SSD Buying Guide

[theBostonian]

Probably worth letting the system settle for a couple of days first, then re-testing. Could well be Spotlight indexing etc in the background.

Good advice, I should have thought of it but I'm so new to SSDs and stuff it hadn't occurred to me

It seems faster already, but I'll wait until I've installed everything and brought my system up to scratch.

Thanks for the reminder!

 

[kmpoboy2]

Cindori Trim Enabler and Yosemite kext signing issue

So I updated to Yosemite and went to Cindori website to download trim enabler and I came across to this:

http://www.cindori.org/trim-enabler-and-yosemite/

Basically, what it says is that Apple added a new security requirement called kext signing and in order for trim enabler to work it must be disable which, Trim Enabler will do it for you.
The problem is that kext signing will be disable system wide so you must be careful of what system drivers you install on your Mac. Only from trusted sources.

Also, there's a recommendation to disable trim before doing hardware maintenance or PRAM reset on your Mac.

Give it a read before installing the software.

 

[benji888]

...Any Mac with SATA 1.5Gb/s or SATA 3Gb/s (i.e. pre-2011 Macs): Intel 320 Series. Why? Because it is relatively fast, reasonably priced and probably the most reliable MLC SATA SSD on the market at the moment. Intel also offers an OS-independent firmware updater so you won’t need Windows to update its firmware....

I HIGHLY recommend OWC 3G series in this case (I have one). OWC has the best Mac support online outside of Apple, USA customer service, tech support, warranty, online video upgrade guides, all of it. (you call them, you get them, not an outsourced 3rd world country.) (TRIM is built into drive.) http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_State

I have had the best experience: Mac-compatible quality products, warranty, customer service, and tech support w/OWC.

• NOTE for 2011 MBP upgrades: if you upgrade your optical bay, keep in mind, some models are NOT compatible with 6G/SATA III drives, you must put a 3G/SATA II drive in a data doubler/dual drive tray. (even if it's backward compatible w/3G/SATA II, a 6G/SATA III drive will not likely work.) So, you can put a 6G/SATA III SSD in your HDD bay, but, only 3G/SATA II in optical bay.

 

[wytwolf]

So I updated to Yosemite and went to Cindori website to download trim enabler and I came across to this:

http://www.cindori.org/trim-enabler-and-yosemite/

Basically, what it says is that Apple added a new security requirement called kext signing and in order for trim enabler to work it must be disable which, Trim Enabler will do it for you.
The problem is that kext signing will be disable system wide so you must be careful of what system drivers you install on your Mac. Only from trusted sources.

Also, there's a recommendation to disable trim before doing hardware maintenance or PRAM reset on your Mac.

Give it a read before installing the software.

Yeah I ran trim without the Cindori kext patch and FUBAR'd my system. After I got it back up and running the patch worked fine and trim is now enabled. I'll just disable TRIM and the patch before any OSX software updates or PRAM reset.

 

[had0ukenn]

Yeah I ran trim without the Cindori kext patch and FUBAR'd my system. After I got it back up and running the patch worked fine and trim is now enabled. I'll just disable TRIM and the patch before any OSX software updates or PRAM reset.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what patch are you referring to? To my knowledge, all cindori's trim enabler does is disable kext signing, is that what you're referring to?

 

[wytwolf]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what patch are you referring to? To my knowledge, all cindori's trim enabler does is disable kext signing, is that what you're referring to?

Yeah I was referring the disabling the kext signing.

 

[johnnnw]

Yeah I was referring the disabling the kext signing.

I'm having problems with my SSD and I think it's related to this whole kext thing.

What did you do to re-enable the thing the Trim Enabler disables?

My HDD works fine but I can't format my SSD or install OS X or anything on it. Just gets a bunch of errors and won't boot etc.

I thought it was the ssd but samsung replaced it and still happening.

 

[wytwolf]

I'm having problems with my SSD and I think it's related to this whole kext thing.



What did you do to re-enable the thing the Trim Enabler disables?



My HDD works fine but I can't format my SSD or install OS X or anything on it. Just gets a bunch of errors and won't boot etc.



I thought it was the ssd but samsung replaced it and still happening.

To my knowledge you just turn off trim with the trim enabler software and it gives you the option to set the kext back to factory settings.

 

[Frenchy906]

I just bought an SSD for my MBP, last week... it arrived this week, from OWC, the 480GB model, and I thought I had a 2013 model... as it turns out, I have the late 2013 model... didn't realize there was a difference.

Anyone be interested in the SSD?

 

[davidlv]

I just bought an SSD for my MBP, last week... it arrived this week, from OWC, the 480GB model, and I thought I had a 2013 model... as it turns out, I have the late 2013 model... didn't realize there was a difference.
Anyone be interested in the SSD?

Try notifying OWC, tell them exactly what your misconception was, and ask for a return for credit. They have updates available I believe for your laptop.
Check that, I may be mistaken.

 

[Frenchy906]

Try notifying OWC, tell them exactly what your misconception was, and ask for a return for credit. They have updates available I believe for your laptop.
Check that, I may be mistaken.

Unfortunately, I bought it through eBay... and I just checked and they do not have any current SSD drives for my laptop.

Sad day.

 

[Synchro3]

Unfortunately, I bought it through eBay... and I just checked and they do not have any current SSD drives for my laptop.

Sad day.

Maybe you didn't search enough..

 

[81Tiger04]

So what was the final verdict on what to do with Trim Enabler?

