I just got a 830 256gig (base model), and was wondering if I'll need to flash any firmware for it, as the Mac that I ordered will be coming in next week...
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The Samsung 830 SSD thread
- Thread starter Acejam2k
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Can't get my Samsung 830 256 to work think i have a bad drive. So far this is what i have tried:
1) install it into my 2012 MBP and try to boot to a Lion DVD it errors out displaying a circle with a line through it.
2) Installed the drive in a USB enclosure. Connected to my MBP and run Disk Utility. Disk Utility cannot format and change the partition from MBR to GUID. It just sits there about half way through. Left it that way for 2 hours and nothing....no errors and no movement.
3) Booted into Windows 7. Connect the drive again in the USB enclosure. Windows give me a prompt asking it I want to "initialize" the drive! It shows up in Disk Manager as a RAW drive. tried to format it as NTFS but it errors out and says the drive cannot be formated.
4) Installed the software that came with the drive in the box from Samsung.
The software is called Magic or something close to that. The Samsung software does not even see the Samsung 830 256 drive in Windows 7.
So now I am going RMA the drive back to Newegg.... unless someone knows something i missed?
1) install it into my 2012 MBP and try to boot to a Lion DVD it errors out displaying a circle with a line through it.
2) Installed the drive in a USB enclosure. Connected to my MBP and run Disk Utility. Disk Utility cannot format and change the partition from MBR to GUID. It just sits there about half way through. Left it that way for 2 hours and nothing....no errors and no movement.
3) Booted into Windows 7. Connect the drive again in the USB enclosure. Windows give me a prompt asking it I want to "initialize" the drive! It shows up in Disk Manager as a RAW drive. tried to format it as NTFS but it errors out and says the drive cannot be formated.
4) Installed the software that came with the drive in the box from Samsung.
The software is called Magic or something close to that. The Samsung software does not even see the Samsung 830 256 drive in Windows 7.
So now I am going RMA the drive back to Newegg.... unless someone knows something i missed?
Install it to the HDD bay and do a fresh installation. I understand you've done a fresh install, but it sounds like you did it whilst attached to a USB enclosure, which has the potential to cause all sorts of problems.
It appears - from a quick google - that the latest firmware for the 830 is 'CXM03B1Q'. It was released on 19 January, so it is likely that your drive has this already. Presumably the drive (or it's packaging) has the installed-version listed somewhere for you to cross-check. I was too keen to install the SSD to even bother checking the firmware version
Have you tried the internet recovery? All I did was install the drive and reboot to Internet Recovery (command-R), and installed OS X from there. If that doesn't work for you, it is probably safe to say the drive is non-functional.
Thanks for that.
However, i started back at the beginning and put the original HDD back in.
I then used SuperDuper to clone my HDD via USB to the SSD.
Installed this in the MBP and all was ok for about 5 minutes and then it froze.
So, again, i swapped back and put my HDD back in, plugged the SSD with the cloned data on, and booted the SSD via USB.
It is now working perfect with no beachballs etc.
I am now wondering if this could be an internal problem and not the drive?
I have read that the SATA cable could be at fault, and also, that there could be some issues using a SATA III drive on a SATA II MBP, even though they are backward compatible.
It seems to be that as soon as i install the SSD in my MBP i get problems, yet it will run fine booted via USB.
I can only suggest going back and doing a proper fresh-installation with the SSD in the HDD bay. Playing with cloning and USB is only ever going to end in strange and unpredictable behaviour.Thanks for that.
However, i started back at the beginning and put the original HDD back in.
I then used SuperDuper to clone my HDD via USB to the SSD.
Installed this in the MBP and all was ok for about 5 minutes and then it froze.
So, again, i swapped back and put my HDD back in, plugged the SSD with the cloned data on, and booted the SSD via USB.
It is now working perfect with no beachballs etc.
I am now wondering if this could be an internal problem and not the drive?
I have read that the SATA cable could be at fault, and also, that there could be some issues using a SATA III drive on a SATA II MBP, even though they are backward compatible.
It seems to be that as soon as i install the SSD in my MBP i get problems, yet it will run fine booted via USB.
Good luck, I hope you get it sorted.
Ok, im going to give that a try.
I guess cloning works for some and not for others.
Thanks for your help.
The good doctor is a genius! I thought I had tried everything but the internet recovery (command R) worked! Who new after everything else I tried that internet recovery would do the trick. I can now add internet recovery in my tool bag! Thanks
Well.... a quick update.
Reformatted the SSD, installed it and tried to do a fresh install from OSX dvd.
It would only get a small way in, and then it would throw back an error stating something like "could not transfer some of the files".
Retried about 5 times and it kept saying the same thing.
Went into disk utility and tried to do an erase, but that would only get halfway and would show an other error message -I/O error.
Similarly if i tried to partition i got 'formatting failed'.
Now, with the HDD back in the bay and the SSD plugged into the USB port, it performs all the above operations perfectly, and also via USB when i cloned the drive???????????
None of this makes sense.
Basically, what i am saying is -- the SSD works perfectly via USB, but not when physically installed in the MBP.
The HDD works perfectly when installed in the MBP.
Im really not sure there is anything i can do except return the drive and get a replacement.
Reformatted the SSD, installed it and tried to do a fresh install from OSX dvd.
It would only get a small way in, and then it would throw back an error stating something like "could not transfer some of the files".
Retried about 5 times and it kept saying the same thing.
