Issues with intel 520 ssd & MBP 2011 17"

[hammo123]

Anyone here have any knowledge on why i may be having major issues trying to boot from an Intel520 series 240Gb SSD?
i have a early 2011 MBP 17" & am trying to "upgrade" from a vertex 3 which has actually been extremely reliable & has a Negotiated Link Speed of 6 Gigabit with out any problems.
So far i've tried:
* cloning from my original drive to the Intel (Intel in usb enclosure) X

*cloning from the original to the Intel (Intel in main drive bay) X

*Trying a fresh 10.8.4 install (known working) to the Intel in the main Drive X

Damn thing just doesn't want to boot when it's in the main drive bay
any clues or hints greatly appreciated

 

[prisstratton]

Anyone here have any knowledge on why i may be having major issues trying to boot from an Intel520 series 240Gb SSD?
i have a early 2011 MBP 17" & am trying to "upgrade" from a vertex 3 which has actually been extremely reliable & has a Negotiated Link Speed of 6 Gigabit with out any problems.
So far i've tried:
* cloning from my original drive to the Intel (Intel in usb enclosure) X

*cloning from the original to the Intel (Intel in main drive bay) X

*Trying a fresh 10.8.4 install (known working) to the Intel in the main Drive X

Damn thing just doesn't want to boot when it's in the main drive bay
any clues or hints greatly appreciated

I have noticed a few reports on the web that the drive is not being seen on the SATA cable at boot time. I have not seen loads of these reports, just a few here and there. This would seem to make you think that the issue is not widespread otherwise we would have seen a firmware update from Intel. As of now the firmware version available from Intel still seems to be 400i, which is the one that came with the drive. A couple of PC builders (Lenovo and HP) are issuing their own firmware updates:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=HT076644

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&softwareitem=ob-118158-1

I have exactly the same setup as you (see my sig.) and I have had zero issues with it, I know this does not help your situation. Probably your best bet is to return the drive. If you had good luck with the vertex 3 then maybe stick with that brand.

 

[hammo123]

hey thanks for the info prisstratton..
I've managed to get an installation of Mountain Lion on the SSD & it now boots & operates normally @ the negotiated link speed of 6GB for a while then randomly freezes & upon a hard restart won't recognise the drive again…
The only way then is an install again..
Of the half dozen re-installs i did note that on a few occasions the negotiated link speed had gone from 6gb to 3gb..
Is it worth trying a new HDD Sata cable (i have read of some ppl having issues)? or should i cut my losses & try to get rid of the damn thing ?

[/IMG]

 

[jdelgado]

hey thanks for the info prisstratton..
I've managed to get an installation of Mountain Lion on the SSD & it now boots & operates normally @ the negotiated link speed of 6GB for a while then randomly freezes & upon a hard restart won't recognise the drive again…
The only way then is an install again..
Of the half dozen re-installs i did note that on a few occasions the negotiated link speed had gone from 6gb to 3gb..
Is it worth trying a new HDD Sata cable (i have read of some ppl having issues)? or should i cut my losses & try to get rid of the damn thing ?

I do not know if this helps. I have the same SSD (480GB) on a MBP 2012 with ML and have had no problems. From the screenshot I see that you have trim enabled; I do not. Maybe this is the problem?

 

[hammo123]

thanks mate..I will give anything a try to get this thing to settle down I shall disable the Trim & see what effect / if any that has

 

[jdelgado]

thanks mate..I will give anything a try to get this thing to settle down I shall disable the Trim & see what effect / if any that has

Hope it works. FWIW, I installed the drive as shipped. Cloned the old drive, and then switched them.
If this does not work, I think it might be the cable or a bad drive.

 

[prisstratton]

thanks mate..I will give anything a try to get this thing to settle down I shall disable the Trim & see what effect / if any that has

I have been reading a few more threads on other forum's and I kind of doubt that you are going to be able to resolve this. For those people that are having issues they seem to keep having problems, it never seems to get stable for them.

Seeing as you were able to run a Vertex 3 with no problems it seems to point more and more towards the drive.

Bottom line…..your drive appears to be a bit "flakey" and personally I would RMA it. I have had no issues with my Intel drive, but next time I am going with Samsung.

 

[hammo123]

Thanks for all your input guys
I now have this drive functioning perfectly it seems...well for the past 24 hrs @ least..during which time i've been installing & rebooting over & over & also running benchmark speedtools tests etc...sorta trying to make it misbehave...so will post any changes..
Here's the bizarre chain of events i implemented to make this happen..
*Disconnected battery for 1 hour
*removed Ram (16GB btw)
*wrapped some aluminium foil around the HDD cable..
*powered on without Ram
*reconnected everything & SMC reset
*Disabled Trim support
And Voila!!! I now cannot seem to make this drive play up!! *fingers crossed*

Is it possible that the Logic board & Ram still retained some stored data from the previous SSD & was causing some sort of read error?
It really is a mystery & I will be more confident after a week or so but I'm getting these sort of results & the link speed seems stable as well on 6GB now after many many reboots

[/IMG]

 

[prisstratton]

Thanks for all your input guys
I now have this drive functioning perfectly it seems...well for the past 24 hrs @ least..during which time i've been installing & rebooting over & over & also running benchmark speedtools tests etc...sorta trying to make it misbehave...so will post any changes..

Congrats and good luck, I hope it remains stable for you.