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OCZ Vertex 2 in 2010 Mac Pro 6-Core - Known issue with Sandforce SSD's

bedifferent said:
Again, thanks for the help! You taught me a few things when you didn't have to and I greatly appreciate it. :)
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You are quite welcome, hope your issues get resolved eventually, but glad to pass on the info about sleep modes. Glad to help a fellow user......unlike some others ;)

-Kevin
 
bedifferent said:
If it's not an issue with the firmware thaaaan why do such companies as OCZ acknowledge the issue and even address it by supplying owners with a firmware update for Sandforce SSD's such as the Vertex 2? I'm glad it's a non-issue for you, but for others it is an issue and simply moving "ON" isn't a solution.
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I assume it's an issue that several parties have to work together to solve - Sandforce (all firmware comes from them afaik), Apple (OS and hardware which is affected), and SSD manufacturers like OCZ and OWC, which tweak and distribute existing firmware and are responsible to the buyers of SSDs.

My guess is for Sandforce and the manufacturers it's quite important to find a solution, while Apple is rather concentrating on iOS ...
 
kunia said:
Hex 3.33 mac pro here with 240gb Vertex 2 - no issues with sleep
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That's the exact system I have. What firmware is running on your Vertex 2? Also, are you hibernating the system (learned the hardware that hibernating the system causes a kernel panic when waking)?

Many claim not to hibernate SSDs. I switched mine off. However, as Apple is increasing the use of SSD's in many of their systems with no hibernate kernel panic issues (not sure what the manufacturer is for Apple SSD's, Toshiba maybe?), and as I do want to hibernate my system at night and not want to boot down, it seems rather odd that Sandforce SSD's are experiencing this known issue. I spent a few weeks researching drives, then another researching this issue (and tech on OWC and OCZ is well familiar that a kernel panic occurs in OS X), I never once read about not placing SSD's into hibernate until I posted this thread. While many debate the pro's and con's of such, it is annoying that due to a defect with firmware (and it's not an OS X issue as flashing the firmware fully rectify's the problem) I cannot use my machine as I have for the past 10+ years. Oh well...
 
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kbmb said:
Yeah, I agree. I never trust it either. I set my MacBooks to 0 as well.....sleeps almost instantly!



Yeah, I thought the Pros were always set to 0 by default. Pretty sure my 2006 has always been set to 0. Will have to check on my new one on Friday.

-Kevin
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Just setup my new 2010 refurb, Hibernate set to '0' by default, just an FYI.

-Kevin
 
bedifferent said:
That's the exact system I have. What firmware is running on your Vertex 2? Also, are you hibernating the system (learned the hardware that hibernating the system causes a kernel panic when waking)?
Click to expand...

Here are my sleep settings:
Currently in use:
hibernatemode 0
womp 0
sleep 0
powerbutton 0
disksleep 0
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
autorestart 0
ttyskeepawake 1
displaysleep 15

And here is the SSD info:
Capacity: 240.06 GB (240,057,409,536 bytes)
Model: OCZ-VERTEX2
Revision: 1.24
Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk4
Medium Type: Solid State
TRIM Support: No
Bay Name: Lower
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified

Never had any issues with my vertex 2 as my main boot drive sitting in lower optical bay
Hope that helps

adrian
 
kunia said:
Here are my sleep settings:

And here is the SSD info:
Capacity: 240.06 GB (240,057,409,536 bytes)
Model: OCZ-VERTEX2
Revision: 1.24

Never had any issues with my vertex 2 as my main boot drive sitting in lower optical bay
Hope that helps

adrian
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Nice setup, 240GB, I'm jealous! I went for the 120 as I have 4 internal 1TB SATA drives and didn't need more space (I think I use 1/3 of it now as I'm back in school - at 34, ugh lol - and I've put my business aside for a bit - so the 120GB was all I needed for booting and such). You have the 1.24 firmware, I've got 1.23. 1.24 is supposed to address and fix the hibernate issue, although I could not get it to flash on my Windows7 partition or by using the many other flash methods for Mac Pro systems. Oh well. :)

kbmb said:
Thanks.....compared to my '06 model...this thing is super fast, quiet and cool.

