Kappy

Q: Loner T - Need help w/OCZ SSD

This is a Trion 1TB SSD brand new sealed in the box. Just received it a few days ago. I partitioned it into two volumes. I've managed to get the Sierra seed on the first volume without any problem, but I have tried putting El Capitan on the first volume, too, without a problem. But the second partition is always a failure. I have attempted any number of copies and clones, but at some point in the copy/clone it fails with either a copy failure or a copy failure with input/output errors.

 

I have done First Aid, erased the volume, tried again but without any success. The only success I have had getting something properly cloned was not to partition the SSD until after I had managed a clone of Sierra. Then I created a new partition but without any success getting a clone on it. I even tried writing zeros to the volume using Drive Genius. It succeeded, but then when I tried cloning it failed again. I have tried this using the Restore option of Disk Utility, using CCC, SuperDuper!, and Get Backup. They all get just so far before the problem arises.

 

I'm a bit puzzled with this because I have never had any problems using OCZ SSDs, but I have never tried the Trion model. I'm very experienced with HDDs and SSDs, so I think I know what I'm doing. I have done this dozens of times on countless HDDs and SSDs. Never ran into such a problem. I'm wondering if this particular one has a bad memory chip or a defective controller. Although if that were the case, then how did writing zeros manage to succeed?

 

I would certainly appreciate your expertise.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), External SSDs

Posted on Jul 23, 2016 11:04 AM

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Q: Loner T - Need help w/OCZ SSD

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  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jul 23, 2016 11:17 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 7 (23,813 points)
    Safari
    Jul 23, 2016 11:17 AM in response to Kappy

    Is Sierra being installed from scratch or is it a restore of a clone? When you mention 2 volumes and first volume, are these CS volumes or disk partitions? In most cases, I have seen Recovery HD conflicts or the inability of OSX versions to probably isolate and/or update Recovery HD to reflect the last version of OSX installed on the partitions.

     

    A diskutil list and diskutil cs list would be very helpful.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 23, 2016 11:56 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 23, 2016 11:56 AM in response to Loner T

    All efforts for transfers were clones. Nothing from scratch. The sources were existing and working systems on other SSDs. Since posting this I went through a clone attempt using Get Backup which also failed but seems to have gotten everything but my Home folder. So, a second try at just the /Users/ folder failed. Now I am trying only the Home folder.

     

    This last attempt has also failed. Trying to copy by Drag and Drop results in an error -50. Now I am repairing the volume with Disk Utility, but it has also failed. I have done everything from El Capitan because there are extant problems doing this in the other OS. But then I'm trying to clone El Capitan, so I don't know why these issues continue to arise repetitively. Whether I try only installing El Capitan first, then Sierra on another volume the problem still occurs. I have installed both systems on four other SSDs without any problems: an OWC 6G 480GB, Samsung 850 256GB, two OCZ ARC100s 480GB, and two external HDDs - Toshiba 2TB and HSGT 1TB models.

     

    /dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            999.2 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3

    /dev/disk1 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *960.2 GB   disk1

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS MacOS Sierra            429.6 GB   disk1s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk1s3

       4:                  Apple_HFS Untited                 529.1 GB   disk1s4

       5:                 Apple_Boot                         650.0 MB   disk1s5

    /dev/disk2 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *480.1 GB   disk2

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Capitan                 415.5 GB   disk2s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk2s3

       4:                  Apple_HFS Sierra                  63.1 GB    disk2s4

       5:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk2s5

    /dev/disk3 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *480.1 GB   disk3

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk3s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS macOS Sierra            479.2 GB   disk3s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk3s3

     

    I don't use CS. The above entry in bold is the device in question.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 23, 2016 12:11 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 12:11 PM in response to Kappy

    So, the last efforts failed. I had to repartition the SSD from scratch back to one full-size volume. I will attempt to clone El Capitan to the SSD without any other partitions. This time, I will try cloning the internal HDD.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jul 23, 2016 12:13 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 12:13 PM in response to Kappy

    Just curious, has the SATA cable been replaced?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jul 23, 2016 12:15 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 7 (23,813 points)
    Safari
    Jul 23, 2016 12:15 PM in response to Kappy

    How are these external disks physically connected? USB, FW, TB? Can you post the output of

     

    diskutil info disk1

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 23, 2016 12:55 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 12:55 PM in response to Csound1

    Not relevant. This is a) an iMac; b) the SSD is external on Thunderbolt; and, c) as stated all other drives used internal or external work fine. You do know that the ribbon cable to which you refer is not usually found in the Desktops nor always the cause of drive problems.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jul 23, 2016 12:57 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 12:57 PM in response to Kappy

    No not relevant on an external, and yes and yes, I knew. I just never saw your info that  it was an external, so I punted. I'll stop now, good luck.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 23, 2016 1:04 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 1:04 PM in response to Csound1

    Well, you punt pretty well. However, if you have any ideas I would surely appreciate them. This is a real puzzle for me. Never had such a problem as far back as I can remember to my first SCSI in 1982. A monstrosity that cost $1,200.00 or so and was 5MBs (yes, with an M.)

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jul 23, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 23, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Kappy

    No, no more ideas (you'll hear if I do), and the punt was off target so not good really. But thanks.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jul 23, 2016 1:30 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 7 (23,813 points)
    Safari
    Jul 23, 2016 1:30 PM in response to Kappy

    Can I suggest the following (assuming disk1 is still the Trion)...

     

    1. mergePartitions disk1s3-disk1s5 into disk1s2. The following command will merge disk1s3  through disk1s5 into disk1s2.

         diskutil mergePartitions  jhfs+ "MacOS Sierra"" disk1s2 disk1s5

     

    2. Use DU to partition disk1 and add a JHFS+ partition.

    2. Install El Capitan from an Apple Installer, not a clone, on this new partition.

     

    Let us see what errors you get. We should also try CS LVG/LV to see if CS encapsulation makes any difference. Physical disk is not an issue.

     

    diskutil info disk1

     

    should be helpful.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 23, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Loner T

    The last efforts required repartitioning the SSD back to a single volume, so merging isn't needed now. I put the Trion into a high-speed USB enclosure (found a cable) and am giving this another try at cloning my internal HDD to the SSD. If that fails then I'll try erasing it and doing a standard install from scratch using a El Capitan installer application.

     

    I'll let you know how it goes.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jul 23, 2016 3:58 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 3:58 PM in response to Loner T

    You may find this as strange as I do. After putting the Trion in the USB enclosure all worked like a charm. Both partitions cloned and both working. Yet I could never get it to work from the sled. But now after removing it from the USB case and putting it on the Thunderbolt sled it works perfectly. Even updating some files is working - so far.

     

    Any idea why? Maybe because it was slower? Very odd.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jul 23, 2016 4:00 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 9 (50,397 points)
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    Jul 23, 2016 4:00 PM in response to Kappy

    The gods have smiled upon you.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jul 23, 2016 4:03 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 7 (23,813 points)
    Safari
    Jul 23, 2016 4:03 PM in response to Kappy

    Did you have the Trion connected after a secondary external display device, or was this device in a TB daisy chain?

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