GUIDE: SSD Tweaking Guide

Orlandoech · Feb 27, 2013

sniffs said:
So I disabled some of these features via terminal, such as the hibernation, no local backups, etc.. this Chameleon app isn't recognizing these changes.. if I manually set to "Off" in the app, will it do anything?

So by running the commands, THEN installing the app and using it, you're just re-running the same commands with a GUI interface opposed to using terminal. So in essence, you're just repeating what you did.

No need for the app if you've previously ran the commands.

dukebound85 · Mar 3, 2013

simsaladimbamba said:
But benchmarks don't write tens of thousand of GBs to your SSD and unless you perform benchmarks several times a day, an initial benchmark to see, if everything works alright does not damage the SSD.

Normally modern SSDs have a theoretical write/read limit of 10,000 to 100,000 cycles (P/E cycles), meaning if you had a 64 GB SSD and its cycle limit would be 10,000, you would have to write 625 TB to it, which would be 351 GB per day everyday for the next five years. Assuming those numbers vary and it would only be a tenth of that, it would still mean 35 GB per day, which under normal usage no average computer consumer does, not even with temporary files.

Orlandoech.com said:
I agree with you on this completely. I removed it.

I would keep it in now that TLC drives are coming out

SandboxGeneral · Mar 3, 2013

iChopSticks said:
Are there any recommended tweaks if you are running windows through boot camp? or should the osx tweaks be covered through the whole drive?

I believe all you need to be concerned about is using a TRIM enabler in OS X while Windows has it covered by default. Additionally, you will want to ensure you keep the firmware up-to-date.

I found this regarding TRIM for Windows:

Code:
How To Migrate To A Solid State Drive

To check if Windows is using TRIM, open a cmd window (as Administrator) and type

Code:

fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify

if it returns 0, then TRIM is on; if 1, then not. Note that the SSD must be TRIM-aware. Windows 7 sets TRIM to on by default, even with hard drives, and XP and Vista do not have TRIM at all, but you can get TRIM functionality by purchasing an Intel SSD and installing the Intel Solid-State Drive Toolbox software.

Maxintosh5 · Mar 6, 2013

Thanks for the help!

After successfully turning off hibernate mode and saving GBs of room, I was wondering how to turn it back, restoring it the original setting.

I plan on saving this forum for future reference, especially if Apple addresses my slow sleep/wake times.

Thank you again!

Max

saturnotaku · Mar 6, 2013

SandboxGeneral said:
Windows has it covered by default.

That doesn't apply to Boot Camp installations. In order for Windows to recognize and pass the TRIM command, the SATA controller needs to be in AHCI mode. By default, Boot Camp installs in IDE/legacy mode. You can change this. It requires modifying a few registry items and patching the master boot record using Terminal while booting from OS X recovery.

While switching to AHCI mode allows the SSD to operate at its full potential, there are two significant consequences: 1) You cannot use sleep mode in Windows. If you put the machine to sleep, it will freeze when you try to wake it. 2) You lose the ability to access the Boot Camp Control Panel. If you try to open it, it will produce an error message.

SandboxGeneral · Mar 6, 2013

saturnotaku said:
That doesn't apply to Boot Camp installations. In order for Windows to recognize and pass the TRIM command, the SATA controller needs to be in AHCI mode. By default, Boot Camp installs in IDE/legacy mode. You can change this. It requires modifying a few registry items and patching the master boot record using Terminal while booting from OS X recovery.

While switching to AHCI mode allows the SSD to operate at its full potential, there are two significant consequences: 1) You cannot use sleep mode in Windows. If you put the machine to sleep, it will freeze when you try to wake it. 2) You lose the ability to access the Boot Camp Control Panel. If you try to open it, it will produce an error message.

That's good information to know. Thank you!

SandboxGeneral · Mar 6, 2013

I put together this quick guide on controlling the fan speed on affected Mac models where the HDD fan spins at full speed once the HDD temperature sensor is disconnected.

If anyone call help me identify all the models that are affected by this, I would be appreciative. I know that my 2010 iMac is one of them.

I figure this SSD Tweaking Guide would be the best place to post it for reference.

---------

Controlling the fan speed in Mac models after an SSD upgrade.

Steps:

Download the app smcFanControl
Install smcFanControl into your Applications folder
Open Automator
Create "New Application"
Go to Utilities > "Run Shell Script" and delete the word "Cat"
Copy the following code into the Shell Script:

Code:

/applications/smcfancontrol.app/Contents/resources/smc -k F1Mx -w 1770

Test the Shell Script by clicking on "Run" and your fan should stop running at full speed
Save the application to your SSD as "maxfanadjustment"
Open System Preferences, go to Users & Groups, the tab for Login Items
Click the "+" to add a new application and navigate to the Automator file you just created and add it.

