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Mac OS X 10.6.8 Brings TRIM Support for Apple SSDs, Graphics Improvements
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Trim enabler for 10.6.8
Trim enabler for 10.6.8 http://www.groths.org/?p=387
'Apple' SSD's are rebranded overpriced crap
Go buy a real Intel or OCZ SSD
Trim enabler for 10.6.8 http://www.groths.org/?p=387
'Apple' SSD's are rebranded overpriced crap
Go buy a real Intel or OCZ SSD
Yes, before you've even moved you hand away from the [OK] button.
Actually, though, it depends. If "delete" moves the files to a "trash" directory or "recycle bin" - there's no difference from a system without TRIM.
If "delete", however, actually "permanently deletes" the file - with TRIM it will be extremely unlikely that it is recoverable by any "find deleted files" utility.
Those utilities usually work on the assumption that the file system meta-data for the file is marked "deleted", but in fact the rest of the meta-data and the actual file data is still intact. These "deleted" entries will in fact be correct until the meta-data record or the actual file data is overwritten with a new file. If you run the "find deleted files" utility, it looks for meta-data records marked "deleted" - and will try to recover the file.
With TRIM, however, a command is sent to the solid state drive to notify it that the file data is free. The drive will add those sectors to a background task that erases free space and puts in on the available list. (Unlike a spinning hard drive, SSD sectors cannot be simply overwritten with new data - the sector (usually a "page" containing quite a few sectors) must be "erased", and then it can be written.)
The key to maintaining SSD performance is to ensure that the drive has a big pool of already erased pages. That lets a write completely quickly. If there are no free pages, then the drive has to move a bunch of sectors out of a page into partially used pages, and then erase the page, and then write the incoming sectors into newly erased page. This can make writes much slower.
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What if they are? If you want a file, don't delete it.
No offense, but why would you want to recover a deleted file? I mean you already have the option to recover it from the trash... If you delete it from the trash then you probably don't need it at all (or you should have thought better)
I noticed the graphics improvements in this update.
I skipped 10.6.7 entirely because of its poor graphics performancein games and with HD video in full screen on an external display with my 2010 MBP.
10.6.8 is working great!...on both the MBP and even the 2.0 C2D Mac Mini!!
I skipped 10.6.7 entirely because of its poor graphics performancein games and with HD video in full screen on an external display with my 2010 MBP.
10.6.8 is working great!...on both the MBP and even the 2.0 C2D Mac Mini!!
The graphics tests are 100% unfounded. Xbench is an app that isn't updated for almost 5 years now. I haven't seen any real world differences in the games I play, so the speed increase is likely due to some odd behavior from Xbench on newer systems. Any self-respecting journalist would try to get confirmation for the claims and would know that anything relating to Xbench should be ignored.
TRIM is a standard ATA feature, similar to SATA 6G. There's no need for Apple to write firmware or drivers for anyone in order to support it. Either a SSD has the capability (which will be announced to the OS if it asks nicely), or it doesn't. In the latter case, it won't work on Windows or with TRIM Enabler either. Apple has just decided not to enable it on other drives for political reasons. There's no technical reason. Windows supports TRIM generally, so could OS X.
I installed an OCZ Vertex 2 on my macmini - sounds like I wont get TRIM but guess Ill see when I get home.
hmm, not really - better if the user can update things like video drivers - it is just a way for Apple to control what you put in your Mac or limit features.
glad you like yours thou.
Probably Not going to be really Noticeable but its cool that apple does stuff like this with the OS Updates
hmm, not really - better if the user can update things like video drivers - it is just a way for Apple to control what you put in your Mac or limit features.
glad you like yours thou.
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I'm excited about this. But a little weary as a lot of people have been reporting strange issues with their machines.
orfeas0 said:
I'm excited about this. But a little weary as a lot of people have been reporting strange issues with their machines.
I've a MacBook Air (2,1) with a factory "APPLE SSD SM128" on 10.6.8 with TRIM support also reported as "no".
I have a SAMSUNG MMDOE56G5MXP-0VB in a 2009 13" MBP, supposedly exactly the same model that Apple did put into their 13" MBPs in 2009 but naturally not labelled 'APPLE SSD'. Thus, no luck.
I get by with running the refresh command of Lloyd Chambers disk tools. Supposedly restores full performance if run on an empty drive.
I get by with running the refresh command of Lloyd Chambers disk tools. Supposedly restores full performance if run on an empty drive.
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In my case I use my MBP 2.4 CTD and MP 3.2 quite a bit so I notice when they feel "different". Since the update apps like iPhoto, iTunes and Safari seem to open and operate faster.
Whether it's because of program execution or screen drawing I don't know. But both machines feel faster in a very general sense.
Sandforce cannot do TRIM in the controller. It can run proactive garbage collection in the background to help ensure an adequate pool of erased pages. This keeps performance high as long as the SSD has a big pool of "invisible" pages - but it also causes unnecessary wear on the drive as the garbage collection will copy unused data while garbage collecting.
TRIM is a standard (albeit optional) SATA command. It is a simple command where the OS tells the drive that "sectors XXX through YYY are free".
It has nothing to do with "Apple writing firmware". If the drive identifies itself as "TRIM support=YES", then the OS simply adds the "send TRIM command" to the file system code that puts blocks on the file system free list.
That's why Windows supports TRIM on any device that claims it supports TRIM.
"Good drives" are "better drives" if you can send them TRIM commands. While the performance of Sandforce drives holds up better than earlier drives, TRIM will help them last longer.
Can you name any drives with 2 year MTBF?
If SSDs are more resistant to "forensic analysis" compared to HDDs then I'm all for it.
[ETA]
My TS128C shows TRIM Support: Yes in 10.6.8 .
