Intel 320 SSD on their Macbook Pro

I have two to get capacity, and because I'm a control freak..parallels and window & Linux on one HD and OSX and apps on another..both SSD

I'm using a 120 GB model since one week, and it rocks.

Tip: If you restore from a TM backup to the new disk, check the ownership of the root directory, it should look like this:

752 ~> ls -ld /

drwxrwxr-x 37 root wheel 1326 Jun 10 18:29 //

If root is replaced by something else on your machine, like your user name for example, the result will be an error message in the Console.app that looks like this:

Can't create kext cache under / - owner not root.

which will dramatically increase boot time. I've fixed this by issuing the following command in Terminal.app:

sudo chown root:wheel /

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/

I've also installed the noatime fix, and did a fsck -ffy in single user mode, all of which helped to get the boot time down to just 3 revolutions of the boot spinner. That is on a 2009 13" MBP. On newer machines like yours, the spinner might not even show up.

Hi Mojo66,

I'm considering Intel 320 SSD too, but I would like to know if TRIM is enabled. Could you check this feature in Hardware info in section Serial-ATA for me?

Have you noticed any sounds when SSD reads and writes data? Something like faint, high-pitched, whining or scratching sounds? Because I had Kingston SSDNow V100 series and I heard these sounds, so I returned it.

Thanks

No, TRIM is (currently, i.e. 10.6.8) not supported.

No sounds at all from the SSD, it is totally quiet.

However, sometimes it does what is called Garbage Collection. If that happens while some application wants to write to the disk, the spinning beachball appears for around 30 secs and everything seems to be frozen. This is the only oddity I came across so far.

Great! I seriously dont know what SSD I should buy. So its really true that some SSD are not supported. According Intel specs, 320 should support TRIM, OS X 10.6.8 also should support TRIM, but it doesnt work together. Almost everything in Macbook is from Intel, but Intel SSD doesnt support TRIM. I thougt buying SSD will be simplier! I found some patches that should support TRIM with any SSD, have you tried it? For example this: http://www.groths.org/?page_id=322

http://osxdaily.com/2011/06/27/trim-ssd-support-mac-os-x-10-6-8/

Correct, 10.6.8 does support TRIM, but only if it is an Apple branded SSD. Not sure if this will change with Lion.

Yes, I have tried the patches. However, you have to be very careful with this. I'm trying to be as much on the safe side as possible. So I do run my machine without the patch most of the time. Once in a while I activate the patch, reboot into single user mode, write dummy files to the disk until it is completely full, delete the dummy files, and deactivate the patch.

I also swapped my main hard drive for an Intel 320 160GB this Friday. It rocks! Super fast. No TRIM support, but from what I've read is that with modern drives it isn't as necessary as it used to be.

JoostSchuttelaar wrote:

I also swapped my main hard drive for an Intel 320 160GB this Friday. It rocks! Super fast. No TRIM support, but from what I've read is that with modern drives it isn't as necessary as it used to be.

Could you post me the article where you've read this? Mojo66 also wrote about month ago that this SSD rocks. But in his recent post wrote something different : "the spinning beachball appears for around 30 secs and everything seems to be frozen. This is the only oddity I came across so far." So doeas this SSD really rock? After month of using?

There are a lot of earlier threads on SSD's and Trim and all.

I assume MacbookPro and Snow leopard, it is not in your profile.

SSD are sata 2 or sata 3, sata 2 means the SSD connects with 3GB even when MBP says esata 6GB.

1. In Apple there is Trim support when having it from Apple with the SSD in (latest models).

2. You can "easily" arrange Trim support for non-Apple SSD's in the newer MacbookPro., some extra thing for older MBP, see links later.

3. There are different controllers in the SSD's: if "garbage collection" do not install Trim, if "Trim support" install Trim, if Trim not supported you don't install Trim support.

4. With Trim Support SSD speed does not detoriate with time, read what trim does in links later.

5. If you already have used the SSD, and you install Trim support, do the "erase free space" trick, see links later.

6. Install is easy: put the SSD in a holder and connect it to the MBP, download a clone app (like Carbon Copy Cloner), CLONE your HDD to the SSD before you build it in, start from the (still external) SSD to make sure the clone works, shut down the MBP and replace the HDD with the SSD. Instructions to find everywhere.

NB: more on Trim support you find in links like

http://lifehacker.com/5803331/how-to-enable-trim-on-your-macs-solid+state-drive

and

http://www.groths.org/?page_id=322

I did it like this in an 2008 MBP and a 2009 MBP and a 2010 MBP with Crucial Real SSD's C300 256GB. Works like a charm.

Especially the cloning in point 6 saves you a lot of time.

Lex

After one month I got the spinning beachball and 30 sec freeze only twice so far, so I'd still say it rocks. From what I read, the reason for the spinning beachball is missing TRIM support in OS X, so it is not really Intel's fault. The reason for the freeze is that due to missing TRIM supprt, the SSD is forced to do a GC frequently, which blocks write access for about 30 secs. As soon as TRIM support is enabled, either through the hack or eventually by Apple, the SSD should rarely be forced to do a GC and hence the occasional freezes should be gone.

Mojo, check the specs on the Intel 320GB SSD, to see if it supports Trim. And if, you could install it. But personally I think it is not the Trim support or its absence that causes a spinning beach ball, nor Garbage Collection if that is on your SSD.

This PDF http://download.intel.com/design/flash/nand/325152.pdf says: The Intel SSD 320 Series supports the Data Set Management command set Trim attribute, which consists of: DATA SET MANAGEMENT

So do you say that this patch should work according this pdf?

And what about Kingston http://www.kingston.com/ssd/vplus100.asp: The SSDNow V+ 100 SSDs don’t need TRIM. They have very aggressive garbage collection

Josty, obviously the Intel supports Trim, you could try the patch (it is very easy to undo that, read the links I gave); I think the Kingston does not, but I am not absolutely sure.

Edit: as an afterthought: if you install Trim Support on the Mac, while the SSD does not support it: in System Profiler/ Esata "Trim Support" may say "yes", but that is the OS, it will not in effect do it on the SSD.