Adding a USB 3.0 Expresscard/34 to your MacBook Pro
One of the best uses I found for the ExpressCard/34 slot on my Early 2011 17″ MacBook Pro is in the form of a USB 3.0 expansion card. My computer has three USB 2.0 ports and an empty ExpressCard slot (thank you Apple!). So with this Startech device I’ve added an extra USB 3.0 port, and preliminary tests show it’s up to 3x faster transferring files to my USB 3.0 hard drive.
Where to get them:
You can use any expresscard/34 USB 3.0 adapter that has the µPD720200 or µPD720202 (uPD720200 or uPD720202) controller, and in fact there are some very cheap ones on eBay these days too, including ones that are entirely flush (i.e., they don’t stick out at all so you can leave them in all the time) and have two ports instead of just one. There are some Mac-specific cards too, but the hardware is identical and you pay extra for the privilege.
The problem…
Most of these generic (or Windows) cards will not work out of the box though, and all the instructions I found on the internet for getting them to work are a colossal headache and flawed. I even thought of titling this post “omfg usb expresscard mac how-to” because it would probably get more traffic that way from all the frustration that’s been caused.
The problem is, there are no native Mac drivers for these generic cards. Previously the best workaround was to create a USB boot disk loaded with FreeDOS and some utilities to re-flash the card with a vendor and device ID that made it look like one of the Mac-specific cards, and then use the driver for that Mac-specific card. This is perfectly fine, and may actually be preferable if you can get it to work. The thing is, building a bootable USB disk in Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks for FreeDOS was next to impossible (at least for me).
Instructions for installing generic drivers for generic USB 3.0 adapters on Mac OS X
Earlier in 2013, a fellow named Zenith432 created a generic driver for USB 3.0 interface adapter cards such as the one I tried to get working (called GenericUSBXHCI.kext). Simply download this file, then enter the following into Terminal to complete the install:
- open /System/Library/Extensions/
Drag and drop the GenericUSBXHCI.kext into this folder. It will ask you to authenticate with your Mac OS X admin password. Then enter the following three line into Terminal.app:
- cd /System/Library/Extensions/
- sudo chmod -R 755 GenericUSBXHCI.kext
- sudo chown -R root:wheel GenericUSBXHCI.kext
Restart, and your new USB 3.0 expresscard/34 adapter should now be working!
NOTE: The generic driver used in this post does not work with Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, as of the Public Beta. The developer still appears to be active, but no idea yet if/when Yosemite compatibility will come. If you are rely on these drivers and are considering upgrading to Yosemite, know that they do not yet work and you will no longer have USB 3.0 access to your devices.
Explore posts in the same categories: Elegant Mac, Technology
May 3rd, 2015 at 1:30 am
Dear Community. The Google Drive Link does not work anylonger. Could someone PLEASE reupload the file? I am very interested in getting my card working and searched through the whole internet… Thanks.
May 6th, 2015 at 1:53 pm
HEY “srhardy”
THE LINK DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE IS ANYBODY THERE TO HELP US????
May 14th, 2015 at 7:49 am
This kext (http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/150-patched-appleusbxhci/) should work for those of you that are posting that the other kext is no longer available:
May 25th, 2015 at 8:41 am
I was able to get my new GMYLE expresscard 34 dual USB 3.0 card to work in my MBP 2010 15″ model, using
http://petesentme.com/tutorials/how-to-add-usb3-to-macbook-pro
however, it only worked at the 480 Mbps speeds, not at “super speed”.
In addition, the GMYLE card would not power my external WD 1Tb USB 3.0 hard drive – only thumb drives (SSD). I’m now just using at extra USB ports and it will power my USB cooling fan – gives me extra ports anyway and is flush mounted.
Any help on how to get Super Speed working on this card?
May 25th, 2015 at 8:46 am
Ok – on the third try, the GMYLE did finally power the WD “My Passport” external USB 3.0 hard drive by just plugging it into the card (which had to be in the slot during boot-up; the card, not the hard drive).
Apparently, it is on the “edge” of having enough power to run it.
It also showed up under the “Super Speed” USB Bus instead of the “Hi-Speed” USB bus and claims to have 5 Mbps speed, but I will now test the transfer speeds.
Thanks for all the comments on this thread prior to mine – they greatly helped.
