Problem With 2nd ssd ifixit cable

totoro35 · Mar 13, 2014

Hi,

I ordered and install a Mac mini dual drive Kit for my freshly bought mac mini (i7 2.6ghz)
I planned to install 1 SSD (samsung 840 pro 128go) in the original hhd apple drive bay
for my OSX system (osx 10.9.2) and 1 SSD (crucial M500 480 go) in the additionnal bay
with the ifixit sata cable for my datas.

I do not want RAID or Fusion drive at all.

I made a clean install osx 10.9.2 via an usb key, everything went fine.
Then I formatted the second drive (crucial M500 in the 2nd bay) with the disk utility.

My problems are :

The boot and shutdown time is nearly 40 - 50 seconds,
The second 'datas' drive is unuseable :
- He is seen by the system and by the finder but I barely cant copy anything on it.
- It tooks days to copy severals Megabytes.
- wanted to format again but sometimes unsuccessful
disks utility says sometimes drive should be repair ...

I saw in the ifixit forum and others mac forum threads that i'm not alone with this configuration
and thoses problems.

I tried to swap the ssd and there, the problems were on the samsung ??

That configuration was for me the condition for such an investment.

Is it the ifixit cable that is faulty ?
Did the cable provided by owc kit is better ?

Is there any solutions someone could provide to me ?

Thanks in advance for your advices

pianoman88 · Mar 13, 2014

Issue with Crucial SSD?

I tried (and returned) two crucial SSDs. Noting but problems from the moment I installed the drive. My next purchase will be Samsung.

dudedude · Mar 13, 2014

pianoman88 said:
I tried (and returned) two crucial SSDs. Noting but problems from the moment I installed the drive. My next purchase will be Samsung.

I wouldn't pinpoint the drive because he mentioned when he switched them the problem was on the Samsung. It sounds like it could be a faulty cable or a bad connection.

Edit: After reading a little on ifixit forums it sounds like some drives work in that config and some won't? Seems strange to me but I guess that could be why.

panzer06 · Mar 13, 2014

I had problems with the cables upgrading a 2011 mini. Went through 2 bad ones from ebay and one I damaged before getting it to work.

It's easy to mess up the small connector that presses down onto the MB and the solder on the portion that connects to the drive was bad on one.

Cheers,

totoro35 · Mar 13, 2014

Well, I saw this :

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/111071/Dual+Hard+Drive+kit+with+Samsung+Pro+840+256

And this is exactly my problem.

If someone has solved this, I'm curious to know how

Thanks for the contributions

808? · Mar 13, 2014

totoro35 said:
Well, I saw this :

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/111071/Dual+Hard+Drive+kit+with+Samsung+Pro+840+256

And this is exactly my problem.

If someone has solved this, I'm curious to know how

Thanks for the contributions

I had a similar problem when i installed my new SSD, so I pulled the whole Mini apart again and formatted the new SSD in a USB dock, then swapped the drive positions around, moving the OEM to the "upper" slot and the SSD to the "lower" slot. (remembering the lower slot is closest to you when you open up the bottom.)

I was then able to do a fresh OSX infall no problem and keep the drives separate - not in fusion.

DaREdBaRoN · Mar 13, 2014

When I did the install on my mini, there were several comments on ifixit's website saying that the mini would not recognize a non-apple SSD in the upper bay. I put the 840 EVO in the lower drive and moved the stock drive to the upper.

May I ask why you didn't just purchase a larger SSD and keep the stock drive?

totoro35 · Mar 14, 2014

DaREdBaRoN said:
When I did the install on my mini, there were several comments on ifixit's website saying that the mini would not recognize a non-apple SSD in the upper bay. I put the 840 EVO in the lower drive and moved the stock drive to the upper.

May I ask why you didn't just purchase a larger SSD and keep the stock drive?

