The Samsung 830 SSD thread

[grossmisconduct]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish with adding a SSD to your system? If you're planning on keeping both drives, I would recommend moving your non-SSD drive to the optical bay and installing your new SSD into the regular HD slot only because there have been numerous reports of issues with running a SSD in the optical bay on various systems.

In your particular case, and with your particular configuration, I would recommend using the SSD for the OS and Applications, and use the HD just for your data. Space permitting, you could use Carbon Copy Cloner to move everything from your HD to your SSD. If this isn't possible due to space constraints, your best bet would be to do a fresh install of ML to your SSD. There are definitely other places that you can obtain InstallESD.dmg -- just make sure that you verify the MD5 of whatever you source.

The screenshots are from Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, which is available in the App Store.

HI! First of all thanks for your reply. Sorry for the lack of explanation. My plan is to use the SSD for OS and applications and as scratch disk for Photoshop CS6. I guess I could put the HDD in the optical bay as you said if that is a more stabile sollution. How would I go about for the first boot. Should I set my opticla as boot drive before I turn the mac off and open the lid (since the drive in the HDD bay would be empty on the first boot.

My SSD is obviously too small to clone my complete HDD to it. Is it possible to clone only the applications and OS with Carbon Copy Cloner?
I was planning a clean install but now it seems the ML install dmg dissapeared after installation. I am aware of other methods to acquire the DMG but it seems a bit unnessecary given the low price. I was just wondering if you can download it again for free as with applications on the Iphone appStore.

If I buy it again will I be able to choose what disk to install it in or will it just automaticly start innstalling on the boot disk?

Finally: can anyone confirm that I dont need any casing to install th 830 in my HDD bay, as the 830 is 7mm and normal HDDs are 9mm

 

[TheAngryPenguin]

HI! First of all thanks for your reply. Sorry for the lack of explanation. My plan is to use the SSD for OS and applications and as scratch disk for Photoshop CS6. I guess I could put the HDD in the optical bay as you said if that is a more stabile sollution. How would I go about for the first boot. Should I set my opticla as boot drive before I turn the mac off and open the lid (since the drive in the HDD bay would be empty on the first boot.

My SSD is obviously too small to clone my complete HDD to it. Is it possible to clone only the applications and OS with Carbon Copy Cloner?
I was planning a clean install but now it seems the ML install dmg dissapeared after installation. I am aware of other methods to acquire the DMG but it seems a bit unnessecary given the low price. I was just wondering if you can download it again for free as with applications on the Iphone appStore.

If I buy it again will I be able to choose what disk to install it in or will it just automaticly start innstalling on the boot disk?

Finally: can anyone confirm that I dont need any casing to install th 830 in my HDD bay, as the 830 is 7mm and normal HDDs are 9mm

Your best bet (IMO) would be to (re)download ML, create a USB or DVD image of it, remove your HD, install your SSD, boot from your ML image, install ML to the SSD, check for and install all updates, enable TRIM, power down, and install your HD in the optical slot. Unfortunately, you need to create a copy of InstallESD.dmg before you run the ML upgrade on an existing system -- otherwise its gone for good. As far as the casing goes, the 830 uses a standard mount -- transplant the same mounting screws and rubber grommets that the original HD uses.

 

[grossmisconduct]

Your best bet (IMO) would be to (re)download ML, create a USB or DVD image of it, remove your HD, install your SSD, boot from your ML image, install ML to the SSD, check for and install all updates, enable TRIM, power down, and install your HD in the optical slot. Unfortunately, you need to create a copy of InstallESD.dmg before you run the ML upgrade on an existing system -- otherwise its gone for good. As far as the casing goes, the 830 uses a standard mount -- transplant the same mounting screws and rubber grommets that the original HD uses.

HI thanks again for your reply, and a very quick one too. First of all I found a site saying that you can redownload the installer for free by securing the option key while clicking purchase in the appStore (actually when I went to the appstore the price button was already changed to "download" so I dont know if you really need to secure the option key at all).

So to my last question: Im am a bit sceptic to installing from USB as I read here in this thread that some people had problems after installing from USB. So I still wonder is it possible for me to physicly install the SSD in the HDD bay and the HDD in the optical bay then boot from my HDD in the optical (maybe by holding down the option key while booting to choose the optical as booting device) and then with disk utility format the SSD and make a partition with “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and “GUID Partition Table” checked and then restore the newly downloaded DMG from my HDD to this new partition on my SSD. And finaly booting from my SSD by securing option during boot?

By the way if anyone wants to do it the way TheAngryPenguin described I found a detailed nubi guide here http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/07/how-to-burn-mountain-lion-to-a-dvd-or-usb-flash-drive/

 

[Ifti]

HI thanks again for your reply, and a very quick one too. First of all I found a site saying that you can redownload the installer for free by securing the option key while clicking purchase in the appStore (actually when I went to the appstore the price button was already changed to "download" so I dont know if you really need to secure the option key at all).

