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Level 2

340 points

Warning! Using SuperDuper to clone from an HDD to an SSD might seriously da

WARNING! USING SUPERDUPER TO CLONE FROM AN HDD TO AN SSD MIGHT SERIOUSLY DAMAGE THE HEALTH OF YOUR SSD!

This is the new thread which I referred to when replying to:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2274972&start=0&tstart=0

I used SuperDuper to clone from a VelociRaptor 300GB HDD to an OCZ Agility EX SLC SSD, with disastrous results.

To save me the time of rewriting all the events please refer to the following emails and online submissions:

******************************************************************************** *********************

(Biltan-Wales - 21 Dec 2009 - 11.02 GMT):-

After reading several very favourable product reviews of the above SSD, I have just purchased one from Aria Technology Ltd., to use as a boot drive for my (early 2009) 8-Core 2.93GHz Intel Xeon Nehalem desktop workstation.

Also, prior to purchase of an OCZ SSD, I posted a question on Apple's Discussions' Forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2263023&tstart=0

From the response to this, and from reading several other threads regarding SSDs, I found that several Mac Pro owners are using OCZ SSDs as boot drives, and in some cases employing up to 3 of them.

I received my Agility EX from Aria on 16th. December, and yesterday afternoon I decided to set up my boot drive and 4 drive RAID 0, as described in: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2263023&tstart=0

First of all I used SuperDuper to clone from my VelociRaptor 300GB drive in Bay 1, to my original Apple (WD) 640GB drive in Bay 2.

Then I removed the original Apple drive, and installed it in an ONNTO dataTale TQ-M12H external single enclosure, using a Firewire 800 interface connection. Next I selected this as my boot drive to check it would boot OK, restarted my system, and there was no problem.

So my next step was to install the Agility EX, and another 3 VelociRaptor 300GB drives, in the Mac pro workstation.

First, I reselected VelociRaptor 1 as my boot drive, so that I could use SuperDuper to clone to the Agility EX.

The Agility EX was installed in the lower of the 2 optical bays, and was connected to the pre-wired SATA and power cable, and the VelociRaptors were placed in hard drive bays 2, 3, and 4.

I then started up the Mac Pro, and there were 4 message boxes on the desktop, requesting that the drives should be initialised. So then I used Disk Utility to initialise the 4 drives. The SSD was named "Agility EX Boot", and the others "VelociRaptor 2", VelociRaptor 3, and VelociRaptor 4". The Mac system accepted all 4, and mounted desk top icons for each drive. I cannot remember the exact figure, but the Agility EX was listed as approx. 64GB in Disk Utility after its initialisation. All 4 VelociRaptors are shown as 300.07GB. All drives were formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

The next stage was to use SuperDuper to clone from VelociRaptor 1 to the Agility EX Boot drive.

Everything was fine until 28.00GB had been copied, and then nothing more would copy. The total to be cloned was just under 30GB, which should not have been a problem with a SSD disk capacity of approx. 64GB, but everything was frozen at that point - exactly 28.00GB!

Eventually, my only option was to stop the process, and quit Super Duper.

Then I restarted the system to try again, but this is where there is a real problem now!

My system does not recognise the Agility EX at all now! Also, it is no longer listed in Disk Utility!

The system does not even acknowledge its existence! It is not even shown on the desktop at start-up, whereas I thought that perhaps there might have been another message box requesting that it should be reinitialised.

I tried disconnecting and reconnecting everything - all drives, interface connections, power cables etc., but to no avail!

This morning I tried this again, but still I cannot get my system to even acknowledge the Agility EX, let alone list it!

So at the moment I am still using VelociRaptor 1 as my boot drive, and, in fact, as my main drive, because I am reluctant to use it with the 3 other VelociRaptors as a 4 drive RAID 0 set up until I get this problem with the Agility EX resolved.

******************************************************************************** *********************

(OCZ - 22 Dec 2009 - 18.29 GMT):-

Cloning from a HDD to an SSD is very problematic. I strongly recommend against doing this. Instead you will want to just install normally onto the SSD. You can clone from SSD to SSD, or from HDD to HDD, but going from one to the other can cause issues.

Try disconnecting the drive from the computer for an hour or so. This will allow all power in the drive to fully discharge. This is a way of resetting the drive that can usually recover the drive. Then plug the drive back in. Does the drive show up again?