It's a way i'm used with my mbp (and it works great) for audio production :
A small SSD (128go) for os + programs > overall performances
and a larger one SSD (~500go) for datas > audio samples, projects etc

The second SSD IS recognized by the OS and the finder but unuseable
It doesn't matter wich SDD is in the upper bay, I swapped them and the one
on the upper bay (ifixit sata cable) is always faulty.

The SSD put in an external case work like a charm.
I barely think it's a sata cable problem.

El Hikaru · Mar 14, 2014

I don't know how to fix that but here is what I did and my Mini works just fine. I hope this helps someone.

Originally I had one 500G HDD
Backed up everything
Installed a SSD at where HDD was, and moved HDD to the other bay
Boot up with command and R key
Installed a new copy of OSX to the SSD and assigned SSD as the boot drive
Reformat HDD deleting everything in it
Recovered my personal files to SSD and HDD from the backup

The 3rd step should not be necessary, but I wanted to connect the Boot up drive to the first SATA port.

totoro35 · Mar 14, 2014

El Hikaru said:
I don't know how to fix that but here is what I did and my Mini works just fine. I hope this helps someone.

Originally I had one 500G HDD
Backed up everything
Installed a SSD at where HDD was, and moved HDD to the other bay
Boot up with command and R key
Installed a new copy of OSX to the SSD and assigned SSD as the boot drive
Reformat HDD deleting everything in it
Recovered my personal files to SSD and HDD from the backup

The 3rd step should not be necessary, but I wanted to connect the Boot up drive to the first SATA port.

Yes, thats ok BUT :

My initial problem is to put an SSD in the bracket bay, not an HDD.
HDD is fine and thousand of people succeed, included me.

SSD+HHD is OK

SSD + SSD

I'll test with a sata cable from OWC.

dudedude · Mar 14, 2014

From the thread you found on ifixit:

Hi,

i have the same problem. It seems that the cable 821-1347 doesn't work correctly with mac mini 2012 (late). The original part no. is 821-1501. There must be something different. I have found out, if you use the cable 821-1347 ssd hdds don't work correctly, if I use an old normal hdd (as a second drive), everything seems to be OK.

Perhaps ifixit is giving out the wrong cable? Sounds like your issue where as using the old normal HDD works. I'd try an OWC cable and see how you fair. Hope it works out!

totoro35 · Mar 14, 2014

dudedude said:
Perhaps ifixit is giving out the wrong cable? Sounds like your issue where as using the old normal HDD works. I'd try an OWC cable and see how you fair. Hope it works out!

There's few forum posts reporting ifixit faulty cable.
They clearly gave me one of those

I'll try with the owc and report here.

Thanks

wwohl · Mar 17, 2014

I just posted about this a few days ago. The ifixit cable apparently is having issues with some drives. My samsung SSD was behaving the same way on the ifixit cable. I wound up placing the factory HDD on the upper bracket with the ifixit cable and using the SSD in the lower (original) position with the apple cable. All works fine

I was experiencing the same copy issues. Essentially, I could write to the drive but not read. And copts of any reasonable size failed.

Its definitely the cable. Consider swapping the drives to see if the cable behaves normally with one and not the other. OR start looking for the apple upper position sata cable from a mac mini server

totoro35 · Mar 18, 2014

wwohl said:
Its definitely the cable. Consider swapping the drives to see if the cable behaves normally with one and not the other. OR start looking for the apple upper position sata cable from a mac mini server

Already did, see first post, and I have 2 SSD not HDD + SSD.
The problem is the faulty ifixit cable.
They have a faulty stock.
Ask for replacement if you have problem

Donka · Mar 18, 2014

You could also try just using one cable and try both sata connectors. You won't be able to install the drives physically in the mini when you try this but it will let you independently test each cable with each port to identify if it is the cable or just the non Apple SSD drive being on the 'upper' sata connection.
I read somewhere about someone having a similar issue and it turned out the sata connection was not connected properly when they put it all back together. They fixed that and all was well.
For what it's worth, I have the M500 480GB drive and it works flawlessly.

totoro35 · Mar 21, 2014

Well here my final words on this problem :

ifixit recognize the faulty sata cable, they send me an another cable.
At the same time, i ordered a sata cable from OWC.
I installed the new ifixit sata cable witch is the same reference as the faulty one
and ...
The same problem occured

I felt very bad at this time.

