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SSD set up advice

V

Vazza

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 25, 2006
661
398
London, UK
I've just installed a Crucial M4 512GB SSD into my MBP and have a couple of questions regarding setting up in Lion.

I have taken the old 500GB Seagate that came with the MBP originally and put it into an enclosure to use as an external drive. I would like to use this for Time Machine and also would like to offload folders with large files onto it e.g. Movies and Pictures.

Do I need to create a partition on the external drive to separate the space for Time Machine from Movies etc.? (sorry if this a stupid question)

Secondly how can I link to the folders on the external drive in Finder i.e. I want the Movies icon in the Finder sidebar to point to the Movies folder on the external.

Lastly, to TRIM or not to TRIM? I occasionally do photo editing so not sure if TRIM is really needed as I don't think I'll be writing and deleting GBs of data everyday and I know it's not supported for 3rd party drives on Lion but can be hacked. There is no mention of TRIM on Crucial's own forums so would appreciate your opinions please.
 
Vazza said:
Lastly, to TRIM or not to TRIM? I occasionally do photo editing so not sure if TRIM is really needed as I don't think I'll be writing and deleting GBs of data everyday and I know it's not supported for 3rd party drives on Lion but can be hacked. There is no mention of TRIM on Crucial's own forums so would appreciate your opinions please.
Click to expand...



I to am interested in a response for this part! bought the same SSD
 
You'll want to set up a partition for Time Machine. Otherwise, Time Machine will start filling up free space on the drive until it's full.

TRIM isn't necessary really. The m4 uses Idle Time Garbage Collection, where it only does it's garbage collection work when the drive is not in use.
 
I have a 160GB m4 on my pro 13, it's enough for me, but damn 512GB would be so handy to store all the media files.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

lamboman said:
You'll want to set up a partition for Time Machine. Otherwise, Time Machine will start filling up free space on the drive until it's full.

TRIM isn't necessary really. The m4 uses Idle Time Garbage Collection, where it only does it's garbage collection work when the drive is not in use.
Click to expand...

I've read the Garbage Collection on the M4 isn't as effective as the Garbage Collection on Sandforce SSDs? I guess I can always enable TRIM at a later date if I notice a performance drop.

I was also hoping someone could help me with a problem I'm having with my old Seagate drive which is now being used as an external drive...I've posted a thread already in the Mac Basics and Help forum but it can't hurt to link to it incase anyone here can offer advice:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1367870/
 
Vazza said:
Thanks for the replies so far.

I've read the Garbage Collection on the M4 isn't as effective as the Garbage Collection on Sandforce SSDs? I guess I can always enable TRIM at a later date if I notice a performance drop.
Click to expand...

There's been a lot of discussion about TRIM over in the SSD Buying Guide thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1177020/ Based on the advice there I ended up enabling TRIM on my 256GB Crucial M4. It was really easy to do, and if it happens to cause any problems I can turn it off later.
 
Vazza said:
Thanks for the replies so far.



I've read the Garbage Collection on the M4 isn't as effective as the Garbage Collection on Sandforce SSDs? I guess I can always enable TRIM at a later date if I notice a performance drop.

I was also hoping someone could help me with a problem I'm having with my old Seagate drive which is now being used as an external drive...I've posted a thread already in the Mac Basics and Help forum but it can't hurt to link to it incase anyone here can offer advice:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1367870/
Click to expand...

It isn't. However, that doesn't mean that it is so bad that you need TRIM. There is absolutely no harm in enabling TRIM if you feel the need.

As for the external drive issue, have you searched for those error codes to see what comes up?
 
From Googling, the error codes I get seem to mean either there is corrupted data or that the hard drive is dead :eek: but then I've read on a few site of people with similar error messages who have then changed the enclosure and the drive starts working again. Think I'll order a new enclosure first before writing off the drive and if still no luck, scrap it.
 
Vazza said:
I've read the Garbage Collection on the M4 isn't as effective as the Garbage Collection on Sandforce SSDs?
Click to expand...

It is just as effective. The difference is that Sandforce controllers run GC more real time at the expense of a performance drop with incompressible data. Where the Marvell controller in the M4 tends to run GC more during idle time after the data transfer is complete. Just two ways of doing the same thing, and the end result is the same. After GC is allowed to run both drives will be back to normal performance.

I would not let this issue sway you one way or the other with your purchase.
 
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