I'll let you know how this all works out.
Thanks!
-Mitch"

BTW - Early 2008 Mac Pro owners had previously reported problems (card not recognized) with SATA PCIe cards in slot 2 after the EFI Firmware Update 1.3 last month. (Most moved the card to slot 4 which restored operation per posts on the page of Feedback on 2008 Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3).

"I have a Mac Pro quad purchased 3/07 and it will power up on its own if you unplug it (AC power cord) and plug it back in. I tried to get the tech at the genius bar to address the issue but they did not or were not able to fix it yet. (not sure which) I had it in for many other repairs (one being the ati card hard failure I wrote to you about).
PRAM NVRAM SMC resets zaps do not work. I turned off all sleep settings and power save settings etc. (to avoid this) I have also had it tested with just the stock tiger OS install with nothing attached and no software installed and this was at the genius bar. The tech was able to replicate the self powering on... (of course they made notes about this but did not fix it). So at least from my experience stripped to stock in all respects and removed from the home environment this issue can be replicated easily. I have the AppleCare extended warr. so I guess I will try again sometime to have it fixed.
(One of my earlier questions was if Energy Saver option to "restart automatically after a power failure" mattered - as the question came up about AC line dropouts/sags, which caused wakes from others)
Yes I did check the Energy Saver options and it is not set to restart automatically after power failure. Funny thing is this is deja-vu because I went over all this with the tech at the genius bar so I can confirm that at least in my case this issue is in the hardware somewhere.
-Danny"

I wrote Konrad earlier this week to ask if there was a chance his AC line was dropping out (or sagging) during the night but he replied generally his local power is stable, but there's always a chance of that happening. (Not sure if he has an UPS.) Sent him a note about this to see if he can reproduce (no Mac Pro here) to see if this is common with the design or a suspect component/switch.
Update/FYI:

"I had the same issue with my iMac after I upgraded to Leopard. (the general unwanted power on of a mac)
I deleted the plist file named com.apple.PowerManagement.plist - Located in the Library/preferences/systemConfiguration

I do believe that if I turn on scheduling in the Energy Saver that this issue returns. But I've left it off, and haven't had the issue return...
Hope that helps
(he later wrote)
When I set it to shutdown at a certain time it would cause it to do the startup. It would usually always startup at 7pm everyday even though it wasn't set to do so. So I would delete that plist file again and it would stop. (And as a FYI - Restart after power failure option is not enabled in Energy saver.)
I've wanted to do an archive install to eliminate the issue, but have never gotten around to it. I did an upgrade when I got Leopard.
-Scott G.
Desktop Support Technician"

I had another reader earlier this week say that once he had set a Schedue in Energy Saver, turning that off didn't seem to "take" (changing back to no schedule setting didn't change behavior).

Hard Drives:
• IDE Samsung HM160HC 160GB in (AL/12in) PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.4.11)
• SATA (onboard) Western Digital Scorpio 320GB in MacBook (OS X 10.5.2)
• SATA (PCI SATA card connected) Western Digital 1TB GP (x2) used w/G5 Tower (OS X 10.5.x)
  (long report - used in ext. case for RAID array for storing large Media/iTunes lib)
• SATA (onboard) Western Digital WD3200KSRTL 320GB in iMac G5 (OS X 10.5.x)

You can read full reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). The database includes reports on Optical Drives (Blu-Ray, DVD, CD/CDR, etc.), Hard Drives, Tape drives, Removable media (ORB, ZIP, MO drives), NAS (Network Attached Storage), in all interface types (IDE, SATA, Firewire, SCSI, USB, adapters).
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