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Rev. A MBA with Runcore SSD upgrade
- Thread starter NC MacGuy
- Start date
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Quick observations after the first 48 hours with the RunCore 128GB-C in my Apple MBA rev A.
- There are no instructions included that are remotely relevant to the Apple MBA. The lack of instructions should be embarrassing to RunCore. Google was my friend for the install to find instructions elsewhere, and the inside of the MBA was foreign enough to me that I couldn't do it without instructions and I am totally comfortable building electronics. Contrary to Scottsdale's post, it took me around 45 minutes to do the drive swap in the MBA because I'd never opened it before and took my time at every step.
- The screwdrivers included are a joke, in particular the screwdriver intended for disassembling the Apple MBA. Wrong screwdriver + the ones included felt very cheap = first impression is "oh, crap, this is an exceptionally shoddy Chinese-manufactured knock-off product"
- However, the installed drive performs as advertised. It's fast, and lives up to the claims. Xbench Disk Test = 125.69 (Sequential = 96.75, Random = 179.31) with all my apps also running at the same time.
- I can now run far more apps with a far more responsive MBA, it's really like a whole new computer. The difference is easy to see and feel. For example, I used to dread it just a little when I knew I had to launch an MS Office app that wasn't already open, because it could take 30-45 seconds or more to get to the document. I just tried opening an Excel spreadsheet from Mail... launching Excel the icon bounced twice and the spreadsheet was open and editable around 3-4 seconds after the double click.
- I haven't run it down to zero, but battery life does seem to be slightly longer, perhaps 10%. It's hard to measure exactly since it's not a controlled test but me using my MBA on-the-go at meetings and bluetooth tethering in taxicabs.
- Booting took longer at first. It was cured by resetting PRAM, now booting to desktop from turning it on is about 30 seconds.
- No issues with re-using my old 80GB HDD in the RunCore USB enclosure, except that the case screws were so tiny it was difficult to assemble. However, it just required some patience.
- No sleep issues. I bought from mydigitaldiscount and the firmware is 1819.
To our defense and forgive me if I am wrong but I don't know of any HDD or SSD manufacturer that provides instructions.
On that note:
I am working on getting some people to do MacGuides on the upgrades. If that is done then we will provide a link to them on the SSD.
If that is not done in a timely manner then I will write the macguides myself but I would prefer if one of the members here did them from a users point of view. Because to be honest I had never even touched a MacBook Air until about 2 months ago and the 1st time I used it was to do the upgrade and I have to agree with Scottsdale on this one as it took me 10min total to do the switch. I also was a dunce on the partitioning issue and did not know I needed to partition the drive in GUID. I am learning but I am sure a member here could do a much better job than I could.
I am by no means and expert but I have been playing with computer hardware since 1996 when I built my 1st PC. Man was that a disaster but I learned a lot due to all of the errors I made at the time including forgetting to take the tape off of the conductive layer of the CPU.
I will deff give the MacGuide a shoot if no one else steps up to the plate.
Matt Dawson
Runcore
On that note:
I am working on getting some people to do MacGuides on the upgrades. If that is done then we will provide a link to them on the SSD.
If that is not done in a timely manner then I will write the macguides myself but I would prefer if one of the members here did them from a users point of view. Because to be honest I had never even touched a MacBook Air until about 2 months ago and the 1st time I used it was to do the upgrade and I have to agree with Scottsdale on this one as it took me 10min total to do the switch. I also was a dunce on the partitioning issue and did not know I needed to partition the drive in GUID. I am learning but I am sure a member here could do a much better job than I could.
I am by no means and expert but I have been playing with computer hardware since 1996 when I built my 1st PC. Man was that a disaster but I learned a lot due to all of the errors I made at the time including forgetting to take the tape off of the conductive layer of the CPU.
I will deff give the MacGuide a shoot if no one else steps up to the plate.
Matt Dawson
Runcore
In general, I give you that point. However, it does include instructions, it's just that they're not relevant to the MacBook Air. And the screwdrivers included don't fit the MacBook Air.
This would normally not be an issue, except you market it and label it as a kit for the MacBook Air.
That's the part that makes the non-MBA instructions and non-MBA tools kind of embarrassing. It's simply an MBA-compatible drive, and not in any way an MBA kit, even though you sell it as such.
I was just giving my experience of buying and installing the drive; overall I will say the product has given new life to my MBA. My 18-month-old MBA rev A feels faster than a new SSD MBA rev C. That's amazing. Even the 2GB RAM limitation seems almost entirely irrelevant, at least for my work, as I can have all my apps loaded and everything pretty much works instantaneously. The result surpassed all my expectations, and Scottsdale set them pretty high. The drive works as advertised in an MBA, and it works really well.
anyone trying the 32gb or 64 gb runcore ssd in rev A
32gb and 64gb ssd are also a new model like the 128gb ssd, same performance ?
im tinking to buy the 64gb , i just bought a used mba(cheap) rev A , just to give it a try.
