Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD Problem

ImaITGuy said:
Glad to see an OWC rep post here considering I just tonight came across this thread and just this morning decided against my gut to pick up the OWC 120 Mercury Pro SSD over the Crucial C300 128GB SSD.

Currently I am running the Crucial C300 64GB SSD in my 2011 MBP and its been flawless for the last 10 or so days without any of the mentioned problems.

With luck I wont experience the issue with the OWC, as I believe the Crucial uses the very same SF1200 controller in its SSD's.

Drive and DataDoubler arrive on Monday, will post back any details if I have the issue or not.

Current Settings

Intel 6 Series Chipset:

Vendor: Intel
Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.30 Supported

C300-CTFDDAC064MAG:

Capacity: 64.02 GB (64,023,257,088 bytes)
Model: C300-CTFDDAC064MAG
Revision: 0006
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
BSD Name: disk0
Medium Type: Solid State
TRIM Support: No
Click to expand...

Well the drive arrived and I got the new OWC 120GB SSD installed as well as the DataDoubler bay installed with the original hard drive the MBP came with.

The OWC SSD seems to be just as fast the C300 was in reading but the OWC drive definitely is faster when writing data.

The sleep bug is present as is the case for most here, the drive arrived with the 3.43 firmware. I always close the lid when done, never let it sleep on its own anyway or I use caffeine to keep it up longer.
 
Last edited:
To Resolve Problem:

1st: Turn off the "Sudden Motion Sensor":
-http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934
2nd: Turn off "Put the hard disk(s) asleep when possible"
Go to System Preferences>Energy Saver & turn off for both "battery" & "power adapter"

3rd: Problem Resolved.


denm316 said:
Wondering if anyone else here is experiencing this issue with the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD.

I have a 2010 2.4GHz 15inch i5 MBP. Everything is stock except for the hard drive. I removed the 320GB 5400rpm drive that the laptop came with and installed a 240GB Mercury Extreme Pro SSD.

Whenever the laptop goes to sleep on its own and I wake it up, all I get is the spinning beach-ball and cant do anything with the machine, cant force quit or anything. I have to hold the power button in to cycle the machine. Then all is fine.

If the laptop goes to sleep by me closing the lid then it is fine. The issue only arises when the machine goes to sleep on its own (both on power and battery).

While this is not an end of the world issue, it is annoying as it is a $500 hard drive. The laptop and the drive are about 2 weeks or so old. This problem doesn't occur when using the stock drive.

Any help that can be given is appreciated.

Thanks,
Click to expand...
 
From OWC: "Along with general improvements and fixes, this update will solve all known sleep and hibernation issues associated with prior firmware revisions.
This firmware is current as of March 18, 2011."
 
yzc717 said:
From OWC: "Along with general improvements and fixes, this update will solve all known sleep and hibernation issues associated with prior firmware revisions.
This firmware is current as of March 18, 2011."
Click to expand...

To update the firmware on Mac we still need to install a Windows OS via bootcamp.

See here
 
Last edited:
I downloaded the update and attempted to install it using my copy of Windows 7 on a Bootcamp partition. My drive is an OWC 480GB Mercury Extreme Pro (Firmware 343A13F0).

Even though the update software says it completed the update and immediately restarts Windows I still seem to be on release 343. As far as I can tell the new release version should be 360.

I believe I have followed the instructions to the letter. The only issue might be the requirement to have an MBR partition. Windows reports that it is using an MBR partition but OSX states that it is GPT. From what I can see converting the drive to a MBR partition for OSX is not completely straight forward.

Any thoughts or assistance appreciated.
 
Last edited:
New firmware?

Anybody already tried it? Or successfully installed it at least?

http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=sf_firmware.html

As stated previously, the last requirement to install the new firmware? What does it mean?

Use Requirements:
- Intel Mac running Windows XP/Vista/7 via Bootcamp*
- PC running Windows XP/Vista/7
- Available internal motherboard SATA port**
- Drive must be formatted in the MBR partitioning scheme prior to running the update

I have my windows 7 on the 2nd half of the SSD 240GB Extreme SD drive.... so, there in order to boot in a MAC, it must contain a Master Boot Record (MBR) where windows partition is present.... But the first partition of the disk is still mac compatible, not MBR...

