Level 1

9 points

M1 Mac Mini crashing when using SK Hynix Gold P31 SSD with Acasis USB4/TB3 enclosure

Tried using the SK Hynix Gold P31 SSD with Acasis USB4/TB3 enclosure yesterday and it caused my 16GB RAM M1 Mac Mini to crash immediately. After crashing, the Mac would attempt to restart itself several times, but it could not restart successfully. Ultimately the Mac would start up in Recovery Mode. The only way to allow the Mac to start normally and function was to disconnect the Acasis enclosure with SK Hynix SSD.

I also had a 1TB Samsung EVO Plus SSD which I tried with the Acasis enclosure, which worked and did not crash my Mac. I also installed the SK Hynix Gold P31 into a Jeyi USB3.1 v2 enclosure and connected to the Mac via the TB3 port, and there was no crashing or issues. So, I think the problem may have to do with a conflict between the SK Hynix Cepheus controller chip and the Acasis Intel 7440 chip. I did contact Apple Support and they have escalated the issue to their engineering department. I have submitted my system logs to them, as well as provided the make and model and chipset information for the SK Hynix and Acasis devices. Did anyone experience the same issue?

Mac mini, macOS 11.3

Posted on Feb 11, 2021 9:47 AM

Top-ranking reply

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Feb 24, 2021 8:49 AM

2/24/2021 Update & Correction

I forgot to add a correction to my assessment. The SK Hynix Gold P31 NVME, combined with the Acasis USB4 enclosure (USING INTEL 7440 CHIPSET) is the reason why the SK Hynix does not work with the M1 Mac. I also tried using the SK Hynix with a Jeyi USB 3.1 gen 2 (10Gb/s) enclosure, and that worked without issue with my M1 Mac Mini, and at about near the max speeds for USB 3.2 gen 2 (Jeyi uses the Realtek RTL 9210 controller chip, which is supposedly the best now compared with JMicron JMS583 chip). Also tried the SK Hynix with a Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, which also CRASHED my M1 Mac Mini exactly the same as the Acasis USB4/TB3 enclosure.

Summary: SK Hynix Gold P31 M.2 2280 SSD will NOT work (currently) with any USB4/Thunderbolt 3 enclosures. SK Hynix will need to updated the firmware for their Cepheus controller chip to allow it to work with M1 Macs/MacOS systems.

View in context

Similar questions

43 replies

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 11, 2021 4:43 PM in response to Zhaobello

I've been looking at the WD SN750 but it's a 2+ year old design plus it has a rap of running hotter than most. I've moved to looking at the Crucial P5 which stacks up quite well to the SN750 and bests it in several data transfer types. Most recently, I've been looking at the TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA Zero Z340 which is in the same class w/r to data transfers but has a phenomenal endurance rating of 1,665 TB as well as 5 years. The SN750 and P5 only offer 600 TB endurances.

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 11, 2021 5:15 PM in response to wjpjr

Yes. The SN750 is definitely a dated design, and I think only uses 64 layers as well. I also have the Crucial P5 queued up in my Amazon list in case the WD does not perform either. I am not yet a true power user, but occasionally delve into photo and video editing. So I'm not too concerned about SSDs running hot. The more I'm forced to research the M.2 NVME SSD market, the more I learn what will best fit my needs. Thanks to your input, I will now look into the Teamgroup T Force as well. Sounds like an excellent match as well.

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 12, 2021 6:43 AM in response to Zhaobello

Is that your 2/8/21 Adata XPG 8200 Pro on Amazon?

Does the 8200 come with a heat spreader mounted or as a separate part?

was the cable you used supplied by Acasis TB3 enclosure?

Its been reported that all the M1 machines are experiencing slow TB3 transfers compared to the Intel counterparts. Do you think that is what you are seeing on all the NVME drives in your testing?

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 12, 2021 6:54 AM in response to wjpjr

"Is that your 2/8/21 Adata XPG 8200 Pro on Amazon?" - Yes. that model

"Does the 8200 come with a heat spreader mounted or as a separate part?" Adata does not come with any thermal pad or heat spreader. Just the SSD itself.

"was the cable you used supplied by Acasis TB3 enclosure?" Yes.