32gb and 64gb ssd are also a new model like the 128gb ssd, same performance ?
im tinking to buy the 64gb , i just bought a used mba(cheap) rev A , just to give it a try.
Hi
I just bought a Runcore 64Gb drive on ebay.
I have just discovered, it was not the special Macbook Air type but a normal SSD, PATA and Zif.
This is the product code:
RCP-IV-Z1864-C
Will I have a problem getting this to work with my Macbook Air Rev A.
regards
John
I just bought a Runcore 64Gb drive on ebay.
I have just discovered, it was not the special Macbook Air type but a normal SSD, PATA and Zif.
This is the product code:
RCP-IV-Z1864-C
Will I have a problem getting this to work with my Macbook Air Rev A.
regards
John
couto27, 64GB is about the same as the 128GB but the 32GB is about 25% slower but still night and day from stock HDD or SSD in the Rev A.
Tornhoj, it may work. If you got a really new one then it will. You will know really fast because it will not even be recognized by the MBA if it is from an older production batch. If that is the case then send it back to the vendor they will exchange it for you.
FYI we have a 15 day no questions asked policy on these drives. That is how confident we are that anyone that tries it will never ever take it out of the system.
Matt Dawson
Runcore
Tornhoj, it may work. If you got a really new one then it will. You will know really fast because it will not even be recognized by the MBA if it is from an older production batch. If that is the case then send it back to the vendor they will exchange it for you.
FYI we have a 15 day no questions asked policy on these drives. That is how confident we are that anyone that tries it will never ever take it out of the system.
Matt Dawson
Runcore
thanks for the prompt anser runcore, i just contact the shop memoryc .com in ireland and they are out of stock of 64gb.
since im in europe i will wait until they are avaiable so i dont have to pay customs.
the 128gb is out of my budget.
thanks
since im in europe i will wait until they are avaiable so i dont have to pay customs.
the 128gb is out of my budget.
thanks
Hint if you want it fast check out at www.MyDigitalDiscount.com with UPS shipping but put a note in the comments section saying you want it to ship via USPS International Express. The Drive is under 1LBS and anything under one LBS does not require a customs declaration form
.Matt Dawson
Runcore
Not all SSD's are created equal and that is one large misconception many people have. This thread is really helping people understand the main differences in SSD solutions on the market and how the Runcore drive has focused on innovation and price/performance not selling quantities to the masses. Although, with the knowledge people are gaining from threads like this we hope the masses will adopt our SSD and understand the reasons for adopting our products on a consumer, industrial, and military level.
Matt Dawson
Runcore
(Edit - called to get info on the drive just to see about it and it uses the JMicron controller that we used to use the one that operates at 85c and melted one customers computer. Also, they could not even tell me the type of flash they use they said they buy whatever is available at the time.)
ill agree with some of that, but your product of course fills in the gap of the market very little have filled (and well i might add) , i would love to see a 256gb lif based ssd and i would pay dearly for it if i had too.
i would love to see runcore make some more products, more notably improve performance on there 2.5" line.
i will be ordering a 64gb lif based ssd from runcore next week, i hope it will work great for my air.
I have the wake up freeze problem with my Macbook Air rev B and a 128GB rev 1819.
I wrote a mail to the Runcore support yesterday but I haven't got any answer yet. Quite sad about it cause I'm very, very satisified except that 'small' problem.
With smartsleep set to 'just sleep, nothing else fakkah' it works like it should I think.
I wrote a mail to the Runcore support yesterday but I haven't got any answer yet. Quite sad about it cause I'm very, very satisified except that 'small' problem.
With smartsleep set to 'just sleep, nothing else fakkah' it works like it should I think.
Well this is a 1st on a Rev B. Please send me the serial # so I can investigate the build date and also I would get an RMA from your vendor.
Matt Dawson
Runcore
I can't send you a PM because I haven't posted enough, I'm a too new member and the world kind of hates me right now.
I'd did however mail it to your support, can you fetch it there perhaps? If not please email me at johan@sege.nuIALREADYGET********OFSPAM. =)
Hi all.. I hope you'll be able to hep me in finding a solution.
I just installed a brand new RunCore 128GB SSD in a rev. A 1.8GHz air and my boot time (with SL 10.6.2) is still around 60 sec:
I press the power button after a full shutdown
after 20 sec Apple icon appear
after 55 sec blue screen
after 60 sec the system seem to be loaded
xbench is giving amazingly good numbers (total scores 105.45) and the computer is much more responsive. Before cloning the HDD to the SDD with Carbon Copy I've repartitioned and reformatted the SDD (one partition with GUID table, Mac OS Journaled) than I tried also resetting the PRAM but nothing.. computer is fast but boot time remain very slow.