Thanks
Lucho
 
Just updated mine which was previously on the 343 Firmware.

Now running the 360.

firmware2.jpg


Have yet to see if the issues are still present, literally just updated.

Installed through my Windows 7 Bootcamp partition, installed as administrator. Rebooted back into Windows after update, before booting back into OSX.
 
Guy Mancuso said:
Certainly throws up a red flag. Heard 10 days for the new OWC drives not sure I can wait. LOL
Click to expand...

Me neither. I'm very tempted to buy one right now as well.

Luckily, I won't have a budget for one till the end of the month so that'll help me wait. Can't wait for a drive that runs at SATA 6Gbps with a fixed firmware and an 8GB ram upgrade! :D
 
I really can't be arsed to install windows on my mbp just to run this update. Still holding out for a mac installer. Boggles the mind that it's not at the forefront of their thoughts.
 
t0rr3s said:
I really can't be arsed to install windows on my mbp just to run this update. Still holding out for a mac installer. Boggles the mind that it's not at the forefront of their thoughts.
Click to expand...

Agreed. While I do think OWC is a honest and reliable company, I just can't bring myself to buy an SSD without a way to update the firmware in OS X or even a Linux/FreeDOS boot CDRom.
 
360 firmware didn't resolved wake from sleep problem

Matt.H said:
Just updated mine which was previously on the 343 Firmware.

Now running the 360.

firmware2.jpg


Have yet to see if the issues are still present, literally just updated.

Installed through my Windows 7 Bootcamp partition, installed as administrator. Rebooted back into Windows after update, before booting back into OSX.
Click to expand...

Updated my OWC Mercury Extrem Pro today from firmware 343 to 360.
And, sadly, the wake from sleep problem is still there :(
Am I the only one ?
 
Weaselboy said:
Agreed. While I do think OWC is a honest and reliable company, I just can't bring myself to buy an SSD without a way to update the firmware in OS X or even a Linux/FreeDOS boot CDRom.
Click to expand...

While the shortcoming originates with Sandforce, which makes the controller, this is still a very fair critique. OWC, a Mac-centric company, sells the product so they deserve some share of criticism for distributing a product with this sort of handicap. As I don't have a Windows partition on my Macs - and have no desire to ever get one - I do need to give pause before buying an SSD from them which will not allow me to install any future firmware upgrade.
 
I got a 120ssd with 343 firmware installed on my MBP. Excited about the new 360 firmware hoping it would fix the hibernation issue... but since fdeldongo said it did not fix the hibernation issue, can more people who had already upgraded comment on this?
Does this new 360 firmware really not fix the hibernation on these sandforce controllers?

I don't use windows on my macbook pro, so no bootcamp installed yet. But, if this firmware update don't fix the issue or provide any improvements, then I don't see any reason to install it... Don't really want to install bootcamp, find a copy of windows somewhere, and go through the entire upgrade process with no fix on current issues...:(

Is there any information from OWC regarding what this new 360 firmware do?:confused:
 
On their blog it's reported that a new firmware will be out next week and as for a Mac installer, the manufacturers haven't delivered so OWC are trying to develop it themselves. While it is unacceptable on behalf of OWC and SandForce, props to OWC for trying to develop an updated themselves rather than leaving it at that.
 
hh83917 said:
I got a 120ssd with 343 firmware installed on my MBP. Excited about the new 360 firmware hoping it would fix the hibernation issue... but since fdeldongo said it did not fix the hibernation issue, can more people who had already upgraded comment on this?
Does this new 360 firmware really not fix the hibernation on these sandforce controllers?

I don't use windows on my macbook pro, so no bootcamp installed yet. But, if this firmware update don't fix the issue or provide any improvements, then I don't see any reason to install it... Don't really want to install bootcamp, find a copy of windows somewhere, and go through the entire upgrade process with no fix on current issues...:(

Is there any information from OWC regarding what this new 360 firmware do?:confused:
Click to expand...