-Kevin
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I can imagine. Compared to my 2008 2.8 8-Core model it's fast, with the SSD it's even faster. Against my better judgment I upgraded to the 6-Core this year as my AppleCare would have run out in March and I knew I would get more for the system with AppleCare (I also brought it into the store I worked at when I was behind the bar and they did a full system check, even replaced the logic board with a new one as a small piece of plastic on the board broke off when I was attempting to remove an ATI Radeon card from it's PCIe slot). I also suspected that there wouldn't be another revision until at least mid-Summer, and not a major one at that. I would LOVE to see Lightpeak make its debut into a commercially available Mac Pro, although I doubt it'll be next year with possible Sandybridge chips. If it does, I'll eat my words :eek: lol

Thanks again for the help guys, much appreciated! :)
 
So not to beat a dead horse but:

seydurin said:
I have the Vertex two and haven't had any problems. I think I read somewhere that you could see some sleep problems if you use the optibay for a boot partition.
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Interesting. This is the first I have read of this as a possible issue. I finally flashed the FW from 1.23 to 1.24. I have the SSD installed in the 6th SATA connection that is normally for another optical drive. I wonder if that may also be the issue.
 
Do you still have problems with sleep and rev 1.24?
My SSD is installed in lower optical bay, SATA 6 (I suppose) - this setup has been running perfect for a month now since I got my SSD.

adrian
 
Good point about the optical bays - I just have optical drives in both of mine (I am using the ODD SATA ports from the motherboard, not the ATA channel that shipped in the 08 Mac Pros. Could be that's the issue people are having.
 
Just wanted to share!!!!

I did this on my MBP 2010 with my OWC 120gb SSD... NO MORE ISSUES AT ALL!

Everything is fixed. No issues with idle sleeping anymore, or any type of sleep. I never did hibernate anyways. Plus I freed up like 4.25GB in space when I cleared out my image too...

Sorry, I got excited ;)
 
millerb7 said:
Just wanted to share!!!!

I did this on my MBP 2010 with my OWC 120gb SSD... NO MORE ISSUES AT ALL!

Everything is fixed. No issues with idle sleeping anymore, or any type of sleep. I never did hibernate anyways. Plus I freed up like 4.25GB in space when I cleared out my image too...

Sorry, I got excited ;)
Click to expand...

That's awesome! Flashing mine to 1.24 seems to have fixed the issue. Even in hibernate it doesn't kernel panic when waking. Although I returned the state to 0, put it to sleep at night, no issues. YEAH!

Thanks to EVERYONE for taking the time in helping. These days it's rare that people genuinely take the time to help others online, and I greatly appreciate it. :)
 
bedifferent said:
That's awesome! Flashing mine to 1.24 seems to have fixed the issue. Even in hibernate it doesn't kernel panic when waking. Although I returned the state to 0, put it to sleep at night, no issues. YEAH!
Click to expand...

Splendid !

Could you eleborate on how you flashed it , in particular which Windows OS you used ?
I had no luck with 64 bit Win7 .
 
barmann said:
Splendid !

Could you eleborate on how you flashed it , in particular which Windows OS you used ?
I had no luck with 64 bit Win7 .
Click to expand...

Neither did I. I followed these instructions using a Windows Vista 32-bit Install Disk (if you don't have one, there is a free recovery image from Windows for repairing):

Upgrade the Vertex 2's firmware on a MacbookPro WITHOUT installing Windows

1. Use Bootcamp to make a Windows partition on the SSD (using another drive seems to make the SSD unrecognizable by the ssdupdate.exe program)

2. Download the 1.24 Firmware update and copy them to a FAT formatted USB stick

3. Reboot with either a Windows 32-bit Install DVD or Download a Windows Vista Recovery Disc image. Make sure to hold down the Alt/Option key on boot chime to select the DVD.

