Sonnet Echo Express SE Thunderbolt User manual

User’s Guide
for Echo™Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port
Thunderbolt™-to-eSATA Adapter

Contents
1 Introduction, System Requirements, Driver Information 1
2 Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Description 2
Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Extererior
Power Adapter
3 Verifying Adapter Recognition Using System Report 4
Confirming the Thunderbolt and eSATA Ports are Recognized
4 Connecting eSATA Devices 5
Connecting Drives and Media Readers – General Information
Connecting Drives to Create RAID Sets
5 Formatting Attached Drives 6
Formatting Individual Drives (Not in a RAID Set)
Formatting Drives into RAID Sets
6 Tips, General Information, and Known Issues 8
Tips, General Information
Known Issues
7 Specifications, Precautions, FCC Compliance, and Support Information 9
Specifications
Safety Precautions
FCC Compliance
Contacting Customer Service
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1
Chapter 1 – Introduction, System Requirements, Driver Information
Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase! The Echo Express SE eSATA
Pro 4-Port is a Thunderbolt-to-eSATA adapter that, through
its four eSATA ports, you may connect single- and multi-drive
storage systems with an eSATA interface to your iMac®, Mac®
mini, MacBook®Air, or MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt port.
You may also use media readers and optical drives with an eSATA
interface with the Echo adapter.
Connection of the Echo adapter to your computer requires a
single Thunderbolt cable, while connection to storage systems,
media readers, and optical drives require the use of eSATA data
cables.
The Echo adapter works in concert with your computer, turning
on only when connected to your computer and the computer
turned on. When your computer is turned off or sleeping, the
Echo adapter turns off automatically to save energy.
System Requirements
The Echo adapter requires the following to operate:
• Mac computer with a Thunderbolt port
• OS X 10.6.8 or later
• Thunderbolt cable (not included; sold separately)
• eSATA cables (not included; sold separately)
Driver Information
The drivers that enable the SATA controller card inside the Echo
adapter to work with your computer are installed as part of
OS X; the Echo adapter is ready to use when you power on your
computer.
73.5
144.8

2
Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Exterior
1 – Power Indicator
This indicator lights when the Echo adapter is powered,
the Thunderbolt cable between the adapter and your
computer is plugged in securely, and the computer powered
on. Note that if the Echo adapter is connected to another
Thunderbolt device instead of directly to the computer, any
other Thunderbolt device connected between the computer
and Echo adapter must also be powered on before the Echo
adapter’s power indicator will light up
2 – Locking eSATA Ports
Connect eSATA data cables (with or without locking
connectors) between these ports and your storage systems’ or
other devices’ eSATA ports
3 – 12VDC Socket
Connect the included DC power adapter between this socket
and the included power cord
4 – Thunderbolt Ports
Connect a Thunderbolt cable between either of these ports
and your computer’s (or intermediate device’s) Thunderbolt
port; the open port may be used to connect another
Thunderbolt device
Chapter 2 – Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Description

3
Power Adapter
1 – Power Adapter
Connect this to the Echo adapter’s
12VDC socket. Note that the power
indicator on top lights when the
adapter is connected to AC power
2 – Power Cord
Connect this between a power outlet
and the power adapter. Note that
the power cord included with your
product may appear different than
the one pictured here, depending on
where the product was purchased
Chapter 2 – Echo Express SE eSATA Pro 4-Port Description

4
Chapter 3 – Verifying Adapter Recognition Using System Report
Figure 1
Figure 2
Confirming the Thunderbolt and eSATA Ports are
Recognized
1. With the Echo adapter powered and connected to the
computer, turn on the computer. Note that if there are
any other Thunderbolt devices connected between the
Echo adapter and your computer, they must also be
powered for you to perform the following steps.
2. From the Apple menu, select About This Mac; the
System Information application will launch.
3. When the About This Mac window opens, click More
Info; a summary of specications will appear.
4. Click System Report; a full report window will appear.
5. In the System Report window, click Thunderbolt under
the Hardware header in the left column (Figure 1).
6. In the top right column under the Thunderbolt Device
Tree header, you will see the computer listing, with
“Echo Express SE” appearing below it (Figure 1).
7. Click PCI Cards under the Hardware header in the left
column (Figure 2).
8. At the top of the right column, the installed Tempo
SATA Pro 6Gb 4-Port card is listed, identied as two
“pci1b4b,9182” AHCI controllers. By selecting one
of the controllers, detailed information is listed. You
will see “Yes” next to Driver Installed and Tunnel
Compatible (Figure 2).
Support Note: If you do not see “Echo Express SE”
listed, disconnect and reconnect the Thunderbolt
cable between the computer and Echo Express SE. Note
that it is not necessary to shut down the computer before
disconnecting and reconnecting the cable.

5
Chapter 4 – Connecting eSATA Devices
Figure 4
Figure 3
Connecting Drives and Media Readers – General
Information
Data cables with eSATA connectors are required for use with
the Echo adapter, drive enclosures, and other devices with
eSATA ports. Bare SATA drives and some old drive enclosures
use SATA I connectors; use of these devices require cables
with a SATA I connector at one end (SATA I to eSATA cables
are available separately from Sonnet.) Figure 3 shows the
difference between eSATA and SATA I connectors.
When you connect eSATA data cable(s) between the Echo
adapter and the drive enclosures or other devices, make sure
all cables are connected securely.
Connecting Drives to Create RAID Sets
The SATA card inside the Echo adapter features two SATA
controllers, one for the left pair of eSATA ports (ports 4 and
3), and one for the right pair of eSATA ports (ports 2 and 1).
To obtain the best performance when using a OS X-formatted
striped RAID set (RAID 0) or mirrored RAID set (RAID 1), you
should use drives connected to ports 1 and 3 together, and 2
and 4 together (Figure 4). Connecting drives this way enables
both controllers to be used at the same.
eSATA connector SATA I connector

6
Chapter 5 – Formatting Attached Drives
Figure 7
Figure 6
Figure 5
Formatting Individual Drives (Not in a RAID Set)
This section describes the process of formatting (initializing)
new, individual drives connected to the Echo adapter using
Disk Utility under OS X Version 10.7; the process is nearly
identical under OS X Versions 10.6 and 10.8. If you intend to
create a OS X-formatted RAID set with the drives attached to
the Echo adapter, skip to “Formatting Drives into RAID Sets”
on the next page.
1. Turn on your storage system, and then turn on your
computer (with the Echo adapter connected). During
startup, one or more messages referring to unreadable
volumes will be displayed; click Initialize… to launch
Disk Utility. (Note that if you wait too long, the
messages will disappear, and Disk Utility will have to
be launched manually.) After Disk Utility launches,
click the Initialize button in each remaining message
window.
2. If it is not open, launch Disk Utility. Select one of the
drives you want to format by clicking the drive symbol
or the “name” of the drive; a set of tabs will appear in
the right pane. Note that all drives attached to the Echo
adapter may be identied in the information window
by their icon along with the “External” connection
type (Figure 5).
3. Click the Erase tab, and then click on the Format drop-
down menu to select the drive formatting option for
the volume (Figure 6).
4. Type a name for the volume in the Name eld, and
then click Erase (Figure 6).
5. When a dialog asking you to conrm you want to erase
the disk appears, click the Erase button to erase and
format the disk (Figure 7). If necessary, repeat steps 3
and 4 to format any other drives connected to the Echo
adapter. When erasing and formatting are complete,
close the Disk Utility application; you can now use your
drive(s).
icon of drives
connected to
adapter