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sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
Hello there! I recently bought a SanDisk SSD Ultra II 120GB and PNY SSD Accessories Kit. My Macbook is Mid 2010 white. As I plugged in my SSD (in its enclosure) to the Mac, I got the following error message:

"The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer."

How can I best proceed here since I can't start to partition, install anything until the Mac recognises my SSD? Thank you!
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
Go to Disk Utility (Applications>Utility) and hopefully you will see the drive and be able to format it.

That's the thing. I can't see anything; only the original drive. I am on an el-capitan OSX. Does TRIM have anything to do with this?
 
Last edited:

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
Are you sure that the disk/enclosure is fine? Can you plug it in another computer or Windows PC and try?

I don't have access to a Windows computer at the moment. But what are the possible scenarios here?
 

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
3,904
Canada is my city
I don't have access to a Windows computer at the moment. But what are the possible scenarios here?
If your SSD is detected, it means everything's fine, but it isn't formatted. In your case, if the SSD is only partially detected (you can't mount it), then it is most likely something either with the drive or the enclosure you're using. I don't know what enclosure you're using, but those cheap Chinese ones tend to have problems.

Mind posting a picture of the DU while the SSD is plugged in to make sure you aren't missing anything?
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
If your SSD is detected, it means everything's fine, but it isn't formatted. In your case, if the SSD is only partially detected (you can't mount it), then it is most likely something either with the drive or the enclosure you're using. I don't know what enclosure you're using, but those cheap Chinese ones tend to have problems.

Mind posting a picture of the DU while the SSD is plugged in to make sure you aren't missing anything?

The enclosure appears to be a brand from France.

The screenshot is attached.
 

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sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
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garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
3,904
Canada is my city
Alright, works now. I would naturally try jiggling the connectors, trying different ports, just to be sure. Do you have any other hard drive to put inside the enclosure? If you can, try finding a different computer to try it on, or try a different enclosure.
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
Alright, works now. I would naturally try jiggling the connectors, trying different ports, just to be sure. Do you have any other hard drive to put inside the enclosure? If you can, try finding a different computer to try it on, or try a different enclosure.

I tried a different enclosure and a different hard drive. What I noticed is that the SSD doesn't work on the other enclosure but the other hard drive works on PNY enclosure I talked about.
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
This is SanDisk by the way. Is there a chance that it might work with Windows but not a Mac? The store staff told me that it should work with both.
 

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
3,904
Canada is my city
This is SanDisk by the way. Is there a chance that it might work with Windows but not a Mac? The store staff told me that it should work with both.
No, all drives use pretty much the same connectivity. Any drive should be formattable to work on Mac.
I tried a different enclosure and a different hard drive. What I noticed is that the SSD doesn't work on the other enclosure but the other hard drive works on PNY enclosure I talked about.
This pretty much confirms that the problem is with the SSD itself. I would suggest trying it out on a random computer at Best Buy, if it still doesn't work, then you may want to talk with the customer service or the person/store who sold you this, maybe get a replacement unit.
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
No, all drives use pretty much the same connectivity. Any drive should be formattable to work on Mac.

This pretty much confirms that the problem is with the SSD itself. I would suggest trying it out on a random computer at Best Buy, if it still doesn't work, then you may want to talk with the customer service or the person/store who sold you this, maybe get a replacement unit.

So you're suggesting that if the SSD is designed to work on a Windows machine, it should seamless work on a Mac as well? I contacted the store and they told me that I can pop in and get a replacement. Is it also an issue if my Macbook is mid-2010 and I am running a beta of El Capitan?
 

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
3,904
Canada is my city
So you're suggesting that if the SSD is designed to work on a Windows machine, it should seamless work on a Mac as well? I contacted the store and they told me that I can pop in and get a replacement. Is it also an issue if my Macbook is mid-2010 and I am running a beta of El Capitan?
Well, I meant to say that it doesn't matter whether a drive is Windows or Mac or Linux, they all have similar USB/SATA drivers, thus it means that all drives nowadays work with every system in existence, provided that it is formatted correctly (so that the drive works as a storage device, and not just as an electronic object). As we saw earlier, Disk Utility does not recognize your drive, meaning that the drive itself is not functioning properly.

