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phr0ze

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
513
0
Columbia, MD
No warning it just won't work and no longer shows up in disk utility. My warranty ran out in July.

Best recommendation? Fix it myself or???
 

clyde2801

macrumors 601
No warning it just won't work and no longer shows up in disk utility. My warranty ran out in July.

Best recommendation? Fix it myself or???

BUT....everyone is saying you don't really exist!

Seriously, I'd take it into an Apple store Genius Bar to see what their repair options are, and let them document that this is a problem.

You could twiddle your thumbs and see if Apple eventually lengthens the warranty repairs like they did the Nvidia cards from a few years back.

Or you can do searches on ebay and amazon for 2012 apple MacBook Air ssd's.
 

phr0ze

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
513
0
Columbia, MD
BUT....everyone is saying you don't really exist!

Seriously, I'd take it into an Apple store Genius Bar to see what their repair options are, and let them document that this is a problem.

You could twiddle your thumbs and see if Apple eventually lengthens the warranty repairs like they did the Nvidia cards from a few years back.

Or you can do searches on ebay and amazon for 2012 apple MacBook Air ssd's.

Thanks. I made an appointment. I'll try begging.

Ebay SSDs cost more than OWC. And amazon has a limited selection. If apple won't do it, I'll probably get the OWC for 189
 

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Thanks. I made an appointment. I'll try begging.

Ebay SSDs cost more than OWC. And amazon has a limited selection. If apple won't do it, I'll probably get the OWC for 189

Even though I've got a (base) 2013, I'm still keeping abreast of this. My understanding is that it's SSD is completely ahead of the curve technology wise and proprietary. Heaven help us buying a replacement if ours fails out of the warranty period without extended Applecare, and that costs 1/4 of what the machine itself sold for....
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,492
California
No warning it just won't work and no longer shows up in disk utility. My warranty ran out in July.

Best recommendation? Fix it myself or???

Just curious... is yours the 128GB SSD version? There seems to be a huge influx of these croaking here all of a sudden. :eek:

I suspect we will be seeing an Apple replacement program if these continue.
 

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,956
2,253
Even though I've got a (base) 2013, I'm still keeping abreast of this. My understanding is that it's SSD is completely ahead of the curve technology wise and proprietary. Heaven help us buying a replacement if ours fails out of the warranty period without extended Applecare, and that costs 1/4 of what the machine itself sold for....

Luckily for us 2013 users is so far I've only seen Sandisk & Samsung making the SSDs. Marvell and Samsung make much more reliable controllers than Sandforce which is found in the decrepit 2012 Toshiba SSD.
 

powerslave12r

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2010
702
149
Another request to share you SSD manufacturer if you had the chance to find it out before it died (or if you can find out during repairs).

Thanks a lot! And sorry about the loss.
 

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Luckily for us 2013 users is so far I've only seen Sandisk & Samsung making the SSDs. Marvell and Samsung make much more reliable controllers than Sandforce which is found in the decrepit 2012 Toshiba SSD.

Mine is a sandisk. I'm quite relieved to hear that, thanks!

Does anyone else besides Apple use the toshiba ssd's? If so, how are they standing up on the other systems?
 

phr0ze

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
513
0
Columbia, MD
Another request to share you SSD manufacturer if you had the chance to find it out before it died (or if you can find out during repairs).

Thanks a lot! And sorry about the loss.

I don't know the SSD yet. The disk utility I saw a drive called sandforce with 32KB of total storage..
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,492
California
I don't know the SSD yet. The disk utility I saw a drive called sandforce with 32KB of total storage..

The Toshiba 128GB SSD uses a Sandforce controller and those have been the ones failing all of a sudden in the last month or so in the 2012 MBAs. Ouch. :(
 

powerslave12r

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2010
702
149
I don't know the SSD yet. The disk utility I saw a drive called sandforce with 32KB of total storage..

Thanks for the update. You may want to search around to see what people have been doing with these failures. A lot of people have had Toshiba drives fail around the 1 year mark as Weaselboy mentioned.

Sorry to hear about it. I will go home and back up mine just in case.
 

filmbuff

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2011
967
364
Also worth reminding anyone with this problem - if you bought the MBA with a major credit card there is a good chance that you have an extended warranty. I bought mine with an Amex, which gives an extra year on top of the original warranty. Apple will still charge me for the work, but I can be reimbursed by Amex. If you used a card, check out the company's policy!
 

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,956
2,253
No warning it just won't work and no longer shows up in disk utility. My warranty ran out in July.