If so, delete the partition on the drive, then create a new partition and then install the OS onto it clean rather than clone the OS onto the drive. That should resolve the issues you are having.

******************************************************************************** *********************

(Biltan-Wales - 23 Dec 2009 - 16.19 GMT):-

Thank you for your advice.

I have now disconnected the Agility EX SSD, and removed it from my Mac Pro's lower optical bay.

As Christmas is imminent, and I will not be using my system very much over the next few days, I will leave the drive for 4 to 5 days to allow ample time for all the power to discharge.

Then I will reconnect it, and I will let you know whether or not the drive is recognised by my system.

I was not aware that cloning from a HDD to an SSD could be problematic. Several threads on the Apple Support Discussion Forum have recommended using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner for this purpose. SuperDuper is the preferred option of most Forum members, whereas Lloyd Chambers (diglloyd.com), author of "macperformanceguide.com", uses Carbon Copy Cloner to clone his HDD boot drives to his Intel and Crucial SSDs.

After the Agility EX had been set up as my system boot drive, my intention was to use SuperDuper to clone from it to my original Apple (WD) HDD, now in an external enclosure with Firewire 800 interface, and then use SuperDuper's Smart Update for regular backups, so that I always had an up to date spare boot drive for the OS and applications.

The current VelociRaptor 1 boot drive would then be erased, and I would then use the Mac OS Disk Utility to create a 4 drive software RAID ) with the other 3 VelociRaptors, and this would be backed up using Time Machine to my existing WD My Book Studio Edition II 2TB External Hard Drive.

Please correct me if I have misunderstood your advice, but are you saying that I should only use another SSD, and not my original Apple (WD) HDD, as my back-up external boot drive? I don't know of any other Mac users who are using SSDs for that purpose, possibly because of the prohibitive cost of doing so.

I am more than happy to follow your advice to reinstall the Mac OS and my applications cleanly onto the Agility EX, and, in fact, I did exactly that with my first VelociRaptor HDD, before I had SuperDuper. However, that would still leave me with the problem of how to set up and maintain an external back-up system boot drive, without incurring the expense of another SSD. Any suggestions please?

Anyway the most important matter is the existing problem, and I am hoping that following your advice will resolve this.

I will contact you again early next week. In the meantime have a very enjoyable Christmas!

******************************************************************************** *********************

(OCZ - 24 Dec 2009 - 00.25 GMT):-

If the image is of an HDD and that image is then cloned onto an SSD that does tend to be problematic. I do not recommend doing this, as an image of the HDD somewhat regularly does fail to copy onto an SSD and still remain functional or fast.

You can store the image file on any sort of drive. Storing the image file is fine, as that is just a digital file, so the storage medium doesn't matter. Its actually applying that image to a drive is where the problems often occur.

You can image from a HDD to a HDD just fine, or an SSD to an SSD just fine, but going from one to the other is problematic enough that I recommend not doing this. Sometimes it works just fine, but other times it can fail catastrophically to the point of even bricking the drive. To error on the side of caution I recommend just going a clean install on the new SSD.

Once you have that clean install done you can then take an image of that SSD and image on to other SSD's, or store the image on a HDD for backup purposes.

******************************************************************************** *********************

(Biltan-Wales - 29 Dec 2009 - 13.16 GMT)

Thank you for your last email.

Further to your previous email, and my reply of 23/12/2009. this morning I reconnected the Agility EX SSD.

However, unfortunately, the drive has not showed up again on my system. There is no icon for it on the desktop, nor is it listed in Disk utility.

When I checked Serial-ATAS in my Mac Pro's System Profiler, all 6 Intel ICH10 AHCI are listed in the Serial-ATA Device Tree, but, whereas all my other drives are sub-listed, there is nothing underneath the ICH10 AHCI for the lower optical bay.

As the drive has had 6 days to discharge and reset, it would appear that it has not recovered.

Where do I go from here?

******************************************************************************** *********************

I am still awaiting a reply from OCZ, but that is not surprising, because of the different time zones and the Christmas?New Year holiday period.

In the meantime does anybody else have any ideas, please?