So to my last question: Im am a bit sceptic to installing from USB as I read here in this thread that some people had problems after installing from USB. So I still wonder is it possible for me to physicly install the SSD in the HDD bay and the HDD in the optical bay then boot from my HDD in the optical (maybe by holding down the option key while booting to choose the optical as booting device) and then with disk utility format the SSD and make a partition with “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and “GUID Partition Table” checked and then restore the newly downloaded DMG from my HDD to this new partition on my SSD. And finaly booting from my SSD by securing option during boot?

By the way if anyone wants to do it the way TheAngryPenguin described I found a detailed nubi guide here http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/07/how-to-burn-mountain-lion-to-a-dvd-or-usb-flash-drive/

I simply put my SSD into the laptop, boot off of my ML USB, installed ML, restored from a Time Machine Backup - and everything has been working fine since!
See my YouTube channel for tutorials.

 

[grossmisconduct]

Hi! Thanks, Ill have a look at your youtube channel. Do you have a direct link?

 

[Tonsko]

Hi! Thanks, Ill have a look at your youtube channel. Do you have a direct link?

Check his signature

 

[smithrh]

Add me to the list of happy upgraders...

Just did this upgrade on a 2008 MacBook aluminum unibody (this was right before they stuck the "Pro" on the end). It's a great upgrade - I went with the 256G model, I decided that the 840 was really overkill here and the price was pretty good on the 830.

I backed up to TM first.

Then I removed a few extra VMs which I need, but not badly enough to take up dozens of gigs on the SSD.

I then used the (nicely included!) USB dock to attach and format the 830.

Then CCC was used to clone the internal drive to the external drive.

Then I removed the internal HD and placed the SSD inside. One glitch here is that I didn't have the right size hex wrench to take the "knobs" off of the HD to transfer them to the 830, so the 830 is just hanging around at this point, loose inside the MacBook.

Really pretty stoked about the increase in performance. I unfortunately have some apps which cause memory leaks and issues with swapping even when there's inactive RAM, so I need to reboot fairly frequently, this makes that activity a 30-40 second blip instead of a 2-3 minute affair. The 30-40 second timeframe includes the VM shutdown, so it's danged quick.

I wouldn't say I should have done this earlier as prices have been a bit steep for the hardware involved - it is, after all, a 4 year old laptop. But really happy I did it overall.

Recommended.

 

[steve217]

Then I removed the internal HD and placed the SSD inside. One glitch here is that I didn't have the right size hex wrench to take the "knobs" off of the HD to transfer them to the 830, so the 830 is just hanging around at this point, loose inside the MacBook.

It's a Torx #6 that you need, but many folks have gotten those "knobs" off with a pair of pliers. Wrap the the screws with a thin cloth, and squeeze - don't crush - with the pliers and you should be able to turn the screws.

 

[Saturn1217]

Just did this upgrade on a 2008 MacBook aluminum unibody (this was right before they stuck the "Pro" on the end). It's a great upgrade - I went with the 256G model, I decided that the 840 was really overkill here and the price was pretty good on the 830.

I backed up to TM first.

Then I removed a few extra VMs which I need, but not badly enough to take up dozens of gigs on the SSD.

I then used the (nicely included!) USB dock to attach and format the 830.

Then CCC was used to clone the internal drive to the external drive.

Then I removed the internal HD and placed the SSD inside. One glitch here is that I didn't have the right size hex wrench to take the "knobs" off of the HD to transfer them to the 830, so the 830 is just hanging around at this point, loose inside the MacBook.

Really pretty stoked about the increase in performance. I unfortunately have some apps which cause memory leaks and issues with swapping even when there's inactive RAM, so I need to reboot fairly frequently, this makes that activity a 30-40 second blip instead of a 2-3 minute affair. The 30-40 second timeframe includes the VM shutdown, so it's danged quick.

I wouldn't say I should have done this earlier as prices have been a bit steep for the hardware involved - it is, after all, a 4 year old laptop. But really happy I did it overall.

Recommended.

Glad that the upgrade worked well for you. Just curious. Where did you buy the your samsung 830? I was going to buy from amazon (because I like their return policy) but I thought I would need to buy my own usb adapter if i just get the drive (not the upgrade kit). Is this not true?

thanks!

 

[smithrh]

It's a Torx #6 that you need, but many folks have gotten those "knobs" off with a pair of pliers. Wrap the the screws with a thin cloth, and squeeze - don't crush - with the pliers and you should be able to turn the screws.

Oh - good idea. Hadn't thought of that (I'm not really mechanically inclined)...

Glad that the upgrade worked well for you. Just curious. Where did you buy the your samsung 830? I was going to buy from amazon (because I like their return policy) but I thought I would need to buy my own usb adapter if i just get the drive (not the upgrade kit). Is this not true?

