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SSD upgrade, not getting results I should be?

hfg said:
Wow ... sounds like you may have found your problem ... but why?

Was your SSD purchased new, packaged, from a reliable dealer, or from eBay?

I haven't heard of any cases of counterfeit SSD drives (lots of flash counterfeits running around).

You might see about returning it for a replacement. :(
Click to expand...

I bought it off of Ebay. He said it wasn't in OEM box but guaranteed NEW. This is what it looked like.. I was expecting it to have the brushed finish with the orange corner stating the size of the SSD.
 

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Looks like a Sata I drive!? You might have been scammed. It certainly doesn't look like a Samsung 830. They might have slapped a sticker on some old ssd.

What does the System Information show for the name, model, number, revision?
 
tyche said:
Looks like a Sata I drive!? You might have been scammed. It certainly doesn't look like a Samsung 830. They might have slapped a sticker on some old ssd.

What does the System Information show for the name, model, number, revision?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I thought and got some feedback here saying it is possibly a test version before mass production.

Here's what the system info says:

NVidia MCP79 AHCI:

Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

SAMSUNG SSD PM830 2.5" 7mm 128GB:

Capacity: 128.04 GB (128,035,676,160 bytes)
Model: SAMSUNG SSD PM830 2.5" 7mm 128GB
Revision: CXM02D1Q
Serial Number: S0TYNZABC84996
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Medium Type: Solid State
TRIM Support: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
disk0s1:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
BSD Name: disk0s1
Content: EFI
Tony:
Capacity: 127.04 GB (127,041,699,840 bytes)
Available: 105.8 GB (105,799,380,992 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /
Content: Apple_HFS
Volume UUID: 30587A2F-F2F0-3CA7-B229-2EA6966D2AC3
Recovery HD:
Capacity: 784.2 MB (784,220,160 bytes)
BSD Name: disk0s3
Content: Apple_Boot
Volume UUID: AB7A0BA3-1C65-3870-9DF7-B992A1004198
 
tonyy said:
I bought it off of Ebay. He said it wasn't in OEM box but guaranteed NEW. This is what it looked like.. I was expecting it to have the brushed finish with the orange corner stating the size of the SSD.
Click to expand...

tonyy those speeds are not right, and that drive looks counterfeit (or potentially pre-release) to me. I just bought a 256GB 830 SSD and it looks exactly like this one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=845680&is=REG&Q=&A=details

FYI, I'm running a 128GB OCZ Vertex (the original Vertex 1), and getting around 200MB/s read/write in BlackMagic in my 27" iMac 2009 model - at 3Gbit, so that 830 (if it is one) is certainly underperforming.
 
WilliamG said:
tonyy those speeds are not right, and that drive looks counterfeit (or potentially pre-release) to me. I just bought a 256GB 830 SSD and it looks exactly like this one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=845680&is=REG&Q=&A=details

FYI, I'm running a 128GB OCZ Vertex (the original Vertex 1), and getting around 200MB/s read/write in BlackMagic in my 27" iMac 2009 model - at 3Gbit, so that 830 (if it is one) is certainly underperforming.
Click to expand...

Yah, I posted in the SAMSUNG 830 thread in the MBPro section and they said it is probably pre-release version.

Upon further investigation using the serial,model, and FW numbers.. it looks to be not a RETAIL 830 but a "made for" DELL SSD. WTF:mad:

The seller didn't state this in the Ebay ad and had a picture of the retail one (brushed finish and orange corner). I have messaged him for a refund and awaiting for his response. This is my first time having an issue over Ebay.
 
tonyy said:
Yah, I posted in the SAMSUNG 830 thread in the MBPro section and they said it is probably pre-release version.

Upon further investigation using the serial,model, and FW numbers.. it looks to be not a RETAIL 830 but a "made for" DELL SSD. WTF:mad:

The seller didn't state this in the Ebay ad and had a picture of the retail one (brushed finish and orange corner). I have messaged him for a refund and awaiting for his response. This is my first time having an issue over Ebay.
Click to expand...

Absolutely you deserve a refund.
 
tonyy said:
Yah, I posted in the SAMSUNG 830 thread in the MBPro section and they said it is probably pre-release version.