8-Core 2.93Ghz Nehalem Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2), 16GB/VR300/HD4870/SE II 2TB/NEC3090WQXi/Epson V750/Epson 3880

Posted on Dec 29, 2009 7:14 AM

63 replies

thanon

Level 1

79 points

Dec 30, 2009 3:01 PM in response to Samsara

Samsara wrote:
Obviously... so lets stop playing around. Do you remember partitioning the drive GUID or not?

That's one point which hasn't still been answered yet, it might or might not be crucial .
I'm sure you know that, bat partitioning and formatting are two different procedures.

I forgot doing that a few times; and while you still can format the HDD in MacOSx journaled ect. , even clone via SD to it, but it's the wrong approach, and can lead to really long copy times, apart from it not becoming an Intel boot drive.

Also, I have stopped SD during cloning several times, never had a harddrive disappear due to that.

Samsara

Level 4

1,321 points

Dec 30, 2009 8:45 PM in response to thanon

apart from it not becoming an Intel boot drive

I thought that's what I remembered, thanks for the refresher, Thanon.

Biltans had a lot thrown at him since he started assembling his dream machine. It would be completely understandable if he forgot to do that. But I can't reason out why that would lead to the situation he is in now. The drive isn't showing up so he can't even go back and reformat it if he did forget.
I think the best thing now would be to return the drive and start fresh with another.
And I don't why I should be, but I'm a little worried about the Agility. I can't remember why it's different than the Vertex but maybe that difference accounts for something here. That's just a feeling though. It's supposed to be a great drive.

I'm disappointed in OCZ though giving out baseless info like that. They were responsible for giving a really great app like Superduper a bad name.

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Dec 31, 2009 12:06 AM in response to Samsara

Hi Samsara,

Oh, ok, you said, "I did not get as far as this point:".
You saw this on the bottom of the window then?
3. AFTER SUCCESSFUL COPY
Make Agility EX Boot bootable
Update prebinding on Agility EX Boot
Restore Spotlight state on Agility EX Boot

YES. THERE ARE 3 STAGES TO THE CLONING PROCESS. ALL 3 ARE SHOWN IN THE WINDOW, AND EACH PART OF THE STAGE IS TICKED OFF AS IT IS COMPLETED.
STAGE 2 (COPY FILES) DID NOT COMPLETE ITS CYCLE.

******************************************************************************** *********************

Wait, where does this fit in then?
After I had checked that the Mac HDD had been cloned successfully
This is puzzling from the log.
11:44:53 AM | Info | Copy complete.
So, I'm sorry for being dense, but does that mean then that Superduper worked at least once. And it was then doing a smart update that screwed things up?
Or no, even when saying it was complete, that's when it hung and your drive disappeared?
I'm getting lost in the length of your posts.

I HAVE USED SUPERDUPER ON 5 OCCASIONS:

(1) 21ST. DECEMBER- THE SUCCESSFUL CLONING FROM THE VELOCIRAPTOR TO THE ORIGINAL HDD

(2) 21ST. DECEMBER- THE UNSUCCESSFUL CLONING ATTEMPT FROM THE VELOCIRAPTOR TO THE SSD

(3) 23RD. DECEMBER - SMART UPDATE FROM THE VELOCIRAPTOR TO THE ORIGINAL HDD

(4) 25TH. DECEMBER- SMART UPDATE FROM THE VELOCIRAPTOR TO THE ORIGINAL HDD
After this update I encountered all the problems, which I listed in my last post, and which
were only resolved 2 days later, after I had resorted to using TechTool Pro 5

(5) 27TH DECEMBER- SMART UPDATE FROM THE VELOCIRAPTOR TO THE ORIGINAL HDD
I tried everything to resolve the problems I encountered on 26th. and 27th, December,
including another Smart Update

THANON SUGGESTED THAT I SHOULD CHECK THE LOG OF SUPERDUPER.

AS I SAID IN MY LAST POST, THE ONLY REPORT IN THE LOG IS OF THE SMART UPDATE WHICH I CARRIED OUT ON 27TH. DECEMBER.

WHY ARE THERE NO LOGS OF THE PREVIOUS 4 USAGES?

******************************************************************************** *********************

Obviously I cannot check the Agility EX in Disk Utility, because my system will not acknowledge its existence now, but it was formatted at the same time as the 3 new VelociRaptors, and they are all formatted correctly
Obviously... so lets stop playing around. Do you remember partitioning the drive GUID or not?

