Updating Firmware on Samsung SSD

LJM24 wrote:

"Unfortunately Samsung Magician is only available for Windows. If you wish to monitor your drive you will need to research and use a 3rd party utility."

That is the case for the majority of SSD manufacturers as they only provide a Windows only method of updating an SSD's firmware. Some SSD manufacturers do provide an OS independent SSD firmware updater in the form of an .iso image which can be burned to a CD or a USB stick. Crucial and OWC provide OS independent SSD firmware updaters and Samsung tends to do so as well although it can be very difficult finding the Samsung .iso firmware updater downloads.

1) I never remember updating the firmware on the original Mac hard-drive. Was there firmware on the original Mac hard-drive? And if so, how was the firmware updated?

Hard drive manufacturer's rarely provided firmware updates to consumers even if firmware updates were available.

2) How do I go about updating the firmware for the Samsung SSD? What 3rd party utility do you recommend ?

Search the Samsung website for an OS independent .iso SSD firmware updater for your exact model SSD. Just going to the Samsung support webpage may not be enough. IIRC, the Samsung SSD .iso firmware updaters are accessed from an independent page outside of the traditional support page for your specific model SSD. You may need to Google it and find a link to the Samsung website. Do not trust any downloads from third party sites.

This appears to be the Samsung page containing the SSD firmware links which also includes the OS independent .iso images (look under the "Firmware" section on this page):

https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

In theory you should be able to use the downloaded .iso image file as a source for Etcher (Mac/Windows/Linux) to create a bootable SSD firmware updater USB stick. I checked the contents of the .iso file and the Mac appears to have the necessary boot file for a Mac. You will need to Option Boot the Samsung USB stick and select the orange icon most likely labeled "EFI". If a USB stick does not work, then burning the .iso to a CD may be required.

3) What happens if the firmware for the SSD isn't updated?

You may encounter any bugs that exist in the old SSD firmware which sometimes can have performance issues or even data loss.

I am going to suggest a different solution (if it is possible):

Contact the seller and return the Samsung (where did you buy it?) - reason: incompatibility.

Go to macsales.com and get one of the SSDs offered by this recommended vendor. They are "Mac-centric" and you will wind up with something that is compatible and either does not require an update or come with a method that'll work on a Mac. I installed one on my 2012 and it was fine without anything additional needed. Samsungs have not always played nice with Macs.

LJM24 wrote:

I realize that you probably do not have answers for these questions, but why does Samsung make it so challenging to update the SSD firmware with a Mac? And when I asked Samsung Support, why would they not help me out by giving me the link like you did?

Unfortunately it is a Windows world and manufacturers don't think about anything else. I don't know why Samsung doesn't include the OS independent SSD firmware updaters on the main download support page for the specific SSD, but at least Samsung does provide the OS independent updaters unlike the majority of other manufacturers.

A lot of manufacturer support is farmed out to generic support people many times located in India and they may be supporting products from many different manufacturers so they may only have a minimal amount of general information on the most common support items available. This even happens when you contact Apple support. In fact many of the long term respected volunteer contributors on these forums have a better & deeper knowledge of Apple products than the official Apple support personnel even (or especially) at an Apple Store.

I never realized that updates to the SSD firmware would be so challenging, since all my research that I did before purchasing the Samsung SSD didn't indicate that the Samsung Magician couldn't be used with Macs......and none of the reviews for using the Samsung860 PRO SATA 2.5" SSD 1TB on a Mac indicated anything about the need and method to update firmware.

That is the thing with reviewers most of them focus on the general aspects and ignore other equally important aspects. Performance reviews on many review websites don't actually do a true performance review as many SSDs tend to become very slow after about a minute of sustained use, but most reviewers never test this aspect of SSDs. I think Tom's Hardware and AnnandTech tend to due a more thorough review these days although they may sometimes drop the ball as well. I don't recall how Linus Tech Tips does their reviews. Again it is a Windows centric world and Apple and Linux users are left to fend for themselves.

If you want SSD suggestions, then Crucial, Samsung, and OWC are good options because they all provide OS independent SSD firmware updaters with Crucial actually making it very easy to find their firmware updaters At this time for a 2.5" SATA SSD from Crucial you would want the MX500 series as it is a good compromise on price and performance and I have used them on a lot of 2012 Macs (and even some older ones going back to 2010). Just stay away from the Crucial BX500 series as it is a low end budget economy model which is as slow as a hard drive and tends to overheat quite easily. I'm not particularly fond of the OWC SSDs for several reasons especially the current models. Crucial and sometimes Samsung do at least provide information on what the firmware updates address unlike OWC which does not.

You are most welcome. I'm glad to help and share my knowledge.

Good luck updating the Samsung firmware and enjoy the performance increase.