New SSD install issues, drive not responding.

[wwohl]

Just installed a Samsung EVO 250gb into a 2012 Mac mini and I'm having some issues.

I tested the drive with a USB enclosure and installed OSX on it. Everything worked fine.
I placed the drive in the upper bay with ifixit's kit and the computer would not boot to the new drive, kept taking me back to the start up disk selection.

I started into the HDD and formatted the SSD with the plan to start over with OSX now that its in the computer. The drive is behaving strangely. Its blank right now and simple file copies are hanging up and not finishing. A blackmagic disk speed test reads 450mb/s write speeds but fails when attempting to read...

Sound like a cable problem, or the drive? Im tearing back into it to make sure everything looks tight and secure, but I know it was.

Bill

 

[thedeske]

Just installed a Samsung EVO 250gb into a 2012 Mac mini and I'm having some issues.

I tested the drive with a USB enclosure and installed OSX on it. Everything worked fine.
I placed the drive in the upper bay with ifixit's kit and the computer would not boot to the new drive, kept taking me back to the start up disk selection.

I started into the HDD and formatted the SSD with the plan to start over with OSX now that its in the computer. The drive is behaving strangely. Its blank right now and simple file copies are hanging up and not finishing. A blackmagic disk speed test reads 450mb/s write speeds but fails when attempting to read...

Sound like a cable problem, or the drive? Im tearing back into it to make sure everything looks tight and secure, but I know it was.

Bill

Sounds like a bad unit. I had similar problems with the same drive not long ago in a 2012 Mini. Amazon replaced the unit in 2 days & all is well.

2nd time I decided to format after it was in the Mini. Made a flash stick of maverics 10.9.1 for the format & OS install.

Hard to say if the external had something to do with it. 2 years ago I set up an SSD on an external with no problems for a 2010 Mini.

Good Luck

 

[wwohl]

I just pulled it back out and threw it on the SATA usb3 connector I have, its working normally again and producing good read/write speeds. No problems copying, transferring or reading files.

Just wrote to ifixit, hopefully I can get a new cable soon. The samsung SSD seems to be working fine

Bill

 

[thedeske]

I just pulled it back out and threw it on the SATA usb3 connector I have, its working normally again and producing good read/write speeds. No problems copying, transferring or reading files.

Just wrote to ifixit, hopefully I can get a new cable soon. The samsung SSD seems to be working fine

Bill

Ah Hah!

 

[808?]

Have you tried switched the SSD to the other internal bay?

 

[Fishrrman]

Why not just run with it in the USB3/Sata dock?

That's what I do.

No messing around inside with frustrating problems such as you described above.

I've been booting and running for more than a year this way, no problems at all.

 

[wwohl]

Have you tried switched the SSD to the other internal bay?

Im doing this today

update, the factory drive is out and the SSD is using the factory SATA cable, working perfect. Definitely the cable

 

[DaREdBaRoN]

In the comments on the ifixit guide:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Mac+Mini+Late+2012+Dual+Hard+Drive+Kit/11713

This an issue that's been going on for a while. Maybe an issue with OSX recognizing a non-apple SSD? I have the same SSD as you and it works perfectly in the lower bay and the OEM drive in the upper bay.

 

[Donka]

Yup, this is a known issue. Not sure if it is the cable or sata port but using the delivered cable/port for SSD works fine and the stock drive on the cable also works fine.

 

[wwohl]

In the comments on the ifixit guide:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Mac+Mini+Late+2012+Dual+Hard+Drive+Kit/11713
This an issue that's been going on for a while. Maybe an issue with OSX recognizing a non-apple SSD? I have the same SSD as you and it works perfectly in the lower bay and the OEM drive in the upper bay.

Never even saw those in the guide.

Spoke with ifixit, its a known issue especially with samsung. Im currently running the SSD in the lower bay with the factory cable and the HDD in the upper bay with the ifixit retainers and cable, working perfectly.

Working on resetting the system management controllers. The processor is running abnormally warm at idle (65* C while just web browsing) and the fan is working.

 

[808?]

Spoke with ifixit, its a known issue especially with samsung. Im currently running the SSD in the lower bay with the factory cable and the HDD in the upper bay with the ifixit retainers and cable, working perfectly.

This is exactly what I had to do also, but as you say it works perfectly.

I do hear my fan spinning up much more than before, but not full speed, would be interested to know what you find with your temps/fan.

 

[wwohl]

This is exactly what I had to do also, but as you say it works perfectly.

I do hear my fan spinning up much more than before, but not full speed, would be interested to know what you find with your temps/fan.

The computer has been doing some processor intensive tasks that I forgot about. Im copying heavy amounts of data from the externals back to the internal drives etc.

Ive only got 50Gb worth of applications and OS on the SSD, I could care less if the 1tb factory drive was in there. Everything lives on the pair of 3TB drives that are external.

The cooling system in these is designed in a way that the fan focuses air over the CPU and right out the back. The hard drives don't really see airflow from that at all, shouldn't make a difference.

 

[deathr0w]

Glad it´s being solved.
If you didn´t already, just remember to enable TRIM on that Samsung SSD.

http://www.nick-p.info/enabling-trim-on-a-new-ssd-on-os-x-mavericks/

 

[MoschuS]

I am waiting for my cable and Samsung 840 Evo and, after reading posts here, wondering will it work with Ssd in upper and Hdd in lower bay. Should I switch them right away? Will Fusion drive work in that setup?

 

[Donka]

I am waiting for my cable and Samsung 840 Evo and, after reading posts here, wondering will it work with Ssd in upper and Hdd in lower bay. Should I switch them right away? Will Fusion drive work in that setup?

If you are going to use both drives, I would recommend swapping them over with the SSD in the lower bay. It may not be necessary but it will save you having to strip the Mini apart again to swap them over if you run into issues.

 

[MoschuS]

If you are going to use both drives, I would recommend swapping them over with the SSD in the lower bay. It may not be necessary but it will save you having to strip the Mini apart again to swap them over if you run into issues.

Thank you! I will use both drives in Fusion setup, I’m just wondering will Fusion drive work that way because I know that OSX will detect “broken Fusion drive” when SSD is in is Upper bay and offer me to repair it. But will OSX detect broken Fusion drive when disk are swapped and Ssd is in lower bay? Did anyone tried that?
P.S. Sorry if my English is bit rough

 

[wwohl]

Thank you! I will use both drives in Fusion setup, I’m just wondering will Fusion drive work that way because I know that OSX will detect “broken Fusion drive” when SSD is in is Upper bay and offer me to repair it. But will OSX detect broken Fusion drive when disk are swapped and Ssd is in lower bay? Did anyone tried that?
P.S. Sorry if my English is bit rough

I do remember OSX asking about the fusion drive, but i don't remember the current configuration.

I would recommend placing the SSD in the factory drive position and using the factory cable. It seems the cables/the mac has issues with the samsung EVO drives (per ifixit).

I was considering the fusion setup. However, I didn't want to effect the performance of the SSD. I know what files I want to live on the SSD and what files I want on the hard drive. I chose to keep them separate. Finder makes it really easy to manage multiple drives.
For the things like iTunes files and photos, they go right on the HD. I just point the directory for iTunes at the HD and it knows where all of my files are.
At this point, only my applications and OSX lives on the SSD. I wanna keep things speedy, keep the data writes low and theres no reason for me to have those files ever on the SSD.
Id consider skipping the fusion setup, especially since you're screwed if something goes wrong.