"STOP PLAYING AROUND?" I AM NOT PLAYING AROUND!

I AM AS CERTAIN AS I CAN BE, WITHOUT ACTUALLY CONFIRMING IT IN DISK UTILITY (WHICH I CANNOT DO AT PRESENT, BECAUSE I CANNOT ACCESS THE AGILITY EX SSD) THAT THE DRIVE WAS PARTITIONED GUID.

IT IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY THAT I WOULD HAVE PARTITIONED THE 3 NEW VELOCIRAPTORS GUID, BUT NOT THE AGILITY EX SSD, WHICH WAS FORMATTED AT THE SAME TIME!

AS I RECALL, WHEN ONE PARTITION WAS SELECTED, "MAC OS EXTENDED - JOURNALED" APPEARED BY DEFAULT, AND GUID WAS SELECTED.

IF I DID ANYTHING WRONG, HOW COME THAT ALL THE VELOCIRAPTORS ARE CORRECTLY FORMATTED?

******************************************************************************** *********************

TTP5 is a good tool and can repair directories, so that hasn't worked either. Well, I listed other options, the Apple Hardware Test for one. You're not going to try any of those?

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, HOW COULD TECHTOOL PRO 5 REPAIR THE AGILITY EX, WHEN MY SYSTEM CANNOT ACCESS THE SSD?

HOWEVER, TECHTOOL PRO 5 DID SORT OUT ALL THE PROBLEMS I ENCOUNTERED WITH BOTH THE VELOCIRAPTOR AND ORIGINAL MAC HDDs AFTER THE SUPERDUPER SMART UPDATE BETWEEN THOSE 2 DRIVES WHICH WAS CARRIED OUT LAST THING ON 25TH. DECEMBER.

I HAVEN'T RULED OUT DOING AN APPLE HARDWARE TEST, ALTHOUGH I REMAIN TO BE CONVINCED THAT THE HARDWARE HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THESE PROBLEMS, BUT I AM WAITING UNTIL I HEAR BACK FROM OCZ BEFORE I DO ANYTHING ELSE.

******************************************************************************** *********************

Biltan, you've put Superdupers name up in a bad light in several posts. You're going to have to go back and amend those now. It's only fair.

I HAVE READ DAVE NANIAN'S COMMENTS REGARDING SUPERDUPER AND THE SSD, AND I WILL SUBMIT A COPY OF THIS TO OCZ'S HELP DESK, FROM WHOM I AM STILL AWAITING A REPLY.

HOWEVER, WHAT EXPLANATION, IF ANY, DID HE OFFER FOR THE PROBLEMS I ENCOUNTERED ON 26TH. AND 27TH. DECEMBER, AFTER I HAD USED SMART UPDATE AS THE VERY LAST OPERATION ON MY SYSTEM ON 25TH. DECEMBER?

******************************************************************************** *********************

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Dec 31, 2009 12:19 AM in response to Samsara

Hi again Samsara,

I don't why I should be, but I'm a little worried about the Agility. I can't remember why it's different than the Vertex but maybe that difference accounts for something here. That's just a feeling though. It's supposed to be a great drive.

THIS SHOULD JOG YOUR MEMORY:

The Agility EX is actually the latest generation of OCZ SSDs, and it is one of only 2 models in their "Maximum Performance" range, whereas the original Agility was only a "Mainstream" model.

The key factor is that the Agility EX uses single-level cells (SLC), instead of multi-level cells (MLC). It is second only to the Vertex EX Series in terms of performance per GB in the OCZ range of SATA 2.5" Solid State Drives.

In very recent reviews it has outperformed both the Vertex Turbo and Vertex 120GB models from the OCZ "Performance" range in most of the test benchmarks.

I preferred to buy a 60GB SLC, rather than a 120GB MLC, because SLCs reputedly have 10 times more life expectancy, and performance wise per GB there is no comparison.

SINCE THAT POST, I HAVE READ SEVERAL OTHER TEST REVIEWS OF THIS SSD, AND, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, ALL HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY FAVOURABLE.

IT EVEN OUTPERFORMED THE MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE INTEL SSD, AND, IN ONE OF THE FEW REVIEWS WHICH INCLUDED TESTS WITH MACS, IT BOOTED A MACBOOK PRO IN A RECORD TIME OF 7.5 SECS.

