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DSTOFEL

macrumors 6502a
Feb 11, 2011
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738
I know this is an older thread, but hoping someone can please confirm a couple of things for me.

I've got the Samsung 256GB 840 Pro that I need to do a firmware update on. Just a couple of questions:
- Can I perform this firmware update on an iMac?
- Can the 840 Pro be connected to the iMac via an enclosure and attached to the iMac via USB 3 port? Or, does the 840 Pro "have to be" connected to the iMac via an "internal" SATA port. If so, I've got an older mid-2010 model iMac (with an extra SATA port that I installed) that I can open up and install the Samsung 840 Pro into.....just to do the firmware update. However, I'm hoping this can be done with the 840 Pro SSD attached externally via USB 3 so I don't have to open up the iMac. I've opened it up a couple of times....but always a "daunting task" to remove the LDC display to get to the SATA ports.

Thanks,
Doug
 
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chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,520
7,047
- Can the 840 Pro be connected to the Mac via an enclosure and attached to the iMac via USB 3 port? Or, does the 840 Pro "have to be" connected to the iMac via an "internal" SATA port.
You can only update the firmware on a native SATA port.
 

DSTOFEL

macrumors 6502a
Feb 11, 2011
986
738
I know this is an older thread, but hoping someone can please confirm a couple of things for me.

I've got the Samsung 256GB 840 Pro that I need to do a firmware update on. Just a couple of questions:
- Can I perform this firmware update on my iMac
- Can the 840 Pro be connected to the Mac via an enclosure and attached to the iMac via USB 3 port? Or, does the 840 Pro "have to be" conn
You can only update the firmware on a native SATA port.

Thanks for the quick reply! I installed an extra SATA port (i.e. via a kit I got from OWC) in the 2010 iMac....I've had a SSD drive installed internally to it. So, I do have this SATA port that I can use. Was hoping to be able to do this from an external USB enclosure....but it sounds like that's not possible.
 

chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,520
7,047
But for updates you have to run it under Windows - AFAIK there is NO way to update under OSX….

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html

they say:
"Below you will find the latest firmware downloads for recent Samsung-branded SSDs.
ISO files may be used only via DOS using a bootable CD/DVD."
Yeah, it's necessary to use one of the bootable ISOs to install the firmware update, but those work fine on Macs.
 

DSTOFEL

macrumors 6502a
Feb 11, 2011
986
738
But for updates you have to run it under Windows - AFAIK there is NO way to update under OSX….

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html

they say:
"Below you will find the latest firmware downloads for recent Samsung-branded SSDs.
ISO files may be used only via DOS using a bootable CD/DVD."
Wow....I was under the impression that you could just download the ISO and burn it onto a USB thumb drive and boot from that (on a Mac) to update the Samsung 840 pro firmware. If this is not possible and someone doesn't have a windows laptop to use, then it seems like it would be impossible to update the firmware for mac users.
 

chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,520
7,047
Wow....I was under the impression that you could just download the ISO and burn it onto a USB thumb drive and boot from that (on a Mac) to update the Samsung 840 pro firmware. If this is not possible and someone doesn't have a windows laptop to use, then it seems like it would be impossible to update the firmware for mac users.
You may need to burn the ISO to a CD/DVD, but it will work one way or the other.
 

MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
You may need to burn the ISO to a CD/DVD, but it will work one way or the other.

so - copying the firmware-update on CD and running it under OSX will work?

Would be fine - I didn´t know that… :)

Please confirm… to good to be true… (I have several EVO 840 and one 840 Pro and never ever updated the firmware. Would be very pleased to have the chance to do it right now…) :)
 

chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,520
7,047
so - copying the firmware-update on CD and running it under OSX will work?
No, when you boot from the CD, it runs a DOS environment to upgrade the firmware. The OS on the SSD isn't used, but this all works fine on a Mac.
 

MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
No, when you boot from the CD, it runs a DOS environment to upgrade the firmware. The OS on the SSD isn't used, but this all works fine on a Mac.

Thank you very much for the information - I learned something... all my Samsung 840 SSDs will get now their update… that´s fine!
 

DSTOFEL

macrumors 6502a
Feb 11, 2011
986
738
Just a quick update on the firmware update for the 840 Pro. I've got good news and bad news. The good news is: My Samsung 840 Pro already had the latest firmware installed. The bad news is: I had to open up the iMac again and reinstall the Samsung (in the spare SATA port that I installed) just to check the firmware version. So, unfortunately, I won't be able to confirm the process of updating the firmware via burning the ISO onto a CD and installing on the Mac.

I had pulled the 840 Pro out of my Mid 2010 iMac to prepare it for sale (ie I had the 840 Pro installed as an extra internal drive). I just upgraded to the late 2015, 2TB fusion iMac and plan to use the 256 GB 840 Pro as an external storage (i.e. connected via USB 3). Now I've got to figure out the best use for the Samsung as an external storage device.

Thanks for the help anyway!
 
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MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
@ DSTOFEL

But evidently ( if I understand correctly what you wrote) you can confirm that starting a mac from the CD with a Samsung SSD connected in SATA position will allow to check/upgrade the firmware? That´s good news.

Thank you for charing this with us.
 