What to try/check??
I just installed a brand new RunCore 128GB SSD in a rev. A 1.8GHz air and my boot time (with SL 10.6.2) is still around 60 sec:
I press the power button after a full shutdown
after 20 sec Apple icon appear
after 55 sec blue screen
after 60 sec the system seem to be loaded
xbench is giving amazingly good numbers (total scores 105.45) and the computer is much more responsive. Before cloning the HDD to the SDD with Carbon Copy I've repartitioned and reformatted the SDD (one partition with GUID table, Mac OS Journaled) than I tried also resetting the PRAM but nothing.. computer is fast but boot time remain very slow.
What to try/check??
Hi all.. I hope you'll be able to hep me in finding a solution.
I just installed a brand new RunCore 128GB SSD in a rev. A 1.8GHz air and my boot time (with SL 10.6.2) is still around 60 sec:
I press the power button after a full shutdown
after 20 sec Apple icon appear
after 55 sec blue screen
after 60 sec the system seem to be loaded
xbench is giving amazingly good numbers (total scores 105.45) and the computer is much more responsive. Before cloning the HDD to the SDD with Carbon Copy I've repartitioned and reformatted the SDD (one partition with GUID table, Mac OS Journaled) than I tried also resetting the PRAM but nothing.. computer is fast but boot time remain very slow.
What to try/check??
I also initially had the slow boot time issue. However, zapping the PRAM solved it. It now boots in a little over 30 seconds.
Umm.. the disk itself is good, it seem that the computer is taking about 20/30 seconds to show the apple logo on grey screen.. does anyone know if/how is possible to trace what it is going on in that 20/30 seconds?
Can you check how long it takes on your MBA to show the grey screen and then the black apple logo after the power button pressure? I guess the difference is all there!
I re-checked:
10 seconds to get backlight on with grey screen.
other 10 seconds to get the apple logo.
60 total seconds to complete the boot.
10 seconds to get backlight on with grey screen.
other 10 seconds to get the apple logo.
60 total seconds to complete the boot.
The funny thing is that starting winxp sp3 through parallels (parallels off) take about 35 seconds...
After doing some maintenance I got a reduction of 5 sec on boot time, from 60 to 55 sec..
How can I investigate on which is the reason for the slow SL boot time????
After doing some maintenance I got a reduction of 5 sec on boot time, from 60 to 55 sec..
How can I investigate on which is the reason for the slow SL boot time????
Mr. Zarniwoop explains how to fix it here https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8874393/
Matt Dawson
Runcore
Matt Dawson
Runcore
I've done several PRAM reset..
I'd like to compare my boot sequence with others, jut to understand where is main problem.
By the way this is not a huge problem, the computer is much faster in all operations and that's the important thing!
I'd like to compare my boot sequence with others, jut to understand where is main problem.
By the way this is not a huge problem, the computer is much faster in all operations and that's the important thing!
Update after a little over three weeks of daily use of 4-12 hours.
It's definitely slower with time. Not loads slower, but it's there. I just ran Xbench five times to try and quantify it:
91.71 (Sequential = 63.94, Random = 162.09)
80.43 (Sequential = 62.41, Random = 113.09)
86.47 (Sequential = 75.50, Random = 100.55)
66.95 (Sequential = 45.82, Random = 124.26)
77.81 (Sequential = 49.41, Random = 184.42)
I've run the drive to the 85% full mark for about a week, then to 95% full, and now back to 50% full for the benchmarks above. It's definitely a bit slower than the first couple days after I put it in. I just tried the click-on-a-spreadsheet test from Apple Mail where it had to open Excel, and it was open and editable in 8 seconds after 3-4 dock bounces, which is still wonderful compared to the stock drive but definitely slower than it was at first.
I've not done any tests, so this is subjective, but I think the battery is either the same as previous, or perhaps it lasts a little less than before. This is hard to tell without some kind of test.
Booting now is taking about 40 seconds. When the drive was nearly full, it was taking nearly 60 seconds but appears to have recovered.
I love reusing my old drive as a tiny external 80GB drive. It's slow, but it works.
I sleep/wake with the lid probably 6-10 times per day without problems. It wakes up instantly and is far more usable than with the stock drive.
Overall, I still love this upgrade. It's lost a step, and I'm not sure if it's to do with nearly filling up the drive or it's unrelated. I'm still smiling when I use my old MBA overall.
Hi
if have been reading this topic and i got very excited to get the 12b gb, the only thing, problem is i did not get,
it is all about an upgrade but what about my old 80 Gb has crashed and since that, how can i make the ssd bootable if my MBA wont start up at all??
if have been reading this topic and i got very excited to get the 12b gb, the only thing, problem is i did not get,
it is all about an upgrade but what about my old 80 Gb has crashed and since that, how can i make the ssd bootable if my MBA wont start up at all??