Samsara

Level 4

1,321 points

Dec 31, 2009 2:04 AM in response to Biltan-Wales

Hi Biltan,

Starting with the last post first. Well, first, using caps usually means one is yelling. Are you yelling, have I upset you? If so I'm sorry.

About the Agility...thanks I appreciate the memory refresh. I said it was only a feeling I had, I also said it was a great drive. But the feeling I had, and it's irrational, is that what makes that SSD so outstanding, may be a part of all this. But, ignore that. It really doesn't make any sense.

Now to the matter that overshadows all the rest, and it comes up in your response to what Dave Nanian said. Well, you read his email, what did he say? He said the SSD was faulty. That really looks like the likeliest explanation. He said it failed under stress, which is what faulty HDs do. Let's face it, yours especially is very high tech so it's very susceptible to the slightest flaw.

Thanks for the condensed timeline, that makes it more manageable for me. So you've never managed a successful clone on the SSD, only on the VRs. Ok, that could be a result of not being partitioned GUID since SuperDuper (SD from now on) makes bootable drives. Non GUID disks are not bootable for Intel Macs. So that may be one reason why SD couldn't complete, it couldn't make it bootable.
If the disk was GUID, then that would point to it being faulty.
I can't say anything about why no other logs. I don't know.

AS I RECALL, WHEN ONE PARTITION WAS SELECTED, "MAC OS EXTENDED - JOURNALED" APPEARED BY DEFAULT, AND GUID WAS SELECTED.
IF I DID ANYTHING WRONG, HOW COME THAT ALL THE VELOCIRAPTORS ARE CORRECTLY FORMATTED?

See, doesn't that look like yelling? Anyway, that appears to be correct but there's one thing that may have happened and it would be easy enough to do. Not many people put that many HDs all in at once. And since formatting is done individually on one disk, not all at once, is it possible you missed that one and just erased it instead? I mean if I had done it like that, and I've come close, when I close up the machine I start to wonder if I did everything right. Sort of like, "Did I leave the stove on?"
So I think you know now how important making the disk GUID is, if you can't specifically remember, and I would have a hard time too, then that leaves a big question mark there. But again, even if you did everything right, and it sounds like you did, that would only point to the disk being faulty again.

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, HOW COULD TECHTOOL PRO 5 REPAIR THE AGILITY EX, WHEN MY SYSTEM CANNOT ACCESS THE SSD?

Because TTP5 addresses hardware problems as well and the SSD is, if I recall correctly, listed in System Profiler. But I had mentioned it in repairing directories, not hardware. So actually it wouldn't have been a bad way to check the hardware as well. If it couldn't see the disk either, then again I would think the disk is faulty.
That's why I mentioned Apple Hardware Test too, or booting from your system DVD and using DU from there. Since disks are hardware, then you're going to have to use any tool you have to check it, and hopefully get it back on your desktop again. You may be unconvinced it's the disk but don't you think you should explore whether it is or not. Those are tools to do so.

Again, you read Dave's reply, he told you exactly what SD is and what it does. He said, "We copy at a high level, file by file. Reading and writing files with standard OS X calls is all we do. If the drive can't handle that, it's a bad/defective drive! "
I had a similar experience but I didn't take it public. I used one of the Diglloyds tests and afterward the disk was completely screwed up. I couldn't get it to work right again. So I ranted and raved at Lloyd Chambers and he told me the same thing Dave has said, there's no way the app could even do that. And sure enough, he was right. I figured out what had gone wrong and got it working fine again. That was an SSD too coincidently.
Think about it, Biltan, all these are just apps operating within Apples parameters. The worst that can happen is that they just don't work, or mess up files for awhile, they can't, as the OCZ guy said, "brick the drive". Imagine if someone told you Aperture had done that to their drive. It just wouldn't make sense, would it?

Biltan, I sense you don't want my input on this and that's fine. I just wanted to help and did in fact wonder myself if SD could be the culprit, but as the story unfolded it became clear that wasn't the case. What the OCZ Rep said himself was so weird as to cast doubt on anything he said to you. And quite obviously he didn't know about SD, he was thinking about another kind of app altogether.

All I can say at this point is what I would do. Take the drive back and get another.
Best of luck to you and hopefully, a happy New Year.

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Dec 31, 2009 3:38 AM in response to Samsara

Hi Samsara,

I was surprised to see that you posted a reply at 02.04 USA time. Couldn't you sleep!

Sorry that you thought that I was yelling at you. I wasn't!

You remarked "I'm getting lost in the length of your posts", and so I thought I would be helpful and type new text in capital letters. The objective was that you could then easily differentiate between new and previous text, making it easier for you to work your way through the length of my posts.

I fully understand what Dave Nanian said about the SSD being defective, rather than SD being at fault.

However, he has not offered any explanation for the problems I encountered with both HDDs after I used Smart Update last thing on 25th. December.

I had previously used Smart Update on 23rd. December, without any problems afterwards.

If I had not done that, then I might have thought that the problems I encountered on 26th. & 27th. December were after effects of the aborted attempt to clone to the SSD on 21st. December.

Obviously, that is not the case!

Therefore, I think I am being reasonable in still having reservations about SD.

The SSD did appear in System Profiler when I first installed it, but it has never reappeared there after the unsuccessful cloning attempt.

Your input is always welcome, Samsara, and the finger is now definitely pointing towards OCZ as the culprit as far as the SSD versus SD matter is concerned.

However, I am still reluctant to use Smart Update after the problems I encountered on 26th. & 27th. December, when the SSD was no longer in the frame.

One interesting, and also disturbing new event, is that when I tried to add a comment to my OCZ Trouble Ticket, a little while ago, I received the following response:

Help Desk
Please enter your email address or User ID and ticket ID:

This ticket does not exist or is closed. Please try again
Email Address or User ID:

Ticket ID:

Help Desk Software
Build 922

I tried several times, using the correct email address and ticket ID on each occasion, but I always got the "This ticket does not exist or is closed" response.

This is incomprehensible, because I have not even received a response to my my comments posted 2 days ago.

Anyway, I have emailed MacFormat about my problems, and I am hoping that they might be able to advise me whom or where it is best to contact at OCZ, because their emailed replies to my comments always come from "DO NOT REPLY" (I am not shouting!) addresses.

Happy New Year to you too, Samsara.

Samsara

Level 4

1,321 points

Dec 31, 2009 4:59 AM in response to Biltan-Wales

Hi Biltan,

I'm still up, but fading fast. So I probably shouldn't be writing. Plus, I seem to be rubbing people the wrong way lately and I thought I was doing that to you. I think I was, I'm sorry. A combo of wicked pain and heavy painkillers means I think I really shouldn't be posting anything at all here for while.
But I especially wanted to help you out if I could because I feel somehow responsible for all this. I know how much you've been trying to absorb lately and quite frankly I think you've done an outstanding job. You're going to have a heck of a system once it all pulls together, and I know how upset I would be at this point, with everything being so close to finish and then running into a situation like this.

Write Dave about those days in question. You'd be able to explain it better because this thread alone shows me I'm not at my peak mental abilities. Also, he's a pretty decent guy and he takes a lot of pride in his work. If there are problems that people have, he wants to know about them. You can contact him at the address listed on the support page of SD or the "About us" page there. Seriously, he can give you a lot of good info. And if you could convince him that something was indeed wrong with SD he would be happy to make a fix. It's only in his interest. You could ask him about the standard drive clone to SSD issue. OCZ didn't make much sense there.

I'm sorry again, I didn't catch that the disk no longer appears in System Profiler. That's serious indeed I think.
And even if I do think that the finger is pointing at the drive too, don't think I'm happy about that. Because it is such an extraordinarily fine drive, I'd rather see any other explanation than it was at fault. But components fail, more often then we can take. I bought two G5s that were DOA on arrival, one after the other of the same model. Boy did that take the shine off of that purchase.

I don't blame you for being hesitant to use SD again. But I think that Dave could help you out there before you give it another try.

I don't know what's with OCZ . I was such an enthusiast and advocate of theirs for the longest time, but the thing with the firmware update I'm waiting to apply not working because I don't have a PC or am not running Windows, and now this, really makes me question them on them giving a darn about the Mac side of things. That guy was really clueless. And the word was that their support was excellent too. Maybe it is if you have a PC. Don't get me wrong, their drives are fantastic and haven't had the problems that even a giant like Intel has had with theirs. Still, like with Apple, one would like a whole package. A company that can make great stuff and back it up without a hassle. Apple hasn't been like that for years either. Maybe it's a sign of the times, I don't know.

