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Early 2011 Macbook Pro & OWC SSD Issues

M

mike crow

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 3, 2011
6
0
I have a early 2011 17" Macbook Pro and have owned several Macbook pro's and Mac Pro's in the past and have been rather lucky that I have only crashed 1 HDD drive. I do some graphics and video stuff etc. so I figured I would try one of the lower end(less expensive) SSD drives so I purchased a 480 GB OWC drive and a data doubler.

I installed in my new Macbook and really loved the speed of it until one night while out of town I closed the lid for a bit and when I opened the lid the screen and computer awoke but it was locked with the beach ball spinning, I could do nothing after waiting about 10 minutes and still a spinning beach ball I did a cold reboot and the computer just stoped at a grey screen with no apple logo.

I called OWC tech support and after talking with OWC tech support i was told it had to be something other than the SSD drive because I could not boot to either drive the OSX or windows bootcamp drive.

So I carried it to the apple store and we took the SSD drive out and installed another HDD drive with OSX and it booted up no problem to either drive so I called OWC and was told to send it back and they would replace it (lost allot of data had a backup of most but was on the road traveling).

I received the new drive and installed OSX Version 10.6.8 and not Lion on the drive but it will not boot only to a grey screen with the apple Logo this time and it just randomly beeps tried target disk mode and it will not let me see neither drive but i can hold down the option key and see both drives this time but i can only boot to windows 7 and cannot get the OSX drive to get past the grey screen and windows logo.

I have told OWC I do not trust there SSD drives and I want my money back because I do not have the time and or the resources to keep playing around with the SSD drives and am really tired of having to keep taking my $3000.00 + laptop apart and i really do not trust putting my data on something where I have already had 2 failures.

I got out of them that they will replace it for free of charge but really do not want to take a chance of loosing my data again or being on the road and loosing some down time without my Computer again.

RANT Over Had to vent after spending $900.00 on a Solid State Drive that has failed twice :mad::mad::mad:

Apologies for the original post had my head up my a$$ and blood pressure out the roof from the frustration.
 
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Not being rude, but you need to edit your thread to make it easier to read (use paragraphs) and then you will probably get more replies. :)
 
I'm sure if you threaten small claims court they might pony up. (Don't say "I'm going to sue you...")

I had something similar with HTC with my Nexus one phone as their refurbished replacements always had something wrong. I took names of the techs/customer reps I talked to, what they said and was done along with the case numbers.. then got a hold of HTC legal, told them I had talked to them multiple times with these people and nothing was done to solve this issue properly. All I'm asking is a new replacement or I'll take you to small claims for lack of providing a proper replacement and that I had requested a refund but the customer reps I had talked to said that wasn't possible.

Needless to say they gave me a new replacement phone Mytouch 4g, which I ended up selling anyways, lol. So moral of the story is, threaten small claims, but back up your claims with names, dates, case numbers because it'll cost them more to not show up and you get your money plus extra cash in your pocket because of the crap you endured.

Small claims court paperwork costs like $10 and you going to the court house..
 
Hi friend, got the same system as u. Whe have problems with sata3 compatibility especially from OWC/OCZ sand force based.

Got for Sata-2 300 SSD's, otherwise u keep getting beach balls.
 
Funny, what do you think is 'high end' then, if an OWC 480GB SSD is 'low end'?
They're among the faster SSDs available.

Please follow the prior posters advice in future rants - paragraph breaks really let people read without wanting to scream, and might result in more people making it through it.

I read part of it, and doesn't seem all that uncommon - did you put the SSD in the primary or optical bay? 17" Pros seem to simply have issues with Sata-III, OWC themselves have a page up on it.
http://blog.macsales.com/10433-macbook-pro-2011-models-and-sata-3-0-6-0gbs-update-5272011

You wouldn't be the first one to report problems with a sandforce ssd in general, either. Try a 3Gb/second drive (OWC, Samsung 470, others) or go back to a HD, IMO.
 
