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The Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD thread

I just put in the new SSD and i went into Internet Recovery and tried to install OS X Lion. However at the page 'Select disk you want to install.. '(something along those lines), my SSD can't be detected.

However in Disk Utility, it can be detected. Do i need to use Disk Utliity to set it to a suitable format?
 
aslam89 said:
I just put in the new SSD and i went into Internet Recovery and tried to install OS X Lion. However at the page 'Select disk you want to install.. '(something along those lines), my SSD can't be detected.

However in Disk Utility, it can be detected. Do i need to use Disk Utliity to set it to a suitable format?
Click to expand...

You have to erase/reformat the drive to Mac OS Extended (Journal)
Then you can restore your OS on it.
Hope this helps
 
leo.andres.21 said:
You have to erase/reformat the drive to Mac OS Extended (Journal)
Then you can restore your OS on it.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Ok i did that right after I made the post. After about 20 mins it's still 60% at Partitioning and the estimated time seems to be increasing. It stands at 26 minutes now. Is this normal? Should I force shut down and try again?
 
aslam89 said:
Ok i did that right after I made the post. After about 20 mins it's still 60% at Partitioning and the estimated time seems to be increasing. It stands at 26 minutes now. Is this normal? Should I force shut down and try again?
Click to expand...

That seems a bit long, but I'd suggest you just let it finish. Also, did you make sure to use the GUID partitioning scheme and not MBR? I've had some weird issues with a HFS+ partition on a MBR partition-schemed drive.

This guide should help: http://www.macworld.com.au/help/how-to-format-a-startup-drive-for-a-mac-110902/
 
ecschwarz said:
That seems a bit long, but I'd suggest you just let it finish. Also, did you make sure to use the GUID partitioning scheme and not MBR? I've had some weird issues with a HFS+ partition on a MBR partition-schemed drive.

This guide should help: http://www.macworld.com.au/help/how-to-format-a-startup-drive-for-a-mac-110902/
Click to expand...

I earlier clicked on the SSD on the left portion, followed by Erase. Format chosen was Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This is quite worrying.


EDIT: I clicked the Apple logo and clicked Shut Down. I went into Internet Recovery again and in Disk Utility, i can no longer see my SSD! Did i just ruin a brand new SSD that cost me a lot of money :/ Extremely panicky now.
 
Last edited:
aslam89 said:
I earlier clicked on the SSD on the left portion, followed by Erase. Format chosen was Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This is quite worrying.

EDIT: I clicked the Apple logo and clicked Shut Down. I went into Internet Recovery again and in Disk Utility, i can no longer see my SSD! Did i just ruin a brand new SSD that cost me a lot of money :/ Extremely panicky now.
Click to expand...

If and when you can see it again, follow the steps so it's erased as a Mac-native drive (click the drive on the left, pick the Partition tab, click Options, and pick GUID).

Due to the long erase time and drive missing, I'm wondering if there was any damage done to the cable during installation - they are somewhat fragile and that will cause random drive issues. Is there any way you can test the drive externally (either with a SATA-to-USB adapter or external enclosure)?

If you put your old drive in the computer, does it appear?

Also, what machine are you using?
 
ecschwarz said:
If and when you can see it again, follow the steps so it's erased as a Mac-native drive (click the drive on the left, pick the Partition tab, click Options, and pick GUID).

Due to the long erase time and drive missing, I'm wondering if there was any damage done to the cable during installation - they are somewhat fragile and that will cause random drive issues. Is there any way you can test the drive externally (either with a SATA-to-USB adapter or external enclosure)?

If you put your old drive in the computer, does it appear?

Also, what machine are you using?
Click to expand...

I'm using a mid-2012 Macbook Pro. I am unable to test it externally. Sigh. I'll take it back to the shop tomorrow and see how it goes.
 
aslam89 said:
I'm using a mid-2012 Macbook Pro. I am unable to test it externally. Sigh. I'll take it back to the shop tomorrow and see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about that - I installed one in mine (I have a 13") and the process went pretty simple. Maybe you did get a bad SSD, too...

I would try to pick up a SATA-to-USB adapter. It's come in handy a lot for me and you can get a decent one for about $20-$30 (I used it to initially copy data from my old drive to my 840 Evo), but now use it for troubleshooting and archival purposes with all sorts of hard drives.
 
aslam89 said:
Ok i did that right after I made the post. After about 20 mins it's still 60% at Partitioning and the estimated time seems to be increasing. It stands at 26 minutes now. Is this normal? Should I force shut down and try again?
Click to expand...

That is definitely not normal and it sounds like you did everything correctly. You either got a bad drive or your drive cable is bad (less common, but it happens).

When you select the drive and erase it should be done in about one minute.

GUID is selected by default, so that is not your issue.
 
ecschwarz said:
Sorry to hear about that - I installed one in mine (I have a 13") and the process went pretty simple. Maybe you did get a bad SSD, too...

I would try to pick up a SATA-to-USB adapter. It's come in handy a lot for me and you can get a decent one for about $20-$30 (I used it to initially copy data from my old drive to my 840 Evo), but now use it for troubleshooting and archival purposes with all sorts of hard drives.
Click to expand...

Weaselboy said:
That is definitely not normal and it sounds like you did everything correctly. You either got a bad drive or your drive cable is bad (less common, but it happens).

When you select the drive and erase it should be done in about one minute.

GUID is selected by default, so that is not your issue.
Click to expand...

Wow ok. I'm also quite surprised the 'erase' thing took so long. Good thing i bought this from a shop and not online. I'll have to go down tomorrow. My biggest problem here is i simply do not have the luxury of time to do this. I need the laptop urgently for school.
 