4. Click on the "Repair" option, then select the Command Prompt.

5. Find the USB stick with the firmware update. Mine was drive I:, just keep typing drive letters A-Z and list the directory for the necessary files (which should be the ssdupdate.exe and .pkg file for the update).

6. Run the update exe, follow the instructions by selecting the 1.24 firmware package and then selecting the OCZ Vertex 2 (or whatever Sandforce OCZ SSD you are using). The update went very quickly for me, may differ depending on system.

7. It will say finished, reboot into OS X (you may need to hold the alt/option key at boot chime to select the OS X drive)

Presto, you're done :)
 
I was able to boot to win 7 64 bit on a separate drive. With the unformated SSD in a slot I ran the firmware update and it saw the ssd and updated it. Then I cloded back the OSX backup from the old drive. The flash works best form a windows install rather than a boot dvd.
 
xgman said:
I was able to boot to win 7 64 bit on a separate drive. With the unformated SSD in a slot I ran the firmware update and it saw the ssd and updated it. Then I cloded back the OSX backup from the old drive. The flash works best form a windows install rather than a boot dvd.
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Many have tried both, and depending on the system one method works. I tried on my 2010 6-Core through W7 64-bit on another SATA bay, it would not recognize my SSD. I then tried it using the method below from a W Vista 32-bit DVD with a partition on the SSD, and presto, it worked. It varies quite a bit, but most find the boot DVD is the only working method. For some reason, Windows is hit of miss with recognizing the SSD AS a SSD and instead recognizes it as a standard HDD, which means the ssdupdate does not see any OCZ SSD. Go figure.
 
bedifferent said:
Presto, you're done :)
Click to expand...

Sorry, my bad, I thought you had an OWC SSD; the OCZ flash works indeed as you described.

Anyone, which Windows OS did you use to flash an OWC SSD , and has anyone tried it with just a bootcamp partition on the SSD, rather than formating the whole drive ?
 
barmann said:
Sorry, my bad, I thought you had an OWC SSD; the OCZ flash works indeed as you described.

Anyone, which Windows OS did you use to flash an OWC SSD , and has anyone tried it with just a bootcamp partition on the SSD, rather than formating the whole drive ?
Click to expand...

I don't know much about the OWC SSD's firmware upgrade process, but searching google I found this thread on MacRumors (go figure lol):

(Late 2009) Mac Mini Freezing (OWC SSD Installed)

A quote from the thread that pertains to you:

You check the firmware by going to the Apple menu at the very top left corner and doing a "about this mac". Then click on "more info" and choose "Serial-ATA" along the left column and it should give you your firmware version for the OWC SSD.

I upgraded the firmware by creating a new "bootcamp" partition while in the existing Mac OS X installation by following the directions here. Once I had Windows XP installed and running, I grabbed a copy of OWC's firmware update tool and applied the firmware upgrade. I then rebooted as instructed back into Mac OS X and discovered the issue was resolved. Satisfied that the fix worked, I reclaimed my "lost" capacity and removed the bootcamp partition (and Windows XP) and so far, no issues. Let me know if you need further help. Good Luck and Happy Holidays to you.
Click to expand...

OWC has a guide, follow the link below:

OWC Mercury Extreme Pro & Pro RE SSD Firmware Update

Reading it a bit, it seems standard as far as firmware updates are concerned. If you don't have Windows installed, you could try the process I listed for an OCZ SSD (creating a bootcamp partition on your SSD, booting with a Windows DVD - or the free downloaded Windows Recovery Image and burn it - Copy the OWC firmware to a USB drive - Boot into the Windows DVD - Click "Repair" - Use the Command Prompt to find the USB drive and run the update software - Reboot

Check out the threads first and good luck! :)
 
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rtrt said:
do these 2 methods effectively secure erase the drive ie restore performance as well as upgrade the firmware?
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Updating the firmware doesn't (or didn't for me) erase/secure erase the drive.
 
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