May 25th, 2015 at 9:07 am
Transferring 19.5 Gb of audio files took about 4-1/2 minutes; this is about 580 Mbps real-world speed. This it at least 2 to 3 times faster than USB 2.0 on my older MBP. Not too shabby…
May 25th, 2015 at 9:23 am
This is what shows up under System Information for PCI Bus using the GMYLE card in my 2010 MBP 2.5 GHz ExpressCard 34 slot and using the MultiBeast kext installer (Generic USB driver):
Type: USB eXtensible Host Controller
Driver Installed: Yes
MSI: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: PCI Slot 3
Vendor ID: 0x1b21
Device ID: 0x1042
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x174c
Subsystem ID: 0x2104
Revision ID: 0x0000
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 2.5 GT/s
May 25th, 2015 at 9:26 am
This is what the system information reports under the “USB” peripheral for the connected USB 3.0 compliant WD “My Passport” 1 Tb external drive. Note that nearly all of the 900 mA available current in consumed to run this drive using the GMYLE dual-port USB 3.0 34-slot card:
USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Bus:
Host Controller Location: Built-in USB
Host Controller Driver: GenericUSBXHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x1042
PCI Revision ID: 0x0000
PCI Vendor ID: 0x1b21
Bus Number: 0x0e
My Passport 0748:
Product ID: 0x0748
Vendor ID: 0x1058 (Western Digital Technologies, Inc.)
Version: 10.19
Serial Number: 575841314138325435383431
Speed: Up to 5 Gb/sec
Manufacturer: Western Digital
Location ID: 0x1d200000 / 1
Current Available (mA): 900
Current Required (mA): 896
Capacity: 1 TB (1,000,170,586,112 bytes)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk2
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
May 25th, 2015 at 9:49 am
Copying the same 19.5 Gb of data (mp3 files) to the same external drive took about 13.5 minutes using a USB 2.0 port. This confirms that the USB 3.0 on the GMYLE card (Express34 slot) is about three times faster on the same laptop versus the built-in USB 2.0 slots.
May 25th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
broke the link, sorry here is the new one
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7k1XCw3-hTceHJCcDB4cDREb1E/view?usp=sharing
May 26th, 2015 at 4:51 pm
BTW – I am running Yosemite 10.10.3 with the GMYLE card discussed above and it does work. I can even eject the card and re-insert the card and it will function without a re-boot.
June 16th, 2015 at 6:40 am
I’m running a late 2011 MBP on OSX 10.8.3 with a Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller card that was working under 10.6.8 but can’t get it to work now. It say the driver is loaded, recognizes the card as a USB controller but does not access any drive that is connected to it.
I have reinstalled the generic driver several times and also tried using Kext Utility to install the driver. Now, when I boot up or shut down, I see all of the loading info…
Please help.
ExpressCard:
Driver Installed: Yes
MSI: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: ExpressCard
Vendor ID: 0x1033
Device ID: 0x0194
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0xffff
Subsystem ID: 0xffff
Revision ID: 0x0003
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
July 1st, 2015 at 12:53 pm
I have followed the instructions and still not able to have the ssd card or ssd drive recognized.. nothing is showing..
running on late 2008 Macbook Pro with Yosemite 10.10.3 installed.
Using GYMLE express card USB 3.0
Type: USB eXtensible Host Controller
Driver Installed: No
MSI: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: ExpressCard
Vendor ID: 0x1b21
Device ID: 0x1042
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x174c
Subsystem ID: 0x2104
Revision ID: 0x0000
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 2.5 GT/s
i followed the instructions to the teeth..
July 20th, 2015 at 2:21 am
I have installed it on MacBook Pro Late 2008 running Maverick. Used the Kext Utility applications and it all went smooth, no problems whatsoever. Tested the speed with a Hitachi Touro USB 3.0 HDD and transferred a large video files with an average speed of 88 MB/sec. Just for comparison, I transferred the same file using the USB 2.0 port and I got a speed of 30 MB. So, I just tripled the read speed and now I can edit directly from the external hard drive, no need for copying the files first. Not bad for $6, right? 🙂
Thanks for all the info man, you have been very helpful.
August 8th, 2015 at 1:28 am
Did what you described on the page… didn’t worked… The card was still on the computer for 2-3 months.
Later, I made some maintenance with Onyx software (http://www.titanium.free.fr/), and I dont know if there is a cause, but the card began to work (icon on top of screen), and devices began to work with (mouse, iPhone, android phone etc…)
For those who have problems, you could try this? (I ran all the clean features of onyx).
August 8th, 2015 at 1:29 am
Oops forgot to tell about my setup :
Mac book pro late 2008
Os X 10.9.5
October 18th, 2015 at 1:11 pm
Hi all,
is there an update for El capitan available? Since the upgrade the controller still shows, system report looks alright, the drive seems to be powered but is not shown in finder. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance
chris
October 28th, 2015 at 12:42 pm
Hi everyone,
I was using an expresscard (NECXG – AKE BC628 – USB 3.0) on Mavericks and then on Yosemite. I reinstalled 10.10 on a SSD and I am unable to find the driver I need. Does anyone could help me?
By the way, I first wanted to install 10.11 El Capitan but I looked impossible to run the expresscard for now, any news?
Thanks a lot for your precious time.
November 12th, 2015 at 3:03 am
THANK YOU SRHARDY!
I was having an awful time getting my µPD720202 to work with Yosemite and was about to flash a different ID (or attempt to) when I found these comments. Hopefully this gdrive doesn’t disappear like the previous one!
November 20th, 2015 at 1:44 am
Hello srhardy,
Thanks to your driver for 10.10, my cheap NEC card worked like a charm.
However it stop working after the system updated to 10.11. Could you please share with us the driver for 10.11? And how to make it work in 10.11.
Thanks a lot!
December 13th, 2015 at 7:02 pm
Thank you so much! I’ve had the same StarTech card for a couple of years now and had given up until I recently found it. Very happy that this works now.
December 17th, 2015 at 2:14 am
Can someone please help me! I’m going a bit mental trying to find info.
Will any type of “USB 3 – Express Card 34” with “Any type of External drive attached” work as a bootable drive?????
I’m running a mid 2009 macbook pro (5,2)
I’m trying to create a clone of my operating system 10.5.8 onto an external drive so I can install El Capitan on my main internal drive.
In Theory if I can boot from a USB 3, express card 34 this will be quicker than the firewire option I already use.
I’m aware there are “filemate SSD” options but I’d prefer to boot from an external drive via USB 3.
I currently have a Lacie USB3 Porsche Drive Hooked up to a Lacie Express Card 34.
I have installed drivers in two different operating systems – 10.5.8 & Yosemite
Both read like this ;
Type: USB eXtensible Host Controller
Driver Installed: Yes
MSI: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: ExpressCard
Vendor ID: 0x1033
Device ID: 0x0194
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0xffff
Subsystem ID: 0xffff
Revision ID: 0x0003
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 2.5 GT/s
Does : MSI – NO mean It’s not bootable or am I missing something?
Any help would be REALLY APPRECIATED!!!
I’m willing to take my laptop anywhere to get this working as it’s holding me up installing X2 SSD internal drive.
To cut a long story short I need to run my 10.5.8 from a boot drive the fastest way I possibly can! all research points towards this option?
Cheers!
Krisso
December 19th, 2015 at 12:06 am
Got the kext file into the extensions folder, a little lost on how to enter the 3 lines into the terminal app, do I press enter after each one? it asks for a password. Sorry, newbie here.
December 30th, 2015 at 7:52 am
If you copy the lines and paste them they are being executed without you pressing Enter. If you write the commands yourself you have to press Enter. Nothing would really happen if you press Enter more than necessary, just a few empty lines in the terminal. When you are asked for your password you should enter the account’s password. I am not sure if it would work if your password is empty.
December 31st, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Ok have done some more research and apparently with my 2009, 17 inch, 5,2 it’s apples EFI Driver not communicating with card. So…
how much work would be involved in making the USB 3 express card (any type) bootable with a mac 5,2 under any operating system (preferably El Capitan)
would it be a kext addition,?
Flash of card of some sort?
Or much more?
January 10th, 2016 at 3:11 am
Hey, guys,
For OS El Capitan 10.11 I have used the file for 10.10 and followed exact instructions in the file. MacBook Pro early 2011.
After rebooting the NEC expresscard started perfectly functioning in USB3 mode.
The link to the file is in srhardy’s message:
http://www.spaceman.ca/blog/?p=288#comment-74409
January 19th, 2016 at 4:37 am
Updated to el capitan, no work anymore.
January 19th, 2016 at 5:21 am
Worked for me macbook pro 13 inch early 2008 yosemite 10.10.3, using srhardy (Thanks again), but this time after install el Capitan 10.11 , does not work for me.
I used the link http://www.spaceman.ca/blog/?p=288#comment-74409, and tried 3 times but nothing happened.
Any suggestions, please?
Thanks in advance.
February 7th, 2016 at 12:58 pm
Has anyone managed to get this to work with boot drives, or know a device which works with boot drives?
February 8th, 2016 at 3:49 pm
See the forum:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/macbook-pro/178845-gmyle-expresscard-usb-3-0-osx-10-11-el-captain.html
worked fine for me Gmyle USB 3.0
February 9th, 2016 at 4:34 pm
Not sure about other versions but can confirm everything works fine on elcap, including hotplugging the card etc, with latest version from rehabman’s branch.
RehabMan-Generic-USB3-2015-1215.zip aka GenericUSBXHCI.kext 1.2.11
download at
https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-generic-usb3/downloads
Should be obvious but don’t forget to disable SIP before installing or it won’t work, being an unsigned kext… Google csrutil for instructions.