What the above process will do is correct the out-of-control fan after the installation of the SSD and removal of the HDD. Apple uses a HDD temperature sensor which connects to the HDD's jumper block. Since SSD's don't have a jumper block, the computer think's there is a problem with the HDD and runs the fan at max speed.

You can run the Automator application any time the fan is out-of-control and by placing it in the Login Items it will automatically run it when you start the computer. If it's not in Login Items, you will have to manually run it because this isn't a persistent fix.

Now, if you're like me, you rarely shutdown your Mac and instead only put it to sleep. I've found that upon wakeup of the Mac, this Automator script needs to be run again because the computer "forgets" about it.

I found a neat little app in the Mac App Store called Scenario, which costs $4.99 US. It can set up actions to be performed upon events, such as "Computer wakes from sleep".

Upon installation, it creates a Script folder where you can put Automator scripts for it to run. Copy the script you made earlier and put it in the "Wake scripts" folder.

Now when your computer is awakened it will run this script for you and you won't need to run it manually.

*There is one event that will cause the fan to spin out-of-control that so far requires you to run the script manually. That is "Wake for network access" which is found in System Preferences > Energy Saver.

I have found that when I put the Mac to sleep and then later use the Apple TV to access my iTunes library, which uses the Wake for network access protocol, the fan spins up to max. I haven't figured out a way to get the script to run upon this event yet, so what I've done is set my Mac to never sleep, but to put the display to sleep after 15 minutes.

Updated information:

I don't know why I didn't think of this at the time, but I believe I found a better way to keep the fan under control.

I took a bad hard drive and removed it's controller board which has the jumper pins on it and put that inside the iMac. I connected the HDD sensor wire to the jumper pins, just as it was when the original HDD was inside the machine and operating. Only this time, it's just the controller board with no power. I used a small piece of 2-sided 3M tape to keep it from moving around and stuck the controller board to the SSD.

I have removed smcFanControl from my start up items along with the app Scenario and my AppleScript that I used to control the fan speed during various system events.

I've restarted the machine a couple of times, put it to sleep and woken it up (which is the part where I couldn't control the fan with software), put it back to sleep and accessed the iTunes library to play a video on the Apple TV and so far everything is working and under control.

I figured that Apple was only measuring the temperature of the HDD via the jumper pins themselves and not actually reading any temperature data being sent by the HDD or its controller.

Basically, I just added a dummy load to the sensor and as far as it knows, there is a functioning HDD attached to it.

I'm running through all my start/restart/sleep/network access tests a second time now, but I think I got it.

Orlandoech · Mar 6, 2013

SandboxGeneral said:
I put together this quick guide on controlling the fan speed on affected Mac models where the HDD fan spins at full speed once the HDD temperature sensor is disconnected.

If anyone call help me identify all the models that are affected by this, I would be appreciative. I know that my 2010 iMac is one of them.

I figure this SSD Tweaking Guide would be the best place to post it for reference.

---------

Controlling the fan speed in Mac models after an SSD upgrade.

Steps:

Download the app smcFanControl

Install smcFanControl into your Applications folder

Open Automator

Create "New Application"

Go to Utilities > "Run Shell Script" and delete the word "Cat"

Copy the following code into the Shell Script:

Code:

/applications/smcfancontrol.app/Contents/resources/smc -k F1Mx -w 1770

Test the Shell Script by clicking on "Run" and your fan should stop running at full speed

Save the application to your SSD as "maxfanadjustment"

Open System Preferences, go to Users & Groups, the tab for Login Items

Click the "+" to add a new application and navigate to the Automator file you just created and add it.

Image

What the above process will do is correct the out-of-control fan after the installation of the SSD and removal of the HDD. Apple uses a HDD temperature sensor which connects to the HDD's jumper block. Since SSD's don't have a jumper block, the computer think's there is a problem with the HDD and runs the fan at max speed.

You can run the Automator application any time the fan is out-of-control and by placing it in the Login Items it will automatically run it when you start the computer. If it's not in Login Items, you will have to manually run it because this isn't a persistent fix.

Now, if you're like me, you rarely shutdown your Mac and instead only put it to sleep. I've found that upon wakeup of the Mac, this Automator script needs to be run again because the computer "forgets" about it.

I found a neat little app in the Mac App Store called Scenario, which costs $4.99 US. It can set up actions to be performed upon events, such as "Computer wakes from sleep".

Upon installation, it creates a Script folder where you can put Automator scripts for it to run. Copy the script you made earlier and put it in the "Wake scripts" folder.

Now when your computer is awakened it will run this script for you and you won't need to run it manually.

*There is one event that will cause the fan to spin out-of-control that so far requires you to run the script manually. That is "Wake for network access" which is found in System Preferences > Energy Saver.