"Its been reported that all the M1 machines are experiencing slow TB3 transfers compared to the Intel counterparts. Do you think that is what you are seeing on all the NVME drives in your testing?" Yes. I've read the same. And it does seem to be the case. I should receive the WD Black SN750 in about 3 hours. Let's see if the speeds are close to advertised. And tomorrow I receive the Mushkin Pilot-e, with Silicon Motion SM2262EN controller chip. This chip is supposed to work well. This is the chip that Adata changed to the weaker version (SM2262G), causing a big uproar from consumers. Just read the Amazon reviews.

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 12, 2021 7:00 AM in response to Zhaobello

“I should receive the WD Black SN750 in about 3 hours. Let's see if the speeds are close to advertised.”

Hope it works out. You might want to test with the crystal disk benchmark utility as well if not already.

”Mushkin Pilot-e, with Silicon Motion SM2262EN controller chip.”

yeah reading reviews now.

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 12, 2021 7:07 AM in response to Zhaobello

I'll run Crystal Disk as well. But I'll test by moving an 80GB mixed media file between the external and internal SSDs. I've noticed the clear speed drop-off after the PNY CS3030 used up its SLC cache. It was way too slow. The Samsung EVO Plus did not slow at all. It maintained its speed in a steady manner, though it's write speed was much slower on the M1 Mac Mini than advertised (around 1400).

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 13, 2021 2:57 AM in response to Zhaobello

"I've noticed the clear speed drop-off after the PNY CS3030 used up its SLC cache. It was way too slow. The Samsung EVO Plus did not slow at all. It maintained its speed in a steady manner, though it's write speed was much slower on the M1 Mac Mini than advertised (around 1400)"

What utility are you using to measure SLC cache performance?

Or are you use just your observation?

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 13, 2021 6:17 AM in response to wjpjr

Just anecdotal observation with my personal file transfer experiments so nothing truly quantifiable. I should receive the Mushkin Pilot-e in less than 4 hours and will test that one. From what I've read so far, I don't think the Mushkin will beat or match the WD Black SN750, but I'm hoping it does as it's will save me a few dollars.

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 13, 2021 10:13 AM in response to Zhaobello

Got the 1TB Mushkin Pilot-e and tried it out with both the Acasis USB4 and Sabrent TB3 enclosures. With Acasis, the Muskin only managed a write speed of 1290 and read of 2160. With the Sabrent, write of 1050, and read of 1500. These speeds are well below the advertised theoretical speeds by Mushkin. There is definitely an issue with M1 Macs and/or MacOS regarding attaining maximum speeds with M.2 NVME SSDs. So now I am finally finished with my exercise in finding the best USB4/TB3 enclosure and M.2 NVME SSD with my M1 Mac Mini ... at least for February 2021. Acasis USB4 enclosure with 1 TB WD Black SN750 SSD wins and are the items I will be keeping.

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 14, 2021 3:06 PM in response to Zhaobello

Zhaobello wrote:

Got the 1TB Mushkin Pilot-e and tried it out with both the Acasis USB4 and Sabrent TB3 enclosures. With Acasis, the Muskin only managed a write speed of 1290 and read of 2160. at least for February 2021. Acasis USB4 enclosure with 1 TB WD Black SN750 SSD wins and are the items I will be keeping.

yeah I kinda of suspected that of the Mushkin. Appreciate you sharing your findings. BTW, you might want to revisit your SN750 purchase on Amazon today :-).

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 22, 2021 8:05 AM in response to wjpjr

I just checked reading the Sabrent website. The speeds of the Sabrent Rocket Plus 4 is limited by the PCIe on the motherboard. And M1 Macs have PCIe 3. So I’ll wait to upgrade to next Mac Mini I guess. In the meantime, I am completely satisfied with the speeds I get from WD Black SN750 with Acasis USB4 enclosure

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 11, 2021 5:21 PM in response to Zhaobello

SSD heat, unless adequately accounted for, will cause excessive speed throttling hence poor R/W data transfers.

I would be interested in your testing results.

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 12, 2021 7:10 AM in response to Zhaobello

Yeah the Samsung drives are noted for their constant sequential writes. Although for some reason the Evo Plus jumped significantly in price the last two weeks on Amazon.

Zhaobello Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 12, 2021 10:04 AM in response to wjpjr

Already escalated to Apple engineering 2 days ago. It was a kernel panic and I already sent my system logs in. I'm waiting for their response.

wjpjr

Level 1

101 points

Feb 12, 2021 10:10 AM in response to Zhaobello

Yeah even though the issue is a Hynix firmware compatibility issue the Mac should not kernel panic.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

M1 Mac Mini crashing when using SK Hynix Gold P31 SSD with Acasis USB4/TB3 enclosure