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OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD on Macbook with Bootcamp & Windows 7

I have the 250 GB version in my MacBook and the difference is tremendous. Every task is quicker from booting to launching apps to multitasking to spotlight -- just everything pops onto the screen like in a movie.

I'm really loving this drive. Plus it's dead silent.
 
MBHockey said:
I have the 250 GB version in my MacBook and the difference is tremendous. Every task is quicker from booting to launching apps to multitasking to spotlight -- just everything pops onto the screen like in a movie.

I'm really loving this drive. Plus it's dead silent.
Click to expand...

When I get a MacBook, the first thing I will look to do after RAM is an SSD. Hook it up to an external monitor and its like having a super mac mini too.

NICE!
 
Got the 1275 firmware installed now. Harsh, all I found a jumper on an old external burner I had stowed away in my closet and then I filed it down with a nail file until it sat flush with the drive and the MacBook SATA connector fit perfectly.

I booted to Bart PE (which had the 1275 fw files on it) and flashed it from my MacBook. So yeah, it worked fine without that SATA extension cable.

It took about 1.5 hours for CCC to re-clone my data back. How often does OCZ release new firmwares? Do you think it'll always wipe the drive clean?
 

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MBHockey said:
Yeah, i'm curious about this too. Only way to flash is to use a PC? That's annoying...I don't have one. :\
Click to expand...

Not just any PC, it has to be a desktop with onboard SATA0, 1 or 2 connectors. It also must not use nVidia SATA controller, otherwise it won't detect the drive.
 
MBHockey said:
How often does OCZ release new firmwares? Do you think it'll always wipe the drive clean?
Click to expand...

OCZ releases firmware in conjunction with Indilinx. New versions of firmware are said to add TRIM support (helps in bulk erase and wear levelling) and also other stuff

And new versions of firmware always reset the internal wear levelling table so they always wipe the drive

Cloning with CCC is the best way - quick, painless and safer than Time Machine.
 
silverblack said:
Not just any PC, it has to be a desktop with onboard SATA0, 1 or 2 connectors. It also must not use nVidia SATA controller, otherwise it won't detect the drive.
Click to expand...

When I flashed it on my desktop PC, I had the SATA ports in AHCI mode. So I don't see why it has to be in IDE mode. It's safer that way, but not 100% necessary. Hence it will also work on nVidia SATA controllers. It's just that the nVidia Windows drivers can cause problems with the flashing

If you use BartPE on a Mac, there are no nVidia AHCI drivers and hence everything goes smoothly.
 
harshw said:
OCZ releases firmware in conjunction with Indilinx. New versions of firmware are said to add TRIM support (helps in bulk erase and wear levelling) and also other stuff

And new versions of firmware always reset the internal wear levelling table so they always wipe the drive

Cloning with CCC is the best way - quick, painless and safer than Time Machine.
Click to expand...

I'm curious why you say it's safer. I kind of like the idea of a "fresh install" every time. I don't really mind dragging over my files manually from Time Capsule since gigabit ethernet is plenty fast.
 
MBHockey said:
I'm curious why you say it's safer. I kind of like the idea of a "fresh install" every time. I don't really mind dragging over my files manually from Time Capsule since gigabit ethernet is plenty fast.
Click to expand...

CCC is safer because it does a file level copy instead of a block level copy - this is better for SSDs. And it knows how to handle files that are locked, extended attributes, symlinks and also handles ownership permissions on files...
 
I am having serious issues with my 1st gen Macbook Pro and a 60GB Vertex drive. While I have installed OSX 10.5 fine and it seems to function without problems, I primarily need to use Windows and thus partitioned with Bootcamp.

Problem: Windows 7 sure as hell isn't running right. After partitioning with Bootcamp, rebooting with the Windows 7 RC1 disc in the drive, the install started and of course Windows 7 won't install on to the default Bootcamp partition. So I removed the Bootcamp partition in Window 7's interface, (re)added a partition for 7 to install on, and away we went.

The install worked well enough, the machine restarted (2? 3 times?) and I was presented with the Windows 7 interface.

I then installed the default Bootcamp drivers available on the Bootcamp CD to get network drivers, etc. That seemingly worked, but the computer was hanging for 15-30 seconds and was almost completely unresponsive. Thinking it was a lack of drivers I eventually got them installed and restarted again. I set up network connectivity and downloaded all Windows 7 updates available. Still no dice - the whole PC hung over and over.

So I went searching for tweaks. I've disabled:
- Indexing on drive C:
- Defrag
- Superfetch via a registry tweak
- Page file (now set to use no page file at all)

I find it very interesting that the RC installed with all these features ENABLED. As a side note, isn't Windows 7 supposed to detect SSDs and disable all this by default?

I can't disable Write Caching in the Device Manager - I try to uncheck it and Windows squawks and tells me the device won't allow for it to be disabled. I'm at a loss. I found a post on the MacForums about the Nvidia video driver on newer Macbook Pros preventing things from running right, but this is an original MBP with the 256MB ATI x1600 Pro... Regardless I updated the video driver, or tried to, and still no dice. I also made sure it's not managing video performance based on battery, etc.

I am at a total loss. I am open to any and all suggestions. Please help! Thanks in advance.
 
harshw said:
CCC is safer because it does a file level copy instead of a block level copy - this is better for SSDs. And it knows how to handle files that are locked, extended attributes, symlinks and also handles ownership permissions on files...
Click to expand...

So CCC can be used to make a proper image of my MBP's drive without having to boot off an external firewire drive or CD/DVD to access the locked files? I might use it then instead of SuperDuper! which I'm guessing does block level and will therefore be a bad thing for my 120GB Vertex SSD when it arrives soon. I was putting this off for another year or so but my stock HD has developed a few bad sectors in what I think is now a 2 year old MBP so I figure rather than risk a potentially dying drive, I'll nip it in the bud early before my next lengthy overseas trip.

What about the Vertex SSD Mac edition? I doubt there's any difference between it and the "generic" Vertex SSD but other than a sticker giving Apple's seal of approval for its compatibility, is there anything else truly different about it? My supplier doesn't provide that one so I can't tell if there's much of a price difference between them but I can't imagine one being technically better than the other. Thoughts?
 
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