Ok, I'm getting depressed, I better go. I just want this to work out for you in the best way possible. It will eventually, I assure you, but it's sad that it's a little tarnished now. Good thing you'll forget all about that when things start working. Your going to have a grand time. 🙂

because their emailed replies to my comments always come from "DO NOT REPLY" (I am not shouting!) addresses.

Lol, ok, I get that now... Remember they have forums monitored by company reps there too. Those might be an additional route to get info from..

Good luck, bud. See if you can get an email to SD today and you might have good info to take into the new year with you.

Cheers,
Steve

msbeezy

Level 1

45 points

Jan 9, 2010 2:30 PM in response to Biltan-Wales

I'd say you simply got a DOA drive and would exchange it..?

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Jan 22, 2010 2:13 AM in response to Samsara

Hi Guys,

Apologies for not returning to this thread sooner, but I was waiting until I had some positive news.

It transpired that OCZ Trouble Tickets are automatically closed after 7 days of inactivity,and, for some unknown reason, my Ticket was closed 7 days after OCZ's reply of 23rd. December, even though I had added a comment on 29th. December. Obviously, there was a glitch in their system!

OCZ's UK Sales Manager was very helpful, but I had to create another online Trouble Ticket ID, and, eventually, I was allocated a Return Material Number (RMA), and I despatched the Agility Ex SSD to their nearest RMA facility in the Netherlands.

I have just tracked the RMA number, and my Agility Ex was received at the Netherlands facility yesterday.

So, hopefully, I will not have to wait too long now for a replacement.

When it arrives, I will do a clean install of the Mac OS and my applications, and keep my fingers crossed!

Samsara

Level 4

1,321 points

Jan 22, 2010 6:30 AM in response to Biltan-Wales

Hi Biltan, 🙂

Glad to hear from you again on this, I was really curious to hear how you made out. Thanks for posting back.

Well, that was quite an unfortunate "glitch" all right. Seems if it's not one thing it's another.
But, _at last_, +pay dirt+, a new one from not that far away. That's great, I hope you get it very soon. 🙂
As a congratulations present, I'm giving you no more software recommendations,... 😉
Best of luck with the Agility, I bet that drive is just going to sing. Nice to have something as top notch as that in ones computer.
You and another poster convinced me I should know a lot more about drive failure. I found a good web page on it.

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Jan 31, 2010 7:28 AM in response to Samsara

Hi again guys, The plot thickens!

Since my Agility EX SSD was received at OCZ's RMA facility in the Netherlands on 21st. January, I have been tracking its replacement's status online everyday.

The RMA information still reads "Replaced Date: Not Replaced Yet". Therefore, earlier this afternoon I emailed their UK Sales Manager:

******************************************************************************** *********************
Further to my email of Monday 11th. January, I am contacting you again, because I am still waiting for the replacement Agility EX SSD.

At 17.13GMT on Friday 15th. January, I received an email from ocztechnology@exdesk.com, advising me of a change of status on my trouble ticket, and providing me with RMA number ***** with instructions on how and where to send it to the RMA Department in the Netherlands.

Consequently, I despatched the original Agility EX at 09.46GMT on Monday 18th. January 2010, via Royal Mail Airsure Delivery.

I tracked its status at http://rma.ocztechnology.com/rmalookup.aspx at 15.56 GMT on Thursday 21st. January, and it had been received that same day.

Since then I have been checking the status every day, but it is now 31st. January, and it still reads "Not Replaced Yet".

Is there a supply problem? Because, in your email of 10th. January, you advised me:

There is the option for you to have it replaced directly with Aria, but experience shows that it would be quicker working directly.

It now seems that it would have been quicker to have it replaced directly with Aria, because they are still showing stock of the Agility EX on their website.

I should be grateful if you would expedite the replacement, and advise me accordingly.
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Then I decided to check the OCZ Technology website, and this is where the plot thickens!
As a result I emailed their UK Sales Manager with a follow up:

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Further to my email of 14.19 GMT today, I have just visited http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/solidstatedrives/

To my concern I see that the Agility EX Series is no longer listed. Is there a major problem with this Series, for it to have been withdrawn from the listings?

