2011 Macbook Pro 13 - many beachballs with 510 SSD

[tlambert]

Wild guess: The cable might actually only be certified for up to 3Gb/s (SATA II) and the different results on SATA III are due to variance in manufacturing?

This is precisely correct. The internal cable is unshielded and unable to operate at 6Gb.

The people getting lucky are getting a 3Gb negotiated speed, or being incredibly lucky on the ambient electronic noise.

 

[Apple Expert]

This is precisely correct. The internal cable is unshielded and unable to operate at 6Gb.

The people getting lucky are getting a 3Gb negotiated speed, or being incredibly lucky on the ambient electronic noise.

So the fix is a new cable that can handle 6gb?

 

[SoLiDG]

I tried the 10.6.8 update, big improvement.
And didn't beachball for a while... but it is coming back and getting more often again

I'm getting sick of it and am hoping for an RMA and go for a 320 series, wich I intended at first.

 

[DVD Plaza]

I tried the 10.6.8 update, big improvement.
And didn't beachball for a while... but it is coming back and getting more often again

DVD, just out of curiosity, how many times have you restarted since updating to 10.6.8? Can you confirm that you're running at 6Gbps/SATA IIII? Some here have reported that their computers ran fine initially on the first boot with the 510 drive installed, then went bonkers on every subsequent boot. That's exactly what happened to me and it's totally unresolved so far.

Hi guys - I did restart quite a few times as I performed numerous boot speed tests with and without TRIM, etc. It was rock solid for a few weeks, was VERY happy.

HOWEVER, like you guys have discovered (much sooner), for some reason the problem DID eventually return. Less so than previously, I could still put her under significant load on the SSD and it would only do it once in a while compared to previously being unable to even work, but it was definitely back.

BUT, Crucial last weekend released a firmware update specifically intended to resolve problems with pauses. Installed that and bam - back to trouble-free 6Gb SATA3 bliss again!

 

[SoLiDG]

Too bad I can't get intel to react. Very very bad from their side.
It will work as long as I can keep negotiated speed at 3gbps.
That's just sad!
Intel and/or Apple need to react to this.

 

[JasonR]

Did anyone figure this out??

After owning a Macbook Air 13" for a little bit, I was planning on putting a SSD in my Macbook Pro (2011 Sandy Bridge 15" base model)

But now after seeing this thread...I really don't know if that's a good idea.

 

[Weaselboy]

Did anyone figure this out??

After owning a Macbook Air 13" for a little bit, I was planning on putting a SSD in my Macbook Pro (2011 Sandy Bridge 15" base model)

But now after seeing this thread...I really don't know if that's a good idea.

I think based on all the compatibility problems with SATA III drives, you may have better luck with a SATA II SSD.

 

[brunoandlydia]

MBP 2011 Agility 3

Is there anything new to this thread?

I recently bought new MBP 13.3'', I also did all the updates, running Lion 10.7.2, did the firmware update to OCZ firmware 2.15, no beach-balls, TRIM not enabled.

Production week of the macbook was in early october, and in the system information I can see two SATA 3 links operating in 6 Gbit/s.

Anyway, the actual speed tests show only speed adequate to SATA 2, with speed around 240 MB/s. However they should be around 480 MB/s (I actually saw Youtube video showing these speeds in Disk Speed Test).

I also tried to fix the cable with rounding alu-foil

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[pazz]

I've been using an Intel 510 with my early 2011 i5 13" for 6 months now and had no problems at all.

Link speed is showing 6GBPS and has done throughout. Trim enabled via hack.