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Crucial m4 firmware update. How long does it take?

Q

qbaser

macrumors member
Original poster
I've booted from the cd rom as instructed. It found the new M4 as an eligible drive.

It then asked me 'update firmware yes or no?' so I selected yes.

Now it's been ten minutes. I don't hear the cd drive whirring round. Just a message saying 'updating firmware' as well as some full stop symbols as if to indicate progress.

How long should I give it and what should I do next?

Thanks
Al
 
Thanks Mate. Well it took ten minutes so i rebooted and repeated process then it worked in two minutes same as you.

Now Im trying to format the M4 but its again taking ages. Seems to be hanging about half way progress. Been about 2o mins now. Is that right?

And can i reboot or will it damage the M4?

Thanks
Al
 
Ps. I'm running mac os from a FW800 external enclosure. The m4 is actually in the MBP.

Will that fact have a bearing on the format time?
 
Is there a step by step guide on how to install this using a flash drive? When I get home I will have this drive waiting for me.

Thanks
 
Won't boot with M4 inside!

Well I finally got it formatted. Damned if i can get this to work though with my 2011 17" MBP!

Latest firmware installed, the M4 is sitting in the MBP, yet when I boot up, the furthest i get is a large '?' symbol. Im assuming it cant find the operating system?

Can anyone help or suggest where i might find a solution at this time of night?

Al

🙁
 
You're from Edinburgh, which part? I grew up in East Craigs.

Anyway, when you boot the MBP, have you installed an OS or are you trying to boot from an install disc? If so, hold down the option key as you power on and pick the DVD.
 
You did format it? I erased the drive and set up a new Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition before installing and updating the firmware.
 
Im from near Ferry Road, Edinburgh Jez.

Ok guys, this is bringing me to tears. I used superdouper to clone my Vertex2 SSD (from within the MBP), successfully to the Crucial M4 (on FW800 enclosure).

I know this clone has worked as I am able to boot into the Crucial M4 when holding down the option key. Works perfectly.

However! when I swap the drives, i.e. put the M4 into the MBP, all I get is the grey folder containing a flashing question mark symbol! I have repeated the whole process twice, i.e. reformatting the M4 with MacOS ext, journal. transferring the Vertex 2 image to M4 then trying to boot up. Same happens, i.e. allows me to boot the M4 if its in the FW enclosure but not in the MBP!

Note: when I first got the M4 I updated the firmware successfully to 0002, within the MBP, then cloned the image from my vertex 2 to the M4.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm clueless and wasting good music making time 🙁

Thanks guys. I do appreciate your help with this.

Al
 
Are you aware of the 2011 17" MBP SATA 3 issue? If not, it's basically that the arrangement of the SATA cable (which is unique to the 17" MBP) results in a large amount of interference, which often prevents SATA 3 from working at full speed, or even at all.

References on the internet suggest that wrapping the SATA cable in aluminium foil, or Aluminium tape (ie, shielding the cable) will help fix the problem. This shielding should be electrically grounded in the computer (eg, connected to the case).

http://blog.macsales.com/9754-owc-offers-fix-for-2011-17-mbp-sata-problems

I would be very interested in finding out your results if you try doing this, as I have the same computer as you, and would very much like to buy a SATA 3 SSD.

EDIT: I would suggest that if this doesn't work, and you have verified somehow that the SSD does definitely work, you should head off to an Apple Store, and complain to a Genius. They should fix the problem for you. Likely with a hardware replacement.
 
Last edited:
It's almost as though it can't find the hardware path now you've swapped over the drive. If you boot from your install DVD and go into the Disk Utility, does it show up there when you connect it internally? Have you tried resetting the PRAM and SMC?

The other thing you could try is put the M4 inside the MBP and the Vertex 2 inside the enclosure. Boot from the enclosure and then clone to the internal M4. That's the way I went when I cloned my HD to my SSD. HD in the enclosure, SSD in the MBP.
 