Best recommendation? Fix it myself or???

Just out of curiosity was your drive mostly full when it died?
 

HarryWarden

macrumors 6502a
Oct 27, 2012
607
120
What I wonder is whether those with failed drives had FileVault turned on or not. A little google search reveals some that say that the FileVault encryption is especially hard on Toshiba because of their use of the Sandforce controller.
 

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,956
2,253
What I wonder is whether those with failed drives had FileVault turned on or not. A little google search reveals some that say that the FileVault encryption is especially hard on Toshiba because of their use of the Sandforce controller.

Yup not to mention performance falls off. Sandforce does not like compressed/encrypted files at all. Makes me really question Apple's decision to use this controller when Samsung/Marvell have no problems dealing with filevault.
 

Mr. Retrofire

macrumors 603
Mar 2, 2010
5,064
518
www.emiliana.cl/en
What I wonder is whether those with failed drives had FileVault turned on or not. A little google search reveals some that say that the FileVault encryption is especially hard on Toshiba because of their use of the Sandforce controller.
The SSD sees the encrypted data as “already compressed” data, like a very large, compressed video file. I doubt that this is the problem.
 

phr0ze

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
513
0
Columbia, MD
Just out of curiosity was your drive mostly full when it died?

I'm not sure since its technically the laptop my wife uses.

----------

What I wonder is whether those with failed drives had FileVault turned on or not. A little google search reveals some that say that the FileVault encryption is especially hard on Toshiba because of their use of the Sandforce controller.

No encryption was enabled on the drive. Mostly just web surfing.

----------

So cost from Apple was $280, no matter the failed part. I got them to waive the charge because it was just sent out for service in June.
 

powerslave12r

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2010
702
149
I'm not sure since its technically the laptop my wife uses.

----------



No encryption was enabled on the drive. Mostly just web surfing.

----------

So cost from Apple was $280, no matter the failed part. I got them to waive the charge because it was just sent out for service in June.

Good going!
 

peterson12

macrumors member
Nov 2, 2012
58
0
I am sure this is not sandforce controller fault. I think the issue is how the controller is getting implemented by Toshiba / how apple is integrating the Toshiba SSD. The same controller is being used with other majors & they are non-faulty. The wrong perception about these sandforce controllers are rapidly changing & this is a quite encouraging as a sandforce fan ;)
 

phr0ze

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
513
0
Columbia, MD
He also said I should be able to get apple care if I push. He said if I do have apple care and another major component fails that I would get a new model macbook off the shelf. (This current failure appears to be the second major failure for the macbook)
 

HarryWarden

macrumors 6502a
Oct 27, 2012
607
120
He also said I should be able to get apple care if I push. He said if I do have apple care and another major component fails that I would get a new model macbook off the shelf. (This current failure appears to be the second major failure for the macbook)

Assuming you do get AppleCare, I bet part of you then hopes another part fails. Getting a new machine would always be nice. What was the other part that failed previously? I wonder if they give you a new machine if a part fails twice like say the SSD they replaced it with fails as well?
 

phr0ze

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
513
0
Columbia, MD
Assuming you do get AppleCare, I bet part of you then hopes another part fails. Getting a new machine would always be nice. What was the other part that failed previously? I wonder if they give you a new machine if a part fails twice like say the SSD they replaced it with fails as well?

He couldn't tell me what bit they replaced previously but it was either the SSD or the logic board. Also it has gone back for a trackpad repair but he said that doesn't count as major. It takes 3 'major' failures was his words.
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,492
California
I am sure this is not sandforce controller fault. I think the issue is how the controller is getting implemented by Toshiba / how apple is integrating the Toshiba SSD. The same controller is being used with other majors & they are non-faulty. The wrong perception about these sandforce controllers are rapidly changing & this is a quite encouraging as a sandforce fan ;)

This is funny because you just posted your Sandforce defense in another thread where a user reported FOUR Sandforce controlled OWC drives died in one year. Also in that thread (and others) many have reported the same multiple failures with OWC's Sandforce drives. Now we have the 12-14 month old Toshiba/Sandforce drives in 2012 MBAs starting to drop like flies.

So I guess your theory is that there is nothing wrong with Sandforce controllers and neither OWC nor Toshiba know how to properly assemble an SSD. :confused:

Not sure what your affinity for Sandforce is all about, but I don't follow your logic at all. The admittedly anecdotal evidence so far points to Sandforce drives having a lot of premature and sudden failures.
 
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