Two Port USB 3.1 GEN II PCI Express Card

Anyone else ordered a 2 Port USB 3.1 GEN II (10Gbps) PCI Express Card 1 USB Type C and 1 USB Type A Port (USB 3.1 A + C) from AliExpress.com?

Seem like they have one on sale for $26.99 in 19 hours from now. Ok. Let’s buy one and see what we get – they say that it works with OS X 10.6 and greater.

Update: Here is a first benchmark with a Sandisk 64GB USB3.1 type C flash drive.

I only installed the card and connected the SATA power cable to it. I did not modify anything. Worked out of the box, but this flash drive does not support 10Gbps. To test that I first need a new generation II device, which I do not have at the moment.

Update-2: I found some interesting lines in the log:

kernel: (kernel) 000003.592134 PEGP@00000000: AppleUSBXHCI::createPorts: port 1 unsupported protocol USB 03.01
kernel: (kernel) 000003.615236 PEGP@00000000: AppleUSBXHCI::createPorts: created port 1

kernel: (kernel) 000003.615527 PEGP@00000000: AppleUSBXHCI::createPorts: port 2 unsupported protocol USB 03.01
kernel: (kernel) 000003.615633 PEGP@00000000: AppleUSBXHCI::createPorts: created port 2

kernel: (kernel) 000003.615887 PEGP@00000000: AppleUSBXHCI::createPorts: created port 3
kernel: (kernel) 000003.616282 PEGP@00000000: AppleUSBXHCI::createPorts: created port 4

This is not good. Time for a tiny SSDT. Here is mine:

DefinitionBlock ("ssdt_usb-iMac171.aml", "SSDT", 2, "APPLE ", "Xhci", 0x00001000)
{
    External (_SB_.PCI0.PEG0, DeviceObj)
    External (_SB_.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP, DeviceObj)

    Scope (\_SB.PCI0.PEG0)
    {
        Scope (PEGP)
        {
            Name (_STA, Zero)  // _STA: Status
        }

        Device (XHC2)
        {
            Name (_ADR, Zero)  // _ADR: Address

            Device (RHUB)
            {
                Name (_ADR, Zero)
                Device (SSP1)
                {
                    Name (_ADR, One)
                    Name (_UPC, Package (0x04)
                    {
                        0xFF, 
                        0x09, 
                        Zero, 
                        Zero
                    })

                    Name (_PLD, Package (0x01)
                    {
                        Buffer (0x10)
                        {
                            /* 0000 */    0x81, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 
                            /* 0008 */    0x31, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                        }
                    })

                    Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)
                    {
                        If (LEqual (Arg2, Zero))
                        {
                            Return (Buffer (One)
                            {
                                0x03
                            })
                        }
                        Return (Package (0x02)
                        {
                            "UsbCPortNumber", 
                            One
                        })
                    }
                }

                Device (SSP2)
                {
                    Name (_ADR, 0x2)
                    Name (_UPC, Package (0x04)
                    {
                        0xFF,
                        0x09,
                        Zero,
                        Zero
                    })

                    Name (_PLD, Package (0x01)
                    {
                        Buffer (0x10)
                        {
                            /* 0000 */    0x81, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
                            /* 0008 */    0x31, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                        }
                    })

                    Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)
                    {
                        If (LEqual (Arg2, Zero))
                        {
                            Return (Buffer (One)
                            {
                                0x03
                            })
                        }
                        Return (Package (0x02)
                        {
                            "UsbCPortNumber",
                            0x02
                        })
                    }
                }

                Device (HS01)
                {
                    Name (_ADR, 0x03)
                    Name (_UPC, Package (0x04)
                    {
                        0xFF, 
                        0x09, 
                        Zero, 
                        Zero
                    })

                    Name (_PLD, Package (0x01)
                    {
                        Buffer (0x10)
                        {
                            /* 0000 */    0x81, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 
                            /* 0008 */    0x31, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                        }
                    })
                }

                Device (HS02)
                {
                    Name (_ADR, 0x04)
                    Name (_UPC, Package (0x04)
                    {
                        0xFF,
                        0x09,
                        Zero,
                        Zero
                    })

                    Name (_PLD, Package (0x01)
                    {
                        Buffer (0x10)
                        {
                            /* 0000 */    0x81, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
                            /* 0008 */    0x31, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                        }
                    })
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

I may want/need to change my initial SSDT later on, but at least the errors are gone now.

Also. Note that my card is installed in the first/primary slot (PEG0) of the motherboard, but your card may – most likely – use another slot. In short; don’t forget to change the device name 😉

Update-3: And here is a screenshot of a Samsung T3 (500GB) device in action:

This is not a second generation USB 3.1 device, but already quite a bit faster than the Sandisk that I used previously for testing. Also. When you are going to use some external M.2 B key enclosure, then keep in mind that it will be limited to 500~550 MB/Sec due to SATA. Which is not a whole lot faster.

A better option would be some RAID enclosure with two SATA devices, or a M.2 M key device (non-SATA). These two can, at least in theory, use the 10 Gbps (up to 6 Gbps for SATA) of the USB 3.1 Gen 2 port.