Barry Levine
Level 1 (84 points)
Mac OS X

Q: iMac9,1 & large SSD not compatible?

Tried upgrading an iMac9,1 (early 2009) with a Sandisk Ulta II 960GB SSD. This is a SATA III SSD. Ended up with a white screen upon boot. Absolutely would not boot with this drive (internally or externally). I did test the SSD thoroughly and even installed it into a late 2009 iMac10,1 which booted just fine. Then I put a 240GB Kingston (also SATA III) into the 9,1 and it booted fine. Checked the System Report and the SATA interface reported 3Gb negotiated to 1.5Gb. The speed improvement was still phenomenal as the SSD had El Cap on it and all operations from booting onward were quite speedy.

 

I recall OWC having 3Gb SSDs (and a quick search at OWC for an SSD compatible with the imac9,1 confirmed they recommend 3Gb).

 

What have been the experiences of other iMac9,1 owners who have done this sort of upgrade? Which large (960GB/1TB) SSDs have worked for you?

 

Thanks!

 

Barry

Posted on Feb 27, 2016 7:27 PM

by Mike Sombrio,Solvedanswer
Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio
Level 6 (17,233 points)
Apple Watch
A:

Barry, the problem is that the clients iMac has an Nvidia MCP79 SATA 3Gb controller in it and 6Gb SSD's that use a Sandforce or Marvell controller will only run at 1.5Gb when connected the the MCP79. There is no firmware update that will correct it. I now that OWC 3Gb, and 6Gb SSD,s from Crucial and Samsung will work at 3Gb but cannot vouch for other brands. Later iMacs like my late 2009 have an Intel 5 series chipset and will negotiate most 6Gb SSD's to 3Gb without problems.

Posted on Feb 28, 2016 11:39 AM

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Barry Levine

Q: iMac9,1 & large SSD not compatible?

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  • by BC001,

    BC001 BC001 Apr 3, 2016 4:05 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 3, 2016 4:05 PM in response to Csound1

    Csound1,

     

    Appreciate the additional suggestion.  I saw references to others going down the new cable path when getting similar issues.  It seemed like a lot of those cases were folks driven to replace the original HDD due to performance issues or failure.  In this case, the existing HDD works fine.  Just wanted a performance upgrade. 

     

    In addition, I'm not asking it to go any faster than the SATA controller it connects with...i.e. SATA II 3GB/s.  I would be surprised that Apple used a cable that couldn't fully support the speed of the controller they installed.  Again, while the SSD is capable of SATA III 6GB/s, it would be expected to negotiate at 3GB/s with the controller, so no out of spec demand on the existing cable. 

     

    I think the fact that Barry had no issues with a different SSD, by a different manuf. and a different size, points more towards compatibility than it does towards a cable issue.

     

    Brian

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 3, 2016 4:10 PM in response to BC001
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 3, 2016 4:10 PM in response to BC001

    The cable is very old, it was built in the days when 50MB/s was a lot, SSD's are at 500MB/s, that is a significant difference.

     

    You are correct that a Sata 2 controller should negotiate a 3Gb/s connection if used.

  • by Barry Levine,

    Barry Levine Barry Levine Jul 1, 2016 1:22 PM in response to Barry Levine
    Level 1 (84 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 1, 2016 1:22 PM in response to Barry Levine

    Posting this just in case there are others wondering which SSDs will work with older Macs.

     

    Latest test: MacBookPro5,5 (late 2008-2009) - MacSales shows that this machine requires their 3G SSDs (and lists -no- 6G SSDs). It uses the MCP79 chipset so it's one of the "damned" old units. However, I used a PNY CS1311 480GB and it boots and works fine. System Report shows a link speed of 3G and a "negotiated link speed" also of 3G so the PNY SSD is a winner.

     

    Hope this helps others.

     

    Barry

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jul 1, 2016 1:33 PM in response to Barry Levine
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 1, 2016 1:33 PM in response to Barry Levine

    I also have a 5,5, it's fitted with a 6GB/sec Crucial SSD at a negotiated 3GB/sec

  • by Barry Levine,

    Barry Levine Barry Levine Jul 1, 2016 4:38 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (84 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 1, 2016 4:38 PM in response to Csound1

    So we have proof that both the Crucial and PNY SSDs will work fine at the proper speed. Nice that we don't need to spend the extra $ for the 3G units from MacSales (which, although they are high quality, are more costly).

     

    Thanks!

  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Jul 1, 2016 5:10 PM in response to Barry Levine
    Level 7 (27,560 points)
    Jul 1, 2016 5:10 PM in response to Barry Levine

    I can also vouch for the PNY CS1111 and CS1311 series SSD's. They both work great in my 2010 Mac Mini at 3G and my 2012 Mac Mini at 6G.

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