Qio for Mac
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Driver (6)
IDDownload TitleDownload LinkPost Date
496 Qio System Installer and Uninstaller (OS X, macOS) 1.5.0Nov-29-2016
631 Sony SxS Memory Card Driver for macOS 10.14-macOS 12 3.1.0January 29, 2022
710 Sony SxS UDF Driver for macOS 2018-02-01
725 USB 2.0 Over Thunderbolt Patch for Qio/Qio E3 1.1Jun-17-2013
1088 Sony SxS UDF Driver for Windows 2.4.02018-02-01
1176 Sony SxS Memory Card Driver for macOS 10.12-10.13, version 3.0.0Sep-19-2019
 
Firmware (2)
Manual (4)
FAQ (31)
IDArticle TitlePost Date
491 Are Sonnet Tempo SATA cards compatible with the Drobo S?Feb-02-11
Sonnet has tested the following cards with the Drobo S:
Tempo SATA E2P..............................compatible
Tempo SATA E4P..............................not compatible
Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34...........compatible
Tempo SATA Edge ExpressCard/34...compatible
Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34.....not compatible
Tempo SATA X4P..............................not compatible
Qio eSATA ports...............................not compatible
 
495 My P2 card is unexpectedly unmounting from my Qio after I wake a Mac Pro or MacBook Pro from sleep.Aug-01-13
Install Qio software version 1.2.3 or later to resolve the issue.
 
499 I get a blue screen on my Mac Pro/MacBook Pro instead of booting when I connect QioMar-24-10
The first time you boot with the Qio connected, the screen will stay blue for up to 6 minutes while the Mac is configuring the Qio slot space. Please be patient. Subsequent boots should be normal. Note that you must install the Qio software before connecting the Qio.
 
501 Are all C600X CF Cards more or less equal performance in a Qio?Mar-22-10
Sonnet measured read performance for three manufacturers' 600X (90MB/sec) CF cards in the Qio, connected to a MacBook Pro:
Lexar Professional 600X...86MB/sec
Transcend 600X...............71MB/sec
SanDisk Extreme Pro........61MB/sec
 
503 Can I power the Qio from a FireWire port on a MacBook Pro?Mar-23-10
This powering method is not officially supported because the Qio can require more power than one FireWire port's power specification. However, the single FireWire port on the unibody MacBook Pro seems to be capable of providing more power (up to 20W in our test) than its specification. In Sonnet tests under the following conditions:
1) If Qio is used with only memory cards (SxS's or SDHC, but not ExpressCard/34 controller cards; P2 cards but not CardBus controller cards; and/or CF Cards);
2) Qio has not more than one Fusion F2 powered from the Qio; and
3) MacBook Pro is unibody model;
then the Qio plus one Fusion F2 seems to be able to be bus powered from the unibody MacBook Pro FireWire port. You would need to use the FireWire power cable provided with the Fusion F2. Sonnet does not guarantee or support this configuration.

This does not seem to work in MacBook Pro models previous to the unibody.
 
509 Is the Qio driver compatible with a 64-bit kernel boot of OS X 10.6 or 10.7?Aug-01-13
Yes. Compatiblity requires Qio software version 1.2.3 or later.
 
510 Can I use the AJA IO Express with the Sonnet Qio in a MacBook Pro?Mar-23-10
512 My Qio was working fine with my ExpressCard/34 bus interface card, but the Qio does not work with my PCIe Express bus interface card in an early 2009 MacPro.Mar-31-10
514 My unibody MacBook Pro will spontaneously restart after shutdown with Qio attached.Mar-31-10
516 What kind of battery can I use with the Qio?Apr-08-10
A battery should be capable of providing 12Volts @ 3 Amps and have an XLR 4-pin power connector. Nominal power usage of Qio is 9W, and attached F2s are 8 Watts each. An example of a compatible battery is the Bescor MM7XLR-NC (BC-500 charger sold separately) that can provide 12Volts @ 7.2Amps and has a 50 Watt-hour capacity. This battery could power a Qio for 5.5 hours, or a Qio plus F2 for 3 hours.
 