I have found that when I put the Mac to sleep and then later use the Apple TV to access my iTunes library, which uses the Wake for network access protocol, the fan spins up to max. I haven't figured out a way to get the script to run upon this event yet, so what I've done is set my Mac to never sleep, but to put the display to sleep after 15 minutes.

What about using Automator upon an event?

SandboxGeneral · Mar 6, 2013

Orlandoech.com said:
What about using Automator upon an event?

That would be great, but how do I do that? I'm not finding anything in there (yet) that works by events.

Weaselboy · Mar 7, 2013

SandboxGeneral said:
That would be great, but how do I do that? I'm not finding anything in there (yet) that works by events.

I think you could use the free app ControlPlane to launch your script. The app watches for "evidence sources" (list below), then performs a designated action based on the "evidence." Among the actions is run a script. It looks like it could be configured to do exactly what you want with your script.

SandboxGeneral · Mar 7, 2013

Weaselboy said:
I think you could use the free app ControlPlane to launch your script. The app watches for "evidence sources" (list below), then performs a designated action based on the "evidence." Among the actions is run a script. It looks like it could be configured to do exactly what you want with your script.

Image

Cool thanks! I'll give it a look a bit later today.

saturnotaku · Mar 7, 2013

SandboxGeneral said:
That's good information to know. Thank you!

Also have to give you props for pointing out that Samsung has finally gotten its you-know-what together and released a Mac-friendly way to update its SSD firmware. I would always steer Mac users away from Samsung drives for this reason, but not any more.

SandboxGeneral · Mar 7, 2013

saturnotaku said:
Also have to give you props for pointing out that Samsung has finally gotten its you-know-what together and released a Mac-friendly way to update its SSD firmware. I would always steer Mac users away from Samsung drives for this reason, but not any more.

Thanks. However the real thanks goes to Hellhammer who pointed me to the Samsung OS X page and gave me a lot of assistance and tips in the background when I got my first SSD. It's too bad, however, that they bury this particular OS X page on their site and don't have it on the support page for the SSD's.

Hellhammer · Mar 7, 2013

SandboxGeneral said:
Thanks. However the real thanks goes to Hellhammer who pointed me to the Samsung OS X page and gave me a lot of assistance and tips in the background when I got my first SSD. It's too bad, however, that they bury this particular OS X page on their site and don't have it on the support page for the SSD's.

I've pointed that out to Samsung and they said it will be added to the support site soon.

SandboxGeneral · Mar 7, 2013

Weaselboy said:
I think you could use the free app ControlPlane to launch your script. The app watches for "evidence sources" (list below), then performs a designated action based on the "evidence." Among the actions is run a script. It looks like it could be configured to do exactly what you want with your script.

Image

I gave this a whirl and I don't think it's going to work. I set it up with my script with the Rules for Sleep/Wake set to Wake. The Action parameter is my Shell Script on my Ethernet connection.

I put the computer to sleep and then walked over and turned on my Apple TV and accessed the iMac's iTunes library for a podcast to watch. After a few minutes I walked back to the iMac and I could hear the fan spinning up gradually and then I woke it up (fully) and saw the fan was at 3100RPM's and climbing. So I had to manually run my script to knock it back down.

I need some way of getting this script to run automatically when the system event for Wake for network access occurs.

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Screen%20Shot%202013-03-07%20at%206.06.46%20PM.png

Screen%20Shot%202013-03-07%20at%206.12.52%20PM.png

channonh · Mar 11, 2013

adamant628 said:
Thank you very much for the write up. I just got an SSD and installed it along side my HDD (moved the HDD to an optibay).

I have a couple of questions.
Can I move the sleepimage file location to the HDD so that I can continue to use hibernation?

I've done a similar set-up (though after installing, I saw that my optibay has the same negotiated link speed, so I put the HDD back in the HD slot so it would have SMS protection, and the SDD in the optibay.)

I changed the power management to write the sleepimage to the HDD. And, it usually works great.

However, occasionally (I can't figure out the pattern), my computer writes a sleepimage file with different file permissions, far more restrictive than the HDD. When this happens, and I subsequently restart, I get two disk images for the HDD, "Mac-HDD" and "Mac-HDD 1". That is, in Terminal when I go to Volumes, I see 3 instead of 2: Mac-SSD, Mac-HDD, and Mac-HDD 1.

The "Mac-HDD" only contains this restricted-permission sleepimage.

This would not be a big deal except that this process renames my HDD to "Mac-HDD 1" instead of "Mac-HDD" since the latter name is already taken by the "volume" only containing the restricted sleepimage, and this new HDD name causes every link to the HDD to be broken. (Music, photos, downloads folder, etc.)

I'd really like to figure out the cause. I'd just turn off hibernation, but my "1,000 cycle battery" is faulty after just 400 cycles (Genius says that's normal, $170 for a replacement), so I want the hibernation protection.

