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Besides a physical install of an SSD, what else should be done when installing an SSD

U

unsolvedmistere

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 16, 2007
35
0
So I've decided to purchase a 250 gig Samsung 840 EVO (you can see my earlier post in my history on how/why I decided on the EVO) to replace the current HDD in my early 2011 Macbook Pro. I'd like to do a clean install considering I already have the files I need/want backed up onto a USB drive. Additionally, I already have a bootable USB drive I will use to install Mavericks onto the SSD. All tutorials I've read online/watched on youtube just do a physical install of the SSD and a clean install of the OS without getting into the technical stuff.

I just have a few of questions before I get started:

1. I know I will need a #00 phillips and a torx T6 screwdriver, but what exactly do I need to do besides physically install the SSD and install Mavericks off of the USB and onto the SSD?

2. Is there a certain partition/reformat method I have to do before installing Mavericks onto the SSD?

3. Are there any firmware updates I need to be concerned with? If so, when/how do I go about doing that?

4. Do I need to enable TRIM?

5. Am I missing anything?

Thanks for your time. I'm obviously not the most tech savvy person and I apologize if this info is somewhere in the forums.
 
Last edited:
1. Not that I can think of, but wait for others to chime in.

2. GUID Partition Table / MacOS Extended (Journaled) But you can do that from the Mavericks installer. You don't have to do that beforehand.

3. If you've done all of the updates, everything should be fine. Maybe some problems with very early versions of the EFI firmware, but you should be well past that now.

4. A good recent thread on the question of TRIM:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1684379/

5. Not that I can think of, but wait for others to chime in.
 
My preference is to install OS X on the SSD with an external adapter. That way you can verify that all is well before performing the hardware install.

When done, store your original in a safe place as a backup.
 
unsolvedmistere said:
So I've decided to purchase a 250 gig Samsung 840 EVO (you can see my earlier post in my history on how/why I decided on the EVO) to replace the current HDD in my early 2011 Macbook Pro. I'd like to do a clean install considering I already have the files I need/want backed up onto a USB drive. Additionally, I already have a bootable USB drive I will use to install Mavericks onto the SSD. All tutorials I've read online/watched on youtube just do a physical install of the SSD and a clean install of the OS without getting into the technical stuff.

I just have a few of questions before I get started:

1. I know I will need a #00 phillips and a torx T6 screwdriver, but what exactly do I need to do besides physically install the SSD and install Mavericks off of the USB and onto the SSD?

2. Is there a certain partition/reformat method I have to do before installing Mavericks onto the SSD?

3. Are there any firmware updates I need to be concerned with? If so, when/how do I go about doing that?

4. Do I need to enable TRIM?

5. Am I missing anything?

Thanks for your time. I'm obviously not the most tech savvy person and I apologize if this info is somewhere in the forums.
Click to expand...

1) That's it. Some people recommend a plastic spudger, but I have found using your finger nail and pulling gently can easily remove the SATA cable without harm.

2) You will need to format the drive to GUID Partition Table with Mac OS Extended (Journaled). However, upon the first power up disk utility will prompt you to do this, so don't worry.

3) There is a firmware update available for the 840 Evo (Ver. EXT0BB0Q), however, one that I ordered on Black Friday shipped already updated so I would imagine yours has the latest firmware as well. For firmware updates later on, you will just need to download the ISO file from Samsung and burn it to a blank DVD. Be careful though, firmware updates have been known to corrupt data on drives forcing you do erase them and start clean.

4) YES! The only reason not to is if you want your SSD to slow after time. Use this free utility to do it, and it will keep your SSD running fast. Remember to check up on the utility after each incremental OS X update because it can be disabled after updating to say 10.9.1 and so forth.

5) You seem to have covered everything else.
 
Quick note on TRIM: enabling it lead to massive performance problems on my old Vertex2. Firmware updates depend on the manufacturer: most of then only allow updates from Windows. Otherwise, its just like a regular drive, nothing extra required.
 
leman said:
Quick note on TRIM: enabling it lead to massive performance problems on my old Vertex2. Firmware updates depend on the manufacturer: most of then only allow updates from Windows. Otherwise, its just like a regular drive, nothing extra required.
Click to expand...

There were some problems reported with TRIM and older SSDs with Sandforce controllers, like the OCZ Vertex 2. I've never seen those problems reported on any new drive using Samsung Controllers or Marvell controllers. e.g. Crucial M4, Crucial M500, Sandisk Extreme 2, Sandisk Ultra Plus.

For all those drives and most other modern drives, enabling TRIM should be fine.
 
[[ I know I will need a #00 phillips and a torx T6 screwdriver, but what exactly do I need to do besides physically install the SSD and install Mavericks off of the USB and onto the SSD? ]]

Do you have an enclosure for the old HDD?

If not, I'd suggest one of these instead:
http://plugable.com/products/USB3-SATA-U3
or
http://plugable.com/products/pss-dd1
(Note: the first one can take both 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs and SSDs. The second can take -2- 2.5" HDDs or SSDs)

These are cheap and handy devices to have around.
But more importantly, having one gives you the ability to initialize and set up and test boot the new SSD -before- you crack open the MacBook case to install it.

It will also give you a place for the old drive to reside after you take it out. You can use it for backups, etc. For backups, I'd suggest CarbonCopyCloner to create a BOOTABLE backup -- if you ever get into an "I can't boot!" situation, just hook up the clone backup and you'll be up and running in about two minutes.

Note:
If you want to enable TRIM, you must wait until AFTER the SSD is installed, because chances are it won't "enable" via USB. Not a problem, just something to be aware of.
 
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