Crash on waking

Agree. Thanks.

Linc - I spent a lot of the weekend cloning disks and doing Time Machine startups. I determined that the problem is with the OCZ Vertex 4 SSD. Perhaps there is something about its architecture that is not compatible with my Mac. I had trouble formatting it, also, but it would load

I got a return authorization from Amazon and have it en route at this time. I ordered a new OWC Mercury Extreme to replace it, so I will see how that goes. Currently, I am running on a mechanical HDD, and everything works great, except for that intermittant keyboard lighting thing. Did you run across that one yet?

It wasn't I did multiple SMC and PRAM resets in the process. The only fix was removing the OCZ hardware. Since writing my reply above, I noted that there are a lot of others having similar or same issues with that SSD. Hopefully, the OWC hardware will work flawlessly. I deserve it.

Linc -

I think that I figured out the keyboard lighting thing. I am using my 2012 machine in the same office work environment as my 2009. The new MBP seems to be intermittant, working sometimes for no apparant reason. The 2009 model would always be dark (operating in adequate lighting) then light up when the sensor gets shaded. The 2012 basically operates lit up at almost all times.

To troubleshoot, I shined a light into the sensor, and sure enough it dimmed to proper daytime operation. I will now assume that the photocell sensor is different from that in my 2009 model, and the thresholds are different. My work environment must have lighting that is just on that threshold level. I can point my screen a little to the left or up, and the keyboard lighting will extinguish.

I will assume that this is not a hardware or software issue. It is just a coincidence of the office lighting level and the variation between the photocells. Thought you would like to know about this finding.

Thanks, Halfmoon. From reading your other posting, I assume that you are having this issue in the optical bay. Mine is in the normal HD bay. Funny thing is that I could not "see" the OCZ V4 when connecting to my 2012 with 10.7 or my 2009 with 10.6 to do the formatting before cloning. I kept getting error messages when I attempted a verification and repair. Took it to the Mac retailer, and they could connect and format. Spooky.

Question for you ... did you find a mechanical drive that works in your optical bay? I am thinking of doing that configuration for Time Machine. A SATA II would be fine for that application, if SATA III does not work. What about your 2009 MBP? I also have one that I might configure the same. Will SATA II work in that optical bay?

Success!!!!! I cloned and installed the OWC Mercury Extreme 240 GB, and everything works as it should. I was able to format the disk and install a recovery partition, too. The OCZ V4 would not permit it. I am sorry that I was seduced by the printed tech specs for that OCZ. This OWC disk is plenty fast. Boot time is consistently 9 sec from button push (before optical drive sound) to login screen. I think that the problem is solved. I will stick with OWC in the future. They understand Macintosh.

Halfmoon - Success. Read my entry.

No, the SSD went into the normal drive bay. I have a data double being shipped to put a HDD into the optical bay. Plan to use my SATA III in my mid-2009 MBP 13 and purchase a new SATA II for the mid-2012 model. Data speed on these extra drives is not important for me. It will be considerably faster than using an external. I'll let you know how the HDD installation works out.

If the firmware updated to the OCZ does not fix it, go with an OWC Mercury Extreme. It works perfectly out of the box, and that hardware change fixed all of my quirky problems. I also had a slow boot-up where many Parallels tasks were being performed before my login window appeared. I could "fix it" (a poor workaround) by doing a PRAM reset after quitting Parallels, but that was not a desirable situation. After changing to the OWC hardware, my boot times are now consitantly under 9 sec, wherther I use Parallels or not. Never have to do a PRAM reset to improve performance ... at least not yet. Been running this new SSD for a couple of weeks now, and I am really glad that I went this route. I would expect that the performance differences between the Vertex 4 and the Mercury Extreme would not be noticable, even though the specs are as stated. Good luck with your approach.