Thus, I have to go to Terminal, navigate to the HDD volume with the restrictive sleepimage file, (i have to use sudo even to list the files!), delete the file (sudo) and restart the Mac.

The only reason I ever restart is because Safari goes nuts on the runaway RAM and I get to the point of big page-ins & outs, supposedly wear on the SDD. To temper this, I leave JavaScript off on Safari, and Click-to-Flash. But, honestly, this is all a pain, and it doesn't fix the problem, just slows it. I wish Safari's RAM usage was manageable, then I'd never have to restart, and wouldn't have to deal with that weird sleepimage!

Orlandoech · Mar 11, 2013

channonh said:
I've done a similar set-up (though after installing, I saw that my optibay has the same negotiated link speed, so I put the HDD back in the HD slot so it would have SMS protection, and the SDD in the optibay.)

I changed the power management to write the sleepimage to the HDD. And, it usually works great.

However, occasionally (I can't figure out the pattern), my computer writes a sleepimage file with different file permissions, far more restrictive than the HDD. When this happens, and I subsequently restart, I get two disk images for the HDD, "Mac-HDD" and "Mac-HDD 1". That is, in Terminal when I go to Volumes, I see 3 instead of 2: Mac-SSD, Mac-HDD, and Mac-HDD 1.

The "Mac-HDD" only contains this restricted-permission sleepimage.

This would not be a big deal except that this process renames my HDD to "Mac-HDD 1" instead of "Mac-HDD" since the latter name is already taken by the "volume" only containing the restricted sleepimage, and this new HDD name causes every link to the HDD to be broken. (Music, photos, downloads folder, etc.)

I'd really like to figure out the cause. I'd just turn off hibernation, but my "1,000 cycle battery" is faulty after just 400 cycles (Genius says that's normal, $170 for a replacement), so I want the hibernation protection.

Thus, I have to go to Terminal, navigate to the HDD volume with the restrictive sleepimage file, (i have to use sudo even to list the files!), delete the file (sudo) and restart the Mac.

The only reason I ever restart is because Safari goes nuts on the runaway RAM and I get to the point of big page-ins & outs, supposedly wear on the SDD. To temper this, I leave JavaScript off on Safari, and Click-to-Flash. But, honestly, this is all a pain, and it doesn't fix the problem, just slows it. I wish Safari's RAM usage was manageable, then I'd never have to restart, and wouldn't have to deal with that weird sleepimage!

Thanks for the insight.

iLitHiuMi · Mar 13, 2013

Hi all,

Just installed a Samsung 840 Pro into my Early 2011 MBP (moved existing HD to optical bay) - Loving it thus far and thanks to everyone for their help in tweaking the setup.

Now, in order to save space by optimize performance, I want to move my home folder to the HD, but leave my applications on the solid state.

How would I do that?

Weaselboy · Mar 13, 2013

iLitHiuMi said:
Hi all,

Just installed a Samsung 840 Pro into my Early 2011 MBP (moved existing HD to optical bay) - Loving it thus far and thanks to everyone for their help in tweaking the setup.

Now, in order to save space by optimize performance, I want to move my home folder to the HD, but leave my applications on the solid state.

How would I do that?

Here is a step by step walkthrough for you.

iLitHiuMi · Mar 13, 2013

Weaselboy said:
Here is a step by step walkthrough for you.

Thanks for the link, but don't I want to keep the applications folder on my SSD so the applications run faster?

SandboxGeneral · Mar 13, 2013

iLitHiuMi said:
Thanks for the link, but don't I want to keep the applications folder on my SSD so the applications run faster?

Keeping them on the SSD will allow them to load faster, not run faster. Once loaded, they are in system RAM which is even faster than an SSD. But yes, you'd want to keep the apps folder on the SSD.

Orlandoech · Mar 13, 2013

iLitHiuMi said:
Thanks for the link, but don't I want to keep the applications folder on my SSD so the applications run faster?

Yes you do.

iLitHiuMi · Mar 13, 2013

Orlandoech.com said:
Yes you do.

But by running the guide at CNET, doesnt that move my applications folder off my SSD?

Orlandoech · Mar 13, 2013

iLitHiuMi said:
But by running the guide at CNET, doesnt that move my applications folder off my SSD?

See section 5 of my original post on page 1.

Weaselboy · Mar 13, 2013

iLitHiuMi said:
But by running the guide at CNET, doesnt that move my applications folder off my SSD?

No, if you follow that guide it only moves your personal /Users folders to the HDD. /Applications would still be on the SSD.

All that is in the /Users folder is your personal data, like documents, music, and photos, as well as personal settings. But applications are not under the /Users folder unless you have manually moved them there to a non-standard location.

GUIDE: SSD Tweaking Guide

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