Thunderbolt ExpressCard Adaptor for ExpressCard-8360

[NickNZ]

Hi

ExpressCard Slots are getting rather rare on laptops these days.... so I was thinking about a plan B option... as have to assume NI wont have anything until their marketing announce something exists (Which is fair enough on R&D / Marketing / strategic plans etc)

So has anyone tried a thunderbolt to ExpressCard adaptor e.g. https://secure1.sonnettech.com/product_info.php?cPath=139_140&products_id=483&osCsid=4fcf0e26d322d5b...

More info here: http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresscard34thunderbolt.html 

Price seems resonable too at $170. 

My understanding is that it does replicate the PCI Express 2.0 x1 at 2.5Gbs unlike the USB adaptors discussed in this thread (Which obviously won't work): 

http://forums.ni.com/t5/PXI/Mxi-over-usb-3-0/td-p/3105557

I don't have a laptop with thunderbolt to try myself as its still old enough (4 years) to have ExpressCard.  But I am concered that when I do upgrade I will have very limited choice in ExpressCard laptops. It suits me doing development on my laptop and then deploying to PCs in production. 

Regards

Nick

[Robert__R · Accepted solution]

Nick,

I tried that at some point.  It at least nominally works.  I don't recall all the nuances with hot plug and things of that sort, but it's quite functional.

- Robert

[NickNZ]

Thanks Robert.

Hot plug and play isn't really an issue for me anyway as currently have to restart the PC/Laptop so it will connect the PXI Chassis though Express Card. (While it would be nice 🙂 - its not a must have).

I would expect the Express Card would have to be inserted before connecting the Thunderbolt port. 

[Bryan24]

Robert, the new laptops they are assigning to us do not have ExpressCard slots. That puts me in a pretty big scramble mode.

I just talked to our local sales rep here in North Alabama. He is forwarding your solution to the Applications engineers and developers to see if this will work for them, or what issues they might have.

[Cranky]

I can confirm that it works on Win7 64 Pro. I got the Pro version of the ExpressCard adapter (PCIe 2.0). The PXI chassis was recognized as soon as the Thunderbolt Device was authorized by IT (requires elevated privileges to allow devices). The cable situation is much less than ideal, but it will fill the gap until the official solution is released.

[Bryan24]

That is some good news on a Monday. THANKS!

[NickNZ]

Hi

I posted it on the idea exchange so it can be upvoted.

http://forums.ni.com/t5/Data-Acquisition-Idea-Exchange/Modern-Upgrade-for-ExpressCard-8360/idi-p/333...

Nick

[NI_1424]

Any specific steps or drivers I need to include.  I have the Echo ExpressCard Pro Thunderbolt Adaptor that I am trying to connect to a NI-PXIe-1073 chassis.  The adaptor is recognized under the computers Device Manager but doesn't connect to the chassis.  Note I am starting the chassis before I start the computer with everything connected.

Thanks, Dave

[Cranky]

I had to have an administrator override to approve the Thunderbolt device before the chassis showed up in MAX. Once the TB3>2 adapter was approved, the chassis showed up and could be identified.

[NI_1424]

It appears you also need a Thunderbolt 1/2 to Thunderbolt 3 adaptor for newer computers.

https://www.startech.com/Cables/thunderbolt-3-cables/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-thunderbolt-adapter~TBT3TBT...

Thanks, Dave