" Hi Mike, I'm using an Apiotek 003D ExpressCard34 eSATA card on my Unibody MBP 15" connected to an AMS Venus T4S enclosure (SI4726 based port multiplying 4-bay eSATA enclosure) with 4x 500GB drives.
It works as reliably and as well as when I used this card and setup on my first generation MacBook Pro 15" Core Duo 1.83GHz.
Software wise, I'm running 10.5.6 and using the base Sil3132_1.1.9u driver from Apiotek.
-Adam"

I'd forgotten about a report on the MBP/Expresscards page back on Dec. 8, 2008 from a Unibody MBP/Griffin (SiL3132) card user that originally had problems (using RAID5 driver) but later reported OK with the standard 1.1.9u driver. As with anything you're 10x more likely to hear about problems than from those that don't have any, but it's almost to the point I wonder if anything is a "sure thing" for everyone. (So many variables possible in hardware and software configs out there and the card alone may not be the culprit.) I get a lot of mails on just OS X software update problems, most I can't replicate personally, even on similar hardware. (i.e. not a common bug/problem but you can't convince those affected of that.)

"This software updates 4-port and 8-port Tempo SATA host controller cards' flash ROM (firmware) to version 2.1.7. This version enables the cards to support volumes greater than 2TB created in disk enclosures with a built-in hardware RAID controller. This version also enhances stability for Tempo-X SATA 4+4 and Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 controller cards. Supported System Software: Mac OS X Version 10.2 and later

Supported Hardware: Tempo-X SATA 4+4, Tempo-X eSATA 4+4, Tempo-X eSATA8, Tempo SATA E4i, Tempo SATA E4P, Tempo SATA X4i, and Tempo SATA X4P
Note: This software runs only under Mac OS X. Not Supported; Tempo SATA E2P. "

However a reader (w/PCI-X 4+4 card) wrote he had some problems after applying this update:

(more comments added)
"I'm having problems with the new Sonnet Tempo 2.1.7 driver update ("Tempo Serial ATA PCIe/PCI-X Family Firmware Updater (Mac)") I downloaded the correct driver version for my Apple Power Mac G5 and I'm running Tempo-X SATA 4+4 PCI-X card.

The problem I'm experiencing is that:

1. I can't "drag and drop" any file from anywhere to any other place. Nada. I can double-click them, expand the files and install, etc. Anything except drag them to a folder. (that problem rings a bell from the past but I can't recall the details now.-Mike)
2. I can't run permissions in Disk Utility nor am I able to run the commands "sudo periodic daily", "sudo periodic weekly" and "sudo periodic monthly" at the Terminal.
3. With this latest driver install, the hard drive icons have changed from an "internal" icon to an orange "external" icon despite being an internal SATA drive. I can now eject those drives attached to the Sonnet as if it was an externally attached drive. Prior to this, Mac OS X Leopard knew that it was an internal hard drive and didn't allow me to eject them.

I've been running their driver version 2.1.3. I haven't installed any other driver or software for the longest time and this is the only change that gave me the above strange behaviors.

I would appreciate if your readers experienced any similar problem or have a fix in mind.
Here is the error message that appears when I run the sudo commands under Terminal:

"mktemp: mkstemp failed on /tmp/periodic.8T9isNUL03: No such file or directory /usr/sbin/periodic: line 85: $tmp_output: ambiguous redirect"

In case the above rings a bell to your tech-savvy programmers visiting your site. (I also asked if he'd contacted Sonnet support on this - he said yes.)
I've updated the driver/firmware of this exact card a handful of times already with no problems so I was confident it wouldn't break anything (alas!). This updater ran perfectly fine with no error message at all. I'm still searching and searching online for clues (I found other people having similar problems, but under different circumstances). However, no thread I've come across gave any definite fix. It just seems that others suddenly had the problem pop up and I'm thinking there is something in the permissions that the installation messed up locking up the ability to copy/paste and drag/drop.
I can't even copy any text or character in this email I'm writing and immediately pasting. (BTW - I've seen that happen here on this AL iMac several times over the last year or so - when it happens I reboot the system. However I've not seen drag/drop problems, RP problems, etc.-Mike) Everything else seems normal - launching programs and dragging the windows across the monitor. I just can't seem to drag, drop, copy and paste any word, text, file or folder to anywhere. If I download something, I can't move that to anyplace other than where it was downloaded.

(He later wrote)
I've also received a response from Sonnet Tech Support. Here is the summary of what was said (in my own words already):
- Check first if I can run Cocktail or Leopard Cache Cleaner and have it repair permissions. (might also want to clear caches)
- Otherwise, I can try to downgrade to 2.1.3 by deleting the SonnetSATA receipt located in the /Library/Receipts. After deleting such file, I can now run the older updater without any complaints about a newer version.
- After downgrading, I can try and repair permissions under 2.1.3 and then I can try updating to 2.1.7 again.
- It was noted that mine is only the 2nd report of a permissions problem out of several thousand downloads of the updater already. With the first problem having been fixed by a downgrade, running Cocktail and re-updating back to the latest update.

Btw, I'm running the latest Mac OS X 10.5.6. Last night I've messed up the "Archive and Install" twice already because it kept on hanging the installation process exactly at 7 minutes to go and it would just sit there for hours. When I force restart the computer, it wouldn't boot up except to the Leopard install DVD.

In a desperate attempt, I also tried an "Erase and Install", but it also failed. I'm now going to have to remove the Sonnet Temp card first and see if it successfully goes thru. Using my wife's PC at the moment. Will let you know later.
(and from a later mail this afternoon)
I also received a fourth reply from Sonnet Tech. I was told they have now received a total of 4 reports regarding the problem. Two of us are G5 machines. If the G5 owner hasn't contacted Sonnet, I would appreciate he send his report in as well as a System Profile before he does anything else to the computer (like reinstall) so they can try to get to the root of the problem.

Btw, I've finally finished reinstalling the OS. Did a Time Machine backup and a few software activations that was lost in the process and I'm back to normal. I'm still running the Sonnet Tempo update 2.1.7. Did not have to revert back to the old 2.1.3 after the fresh OS install. I did lose all my iTunes library indexing in the process and all the songs are just a generic song name (no more artist, album cover, etc). (In addition to TM backup, I also keep a backup copy of my entire iTunes folder on an external drive.-Mike)

It may be too early to tell but the update is obviously only affecting PPC G5 models and something about the installation breaks the permissions.
- Raymond"

If anyone has a suggestion and/or has applied this update w/o any problems on a PCI-X card, let me know. (A PCIe card/Mac Pro owner on Monday reported no problems applying the 2.1.7 driver update.)
Another G5 tower owner today reported similar problems as Ray:

"Applied Sonnet Tempo update 2.1.7 ( Tempo E4i card) on Monday and could not use printers, admin password did not function, no drag and drop or cut and paste... booted from external hard drive, ran disk utility repairs, booted back into main hard drive, ran Cocktail - Powermac G5 Quad (running Tiger 10.4.11) started to function again... so far.
-Martin M."

FYI: Since posting this on Feb. 18th, I've received several more mails G5 tower owners all seeing this sort of problem. I would not recommend PPC Mac owners apply this update. (Hopefully they will fix this and repost an updater w/o these problems.)

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