The Vertex EX Series of SLC SSDs is still listed, as is the Agility Series of MLC SSDs.

So what has happened to the Agility Ex Series SLC SSD?
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Has anybody heard of any reasons why OCZ should have withdrawn the Agility EX from their listings?

Samsara

Level 4

1,321 points

Jan 31, 2010 7:55 AM in response to Biltan-Wales

Good grief, you're right, no sign of it. And no word about what happened to it that I could find on the site.
I know they are working on quite a few new things but to have it disappear like that is too weird.
Hopefully, if this isn't some mistake, they'll offer a replacement with something even better.
I'm going back to bed, think this will be a good day to miss.

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Jan 31, 2010 8:54 AM in response to Samsara

Hi Steve,

You are right. It is weird!

The Agility EX was only introduced a few months ago, and it is a new generation SLC SSD.

I have posted the following question on the OCZ Forum:

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Biltan UK

Is there a problem with the Agility EX SLC SSD?

I ask this question, because I am still awaiting a replacement for an Agility EX which was received at the Netherlands RMA on 21st. January, and is still listed as "Not Replaced Yet".

This afternoon I emailed OCZ's UK Sales Manager, asking him if there was a stock problem, and to expedite the replacement.

Then I decided to have a look at the OCZ website, and, to my great concern, the Agility EX Series is no longer listed in the Solid State Drives section.

Is there a major problem for it to have been withdrawn from the list?

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Afterwards I discovered an email address for one of the OCZ support staff on another thread, and so I have emailed the same question to him.

If I don't get satisfactory answers in the next couple of days, I will ask for a refund.

Fortunately, I paid by credit card, and so, ultimately, under UK legislation I have recourse to a refund from my credit card provider, should I have any trouble getting reimbursement from Aria Technology.

Enjoy your sleep!

Bill

Samsara

Level 4

1,321 points

Jan 31, 2010 9:16 AM in response to Biltan-Wales

Hi Bill,

Just as my cursor was heading towards shutdown...

Fortunately, I paid by credit card, and so, ultimately, under UK legislation I have recourse to a refund from my credit card provider, should I have any trouble getting reimbursement from Aria Technology.

That will make for a much better sleep for me, thank you. It seemed the world, me mainly, was going to heck in a handbag, and quick... 🙂

Please continue to keep us all informed. Um... just heard of something new, although I hate to mention it, but this is starting to get some good press here. I can't remember the stats of the Agility (I know they were fantastic though), but if you only can get your money back these might be worth checking out.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internalstorage/Mercury_Extreme_SSDSandforce?APC=XLR8YourMac09

In any case you have a good evening while I sleep the rest of my day away... Yay!!! 😎

Take care,
Steve

Biltan-Wales Author

Level 2

340 points

Feb 1, 2010 1:44 AM in response to Samsara

Hi Steve,

Wow! Those specs for the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD are even faster than those of the OCZ Agility EX. I wonder whether it is SLC like the Agility EX, or still MLC?

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge there are no resellers of OWC products here in the UK, which could be a problem in the event of faulty goods.

I received the following reply from the OCZ Sales Manager:

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We have been struggling with the Agility EX due to the SLC based SSD's....

I have send in a request to the RMA manager for an immediate update.

Many thanks for your patience.
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I have replied:

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Thanks for your email.

After my two emails of yesterday to you, I visited the Aria Technology website. They had stock of the Agility EX when I checked earlier last week, but it is no longer listed on their web pages.

So I visited the OCZ website again, and commenced a new thread about the Agility EX on the OCZ Forum.

Then I browsed through some of the threads on the Forum, and I came across an email address for one of the OCZ staff: eryder@ocztechnology.com

So, also, I sent a copy of the thread I had posted to that email address.

As there is an 8 hours time difference between here and the USA, I don't expect to receive a response to that email until late afternoon at the earliest

I have just checked the OCZ Forum, and, although my thread had been viewed several times, nobody has posted any replies to it yet.

If there are problems regarding the Agility EX, then perhaps the best course of action is for Aria Technology to reimburse my credit card with the full amount of £306.98 which I paid on 14th. December 2009.

Incidentally, I never have received any reply from them to my online submission of 21st. December, even though it was acknowledged as "Query successfully sent", and I have a printout of that message.
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I will keep you informed of any further developments.

Bill

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