Something weird just happened. I booted up into Internet Recovery -> Disk Utility and followed all these steps: http://www.macworld.com.au/help/how-to-format-a-startup-drive-for-a-mac-110902/#.Ux9KpD-SwrU

When I clicked Partition, the status reads "Waiting for the disks to reappear" and stuck at the same 60% region for the past five minutes. I've looked up Youtube videos and people do it so quickly. also in the past, I removed Windows partitions very quickly (on normal hard drives).

This is starting to get weirder and frustrating as well. I'm starting to think that this may be a problem caused by my logicboard/motherboard? After all, the reason I'm switching to SSD is because my hard drive stopped working. According to an Apple service centre, they said it is most likely hard disk failure. Only reason i didn't allow them to take it in for a normal hard drive replacement is the long 10-days wait time which i couldn't afford.

EDIT: I managed to change it to FAT32 which happened nearly instantly. Seems like the issue here is formatting it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Changing Master Boot Record to GUID doesn't seem to take effect either. It stays as Master Boot Record
 
Last edited:
Rabble Rabble Rabble,

Bought my 120gb Samsung 840 EVO, installed it easily enough. Swapped out my optical drive on my mid 2012 13" Macbook pro, hoping for a new faster boot/ application drive. Currently the disk comes with EXT0BB0Q firmware...but now that I have no optical drive that is much more difficult. (Haven't gotten the .iso to be able to copy to any USB sticks so far either)

The new SSD is recognized, however when I try to install mavericks on it, it always fails. When I try to carbon copy the existing HHD system over it also fails. It can carry data over, but eventually gets all messed up and is useless, saying there is a writing error.

Usually after this I have to restart the computer before it lets me erase the disk. Otherwise it says it cannot mount the disk.

Do you think I have a faulty drive? or is there something else going on?
 
nihiriju said:
Rabble Rabble Rabble,

Bought my 120gb Samsung 840 EVO, installed it easily enough. Swapped out my optical drive on my mid 2012 13" Macbook pro, hoping for a new faster boot/ application drive. Currently the disk comes with EXT0BB0Q firmware...but now that I have no optical drive that is much more difficult. (Haven't gotten the .iso to be able to copy to any USB sticks so far either)

The new SSD is recognized, however when I try to install mavericks on it, it always fails. When I try to carbon copy the existing HHD system over it also fails. It can carry data over, but eventually gets all messed up and is useless, saying there is a writing error.

Usually after this I have to restart the computer before it lets me erase the disk. Otherwise it says it cannot mount the disk.

Do you think I have a faulty drive? or is there something else going on?
Click to expand...

You could try swapping the SSD and HD locations ... put the slower HD in the optical bay, and put the fast SSD in the normal disk location.

I recall that 2011 models had noise issues with some 6G SSDs in the optical bay, even though the interface itself was rated for those speeds. I don't recall if or when they fixed the issue, but it might be affecting your system as well.
 
Hi I'm new here I have some questions before starting my project to add an SSD to my mac mini 2012 now I have a HHD 500gb installed OS mavericks and bootcamp (windows). Whenever I turn on the mac mini and hold the option key I have 3 choices of 3 to start (macintosh HD -bootcamp or recovery)
or I can go into the system and choose which option I want to start with.

My question is if I add an SSD and leave my HHD intact and install the OS on the new SSD mavericks will happen when I turn on the mac mini to display 4 options masintosh HD bootcamp the recovery and the new SSD or if I go to preferences in mac or windows control panel to choose which option I want to start .. I wish that can help me thank you very much ..
 
JEREZANO said:
Hi I'm new here I have some questions before starting my project to add an SSD to my mac mini 2012 now I have a HHD 500gb installed OS mavericks and bootcamp (windows). Whenever I turn on the mac mini and hold the option key I have 3 choices of 3 to start (macintosh HD -bootcamp or recovery)
or I can go into the system and choose which option I want to start with.

My question is if I add an SSD and leave my HHD intact and install the OS on the new SSD mavericks will happen when I turn on the mac mini to display 4 options masintosh HD bootcamp the recovery and the new SSD or if I go to preferences in mac or windows control panel to choose which option I want to start .. I wish that can help me thank you very much ..
Click to expand...

Yes ... you will have an additional boot selection choice in all three situations for the added SSD

.
 
hfg said:
You could try swapping the SSD and HD locations ... put the slower HD in the optical bay, and put the fast SSD in the normal disk location.

I recall that 2011 models had noise issues with some 6G SSDs in the optical bay, even though the interface itself was rated for those speeds. I don't recall if or when they fixed the issue, but it might be affecting your system as well.
Click to expand...

I'm going to try this now...I don't feel too optimistic, but I have my fingers crossed. Thanks for the tip!
 
AuroraProject said:
These are not the most user friendly devices when it comes to firmware updates! Samsung really needs a better way to do this on a Mac.
Click to expand...

I agree - although I've gotten into a bit of a routine - burn the Windows ISO to a DVD (not CD), boot from it. The problem for a lot seems to be when they try it on a flash drive or external optical drive. The former seems to never work and the latter really depends on the drive.
 
nihiriju said:
I'm going to try this now...I don't feel too optimistic, but I have my fingers crossed. Thanks for the tip!
Click to expand...

Worked! Had to put the SSD in the normal HD bay and switch the HD into the optical. Working (great) now, however I can definitely hear the HD much more.
 
I found a good deal on the Samsung 840 256 drives at Best Buy for $204 then i found a better deal on Amazon.
There may be better deals out there but I'm just passing this along.
This may be useful for a Price Match...
Amazon Samsung 840 -- $130.00

41sEN40QhML.jpg
 
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