527 Why does my Maci take so long to boot when the Qio is attached? Jul-31-13
It is normal for the Mac to take a long time to boot (as long as 10 minutes) the first time after a Qio is attached. All the new drivers need to be discovered and the kernal caches built. It is important to let this initialization process complete without interruption.

However, in some instances, the Mac takes a long time for subsequent boots as well. If this occurs, run the Qio System Uninstaller and rerun the Qio System Installer. This should clear the problem.
 
528 Why can't a Mac Pro acknowledge the Qio if it is plugged in after the Mac is booted? Sep-13-13
536 With a Qio connected, my Mac Pro kernel panics when I shut down after using Avid Media Composer.Jul-31-13
Avid Media Composer 4.05 is not compatible with the Sony SxS driver. Please seek support from Avid and/or Sony.
 
547 I'm getting a OS X kernel panic when I remove an SxS card from the Qio connected to a tower Mac Pro that also has a video capture card installed.Oct-31-14
If you have a Mac Pro model 1,1, put the video capture card (such as AJA Kona or Black Magic DeckLink card) in Mac Pro PCIe slot 3 and the Qio bus interface card in PCIe slot 2 to fix this issue. If you have a different model of Mac Pro, the problem occurs only in one of Qio's SxS slots, so use only the other SxS slot. Sonnet and Sony are working to address this issue.
 
563 I'm getting a long blue screen when I boot a Mac with Qio installed.Sep-13-13
566 I upgraded to 10.6.8 and my system no longer boots.Sep-26-11
576 What version of OS X do I need to use Qio with MacBook Pro?Aug-20-14
OS X 10.5.8-10.9 required for Mac Pro and MacBook Pro (non-Thunderbolt).
OS X 10.6.8-10.9 required for MacBook Pro (Thunderbolt).
 
581 Is Qio Compatible with 17" Thunderbolt MacBook Pro?Sep-13-13
632 Is Qio compatible with Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter?Jul-31-13
Yes, but it requires the Sonnet PCIe Bus Extender ExpressCard/34 Revision B (serial number beginning with B), which began shipping December 2011; or the Sonnet PCIe 2.0 Bus Extender ExpressCard/34.
 
633 Is Qio compatible with the Matrox T/ADP Thunderbolt Port Adapter?Feb-28-12
639 Is the Qio PCIe 2.0 Bus Extender card compatible in all slots of the Mac Pro 5,1?May-06-13
646 How can I read UDF Formatted SxS cards?Aug-11-17
You need to download and install the Sony SxS UDF Driver, available here http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-recmedia/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-mkt-recmedia-downloads-upgrades.shtml
 
648 Why is the Panasonic OS X P2 driver not compatible with 64-bit mode, while the Sony SxS driver, CF driver and SATA drivers are compatible with 64-bit mode?Oct-31-14
651 Do Qio and Qio CF4 support UDMA 7 CompactFlash cards?May-06-13
Yes, Qio and Qio CF4 support UDMA 7 CompactFlash cards in UDMA 6 mode.

Background: CompactFlash Revision 6.0 (November 2010) added UltraDMA Mode 7 (167 MB/s), which is up to 20% faster than UDMA 6 (133MB/sec). All UDMA 7 CompactFlash cards are compatible with UDMA 6 cameras and readers.

The Qio's CompactFlash slots can be read concurrently. The Qio can read the fastest CF cards at up to 133MB/s each and a total aggregate of 200MB/s (two cards).

The Qio CF4 can read all four CompactFlash slots concurrently. When connected to a desktop machine, the maximum aggregate read speed is 133MB/sec (one card), 266MB/sec (two cards), 400MB/sec (three or four cards).
 
