Question 1

I'm currently getting a "NOT ENOUGH USB CONTROLLER RESOURCES" on an X99 chipset motherboard. Would adding this card solve that problem or is the XHCI endpoint limitation across all controllers, regardless of whether PCI or on Mobo?

Accepted Answer

Thats too specific. I use an asus server board that doesnt have usb 3 and it works just fine.. actually its pretty fast and i havent had one issue. I would get it and try it. If you have the money to buy, then you have the money to try.

Question 2

Will this Quad USB3.0 card work with MAC OS 10.8.5?

Accepted Answer

Although I like and trust Vantec products and have owned many over the years, this particular card does not specifically indicate Mac driver support even on their site, so I’d be skeptical. We have a ‘hybrid’ home-office (with both Windows and Mac systems) which we regularly upgrade and have, in the process, discovered better options for USB 3.0 expansion cards. The dedicated channel cards that we found to work best for Mac are by CalDigit and Highpoint. CalDigit makes a FASTA-6GU3 (eSata 6 + USB 3.0 ports) and FASTA-2e (two USB 3.0 ports only). Highpoint makes two 4-port USB 3.0 cards (RocketU 1144C) with dedicated-channels—one standard and another supposedly for Macs. However, on recommendation we got 3 of the standard (non-specific platform) cards and installed two in older Mac Pro Towers as well as one Windows native USB 3.0 system. They all work perfectly. Our Macs have been upgraded to run OS 10.9 or later though so that may be an issue for you. The CalDigit cards worked great in those same Macs when we were running OS 10.7 and I understand that NewerTech makes a MAXPower USB 3.0 combo eSATA card made to work with Macs OS 10.6 or later but I haven’t used that myself so I can’t verify that. There are some indications from blog posts that when you upgrade to OS 10.9 problems can develop. 
       I bought this Vantec card months ago to expand the number of available USB 3.0 ports for my new Windows 7 custom-built tower but ended up not being able to use it because of the right-angle ports. The slots in my tower case are too narrow making it impossible to fully connect a USB plug. But even in larger cases, it can be a real issue. For that and other reasons, I think it would be better to choose one of the other options described above with proven compatibility with Macs.

Question 3

With this having 4 chips, one per port, can I hardware pass the USB port to individual VMs for Hotplug?

Accepted Answer

The product supports simultaneous operation of multiple USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and USB 1.1 devices and has 4 dedicated chips, which suggests it may allow for individual control of each port. However, the specific capability of hardware passing the USB ports to individual VMs for Hotplug is not explicitly mentioned.

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