I am relatively inexperienced as this would be my first time switching a hard drive to SSD. I connected the 250gb Samsung 850 EVO SSD to my mid 2011 iMac via a Sata to USB cable but my iMac will not mount the drive for me to clone my existing hard drive. My iMac is running El Capitan OS-X. I apologize if I left any information out. Any help would be great if am stumped.
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2011 iMac won't mount Samsung Evo 850
- Thread starter DMunoz34
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I wasn't able to even format it. I plugged it in through the USB fresh out of the box and it wouldn't recognize it at all. In disk utility all options are greyed out.
If it is not visible in Disk Utility, then you either have a faulty drive, or the adapter is bad.
I have seen recently that bargain USB-SATA adapters sometimes are no bargain.
You could swap the SSD into the iMac, then try formatting the SSD.
That might waste your time if the SSD turns out to be dead.
Or, you could try the SSD in your USB-SATA adapter in a different Mac, at least to try to erase it.
I have seen recently that bargain USB-SATA adapters sometimes are no bargain.
You could swap the SSD into the iMac, then try formatting the SSD.
That might waste your time if the SSD turns out to be dead.
Or, you could try the SSD in your USB-SATA adapter in a different Mac, at least to try to erase it.
It shows up (not the entire drive capacity though) but I can do anything at all with it in disk utility the options to partition or do anything to it are greyed out and I can't select them.If it is not visible in Disk Utility, then you either have a faulty drive, or the adapter is bad.
I have seen recently that bargain USB-SATA adapters sometimes are no bargain.
You could swap the SSD into the iMac, then try formatting the SSD.
That might waste your time if the SSD turns out to be dead.
Or, you could try the SSD in your USB-SATA adapter in a different Mac, at least to try to erase it.
So this is the behavior you are seeing when it is attached to another Mac machine? Or are you just restating post #2?
Restating I do not have another mac to try it on. I only have PC's but the drive is being read when plugged in it just won't allow me to format it so it will be ready to clone the existing hard drive. Sorry if this sounds repetitive I rarely work with or on Macs for work.
That's fine, I was just clarifying to see what you meant! My guess is something is wrong with the drive itself, or in the cable that you are using to connect the drive to the computer. As DetaMac said, some cables may seem like a bargain but can wind up being a hassle.
That worked so far. I was able to format it and the PC now recognizeso it as a drive. Tomorrow A.M. I am going to try again on the iMac. Hopefully I can have the same success. Thank you nevertheless for getting me this far!
Make sure that when you do do it tomorrow, you select the actual drive and format it, not just its partition. Two days ago when I was using the new disk utility I noticed that can lead to some greyed out options if the partition is the one used rather than selecting the whole disk for manipulation.
So I created a new problem. I was told I needed to resize the original hard drive for the new SSD and now my iMac will start up display the apple logo and loading bar then shuts off.
[doublepost=1462718593][/doublepost]Okay I unplugged the SSD from the USB and it will load now but I can't seem to boot to recovery mode so I can try and clone the hard drive to the SSD. This is such a nightmare. I am really regretting my decision to buy a Mac.
Do not blame the Mac for your inability to properly format the right disk... No one told you to even touch your original HDD or its data.
If I just allow it to boot normally it will boot up as normal no issues. The only issue is when I attempt to boot into recovery mode.
Hi, i have same issue, Beware iMac 27 mid 2011, don't work with samsung 860 EVO (Because samsung use unsupported new controller) also same situation can be with 850 EVO (i didn't check with this series), so optimal for upgrade without any risk will be use 840 EVO series. Symptomatic is next: When you connect 860 EVO (I check it) or 850 EVO (I didn't check it 850 EVO, so info for 850 EVO maybe not correct). You can start from internet recovery but you cannot do fusion drive, for fusion drive you should start from USB recovery, yes you can do fusion drive with 860 EVO or 850 EVO but then when will be recovery from time machine you will se error and time machine is stop, then if you will try install new system to you new fusion formatted disk, you will cannot install, not sierra, not sierra high, maybe el captain will work but you will see many error when install it (6 hours maybe), if you still install some OS don't start to be happy, because will be many errors and white screen. So by the way. If you try to instal os to pure ssd, it's also will be with error. So conclusion don't use 860 EVO and 850 EVO with iMac 27 mid 2011 (I have core i5 3,1). So your SSD will work with USB 2.0 on your iMac, or need to buy thunderbolt ssd adapter or thunderbolt usb 3.0
Ha!
I also had problems with both Samsung EVO 850 & 860 in my 2011 MacBook Pro.
The 850 worked initially, with Recovery-installed OS Lion...but as I upgraded the system, it got more an more flaky, with each system update. The 860 wouldn't recognize, at all, straight out of the box...
There doesn't seem to be any reliable brand of replacement SSD.
Can anybody recommend a reliable brand of HDD, for use with this system?
I also had problems with both Samsung EVO 850 & 860 in my 2011 MacBook Pro.
The 850 worked initially, with Recovery-installed OS Lion...but as I upgraded the system, it got more an more flaky, with each system update. The 860 wouldn't recognize, at all, straight out of the box...
There doesn't seem to be any reliable brand of replacement SSD.
Can anybody recommend a reliable brand of HDD, for use with this system?
Just encountered this issue. Have a 7yo 850 EVO with 17TB written. Has 2 separate issues
Issue 1 Need more power than most USB power USB->SATA dongle
Need more power than most Mac's USB ports to power. My Seagate USB3->SATA dongle that has worked for every 2.5" HDD and SSD doesn't work on this one. Needed one with additional power source.
Issue 2 Incompat with some Macs but fine with PCs and other Macs
Have a USB-C Samsung Monitor that don't play well with Macs either in USB-C or HDMI. I guess iPhone Galaxy competition? haha
Issue 1 Need more power than most USB power USB->SATA dongle
Need more power than most Mac's USB ports to power. My Seagate USB3->SATA dongle that has worked for every 2.5" HDD and SSD doesn't work on this one. Needed one with additional power source.
Issue 2 Incompat with some Macs but fine with PCs and other Macs
- Can format to APFS/HFS+ etc with GUID. Cloned MBP 12,1 macOS Monterey system. Starts to boot (via USB/SATA) than hang
- Can install macOS in iMac 11,3 interfaced to internal SATA (II). Can install macOS. Starts to boot then hang
- Examining the installed OS files shows bunch of stuff missing even in /Applications
- Format to run as a PC system drive. Runs perfect. Full surface scan showed no errors.
- Installed macOS as internal SATA (III) in iMac 12,2
Have a USB-C Samsung Monitor that don't play well with Macs either in USB-C or HDMI. I guess iPhone Galaxy competition? haha
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