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DSTOFEL

macrumors 6502a
Feb 11, 2011
986
738
@ DSTOFEL

But evidently ( if I understand correctly what you wrote) you can confirm that starting a mac from the CD with a Samsung SSD connected in SATA position will allow to check/upgrade the firmware? That´s good news.

Thank you for joining this with us.
Actually, I didn't have to start the Mac from the CD to check the firmware. Once I connected the SSD via SATA, I just booted the Mac as normal (i.e. From the "stock" HDD....that contains OS X) then checked under Application>Utilities>System Information.....then clicked on the SATA option. From there I could see the Samsung drive information and under "Revision" that the firmware was the latest.....it shows the firmware version here.
 

MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
Hi there,

Please help me to see more clearly….
Do I have a "read performance" problem with my EVO 840 or not?

I upgraded my EVO 840 1TB. Purchased it 2 years ago, installed it in my MacPro as 2nd SSD. But I never used it (Main SSD was a 840 Pro 512GB in PCIe position).

Since my "original MAC SSD" from 2011 (Kingston 512GB) is only SATA II and now 4 years old, filled with about 370 GB, I decided to use the 840 EVO 1TB (Which was already dissembled since some months) in an MBP 2012. Backuped the Kingston SSD, then Cloned the Kingston on the EVO, put it in the MBP and upgraded the newest Samsung Firmware using the ISO-DVD-RW method. Which worked fine. The "Performance restoration part" either didn´t work or was very rapid (no old data existing on the EVO).
Restarted, no Problem. Let the MBP in idle state during night.

(I know, you are still waiting for the problem, but just one second..)

Performance test with Black Magic Speed test was very pleasant: writes 488/sec, Reads 511/s.

BUT when I installed (without problems) TrimEnabler, I was tempted to run also THEIR Performance test.
In ALL performance levels write and rewrite was nearly 500/s - BUT: READS are shown constantly near the zero-level - only ONE single time (the second try of about 10 times) it showed about 450/s Reads and rests since near Zero ( will say about 20-30).

Well - never treat numbers, but only problems….
My MBP opens very fast Apps and large files with big raw-Photos.

Starting my MBP takes about 40 sec.
But sometimes there is (just for some seconds) the "ball of death".

What do you think about the enormous difference of the results got by Blackmagic and Trim Enabler?
Is it just nothing and shows only the lack of coherence between such tests and different methods and algorithms or is it something to think seriously about?

I am NOT a "Performance- addicted" person - I just want to be shure that I will not run into problems soon - because I depend at the moment on this MBP for professional work...

Trim Enabler says everything "seems to be super" and Disk Utility confirms that the EVO has NO issues.
There are a lot of disk permission errors (mostly % with iTunes) which I treated with the repair function.
Nothing changed the enormous difference between the two "Read-Performance results" nor the nearly equal (good) Write-performance-results.

Question:
1) Is it just NOTHING to bother about or should I prevent something?
2) Would a "clean install" be useful?


I am still under OSX 10.8.5 on a MBP 9,1 2,3 MHz with 16 GB RAM.

Thank you very much in advance.



 
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Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,149
15,635
California
Question:
1) Is it just NOTHING to bother about or should I prevent something?
2) Would a "clean install" be useful?

If things are working well the the Black Magic test is good like you said, I would just write it off to a glitch with the TRIM Enabler testing methodology. There is a speed test app called AJA you might try for a third opinion, but if it was me I would just leave it be.
 
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MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
If things are working well the the Black Magic test is good like you said, I would just write it off to a glitch with the TRIM Enabler testing methodology. There is a speed test app called AJA you might try for a third opinion, but if it was me I would just leave it be.


Thank you very much,
I did also the AJA-test and it showed nearly exactly the same (good) results as the blackmagic test: about 489MB/s for writes and 511 MB/s for reads. :) As a fan of redundancy I choose now to follow your advice and decide to let it be as it is.

Thanks again for your help. :)

edit: Did also a manual TRIM in single User Mode (just to be shure) and it did not make any difference.
 
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MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
For Those Users like me who are not familiar with upgrading the Samsung Firmware on MACs and perhaps faced problems with it:

this guy shows very good how to do this easily with either CD, CD-RW oder DVD-RW (I did the latter) - no USB stick needed.

http://blog.conradchavez.com/2014/1...vo-ssd-performance-restoration-tool-on-a-mac/

The magic point is renaming the ending of the Firmware file in .dmg as explained in the blog.

The description helped me a lot.
 
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MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
If things are working well the the Black Magic test is good like you said, I would just write it off to a glitch with the TRIM Enabler testing methodology. There is a speed test app called AJA you might try for a third opinion, but if it was me I would just leave it be.


I have a response of Oscar, the developer of TrimEnabler at Cindori about the irritating READ-Performance test results.
This is indeed caused by a bug:


https://www.cindori.org/forums/topic/bug-in-performance-test-of-trim-enabler-3-4-2-2/

Oskar wrote:

There is a bug with the performance test in Trim Enabler and very new SSD's. The read speed is not properly recognisable and results in zero. The performance test in Disk Sensei does not suffer from this issue.

Post Link:

So - everything is ok with my MBP. :)

To be shure I passed also the EtreCheck-Test and the result was: "Performance: EXCELLENT".

:)

Thanks again for your help!
 
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