Upon further investigation using the serial,model, and FW numbers.. it looks to be not a RETAIL 830 but a "made for" DELL SSD. WTF:mad:

The seller didn't state this in the Ebay ad and had a picture of the retail one (brushed finish and orange corner). I have messaged him for a refund and awaiting for his response. This is my first time having an issue over Ebay.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you are within the PayPal/eBay dispute filing window. If you don't receive a quick reply, I would initiate a PayPal dispute for "not as described" and let them deal with the seller. PayPal almost always sides with the buyer, but it may take awhile to get your refund.
 
The firmware looks out of date. You could try that since it did solve some people's ssd speed issues with other vendors. Sadly, looks like you'd have to pull the drive and connect to a Windows machine.
 
tyche said:
The firmware looks out of date. You could try that since it did solve some people's ssd speed issues with other vendors. Sadly, looks like you'd have to pull the drive and connect to a Windows machine.
Click to expand...

I looked into it and found the same FW suggested on other forums that Samsung's Magician tool doesn't support this version. Reason being that it's a DELL SSD.
 
hfg said:
Hopefully you are within the PayPal/eBay dispute filing window. If you don't receive a quick reply, I would initiate a PayPal dispute for "not as described" and let them deal with the seller. PayPal almost always sides with the buyer, but it may take awhile to get your refund.
Click to expand...

If you use PayPal protection, you'll get your money back! guaranteed and the scammer will be charged as well.
 
hfg said:
Hopefully you are within the PayPal/eBay dispute filing window. If you don't receive a quick reply, I would initiate a PayPal dispute for "not as described" and let them deal with the seller. PayPal almost always sides with the buyer, but it may take awhile to get your refund.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if he doesn't respond soon.. I'll initiate a dispute.

Since the link speed says 3 and the negotiated link speed is 1.5... Does that mean my iMac is capable of SATA II speeds? So the FW or whatever is on this Dell SSD is limiting the speed to 1.5?

I may just get an OCZ or Crucial.
 
tonyy said:
Yeah, if he doesn't respond soon.. I'll initiate a dispute.

Since the link speed says 3 and the negotiated link speed is 1.5... Does that mean my iMac is capable of SATA II speeds? So the FW or whatever is on this Dell SSD is limiting the speed to 1.5?

I may just get an OCZ or Crucial.
Click to expand...

Yes, the link speed of 3 indicates SATA-II on your iMac.

I am using Crucial and OWC with good luck.
I just received a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB yesterday and it flies! Fastest single SSD I have tested.
(this is on a Velocity x2 PCIe SATA-III card in my 2008 Mac Pro)

-howard
 

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Just for comparison:

Here are the results for a 512GB Crucial M4 SSD

Right is on the PCIe SATA-III ----- Left is same SSD on SATA-II
 

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hfg said:
Just for comparison:

Here are the results for a 512GB Crucial M4 SSD

Right is on the PCIe SATA-III ----- Left is same SSD on SATA-II
Click to expand...

Thanks man! Those are the numbers I was hoping for!
 
Very interesting. Thanks for the link. I'm going to go that route if my new ssd is only running at 1.5Gb/s as well.

Also, I've been reading up on the M4's and a lot of people saying that the firmware needs to be updated or maintained. Do you update every time a new FW comes out?
 
tonyy said:
Very interesting. Thanks for the link. I'm going to go that route if my new ssd is only running at 1.5Gb/s as well.

Also, I've been reading up on the M4's and a lot of people saying that the firmware needs to be updated or maintained. Do you update every time a new FW comes out?
Click to expand...

I purchased 2 M4 drives at different times and one came with newer firmware than the other. I didn't do anything about updating until I decided to pair them up in a RAID-0 configuration, and I thought it would be best to have them at the same firmware revision level, so I did the update on the older one. It was pretty easy, with a bootable CD, but did require putting the SSD in a machine with a internal (Windows bootable) CD drive to run the update program (my Mac Pro made this painless for me).

After reading a post here yesterday, I checked the Crucial site and discovered a newer revision of the firmware was released just 2 days ago. I will probably update my drives when I get some time ... hopefully, if there are any problems with the update, it will have been "talked" about by then. ;)

In a fast-moving technology like SSD drives ... firmware updates are probably a "good" thing to have available to you.

-howard
 
tonyy said:
Just did the SSD upgrade on my late 09 imac. I replaced the original HDD with a Samsung 830.

Process took me about 1 hour from start to finish. It's actually not that hard at all.

My boot time went from 45 seconds down to 15 or so. Apps load up quickly and overall responsiveness is a lot better.