I am upset for spending $900.00 on a SSD drive that did not last but 45 or so days and then after getting blown off by the support team at OWC that it had to be something else besides the SSD drive.

I then took it to apple only to find out it was the SSD drive that failed, so i then get back in touch with OWC and they gave me a RMA # with a ups label to send the drive back and they would send me another one, which they did and it failed or I assume it failed because like my previous post states.

I installed 10.6.8 and rebooted to the drive and it just locks up at the grey screen with the apple logo.(Tried target disk mode, reseting the pram etc.)

I talked to the OWC tech support and he said they would send me a pre tested one this time and I really do not want to test another one.

I have the data doubler in the optical bay with a 750 GB HDD with windows 7 and the SSD in the main drive bay and the OSX disk will not install threw the usb port on a optical drive on my 17" MacBook Pro.

This whole ordeal has been a big pain I have had to take the MacBook Pro apart more times than I really wanted.
 
You get beeps on startup?
Sorry but I got beeps on startup on my last macbook pro 08 version where it didn't start.turns out the logic board died.
 
mike crow said:
I am upset for spending $900.00 on a SSD drive that did not last but 45 or so days and then after getting blown off by the support team at OWC that it had to be something else besides the SSD drive.

I then took it to apple only to find out it was the SSD drive that failed, so i then get back in touch with OWC and they gave me a RMA # with a ups label to send the drive back and they would send me another one, which they did and it failed or I assume it failed because like my previous post states.

I installed 10.6.8 and rebooted to the drive and it just locks up at the grey screen with the apple logo.(Tried target disk mode, reseting the pram etc.)

I talked to the OWC tech support and he said they would send me a pre tested one this time and I really do not want to test another one.

I have the data doubler in the optical bay with a 750 GB HDD with windows 7 and the SSD in the main drive bay and the OSX disk will not install threw the usb port on a optical drive on my 17" MacBook Pro.

This whole ordeal has been a big pain I have had to take the MacBook Pro apart more times than I really wanted.
Click to expand...

Geniuses won't test third party drives... they won't know whether or not it failed because they won't test them. They just make an assumption based on the fact it's a third party drive, it's not working, and other HDD's work.

I doubt it's the drives.... most likely it never has been. I have the same issue with a HyperX SATAIII Kingston drive with a Sandforce controller. I have a hunch that it's the Sandforce controller causing the problem with a lot of 15" and 17" MBP's. It's hit or miss so far, my friend's HyperX works just fine in his 13" 2011 MBP. I think that Apple's the one that needs to release an update to address the problems.
 
I've always experienced excellent service from Apple, OWC not so much. If OWC sells a product that's trouble free the transaction is smooth.

However if you have a problem, I've found their customer service sucks.

Amazon, Newegg, J&R, are also very good. I've found Samsung, Intel & OCZ SSD's are all excellent.
 
OP:You need a refund

I can understand your frustration after spending a considerable amount of money for your SSD. There is obviously something going on regarding compatibility with certain models. I can also understand the SSD manufacturer's position. They are sure there unit "works perfectly". Well it probably does under certain hardware/software situations. Your machine is just not compatible with their SSD. They could send you 10 perfect drives and they will all fail. Some SSD's have wonderful reliability/compatibility. I have a Samsung 470 SSD in my 2011 MBP 13 and it has worked perfectly. I am not sure if it would work perfectly in a 15 or 17 inch. It's crazy that there can be those differences but that is just the way it is right now. Apple will probably not be doing a fix to accomodate every SSD that comes on the market. Their job is to make sure the SSD they put in their machines as OEM work perfectly and are compatible. Whether Apple's SSD is Toshiba or Samsung branded, I am sure those manufacturers had to demonstrate to Apple that their devices were compatible with all models they are offered in. OWC seems to be trying in good faith. They purchased a few Apple MBP's and tried their devices, then posted their results. The Toshiba and Samsung engineers probably worked very closely with Apple to ensure that their products worked. My only advice is to get your money back and look for a SSD that is compatible.
 
