Which enclosure for Samsung SM951 with 2018 mac mini?

[mistuk]

Hi all,

Just got my Mac Mini 2018 and want to use it with a 512 GB Samsung SM951 SSD drive I had in my old Mac Pro. The model number of the SSD is MZHPV512HDGL and is an M2 AHCI model (not really sure what that all means...)

Anyhow - I bought this enclosure from amazon...
NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD to USB 3.1 Type C Gen2 Enclosure - ElecGear 10Gbps External Aluminum Cooling Case, 2280 PCI-E M2 M-Key NGFF HDD Card Reader Adapter, NVMe USB C Hard Disk Drive Converter Caddy Box
by PeakLead LLC
Learn more: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GPB1VR4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_xyHnCbFVKQ2J4

I've tried connecting it to the USB 3 port on the rear of the Mac Mini, and connecting it to the Thunderbolt / USB 3.1 ports (It comes with a cable and a USB -> USB C adaptor), but the drive doesn't mount

When I look in the system profiler under USB, I can see the interface card is connected in each case (under a different bus depending on whether connected via the USB 3 or the Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1 ports), but the drive is not visible. The drive definitely still works on a PCIE card when tested in a Mac Pro.

What I have noticed is that it says current available 500mA, Current required 900mA (so I'm guessing this is the problem).

Whats the best way of solving this problem? Is there a better enclosure I can get?

Thanks

 

[lederermc]

Hi all,

Just got my Mac Mini 2018 and want to use it with a 512 GB Samsung SM951 SSD drive I had in my old Mac Pro. The model number of the SSD is MZHPV512HDGL and is an M2 AHCI model (not really sure what that all means...)

Anyhow - I bought this enclosure from amazon...
NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD to USB 3.1 Type C Gen2 Enclosure - ElecGear 10Gbps External Aluminum Cooling Case, 2280 PCI-E M2 M-Key NGFF HDD Card Reader Adapter, NVMe USB C Hard Disk Drive Converter Caddy Box
by PeakLead LLC
Learn more: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GPB1VR4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_xyHnCbFVKQ2J4

I've tried connecting it to the USB 3 port on the rear of the Mac Mini, and connecting it to the Thunderbolt / USB 3.1 ports (It comes with a cable and a USB -> USB C adaptor), but the drive doesn't mount

When I look in the system profiler under USB, I can see the interface card is connected in each case (under a different bus depending on whether connected via the USB 3 or the Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1 ports), but the drive is not visible. The drive definitely still works on a PCIE card when tested in a Mac Pro.

What I have noticed is that it says current available 500mA, Current required 900mA (so I'm guessing this is the problem).

Whats the best way of solving this problem? Is there a better enclosure I can get?

Thanks

It looks like you bought the wrong case. AHCI is not the same as NVMe.

 

[treekram]

Here's one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WBTUO-LM900-USB3-0-Enclosure-Support/dp/B076WV3CRZ

But with no reviews or questions, who knows how this works? You need to look for AHCI, M.2 or NGFF or M-key, PCIe. Stay away if it says SATA anywhere in the description. Some of these enclosures may (I don't know, I may have seen some in the past) may do both AHCI and NVMe and will explicitly say so - otherwise they're mutually exclusive.

 

[Fishrrman]

I agree with lederermc.
You bought a case that fits an "nvme" drive, but you DO NOT HAVE an nvme drive.

That means it ain't gonna work.

I did a quick search and couldn't find any external USB enclosures to fit ahci m.2 SSDs... BUT... it looks like treekram may have a solution with the link in reply 3.

I doubt you're going to find many (any?) who can confirm that this will work.
Looks like you're going to have to become "the pioneer" here!

 

[lederermc]

OWC (aka: macsales.com) https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENPRPCI/
Sell upgrade SSD kits for a wide range of MacPro's that include enclosures for original Apple SSDs. They might be able to help getting a case.

 

[treekram]

OWC (aka: macsales.com) https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENPRPCI/
Sell upgrade SSD kits for a wide range of MacPro's that include enclosures for original Apple SSDs. They might be able to help getting a case.

The enclosure in this link is for an Apple SSD. The OP has a standard M-key PCIe SSD - that's very clear by the model # that was provided. The model # also verifies that it's an AHCI SSD. I looked through the OWC enclosures and didn't find a suitable one. It MAY be possible to use this enclosure if you get an adapter that fits a standard M-key SSD to the Apple proprietary key configuration but OWC hasn't allowed returns in the past where the device doesn't work for the buyer's intended purpose but isn't defective.

To the OP: you may be better off selling the SSD. I think there is a demand for AHCI drives in the PC world (for PC's that work with AHCI but not NVMe) and there are multiple cards that allow the SSD to be used in a PC (and you probably would have had a card to fit it in the Mac Pro). I'm not all that knowledgeable about this but it may be something to look into. There also may be a limited demand from Mac users who want to run pre-High Sierra OS's on certain Macs. There was such a case a few weeks ago from a poster who bought a used 2015 (I think) MBP which had a replacement 3rd-party NVMe SSD but they wanted to run El Capitan, which required an AHCI SSD.

 

[jerwin]

What I have noticed is that it says current available 500mA, Current required 900mA (so I'm guessing this is the problem).

No. This is the problem.

Note that AHCI is in the incompatible column.