I reply to both. Thanks Erasmus. I was aware if the sata3 issue. However I did check and was assured by other users here that that firmware update 0002 corrected the fault. The only reason I bought was because of that assurance. Really annoyed at crucial!

There no chance I can take my laptop to john Lewis where I bought it. They're not experts and would just send it away. 🙁



Thanks Jez. How do you reset those pram things etc.?

Also I did already have the thought to install M4 and transfer my clone into the M4 from an enclosure. But the M4 doesn't show up?? So how can I do that please?
 
Ok Jez. I've just done those two things.

Now I've booted up from Vertex 2 enclosure (m4 inside macbookpro).

I confirm the m4 does appear in the disc utility. When I click on the M4 the wee coloured wheel icon starts spinning though. But after a minute it shows up the drive specifics on the right hand side.

Ok im waiting on your next suggestion, What next? (thanks again)

Ps. If you're going to say clone the vertex 2 to M4, I tried that before and the furthest it got was. 'error can't erase M4' part of the process with superdooper.
 
Any chance you're going to try either wrapping the SATA cable in Al-foil or taking it into an Apple Store?
 
Hey Erasmus.

Ive actually boxed it up to go back to Dabs! However i would like to try that one last thing. Have you got specific detailed instructions on how to do it and is it just normal tin foil for cooking?

Any risks to my MBP?

Al
 
You just want to try and emulate something like this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/CBLMB17SHLD/

And there should be no risk to your computer, as long as you do it carefully, and don't damage the cable. I would suggest using sticky tape and aluminium foil to test, but try not to actually stick anything to the cable. Just wrap the foil around, and stick it together using tape. You don't want to make it difficult to remove should it not work. The foil should not be touching any of the electronics, obviously. It's just an E/M shield, that should be touching the case for grounding.

As I said previously, I'm very interested to see how you get on, as I would very much like to buy a SATA 3 SSD in the near future.
 
Thanks Erasmus. Well I've followed that procedure meticulously. Still no joy. Only getting the flashing folder/'?' icon. It's just not seeing the mac osx which is installed on the M4. Still when I put my M4 in an external FW enclosure it boots up perfectly from that.

I feel totally conned by Cruial. Their website says that this drive is compatible with my 2.2ghz i7 2011 MBP. They told me they are thinking about changing the website wording. It's works for some models but not for all.

The drive is getting returned on Wednesday now 🙁

To avoid any other users buying this crucial M4 drive in vein for your 2011 MBP 17" i7 2.2ghz model... It did not work on this model I have despite what crucial say. Buy at your own risk.

Thanks again for your help.
 
I don't believe it's Crucial's fault. A lot of people have had problems with SATA III SSD drives in the 17" 2011 MBP, not just Crucial ones.

Did you ever try a clean install of SL with the SSD drive in the internal bay?
 
qbaser said:
I feel totally conned by Cruial. Their website says that this drive is compatible with my 2.2ghz i7 2011 MBP.
Click to expand...

Works in mine, after I did the firmware update. I re-formated the SSD with Disk Utility and it showed up fine after that.
 
The behaviour seems like it doesn't recognise the internal SATA port as a valid boot path, which is why I asked if it had been clean installed while connected to the internal port.

As can be seen form my sig, mine also works fine with no problems, although I have mine in a 15" 2011 MBP, not a 17".
 
qbaser said:
Thanks Erasmus. Well I've followed that procedure meticulously. Still no joy. Only getting the flashing folder/'?' icon. It's just not seeing the mac osx which is installed on the M4. Still when I put my M4 in an external FW enclosure it boots up perfectly from that.
Click to expand...

Damn. That really sucks. Perhaps you could try taking your computer to a Genius, and explaining that you bought a new SSD and it didn't work internally (but did externally), and had to send it back for a refund. Perhaps they will see what they can do about fixing it. If nothing else it would be interesting to hear what the Genius has to say about a user replaceable part upgrade not working.
 
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