Solid State Drive = Gets stuck

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Solid State Drive = Gets stuck

Hello,

I recently bought Intel's 520 Series Solid State Drive. I swapped my hard drive with the SSD, booted on a Snow Leopard disk. Opened Disk Utility, formatted my drive (Mac OS Extended Journaled) and installed Snow Leopard. After I installed the applications I needed, I finally upgraded to OS X Lion. But now I can't browse the net, work on applications or do any other task without getting a beach ball every 2 - 3 minutes. My MacBook Pro gets stuck a lot for some reason. (I never had this issue with my older hard drive)

I have the latest version of OS X Lion, but no firmware update was available for my SSD. I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how this can be fixed?

Thanks.

Posted on Apr 18, 2012 7:37 AM

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Answer 1

Dilster3k Author

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Apr 19, 2012 10:13 AM in response to Dilster3k

*Bump*

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Answer 2

Shootist007

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Apr 19, 2012 10:28 AM in response to Dilster3k

What model MBP do you have? Older systems don't handle SSDs as well as newer system. Especially systems that don't do the 6GB SATA interface, which is what the Intel 520 series is. Although they state the drive interface is baclwards compatible that does always mean it will work correctly on older systems that only do SATA 1 transfers, 1.5GB.

You could try a Clean Fresh install of Lion without first installing SL. That may or may not work.

Just boot to the recovery HD partition and erase the Macintosh HD partition then re-download and install Lion.

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Answer 3

Dilster3k Author

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Apr 19, 2012 10:38 AM in response to Shootist007

I said above that I have a 13" Early 2011 MacBook Pro. My MacBook Pro supports Sata III.

I would avoid re-installing my stuff again, but I'll try it if I can't come up with something soon.

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Answer 4

Shootist007

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Apr 19, 2012 10:40 AM in response to Dilster3k

You have installed thre SSD in the main drive bay, correct? Not in the optical drive bay?

Also make sure you enable TRIM support.

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Answer 5

Dilster3k Author

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Apr 19, 2012 1:07 PM in response to Shootist007

Yes, the SSD is sitting in the main drive bay. I've heard that Sandforce SSD's don't play nice with TRIM.

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Answer 6

Dilster3k Author

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Apr 20, 2012 8:00 AM in response to Dilster3k

*Bump*

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Answer 7

Apr 20, 2012 8:37 AM in response to Dilster3k

i hate to say it, but it sounds like a simple case of corrputed install. it happens.

SSDs work well n your machine. I have one

Grant

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Answer 8

Dilster3k Author

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Apr 20, 2012 8:52 AM in response to Grant Lenahan

Oh that's a shame, I'll re-install the operating system.

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Answer 9

Apr 20, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Dilster3k

maybe i'm wrong. Maybe not. Hard to say.

In some ways hoep itis corrupted, since the fix is simple.

Grant

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Answer 10

Dec 28, 2012 8:57 AM in response to Dilster3k

Where do you enable trim. I was thinking about this drive too.

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Answer 11

Dec 28, 2012 9:39 AM in response to Lady Engineer

Lady Engineer wrote:

Where do you enable trim. I was thinking about this drive too.

This: http://www.groths.org/?p=639 is said to be able to do it. I haven't tried it because my SSD uses a SandForce controller. YMMV.

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Answer 12

Dec 28, 2012 10:10 AM in response to Lady Engineer

I would recommend verifying that the firmware on your SSD is current before you start messing with TRIM. In regards to TRIM, it's not neccessary to enable it but if it solves your issues then go for it. I installed OCZ SSD on my Macbook Pro with TRIM disabled and I don't have any issues or kernal panics. Macs(desktop and laptops) are very finicky when it comes to SSD's because it all depends on the firmware and controller the SSD uses plus year/model of your Mac.

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