It was at a local "CompUSA." I put that in quotes as it's really TigerDirect that's taken over the CompUSA brand.

Let me look at the box... OK, specifically it says "Laptop PC" and "Installation Kit (with Norton Ghost)" - which I ignored. I totally missed the fact that it comes with a USB <-> SATA adapter - it's mentioned on the box on the back. Heck, I hardly looked at the box since it was the last one they had left and I wanted it... Plus, I already had a USB <-> SATA converter box, but it turned out not to work while the Samsung one worked great.

If I'm reading this right (no guarantees!), the model number for this kit is: MZ-7PC256N/AM.

 

[Saturn1217]

It was at a local "CompUSA." I put that in quotes as it's really TigerDirect that's taken over the CompUSA brand.

Let me look at the box... OK, specifically it says "Laptop PC" and "Installation Kit (with Norton Ghost)" - which I ignored. I totally missed the fact that it comes with a USB <-> SATA adapter - it's mentioned on the box on the back. Heck, I hardly looked at the box since it was the last one they had left and I wanted it... Plus, I already had a USB <-> SATA converter box, but it turned out not to work while the Samsung one worked great.

If I'm reading this right (no guarantees!), the model number for this kit is: MZ-7PC256N/AM.

Thanks. I think I will still order from amazon. Now I see that there are two options: one for the drive alone, and one for the installation kit. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't ordering an extra usb adapter for nothing

 

[TheAngryPenguin]

I got mine (256) from BuyDig for $180 shipped! Less than $1 per GB for a SSD as great as an 830 is a win IMHO!

 

[afinch1992]

price dropped to $182.96 on Amazon!

 

[MultiBat]

I also installed my Samsung 830 SSD with great success five days ago!

My HDD (about 1.5 years old) started to break down. Each time I removed a file on it I had to do disc repair and the boot times increased to about 15 minutes.

I got the 256GB Samsung 830. I could not do a last time machine backup because of the HDD breakdown, so I manually salvaged needed files to USB memory and dropbox. (I haven't got a time capsule yet. Instead I plug in a external USB HDD and do the time machine backup now and then.)

I had a couple of problems with my clean install of Mountain Lion. Thought I'd list them here if someone bumps into the same ones.

First of all I created a USB Mountain Lion recovery (don't worry when you see the Lion images during the creation, it will be Mountain Lion if thats what you're running).

Then I followed the iFixit guide and swapped to the Samsung 830. I was a bit nervous, but everything went just fine. It is just as easy as it looks. I booted with my USB recovery and formatted the SSD.

Then to my first problem. The installation failed during preparation phase. It said to try again, but it never worked. This was solved by a PRAM reset. After that, no problem.

The second problem was iLife. It is not included when you do the clean install, and I could not re-download them through the App Store. I contacted Apple support (since I read that they could help getting iLife through App Store) and they said I should install with the discs that came with my computer (early 2011 MBP). Good thing I saved the box the MBP came in, because there I found the disc. I never though of that, it being Snow Leopard from the start... Anyway installed it without a problem and then updated the through App Store with a large update.

On a side note...
I did not restore old stuff through time machine actually. I do time machine backups of data (iTunes music, pictures, docs etc.), but not system files or apps. Instead I just browsed the time machine drive and manually copied what I wanted to keep. That way I throw away crap that I don't want.

Now my MBP is incredibly fast. Pure joy starting it (now I shut it down instead of sleeping it all the time, because it boots so fast).
I don't care about numbers or the read or write speeds, just the "instant" experience when you do something.
It's very obvious to me that the mechanical drives are the bottle neck in the system, not a slightly faster CPU or more memory.

 

[TheAngryPenguin]

I know this has already been discussed a while back, but there didn't seem to be any resolution, root cause, or any other further follow-up. When I open my SSD from the Desktop icon, Finder displays that 186GB is available. Get Info on the SSD also shows 186GB available. Disk Utility, on the other hand, reports 87GB available; and this seems more accurate in that the SSD is 256GB. Is this a side-effect or bug with the TRIM Enabler?

[UPDATE]
It wasn't TRIM. It ended up being related to Time Machine. Once I disabled it and rebooted, disk usage stared displaying correctly. I guess I need to start excluding my VMs from TM...

 

[afinch1992]

amazon has sold out of the 256 for 2-3 weeks just as i was about to place my order

edit: at the $182 with super saver shipping. still have it at $189 with standard shipping

 

[robothero]

Has anyone else with an 830 and a mid 2012 MBP having issues installing the 2.9 EFI?

Mine just sits there in software updates eternally and refuses to install. No clue what's going on. Following all the directions, downloaded and ran it directly from apple instead of the update, etc.

Bleh.