The bug I still have with 360 firmware is when my Mac Pro wakes from automatic sleep. Then it behaves as if the SSD was not connected anymore (I see the finder, can move the mouse, but can't do anything else, except hard reboot).
Wake from sleep works only when the mac is put to sleep "manually" (with the sleep command from the apple menu)

You're right, the way fw is updated is not very macfriendly.

Cheers,
 
http://macperformanceguide.com/. Lloyd is a friend of mine and he does test for OWC



OWC Begins Transition to 25nm Flash Memory With Big Price Drop for 400GB SSD PERMALINK


OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 400GB SSD
Looks like OWC has begun transitioning to 25nm flash, dropping the price of a 400GB solid state drive from about $1500 to about $920 for the 400GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD as I write this. However, shipping date is noted as “10 Days”.

Presumably we will soon see the 60/120/240GB capacities migrate to the 25nm flash chips as well, but whether these will be 56/115/230GB capacities is unclear.

The new 25nm flash apparently requires more over provisioning, hence the 400GB instead of 480GB capacity (both with 512GB flash memory). But perhaps that will change as well— I don’t yet know.

Note that I have not yet tested the new versions based on 25nm flash, but I expect to do so in the next week or two.

Also, 6Gbps SSDs based on the 6Gbps Sandforce controller are due sometimes in the next month or two. Though the Mac Pro still has only 3Gbps SATA ports, the new 2011 MacBook Pro has one internal 6Gbps SATA port, and assuming no compatibility issues (I doubt that OWC would ship without ensuring compatibility), then of course a 6Gbps SSD would be preferable, but how much faster is an open question. Few programs can use the speed of even the current 3Gbps SSDs, so if you already have one, sleep well and no worries.

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011
 
Sorry, n00b question:

1. People gave OCZ crap about switching to 25nm flash cause performance suffered.

2. OWC is now doing this as well to reduce costs - but they called OCZ out for doing this.

So in the end, regardless of Tier1/premium chips vs. regular flash chips, wouldn't the performance of the new 25nm flash be slower as well?
 
kappaknight said:
Sorry, n00b question:

1. People gave OCZ crap about switching to 25nm flash cause performance suffered.

2. OWC is now doing this as well to reduce costs - but they called OCZ out for doing this.

So in the end, regardless of Tier1/premium chips vs. regular flash chips, wouldn't the performance of the new 25nm flash be slower as well?
Click to expand...

There is a difference. OCZ did it (switch chips) on the same model and continued to sell that 25nm crippled model as if it had the same chips it did originally. Very dishonest in my view. Now, in addition to the chip swap, it looks like they are using unrated memory chips.

OWC and it looks like Intel on their new 320 series SSD are moving to 25nm chips because they cost less. But both OWC and Intel are not hiding this fact like OCZ did. That for me is the key difference. As I understand it the 25nm chips will have a shorter life expectancy due to lower write cycle rating on the 25nm. In normal usage though, you are likely to have long dumped your SSD before it hits these limits.

Here is a good article on what OCZ did. Is this a company you want to do business with?
 
New firmware seems to be working

Just upgraded my 240GB OWC Mercury Pro SSD from 343 to 360:

Code: 
OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD:

  Capacity:	240.06 GB (240,057,409,536 bytes)
  Model:	OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD             
  Revision:	360A13F0

I reset my energy saver and hibernate mode settings back to default and tried a few sleep tests: so far so good.

I will update if I run into any issues.

Update: I did experience the beach-ball lockup again after waking from an idle sleep. I mean, come on, did they even freaking test their stupid update before releasing it?
 
Last edited:
muirm said:
Just upgraded my 240GB OWC Mercury Pro SSD from 343 to 360:

Code: 
OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD:

  Capacity:	240.06 GB (240,057,409,536 bytes)
  Model:	OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD             
  Revision:	360A13F0

I reset my energy saver and hibernate mode settings back to default and tried a few sleep tests: so far so good.

I will update if I run into any issues.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Just a question.... What is your setup?

THe first partition of the OWC SDD with Mac OSX and the 2nd partition with Windows 7?

Thanks
Luciano
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back