Went into disk utility and tried to do an erase, but that would only get halfway and would show an other error message -I/O error.
Similarly if i tried to partition i got 'formatting failed'.
Now, with the HDD back in the bay and the SSD plugged into the USB port, it performs all the above operations perfectly, and also via USB when i cloned the drive???????????
None of this makes sense.
Basically, what i am saying is -- the SSD works perfectly via USB, but not when physically installed in the MBP.
The HDD works perfectly when installed in the MBP.
Im really not sure there is anything i can do except return the drive and get a replacement.
Last edited:
- I suppose not. But if you have access to another computer (preferably another MacBook Pro), it would be interesting to see how that computer handles it. It sounds like you have some defect or incompatibility issue with your SATA cable and the SSD, which is why I'm suggesting trying it in another computer.
Also, if you feel like tinkering even more, try downgrading (or upgrading if possible) the SSD firmware to see if that changes anything.
Unfortunately i dont have access to another MBP so i am sending this drive back for a replacement and going to give that a try.
Very disappointed TBH.
Unfortunately i dont have access to another MBP so i am sending this drive back for a replacement and going to give that a try.
Very disappointed TBH.
- I can understand your disappointment, and I hope the replacement will be better. Let us know how it turns out!
This makes very interesting reading. I recently had the same issues trying to install my Samsung 830 256Gb in my new 2012 13 MBP. The drive was working perfectly in my late 2011 15 MBP! I am wondering if these drives are having incompatability issues in the latest MBP 13. It could be a firmware issue I guess. Let me know how you get on with your replacement
This makes very interesting reading. I recently had the same issues trying to install my Samsung 830 256Gb in my new 2012 13 MBP. The drive was working perfectly in my late 2011 15 MBP! I am wondering if these drives are having incompatability issues in the latest MBP 13. It could be a firmware issue I guess. Let me know how you get on with your replacement
You guys will be the first to know!!
256gb to be installed in 15" MBP 6,2 (mid 2010)
I intend to clean install osx Mountain Lion, no data migration, and formatting with disk utility from a bootable dvd with Mountain Lion installer.
Do I need to run anything from the Samsung ssd "Magician" tool either prior to or after installing the drive?
I have win7 on a pc I can use to run the magician tool and connect to the 830 via sata II.
I wasn't planning on creating a win7 partition on the 830.
It's been suggested that updating the firmware for the drive isn't necessary at this point since as of this post, the latest update was in January of 2012 and it being 6-7 months later the latest firmware should already be installed.
Any other optimizing needed, and/or settings adjusted from within osx?
I have my 830 256gb (MZ-7PC256B/WW) but haven't registered it yet. Somehow I couldn't find the Magician Tool anywhere on Samsung's site.
wtf? : http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/MZ-7PC256B/WW
I ended up downloading from softpedia
I intend to clean install osx Mountain Lion, no data migration, and formatting with disk utility from a bootable dvd with Mountain Lion installer.
Do I need to run anything from the Samsung ssd "Magician" tool either prior to or after installing the drive?
I have win7 on a pc I can use to run the magician tool and connect to the 830 via sata II.
I wasn't planning on creating a win7 partition on the 830.
It's been suggested that updating the firmware for the drive isn't necessary at this point since as of this post, the latest update was in January of 2012 and it being 6-7 months later the latest firmware should already be installed.
Any other optimizing needed, and/or settings adjusted from within osx?
I have my 830 256gb (MZ-7PC256B/WW) but haven't registered it yet. Somehow I couldn't find the Magician Tool anywhere on Samsung's site.
wtf? : http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/MZ-7PC256B/WW
I ended up downloading from softpedia
Congrats on the 830! It's a great drive and you won't be disappointed. I would venture to say you already have the latest firmware on your SSD which is CXM03B1Q. Once installed you can verify by doing the following:
About This Mac -> More Info -> System Report -> Serial ATA -> Revision
If current no other optimizing should be required.
thanks user418...
maybe this is old news, but this is an interesting article by anandtech...
The next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display: SSD Analysis
i noticed some posts in regard to swapping out/upgrading to the 830 in new macbook pros (2012), and at least w/ the 512gb options, it looks like there's no need, and that you'd likely benefit from the custom apple firmware, avoiding any potential headaches with installing the drive yourself...
if I hadn't just blown so much on a new ipad, I'd seriously considering returning my 830 and upgrading my macbook to one of the latest models... thunderbolt, usb 3, apple tv compatibility, and full ssd performance capability. oh yeah, and the retina display
maybe this is old news, but this is an interesting article by anandtech...
The next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display: SSD Analysis
i noticed some posts in regard to swapping out/upgrading to the 830 in new macbook pros (2012), and at least w/ the 512gb options, it looks like there's no need, and that you'd likely benefit from the custom apple firmware, avoiding any potential headaches with installing the drive yourself...
if I hadn't just blown so much on a new ipad, I'd seriously considering returning my 830 and upgrading my macbook to one of the latest models... thunderbolt, usb 3, apple tv compatibility, and full ssd performance capability. oh yeah, and the retina display
Only prob is, its taking 44secs to boot?!
that's not normal. my 830 takes 5 seconds from the time i press the power button.
did you do a clean install or clone/restore from backup? also try repairing permissions.
Go into system configuration and boot options, then select the drive again. reboot. Long boots can be caused by EFI searching for a bootable device. Assigning it in OSX skips the search unless option is held down.