I'm running two SSDs in Raid 0 on my 2012 13" Macbook Pro using an HD Caddy and on one of my drives in only running at SATA II speeds and it's making my system only run at the speed of that SSD as it's bottlenecking the other drive due to RAID. How do I get my normal RAID speeds by fixing the negotiated link speed to 6gbps?
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Negotiated Link Speed 3Gbps, Link Speed 6Gbps
- Thread starter ZackDaTitan
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OWC claims their data doubler will run 6gb/s with the latest firmware in the 2012 13"
https://blog.macsales.com/14982-efi...erformance-issues-in-13-inch-2012-macbook-pro
https://blog.macsales.com/14982-efi...erformance-issues-in-13-inch-2012-macbook-pro
[doublepost=1519310590][/doublepost]My EFI is up to date I believe
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Is there a way I can get my 6Gbps without a data doubler? I've ordered their doubler and a newer model HD cable on the way so I'll get back to you if those two fixes it or not
From a few posts I saw, disk0 is the HDD slot, disk1 is the optical bay. This may not be definitive. But I would try the HDD cable first. The OWC Data Doubler is just a bracket/caddy to fit a 2.5" SATA drive into the optical bay. The connector in the bracket has electronics in it so if it's not good, it may cause problems. OWC charges more for the Data Doubler than others so that's probably why it works when others may be hit-or-miss. But again, it's more likely that the HDD slot is the problem. I have a RAID0 setup in my mid-2012 MBP which I bought Apple-refurbished in Dec. 2015 (so a new HDD cable) with the OWC Data Doubler and it has the expected 6gb negotiated link speed for both SSD's. If neither the HDD cable nor the Data Doubler fixes your issue, you may need to switch around the SSD's to see if it's the SSD is the problem. But doing that, the RAID0 setup may no longer work so you would want to have an external bootable OS disk to see what link speeds you're getting. You should also be prepared in case doing the switch messes with the data on the SSD's so make sure to have a backup or two if you do that.
I ordered the new cable earlier today so I will definitely give that a try, thanks!
Is it specifically the cable between the optical bay caddy and the original SATA port for the optical port?
I am facing similar problems with my 2011 13", not in dual-SSD RAID, but a fusion setup where the original HDD space gets 6Gbps, while the SSD in caddy only gets 3Gbps. The HDD space is taller and has some cushion so I would like to keep the spinning disk there.
The OP replaced the HD cable, not the optical bay cable.
There are known issues getting 6gbs with optical SATA connection in the 2011 MBP.
MCE has a product, "OptiBay Extreme" which says will give 6gbs to certain 2011 MBP's. The OptiBay Extreme is $99.
http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OBSXGB-XTRM
This web page has the following:
VERIFY: To check if your Early or Late MacBook Pro can benefit from the OptiBay Extreme, hold down the option key on your keyboard while going to the Apple Menu at the upper left of your screen and select the first item there which should say "System Information". Then select, depending on your Mac OS, either "Serial-ATA" or "SATA/SATA Express" and there you will see on the right pane two Intel 6 Series Chipsets listed. While the top chipset normally corresponds to the main drive bay and the lower one to the optical drive bay check to see that in the information below that the "Link Speed" for both chipsets indicates "6 Gigabit." If so, then you can use the OptiBay Extreme to get full SATA-III (6Gbps) speeds when using a SATA-III SSD, Hard Drive, or Hybrid Drive in that location.
So basically, MCE is saying if you don't see a 6gbs link speed, you have no chance of getting 6gbs on the optical bay on your MBP.
You don't mention why you need the "cushion" for the HDD in the [corrected] optical slot. There are 7mm 1TB HDD's and 9mm 2TB. I don't know if you can get 7200rpm with a 7mm 1TB though. If you're using a cheap bracket for the optical bay and it passes the test for link speed above, maybe a more expensive bracket (from OWC, for example) may give you 6gbs but I think the chances of that happening are low.
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Thanks for the info.
The taller space does permit higher capacity HDD, but as for now the 2.5" form factor has stalled for HDD density (4TB needs 15mm). Right now I have a 1TB HDD lying around which I installed into the HDD space, and then a cheap Chinese caddy for the SSD in the optical bay. I can swap them around and get 6G on SSD and 3G for HDD so a pretty ideal and trouble-free fusion setup. But in the future I would like to use larger HDD, whether it is thicker or that I want easier access to it, using the original HDD space for it is just much easier.
Anyhow I can make do with what works for now, it seems there is too much hassle to solve. It is a secondary machine for an employee anyway.