Also, the year of your Macbook will not affect anything at all, they're all really similar to each other. El Capitan shouldn't cause the issue, but you may want to try on a different Mac running Yosemite just to be sure.
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
I popped back in to the store. I tested my SSD on another Mac and it works there. It turns out that El Capitan might not yet be natively equipped to handle SSD reformats. Right now though the SSD is read by my Mac and the cloning is proceeding, albeit slowly.
 

garirry

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2013
1,543
3,904
Canada is my city
I popped back in to the store. I tested my SSD on another Mac and it works there. It turns out that El Capitan might not yet be natively equipped to handle SSD reformats. Right now though the SSD is read by my Mac and the cloning is proceeding, albeit slowly.
Remember that if your drive is connected through USB 2.0, there will be no difference in speed than a regular hard drive. (USB2: ~40 MBps HDD: ~100 MBps SSD: ~500 MBps USB3: ~625 MBps PS: Do not confuse megaBYTE and megaBIT)

It could be possible that Le Capitaine hasn't fully been finished, thus it might have some bugs. Regardless, Disk Utility still exists and should be able to format the drive in a future build or the final release. I hope my advices were helpful to you.
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
Thank you. Your advice is indeed helpful. The HDD clocked in at about 25-30MB/s (both read/write) whereas the SSD clocked in at 180-190 MB/s (read) and about 250 MB/s (write). It's not as fast as the 500 MB/s advertised but it is snappy enough. Although it takes a bit of a struggle to open apps, my Mac now faces much less lags when typing something or clicking on buttons. All-in-all the new SSD is working - for now.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
OP wrote above:
"the SSD clocked in at 180-190 MB/s (read) and about 250 MB/s (write). It's not as fast as the 500 MB/s advertised but it is snappy enough."

The MacBook is from 2010, is this correct?
If so, you won't see all the speed that the SSD is capable of, because the SATA bus in the MacBook is (I believe) "SATA 2", not "SATA 3".

After installing a Sandisk SSD into my sister's 2010 white MacBook, it gets speeds of 180.4 (write) and 263.5 (read).
Essentially, consistent with what you're getting.

I'm guessing these read/write speeds are about "all you get" with a SATA 2 bus.
"Advertised" is with a SATA 3 bus.

I sense that all your initial problems have been overcome, and that you're not going to see any more trouble with the drive.

Closing word of advice:
I suggest you take the old drive and put it into an external USB3 enclosure.
Then, use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create and maintain a fully-bootable backup "clone" of the internal drive.
There is NOTHING that can serve as well in an "I can't boot!" situation as a bootable cloned backup....
 

sirlim

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 25, 2015
13
0
OP wrote above:
"the SSD clocked in at 180-190 MB/s (read) and about 250 MB/s (write). It's not as fast as the 500 MB/s advertised but it is snappy enough."

The MacBook is from 2010, is this correct?
If so, you won't see all the speed that the SSD is capable of, because the SATA bus in the MacBook is (I believe) "SATA 2", not "SATA 3".

After installing a Sandisk SSD into my sister's 2010 white MacBook, it gets speeds of 180.4 (write) and 263.5 (read).
Essentially, consistent with what you're getting.

I'm guessing these read/write speeds are about "all you get" with a SATA 2 bus.
"Advertised" is with a SATA 3 bus.

I sense that all your initial problems have been overcome, and that you're not going to see any more trouble with the drive.

Closing word of advice:
I suggest you take the old drive and put it into an external USB3 enclosure.
Then, use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create and maintain a fully-bootable backup "clone" of the internal drive.
There is NOTHING that can serve as well in an "I can't boot!" situation as a bootable cloned backup....

I see. I was wondering what screwdriver/other tools I may need to remove the screws lodged to the side of the drive as it does not fit in the enclosure with these screws lodged in them. The last thing I want to do is to spend money buying a screwdriver only to find out it will not do the trick.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,241
12,388
OP wrote:
"I see. I was wondering what screwdriver/other tools I may need to remove the screws lodged to the side of the drive as it does not fit in the enclosure with these screws lodged in them. The last thing I want to do is to spend money buying a screwdriver only to find out it will not do the trick."

The correct size is a TORX T-6 driver.

You can get one at hardware stores, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, online, etc.
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,071
15,494
California
I see. I was wondering what screwdriver/other tools I may need to remove the screws lodged to the side of the drive as it does not fit in the enclosure with these screws lodged in them. The last thing I want to do is to spend money buying a screwdriver only to find out it will not do the trick.
Just grab a pair of pliers and you can easily remove those little nub things from the side of the drive. It may scuff them up a bit, but who cares.
 
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