 

[TheAngryPenguin]

Has anyone else with an 830 and a mid 2012 MBP having issues installing the 2.9 EFI?

Mine just sits there in software updates eternally and refuses to install. No clue what's going on. Following all the directions, downloaded and ran it directly from apple instead of the update, etc.

Bleh.

Apparently this update fixes 6GB SSD issues in the optical bay of 13" 2012 MacBook Pros. If your 830 is installed in the optical bay, you might want to temporarily move it to the regular HD bay to see if the update completes.

 

[afinch1992]

is it generally considered better to put an 830 in the regular hdd spot even in a mid-2012?

it is the base model with a 500gb hdd if it matters

 

[TheAngryPenguin]

is it generally considered better to put an 830 in the regular hdd spot even in a mid-2012?

I am too new to this thread and topic to offer a definitive answer, but my advice would be to always place your SSD in the HD slot, and if you have a second HD/SSD, place it in the optical bay. If you have two drives, one of each variety, and you've experienced no stability and/or performance issues with the SSD in the optical bay, by all means, keep it there! Do you have a 13", and if so, have you been able to successfully update its EFI to v2.9?

 

[afinch1992]

I am too new to this thread and topic to offer a definitive answer, but my advice would be to always place your SSD in the HD slot, and if you have a second HD/SSD, place it in the optical bay. If you have two drives, one of each variety, and you've experienced no stability and/or performance issues with the SSD in the optical bay, by all means, keep it there! Do you have a 13", and if so, have you been able to successfully update its EFI to v2.9?

I just got my 13". I was going to order my 830 today, but the deal that I was after sold out right before I could place the order. I'm just getting the planning down right now before I get everything.

I plan to just do all my upgrade in one swoop (ssd, optibay, and ram), so I wanted to get my plan down and stick to it instead of re-opening her up and rearranging.

 

[grossmisconduct]

Your best bet (IMO) would be to (re)download ML, create a USB or DVD image of it, remove your HD, install your SSD, boot from your ML image, install ML to the SSD, check for and install all updates, enable TRIM, power down, and install your HD in the optical slot. Unfortunately, you need to create a copy of InstallESD.dmg before you run the ML upgrade on an existing system -- otherwise its gone for good. As far as the casing goes, the 830 uses a standard mount -- transplant the same mounting screws and rubber grommets that the original HD uses.

Hi! So now my optical bay adapter arrived and I am ready to start the swap. I am going for your method booting from USB drive.
I still have (at least) one question:
As I said I will use my SSD for OS and applications, and hopefully also as Photoshop scratchdisk. Now can I just copy my applications folder from my backup over to my SSD, or do I need to actually innstall all applications again?
Are there any other folders I NEED to copy/install to my SSD?
By the way, I am aware I need to point to my User folder through Disk Utility, and I found a good guide for it here:
http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/qt/Move-Your-Home-Folder-To-A-New-Location.htm

 

[robothero]

Apparently this update fixes 6GB SSD issues in the optical bay of 13" 2012 MacBook Pros. If your 830 is installed in the optical bay, you might want to temporarily move it to the regular HD bay to see if the update completes.

It's actually in the HDD bay, but I was able to resolve it in a roundabout way.

I checked the install log via terminal and it was actually erroring out at some point saying not enough space, so the install never went through. I have about 100gb of free space, so I didn't see how this was possible, but I guess with the recovery partition and the EFI partition "space" can be at a premium.

I rolled back to 10.8.1 via time machine and then wiped out my windows partition, installed the EFI update (woo! success!) and then reupdated to 10.8.2.

Everything is working so far!

 

[Lupin3rd]

sporadic freezes - cause?

My understanding is that in the past, the typical 6Gbps SATA3 issues resulted in a freeze for about 20-30 seconds, and then the machine would continue on as normal.

Hi there,

I upgraded my Macbook Pro (2,2) six months ago with a Samsung 830 (128 GB) and experience similar issues. I watched it for some time now but I can't figure out, where it comes from. I read, there could be a malfunction when using the wrong RAM, so I returned to stock RAM, but this doesn't seem to do it. Ram is hynix, I just upgraded it with 2 GB (also hynix).
Just a Moment ago it froze again and I made this screenshot in order to help you help me xD

I'm well aware of the not so ideal combination of a 1,5 Gbit connection with a SSD, but still I get a huge rising of performance.
What would you suggest? I'm testing the RAM bars one by one at the moment, to eliminate broken RAM and I don't think the SSD is not working correctly. Since my computer created 4!!!! swapfiles during the most recent crash I suspect a communication problem between my RAM and the SSD. Or is it just the unavoidable freezes as described above? Or could old firmware be the cause?

Thanks in advance!

 

[smithrh]

Samsung 840 Review

Just FYI, Anandtech has just published their review (not preview) of the 840...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6337/samsung-ssd-840-250gb-review