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OWC is saying after 30 days all they can do is replace the drive and will not give a refund so I am looking at other options of how to handle this issue.

I can assure you a lesson has been learned here!!!!

The original SSD drive was toast according to OWC and it would not even let me boot to the bootcamp drive.

I still have the Second one which I assume is toast because I can put a HDD drive in with 10.6.8 in the main bay and it will boot with no issues and the SSD drive will just stop at the grey screen with the apple logo(like stated before) and that is as far as it will go.

I am really paranoid about trying another SSD drive period after the experiences I have been threw in the last month with trying to deal with this and taking a chance of loosing some more data etc.

I have a HDD drive now with 10.6.8 installed on it and I can put it in the main bay and no issues.

I am use to using a apple PC with no issues but this is bringing back bad dreams of using a windows PC.
 
Google and see if you can find a OWC that does work in your model, tell them you want that model and if cheaper get something else from them as well, maybe another ssd but smaller.
 
There have been sleep issues with Macs and OWC drives (along with OCZ and other brands) for YEARS now. It is ridiculous that these problems still exist. I feel bad for the OP. SSDs are expensive and nobody seems to know how to make them play nicely with sleeping Macs, except Intel.

I had an awful experience with the original Vertex drive from OCZ (spinning beach ball after waking from sleep and then it failed after only 6 months.) This was over two years ago. I got a full refund from them (they actually sent me a check for the full amount -- great stuff) and with it I purchased an Intel G2 SSD that has not had a single hiccup in 1.5 years of every day use.
 
I feel your pain

I'm in the same boat with no solution in sight. I don't know how many times I have removed the SSD and hard drive, re-installed Lion (I have no other version) and emailed or spoken with OWC.

After removing the data doubler and the SSD I can now work on the Macbook, but the money I spent on the OWC enhancements has been a total waste.

Right now my 2011 MBP 17" never finds the SSD, this after finally managing to get the new firmware 332xxxx installed on the SSD. I can see the SSD on a windows machine, but the Mac doesn't find it.

I also don't know the point of sending it back for a replacement as the next drive might be just as bad. Money back would be a better option.

It's unlikely that I will buy from OWC again.

mike crow said:
OWC is saying after 30 days all they can do is replace the drive and will not give a refund so I am looking at other options of how to handle this issue.

I can assure you a lesson has been learned here!!!!

The original SSD drive was toast according to OWC and it would not even let me boot to the bootcamp drive.

I still have the Second one which I assume is toast because I can put a HDD drive in with 10.6.8 in the main bay and it will boot with no issues and the SSD drive will just stop at the grey screen with the apple logo(like stated before) and that is as far as it will go.

I am really paranoid about trying another SSD drive period after the experiences I have been threw in the last month with trying to deal with this and taking a chance of loosing some more data etc.

I have a HDD drive now with 10.6.8 installed on it and I can put it in the main bay and no issues.

I am use to using a apple PC with no issues but this is bringing back bad dreams of using a windows PC.
Click to expand...
 
4Boys said:
I'm in the same boat with no solution in sight. I don't know how many times I have removed the SSD and hard drive, re-installed Lion (I have no other version) and emailed or spoken with OWC.

After removing the data doubler and the SSD I can now work on the Macbook, but the money I spent on the OWC enhancements has been a total waste.

Right now my 2011 MBP 17" never finds the SSD, this after finally managing to get the new firmware 332xxxx installed on the SSD. I can see the SSD on a windows machine, but the Mac doesn't find it.

I also don't know the point of sending it back for a replacement as the next drive might be just as bad. Money back would be a better option.

It's unlikely that I will buy from OWC again.
Click to expand...

You guys are scaring the hell out of me. I just bought an OWC Extreme 480 for $1,099 and took delivery about 5 days ago. So far so good, but I sure don't want to go through what you guys went through. My firmware is newer. On version 4C7ABBF0. I might just call them and return it after reading all this.
 
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