653 I connected a Red Station media reader to the eSATA ports, but the media would not mount. How do I mount the media?May-06-13
Mac OS 10.7.5 will not mount FAT32 volumes connected to the eSATA ports of this device. (FAT32 volumes mount fine in 10.6.8 and in 10.8.2 and later.)

As a workaround, you can manually mount volumes with the following procedure:

1) Open terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal)
2) Run the following command:
diskutil list

Look for the target volume in the IDENTIFIER column. The volume will have a name like disk4s2.

3) Create a mount point by using the following terminal command:
mkdir /Volumes/myvolume

Note: myvolume is the name of the mount point you will create and must be unique - for example, you cannot mkdir /Volumes/FAT if a volume named FAT is already mounted.

4) Mount the target volume with the command:
sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk4s2 /Volumes/myvolume

Note: disk4s2 is the from the IDENTIFIER column from step 2. myvolume is the unique name you chose in step 3.

The volume should now be mounted and is available for use. The volume must also be unmounted through terminal - finder will not be able to unmount the volume.

The command to unmount the volume is:
sudo umount /Volumes/myvolume

where myvolume is the mount point you created in step 3.
 
678 Is the Qio compatible with OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) and OS X 10.9.5 (Mavericks)?Oct-31-14
693 My computer kernel panics after updating OS X to 10.8.2. What can I do to fix it? (Qio/Qio CF4/Qio E3 issue)Nov-06-12
The OS X 10.8.2 update breaks compatibility with Qio, Qio CF4, and Qio E3 pro media readers, resulting in kernel panics on systems with Qio v1.1.6 and earlier software installed. By following the steps below, you may enable your system to work again, but the Qio will not operate after the procedure until you install Qio v1.1.8 or later software.

Process:





1. Cold-boot your computer holding the cmd and R keys together (this forces the computer to boot from the recovery partition)

2. Select the language

3. Open the Disk Utility application



  1. If your main operating system drive is locked (grayed out), select it and choose to “unlock” in the icon list at the top of the screen

  2. Note the name of the volume that holds your operating system - usually "Macintosh HD" – you will need this name later in these instructions


4. Quit Disk Utility

5. From the Utilities Menu, open the Terminal application.

6. Type the following commands, pressing the Enter key in between each command:

NOTE: In the following commands, <VOLNAME> is the name of the partition that your operating system resides on. This should have been obtained in step 3b. If your volume name has a space in it, such as "Macintosh HD", a “\” character must precede the space in the volume name (ie "Macintosh\ HD")

rm -r /Volumes/<VOLNAME>/System/Library/Extensions/STPCIFamily*

cp -rf /Volumes/<VOLNAME>/Library/Application\ Support/QIO/IOPCIFamily.kext /Volumes/<VOLNAME>/System/Library/Extensions

touch /Volumes/<VOLNAME>/System/Library/Extensions

7. Quit all applications and restart the computer.



 
713 My Qio Does Not Recognize My SD-to-SxS AdapterMay-07-13
730 I have a Retina MacBook Pro (or other Mac introduced in 2012), and my machine won't boot after installing Qio software.Dec-06-12
Boot in safe mode. In Terminal, type: sudo nvram boot-args="dart=0x0" and restart. You can undo this later with the command sudo nvram -d boot-args .
 
757 My Stardom RAIDSonic ST3620-2S-S2 is not reliable with 6Gb drives and and a 6Gb controller.Jul-08-13
1135 Can I format an SxS card in UDF format in macOS?Jan-20-21
Yes, but you must use Terminal.
1) Open Terminal

2) Run
diskutil list
to get the name of the disk. It will be something like "disk4". Ejectable media are typically the last in the list.

3) Run
newfs_udf -v "My Volume Name" disk4
if disk4 was the correct one. The volume name is anything you want of course.

4) Unplug and replug the SxS card
(Due to somebody's bug, the disk will only mount after being ejected.)

5) You can run
newfs_udf
without any parameters to see other parameters that can be set.

The process can be automated somewhat by writing a bash script, which can be looked up on the internet.