However, I did a read/write test with BlackMagic and the results left me pretty disappointed. I know the SSD is working and all but these results are slower than Sata I speeds!

Specs are: 21.5" iMac, 3.06 GHz, 12GB ram.
Click to expand...

I get double those read/write speeds on my base model late 2010 MacBook 13", I just upgraded to an SSD the other

Just amazing, like a brand new computer
 
And when you get your SSD installed make sure to enable trim. There's a handy program (trim enabler) on macupdate that will do this for you.

You can see the yes/no for this in the System Information.
 
040H firmware on M4 512GB, 2009 Macbook Pro 13" in main bay. Trim Enabled.
BlackMagic: Write: 205MB/s, Read 267MB/s
I don't notice any speed difference between 040H firmware and 010G
 

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Blue604 said:
040H firmware on M4 512GB, 2009 Macbook Pro 13" in main bay. Trim Enabled.
BlackMagic: Write: 205MB/s, Read 267MB/s
I don't notice any speed difference between 040H firmware and 010G
Click to expand...

That looks similar to what I get with the M4 512GB on SATA-II as well.

Did you perform the firmware update? If so, how? Did you download the .iso file from Crucial for the Mac?

I downloaded the .iso update file and it loads most of the way with terminal-like text progress reports, but then it stops with an ERROR: can't read table disk2 sector0. It repeats that twice, then changes the error message to disk3setor0 repeated twice, then back to disk2sector0. I have made 2 CDs from the .iso file, and re-downloaded it and made another CD ... getting the same error from all of them. I am beginning to think it may be the master file from Crucial.

I also tried the Windows update on my MacPro, but it didn't seem to continue properly after the required re-boot.

I had updated successfully the same drives to firmware version 010G recently on the same hardware with the same process.
 
hfg said:
That looks similar to what I get with the M4 512GB on SATA-II as well.

Did you perform the firmware update? If so, how? Did you download the .iso file from Crucial for the Mac?

I downloaded the .iso update file and it loads most of the way with terminal-like text progress reports, but then it stops with an ERROR: can't read table disk2 sector0. It repeats that twice, then changes the error message to disk3setor0 repeated twice, then back to disk2sector0. I have made 2 CDs from the .iso file, and re-downloaded it and made another CD ... getting the same error from all of them. I am beginning to think it may be the master file from Crucial.

I also tried the Windows update on my MacPro, but it didn't seem to continue properly after the required re-boot.

I had updated successfully the same drives to firmware version 010G recently on the same hardware with the same process.
Click to expand...

I just bought the M4 a week ago from local NCIX. It crashed twice in 48 hr when I installed in optical bay. I took it back to NCIX for refund, but the tech guy told me about the new firmware and he updated it for me using Windows.

But now as I read more, I feel the reason it crashed is due to MBP optical bay more than the M4 itself. I had no problem when it's in HDD bay with 010G and 040H.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=16410388#post16410388
 
Blue604 said:
I just bought the M4 a week ago from local NCIX. It crashed twice in 48 hr when I installed in optical bay. I took it back to NCIX for refund, but the tech guy told me about the new firmware and he updated it for me using Windows.

But now as I read more, I feel the reason it crashed is due to MBP optical bay more than the M4 itself. I had no problem when it's in HDD bay with 010G and 040H.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=16410388#post16410388
Click to expand...

You are probably right. I have read several articles which indicate that although the optical bay port is rated for SATA-III, actually trying to run it at that speed creates problems probably related to electrical noise in the cable or circuit board. Some posted success with "shielding" the interface cable with copper foil, but it may be individual tolerance of computers with individual noise tolerance SSD drives (brand, model, sample ???). I have a late 2011 MBPro and just put the M4 SSD in the regular disk bay, and moved my hard disk to the optibay. It is working fine this way ... both as standalone drives, and now as a Fusion drive.

I have several M4 drives, both in sizes of 512GB and 256GB and have had no problems with them in a variety of mounting locations in various computers.

My problem with updating them isn't with the M4 drive ... it is getting the .iso derived CD to load the linux updater program (even without the M4 in the system). I even unplugged all the drives ... except for a pair of hard to reach OWC SSDs in RAID-0 in the optical bay, that is the next step!

-howard
 
I should be getting my new M4 on Monday. Looking forward to joining your discussion! :)
 
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