 

[jimtsa]

This thread is really useful, thanks - I bought a Samsung 840 EVO and am ready to install it in a 13" MacBook Pro.

I'm upgrading from Snow Leopard and am planning to install the new drive and perform a clean install of OS X.

Reading up on the Trim posts and threads in Yosemite... is it worth installing Mavericks for now instead?

 

[\-V-/]

This thread is really useful, thanks - I bought a Samsung 840 EVO and am ready to install it in a 13" MacBook Pro.



I'm upgrading from Snow Leopard and am planning to install the new drive and perform a clean install of OS X.



Reading up on the Trim posts and threads in Yosemite... is it worth installing Mavericks for now instead?

Good SSDS choice.

The problem with TRIM started with 10.9.5, I believe. You don't necessarily need TRIM, but in order to use TRIM on third party SSDs, it requires you to fudge with kexts, which can cause your Mac to stop booting.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Good SSDS choice.

The problem with TRIM started with 10.9.5, I believe. You don't necessarily need TRIM, but in order to use TRIM on third party SSDs, it requires you to fudge with kexts, which can cause your Mac to stop booting.

I'm running OSX 10.9.5 on 840 EVO and Trim Enabler from Cindori. Never encountered any problem while updating 10.9.0 to 10.9.5 with each update in between. Problems started with OSX 10.10 DP. Haven't updated to the OSX 10.10 public release and the OSX 10.10.1 update. Will do so next week and I'll report back to you!

Please share your details about failing Trim in 10.9.5?

Thanks in advance! Cheers

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Good SSDS choice.

The problem with TRIM started with 10.9.5, I believe. You don't necessarily need TRIM, but in order to use TRIM on third party SSDs, it requires you to fudge with kexts, which can cause your Mac to stop booting.

I didn't have any TRIM issues with 10.9.5. Most of the problems I heard of were with 10.10.

 

[SoonerChris]

So what is the consensus on upgrading to SSD with the kext text/TRIM issues with 10.10? I really need to upgrade from spinning disks to SSD but the issues have me a little worried.

Should I just not worry about it, upgrade, and use Cindori's Trim Enabler to turn off TRIM?

IF you were buying today would you go with the Samsung EVO or the Crucial MX in 512GB?

 

[Weaselboy]

So what is the consensus on upgrading to SSD with the kext text/TRIM issues with 10.10? I really need to upgrade from spinning disks to SSD but the issues have me a little worried.

Should I just not worry about it, upgrade, and use Cindori's Trim Enabler to turn off TRIM?

I think there is broad agreement that TRIM is beneficial and a good thing to enable. But I don't think there is a consensus on the issue of whether that benefit justifies disabling a Yosemite security feature. At this point I think all you can is read over the pros and cons in this thread and decide for yourself.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1807889/

IF you were buying today would you go with the Samsung EVO or the Crucial MX in 512GB?

They are pretty close in performance. I would just get whichever you can find cheapest.

 

[jimtsa]

I think there is broad agreement that TRIM is beneficial and a good thing to enable. But I don't think there is a consensus on the issue of whether that benefit justifies disabling a Yosemite security feature.

This was the main issue for me having read the threads and the Cindori FAQ:

It is important to note that disabling the kext-signing to enable Trim is best described as taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and for most users it will not be worth it.

I installed the Samsung 840 Evo 250GB today and went with Mavericks then installed Trim Enabler. It's unbelievably quick compared to Snow Leopard and the old HDD.

Another issue for me is that availability/uptime is more important than the new Yosemite features. Although there are steps to get going if the grey screen occurs - i.e. the kext-signing setting is re-activated - I'd rather not go through that (it'll happen when I need the machine the most ).

 

[iDuel]

Hey guys,


I have the Samsung EVO 840 Pro SSD and I recently installed Yosemite on it. Before installing, I made sure to turn off Trim Enabler due to the issues surrounding it on Yosemite.

Do you guys think that this drive will perform okay without TRIM?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Hey guys,


I have the Samsung EVO 840 Pro SSD and I recently installed Yosemite on it. Before installing, I made sure to turn off Trim Enabler due to the issues surrounding it on Yosemite.

Do you guys think that this drive will perform okay without TRIM?

You may start experiencing slow downs and other odd things happening that you otherwise couldn't explain. I have TRIM turned on with Yosemite on two of my Mac's and I don't seem to be having any troubles.

 

[ecschwarz]

Hey guys,


I have the Samsung EVO 840 Pro SSD and I recently installed Yosemite on it. Before installing, I made sure to turn off Trim Enabler due to the issues surrounding it on Yosemite.

Do you guys think that this drive will perform okay without TRIM?

I think you'll be fine - I've been running the same drive with it turned off since the public betas and haven't had any issues. I know it's not as ideal as having TRIM enabled, but for everyday use with about 90GB free, I haven't noticed speed problems. If not, I'll try the method of re-enabling TRIM and then fsck -fy.

 

[iDuel]

You may start experiencing slow downs and other odd things happening that you otherwise couldn't explain. I have TRIM turned on with Yosemite on two of my Mac's and I don't seem to be having any troubles.

I think you'll be fine - I've been running the same drive with it turned off since the public betas and haven't had any issues. I know it's not as ideal as having TRIM enabled, but for everyday use with about 90GB free, I haven't noticed speed problems. If not, I'll try the method of re-enabling TRIM and then fsck -fy.

Thanks! I'm going to keep TRIM off for now unless the SSD becomes noticeably slow.

 

[81Tiger04]

If the TRIM starts to be a problem, is another option to buy a HD from Apple?