Mac Pro SSD Issue

iBotz · Dec 2, 2011

Well, I am using an OWC Mercury Extreme SSD (115gb) and it will not be recognized by the computer.

Today I logged on all fine and worked on some stuff, then I switched to Windows. When I went to switch back to the SSD, it would not boot onto it. The SSD is around 3 months old. This has happened to me with another SSD too.

Has the drive died?

Loa · Dec 2, 2011

Hello,

Can you try it in another computer?

Loa

BigJohno · Dec 2, 2011

I had a dual boot ssd in my mac pro for about a week and experienced what you are talking about. It went strait to recovery drive. I took out all my drives but the ssd and it fixed it. I went out and bought a separate HD for windows and has been working flawless ever since.

saulinpa · Dec 3, 2011

It might be "panic locked" Happens to my OWC 6G drive if I let the drive or machine go to sleep. They keep on saying that the problem will be fixed in the next firmware update as it is a known problem with Sandforce based SSDs.

I power cycle 5 to 20 times and it comes back to life.

derbothaus · Dec 3, 2011

saulinpa said:
It might be "panic locked" Happens to my OWC 6G drive if I let the drive or machine go to sleep. They keep on saying that the problem will be fixed in the next firmware update as it is a known problem with Sandforce based SSDs.

I power cycle 5 to 20 times and it comes back to life.

Please be model specific. It is not all SF based drives. The 6G's do have pausing issue after sleep on Nvidia controllers and others. Never had an issue on X58 though. Not 1 single pause. The OWC Mercury Pro SATA2's do not exhibit this problem on any chipset that I know of. Either way it is a PITA to keep track of. They should just fix it. Maybe they can't.

Flocarino · Dec 4, 2011

My 1 month old OWC 115GB just doesn't show up on my Mac Pro. It worked perfectly last night and this morning when I turned on the Mac Pro it simply vanished, cannot make it mount at all......did it died so fast and easily? It just has Lion installed on it.

derbothaus · Dec 4, 2011

Flocarino said:
My 1 month old OWC 115GB just doesn't show up on my Mac Pro. It worked perfectly last night and this morning when I turned on the Mac Pro it simply vanished, cannot make it mount at all......did it died so fast and easily? It just has Lion installed on it.

Could be. When SSD's go out, they are gone. Was your's 6G or 3G? Pro or Elektra, etc?

Flocarino · Dec 4, 2011

derbothaus said:
Could be. When SSD's go out, they are gone. Was your's 6G or 3G? Pro or Elektra, etc?

3G...115GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD

Sonhascome · Dec 4, 2011

you have to reformat it

Flocarino · Dec 4, 2011

Sonhascome said:
you have to reformat it

How to reformat something that cannot be seen?????

It does NOT mount at all.
Tell me how to make it visible and I'll format it!

derbothaus · Dec 4, 2011

Flocarino said:
How to reformat something that cannot be seen?????
It does NOT mount at all.
Tell me how to make it visible and I'll format it!

If it is not on the bus at all as a device it is probably toast. Boot to OS from another source and check Disk Utility or Profiler. Then start the RMA process.

Flocarino · Dec 4, 2011

derbothaus said:
If it is not on the bus at all as a device it is probably toast. Boot to OS from another source and check Disk Utility or Profiler. Then start the RMA process.

....more of an RMA process

I booted from 2 other drives: Snow Leopard & Lion as well as Disk Warrior.....SSD is INVISIBLE

nowhere to be seen.....just an empty bay...

powerless · Dec 4, 2011

Yep, same thing has happened to me, the 115GB Extreme...last Thursday. SSD lasted about 2 months. Exact same symptoms. One minute it's working (a shutdown and boot next day) it didn't work. It's currently being RMA'd.

This is actually a second RMA, due to a previous failure (same model, size) with exactly the same problems.

Flocarino · Dec 4, 2011

powerless said:
Yep, same thing has happened to me, the 115GB Extreme...last Thursday. SSD lasted about 2 months. Exact same symptoms. One minute it's working (a shutdown and boot next day) it didn't work. It's currently being RMA'd.

This is actually a second RMA, due to a previous failure (same model, size) with exactly the same problems.

I wonder if I can ask tomorrow over the phone a different model of SSD, maybe a 120GB.....

nambuccaheadsau · Dec 5, 2011

How is the SSD installed in the Mac Pro? if via an Icey Dock, remove the Dock and check the fitting of the SSD inside. Had a Kingston go this way, opened the Dock and somehow the SSD had slipped backwards and connectors were not in contact.

Nevertheless OWC have great after sales service and the SSD is under warranty. Send them an email and they will assign a case number and request you return the drive.

Flocarino · Dec 5, 2011

nambuccaheadsau said:
How is the SSD installed in the Mac Pro? if via an Icey Dock, remove the Dock and check the fitting of the SSD inside. Had a Kingston go this way, opened the Dock and somehow the SSD had slipped backwards and connectors were not in contact.

Nevertheless OWC have great after sales service and the SSD is under warranty. Send them an email and they will assign a case number and request you return the drive.

Connected via a NewerTech AdaptaDrive bought at the same time with the SSD from OWC. Tried the SSD directly on the Mac Pro SSD SATA port without the AdaptaDrive....no dice.
Called the OWC for a RMA and tomorrow morning I'll ship it back.....hoping for a better one next time, if not, I'll go back to trusty SATA 3.5 drives.

BigJohno · Dec 5, 2011

My OWC SSD just crashed today. Got a grey screen at boot and couldn't do anything. Took it out and was able to chose my window partition. They are sending me a replacement. Had problems from the beginning. Lock ups then wouldn't boot. Had that scary incident with my windows partition on it.

Flocarino · Dec 6, 2011

BigJohno said:
My OWC SSD just crashed today. Got a grey screen at boot and couldn't do anything. Took it out and was able to chose my window partition. They are sending me a replacement. Had problems from the beginning. Lock ups then wouldn't boot. Had that scary incident with my windows partition on it.

I wonder if these OWC are any good....too many going dead, this sound like a bad batch to me, or even a bad model, not fully tested before released for sale to the public.

VirtualRain · Dec 6, 2011

People who follow SSDs have been warning visitors here against Sandforce drives for months (OWC, OCZ, and others). These problems are not new. Buy Crucial, Intel, or Samsung.

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