February 9th, 2016 at 5:15 pm
Dump if anyone’s interested. Not sure what’s up with the interrupts but haven’t noticed ill effects from it, and this MBP is from 2007 so you def notice if it slows down hehe.
[email protected]~> Downloads/xhcdump running | ccat 01:45:27
Found a device of class GenericUSBXHCI: IOService:[email protected],2/IOPP/pci1912,[email protected]/GenericUSBXHCI
Darwin 15.3.0
Kext Version 1.2.11
Vendor 0x1912, Device 0x15, Revision 0x2
USBCmd RS Y HCRST N INTE Y HSEE N LHCRST N CSS N CRS N EWE Y EU3S N
USBSts HCH N HSE N EINT Y PCD N SSS N RSS N SRE N CNR N HCE N
DNCtrl 0xffff
CRCr CRR Y
Config 32
MFIndex 2744
Last Time Sync xHC 101971968 milliseconds CPU 102349348684981 nanoseconds
Using MSI
Legacy Owner[Bios,OS] NN, SMIEn[Event,HSE,OSOwn,PCI,BAR] NNNNN, Chg[OWOwn,PCI,BAR] NYN
# Configured Endpoints 0
# Interrupts: Total 16683670, Serviced 16683670, Inactive 0, Offline 0
# Spurious Transfer Events 6
Port 1 PortSC CCS N PED N OCA N PR N
PLS RxDetect PP Y Speed Unknown PIC Off LWS N
CSC N PEC N WRC N OCC N PRC N PLC N CEC N CAS N
WCE N WDE N WOE N DR N WPR N
PortPmsc U1 0 U2 0 FLA N PortLi LEC 1124
Port 2 PortSC CCS N PED N OCA N PR N
PLS RxDetect PP Y Speed Unknown PIC Off LWS N
CSC N PEC N WRC N OCC N PRC N PLC N CEC N CAS N
WCE N WDE N WOE N DR N WPR N
PortPmsc U1 0 U2 0 FLA N PortLi LEC 0
Port 3 PortSC CCS N PED N OCA N PR N
PLS RxDetect PP Y Speed Unknown PIC Off LWS N
CSC N PEC N WRC N OCC N PRC N PLC N CEC N CAS N
WCE N WDE N WOE N DR N WPR N
PortPmsc L1S Invalid RWE N HIRD 50 us L1Slot 0 HLE N TestMode Disabled
Port 4 PortSC CCS N PED N OCA N PR N
PLS RxDetect PP Y Speed Unknown PIC Off LWS N
CSC N PEC N WRC N OCC N PRC N PLC N CEC N CAS N
WCE N WDE N WOE N DR N WPR N
PortPmsc L1S Invalid RWE N HIRD 50 us L1Slot 0 HLE N TestMode Disabled
Interrupter 0 iman IP N imod I 40000 ns C 0 ns erstsz 1 erdp DESI 0 EHB N
April 6th, 2016 at 3:29 am
Used the srhardy driver
http://www.spaceman.ca/blog/?p=288#comment-74409
on Yosemite 10.10.5 with StarTech ECUSB3S11
worked perfectly !
Toshiba Canvio 1TB in usb worked around 30mb
now works at over 100mb !! yuppy !!
http://s23.postimg.org/hl8nznsm3/usb2.png
http://s23.postimg.org/4id1ge2e3/usb3.png
Big Kudos to srhardy
June 13th, 2016 at 10:50 pm
Hello,
I’ve installed on my Macbook pro late 2011 (El Capitain 10.11.5) usb3 works! not at full sped but about 80MB/s (toshiba canvio 500GB HD and CLS ssk express card with NEC µPD720200 chipset)
thanks to HobbyMan and srhardy
http://www.spaceman.ca/blog/?p=288#comment-74409
Is it this the maximum that this port can reach?
thanks to all
July 7th, 2016 at 6:42 am
@tropie
no, I tested the ECUSB3S11 port on my mbp 17 (Early 2011)
with a samsung ssd evo 850 and the transfer rates were around 200MB/sec
August 8th, 2016 at 12:59 am
Hi there
could you please give me an hint if this procedure is likely to work in my old MacBook Pro (2006, model A1150)?
I am not that into bug fixing so I’d like to avoid the mess of buying an express card/34 USB3 that will eventually freeze the mac or, in the best case, it will not work at all.
Thnks a lot in advance for any advice
Best
M.
October 17th, 2016 at 7:32 pm
I can confirm srhardy’s package works on El Capitan 10.11.4, thanks a lot!