I then received the OWC cable, installed it one hour ago.
Instant banging

My 2 SSD works together as 2 separate logic drives as expected when
I bought my mini.

So I will stay far from ifixit the next time.

I temper that by saying OWC sata cable is WORKING for my config over the ifixit one.

Hope it helps

808? · Mar 21, 2014

Glad to hear you got the problem sorted out.

I too have had good results with OWC parts and kits in the past.

christopherus · Jul 14, 2014

Part numbers?

Hey all,

Can any of you who have the iFixit or OWC cable post the part numbers of the cable?

I am having problems with part number 821-1347-A, it will not work with a Samsung Evo SSD on either ports, but does work with the original HDD.

Meanwhile the original factory cable works with my SSD on both ports.

I live in Sweden so I am wondering if the part numbers from OWC or iFixit match mine.

Thanks

fhall1 · Jul 15, 2014

Since you have two cables and one works with one drive and one works with the other, why not just switch the drive locations so they both are attached to the cable they work with?

christopherus · Jul 15, 2014

Sorry I could have explained better. I am trying to have two samsung evo SSD's in my mini, i'm using the original HDD in a usb enclosure now. The OEM cable (821-1500) works on both ports with both of my samsung evos. The cable I bought (821-1347-A) does not work on either port with the same SSD's . I tested them individually and together on both ports by starting up the computer with it opened up and the connections made without having the drives mounted in the computer. BUT the 1347-a cable will work with the factory OEM HDD. It's weird! It makes me feel like it's a cable problem but it has been suggested elsewhere that the controller chip / firmware can't do two SSD's in the Mac minis. But wouldn't that mean the 1347-a cable should work when I have only 1 drive in? At the same time, OWC told me their drives work in mac minis as a dual ssd setup using their data doubler kit, which I think has part no. 821-1347-A but I'm not sure.

GXPvince · Jul 15, 2014

I am having the same issue with ifixit's cable. In fact, if you try to open up a iPhoto library from that specific drive and use the slideshow feature you will within minutes receive an error and iPhoto will immediately shut down. Trying to copy files from that hard drive is a hassle too.

I ordered a OWC cable yesterday. I'll report my findings when I install it.

drsox · Jul 15, 2014

christopherus said:
Hey all,

Can any of you who have the iFixit or OWC cable post the part numbers of the cable?

I am having problems with part number 821-1347-A, it will not work with a Samsung Evo SSD on either ports, but does work with the original HDD.

Meanwhile the original factory cable works with my SSD on both ports.

I live in Sweden so I am wondering if the part numbers from OWC or iFixit match mine.

Thanks

I had the OWC Data Doubler kit for the Mac Mini. I can confirm that the OWC cable does work in the second (and first) drive position. I also had 2 Samsung 256 Evo SSDs. AFAIK there's only one OWC kit for this. See : http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMM11D2/
or in Europe : http://macupgrade.eu/catalog/mac-mini-20112013-25-hdssd-installation-kit-p-824.html#.U8Vmi1YVfwI.

I don't have this anymore so I can't verify the part numbers.

christopherus · Jul 18, 2014

Hey sorry for the late reply, I was in the mountain with no service.

What model was your Mac mini?

Thanks

drsox · Jul 19, 2014

christopherus said:
Hey sorry for the late reply, I was in the mountain with no service.

What model was your Mac mini?

Thanks

It was the 2012 i5 base unit.

GXPvince · Jul 21, 2014

The OWC one works correctly and I have no issues with it so far (a couple of days).

Therefore, I would not recommend going with iFixit's doubler for two SSD's.

Problem With 2nd ssd ifixit cable

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