Q: Firmware update and SATA II hard drive

Victor Bellehumeur wrote:

+Victor Bellehumeur wrote:+
+I can't believe that I stumbled across this long posting...... I had just ordered an Intel SSD for my just purchased MBP but was able to cancel that item before it shipped. I tried to replace my stock HD with a Hitachi 7200 320 Sata II drive. I couldn't even format the drive from SL disc. Its a real shame that this MBP is so crippled. Anyway its going back to the Apple store for a refund.+

*If you really want to use your new hard drive, bring it to the Apple store and have the EFI firmware rolled back to 1.6. I had the same problem as you, drive wouldn't format/boot, but would do so from an external enclosure. Since rolling back the firmware to 1.6 I've had no issues with my new drive, no beachballs, etc. Your mileage may vary.*

Bryan

Gentlemen:

This exact same experience which I had. When I rolled my EFI 1.7 frimware back to EFI 1.6 at the Apple store, I have had no issues either. I then re-installed my originally purchased 3rd Party Segate SATA // 500 GB HD. Now I am operating pretty well with no real issues.

I put the factory supplied 250 Hitachi HD in a MacAlly enclosure, and that works OK as well.

Meanwhile I am awaiting for an Apple firmware update that brings me back to full potential of my Seagate 7200 RPM HD.

I still have not updated to Snow Leopard yet.

bobg

i have this issue too. apple needs to fix this. 500GB 7200 drive in a 15" 2009 macbook pro.

Please support sata 300

I have a macbook Pro (mid 2009) that came with Snow Leopard and 1.7 EFI already installed and it freezes all the time. It's my thir MacBook in one year and I a seriously furious. This one is two weeks old. I am not quite sure whether my problem comes from EFI or not but apparently tis is the issue everybody's talking about.

I really hope Apple will fix this problem really fast. It's getting on my nerves. That's all I got to say.

remember if we dont call apple care and make them know there is an issue it will take longer to get fixed!

dont just use the posted 1.6 restore files and not call apple. call them and get your problem documented!

I got the exact same problem. I have a MB Pro 17 of July 2009 and a week old MB Pro 17 of september. Both are not good!

The July one got a Seagate ST9500420ASG with Apple logo and the one of September one got a Seagate ST9500420AS without Apple logo. I find this very strange..!

-The MB of July makes more sound, beachballs and slow read performance.
-The MB of September makes less sound, but the harddisk makes a loud tick and stalls the system for a couple a seconds and then continues, and Write performance is 30% faster.

See here for AJA tests i took:

July MB:
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/44/hdperformscreenshotjuly.png

September MB:
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6875/hdperformscreenshotsept.png

So i swapped the disks and did a clear PRAM/NVRAM, did the AJA test again and found out that both disk now perform with lower read speed. Look they change something on the sept MB. EFI, SMC, etc versions in the system profiler are all the same on both MB's.

Then i put in a WD Scorpio 320Gb 7200rpm disk (firmware of july 2009) in the september MB and did a AJA test again, it gives 82mb Read / 82 Write overall. No strange sounds, thicks. Put it on the July MB, i got strange sounds from the Harddisk.

There is something not good with this Macbooks Pro's, my old MB Pro early 2008 worked flawlessly!

You really aren't going to notice any difference in speed. Spinning hard drives can barely approach the speed of the Sata 1.5 interface. SSD drives, though, can and will exceed the speed of that interface which is why I was not interested in an EFI roll back. This is, in my opinion, a tremendous blunder on Apple's part. They make changing out the hard drive an easy user option and then cripple the computer so the change can't be made. Go figure......

Today an historical italian "Mac site" has published an article about EFI and SATA II, talkin about our beachballing trouble under 1.7 etc.
For those who can read Italian, that's the link:
http://www.macitynet.it/macity/aA40048/macbookpro_problemi_al_disco_fisso_con_firmware_efi_17.shtml

Please note: this article has come after my advise, so i invite you all writing to others Mac sites, hoping somebody from Apple decide to do something!

I took my 17" MBP to the Apple Store on Monday morning to show them this problem. The genius who looked at my computer checked their database and saw that this is in fact, a documented problem. Apple is so aware of it, they are telling their staff not to take any more data on the problem as they have plenty already.

For those of you that think this problem is only related to the new 13" & 15" sizes, I will offer the following: I bought a a 15" the day after they came out back in October, it quickly developed this exact problem with lock-ups, beachballs, and freezing. In June, the apple store exchanged me for a new 17" and I am having the exact same issues. This is a problem with the new entire platform, not just a couple of models.

A similar problem is being discussed, you can look into it if you like...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2084745&start=0&tstart=0

i wonder how long apple wants to wait on this. 6 months sure seems like it isnt a priority anymore.

i called applecare and he had no idea about this issue and said that it sounds like a defective hard drive. i told him it was a common problem, but i got the standard troubleshooting BS that didn't help.

see this:
http://www.9to5mac.com/macbookunibody

I've been watching this thread and people sure are having a lot of issues. Lucky for me i haven't experienced any such issues. I have a 17 macbook 2009 late edition. Here are the specs

Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP52.008E.B05
SMC Version (system): 1.42f4
Serial Number (system): W89342R0_
Hardware UUID: 66E7AAC5-D682-5859-9BA3-1BCBB2BB641A
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
INTEL SSDSA2MH080G1GC:

Capacity: 80.03 GB (80,026,361,856 bytes)
Model: INTEL SSDSA2MH080G1GC
Revision: 045C8820
Serial Number: CVEM842001KD080DGN
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 31
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
SSD-80:
Capacity: 79.68 GB (79,682,387,968 bytes)
Available: 39.77 GB (39,765,504,000 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /

Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

I installed my SSD and i'm getting the maximum throughput and it is lightening fast. Also, i'm running in 64bit mode and all applications work.

The 500 GB drive that came with my macbook pro is the following:Fujitsu, Date is 2009-08-14 and the Part no:CA07083-B50900AP, REV NO is A0123456789 and module number is MJA2500BH.

I hope this helps some body.

@Victor

What i want to show is why is the drive in the september model is much more faster then when i put it in the july model. Also the system locks up for a couple of seconds after the harddisk makes a loud tick.

Also the CRC error keep growing and growing:

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8308/screenshot20091002at503.png

Doubt if it will help anybody but here goes. I installed a CT256M225 three days ago with no problem, did a clean install with SL and have had no problems at all. I have disabled the sudden shock system (SMS) and also the hibernate mode, sleep still enabled. MacBook Pro 13.3" June 2009 model. I believe I have EFI 1.7 and had no problems with the original 250Gb drive

System as below:

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.47f2
Serial Number (system): ??????????????????
Hardware UUID: 3DCA8CBC-111C-5907-8AC3-1ADAAB23DF57
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Disabled


NVidia MCP79 AHCI:


Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

CRUCIAL_CT256M225:

Capacity: 256.06 GB (256,060,514,304 bytes)
Model: CRUCIAL_CT256M225
Revision: 1571
Serial Number: P577492-BDBX-8259062
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Mac OS X HD:
Capacity: 255.72 GB (255,716,540,416 bytes)
Available: 146.36 GB (146,357,116,928 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /