Trouble recognizing Samsung 830 / 13" MBP mid 2012, in optical spot

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8 points

Trouble recognizing Samsung 830 / 13" MBP mid 2012, in optical spot

All,

Hi. I'm unable to get my Macbook Pro to recognize a Samsung 830 SSD in the optical slot using an Amazon caddy. Can you help?

Here's what I've got:

Mid 2012 Macbook Pro, 13", base model (MacBookPro9,2 ; 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3)

OS X V10.8.2

EFI Firmware (2.9?, I just downloaded and installed it yesterday 10/4/2012)

Used Migration Assistant to copy data from old MB (2006), running Snow Leopard.

BrainyTrade Hard Drive Caddy from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058AH2US/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Samsung 830 SSD, 256GB, with Jan 2012 firmware

SuperDuper

Done so far:

1) Before upgrading OS and EFI firmware

1a) Put SSD in external USB/FW enclosure (using USB, no FW800->FW400 cable yet, sigh), Initialized single partition, GUID, copied HDD to SSD using SuperDuper, made bootable, checked out ok.

1b) Put in Caddy, swapped out optical drive, put SSD in caddy inside, rebooted, got "Disk is not recognizable, Initialize...".

1c) I tried to initialize but it wouldn't

1d) Removed SSD, replace optical drive

1e) Checked optical drive read/write, all good.

2) Downloaded and installed OS X update and new EFI firmware

2a) Put SSD in external USB/FW enclosure (using USB), initialized single partition, GUID, put some sample files on drive, checked out ok.

2b) Same as 1b

2c) Same as 1c. Got "Waiting for the disks to reappear" for > 20 minutes in Disk Utility.

A few thoughts:

Bad caddy sample/model?

Bad SSD sample/model for this machine?

Bad EFI firmware by Apple at this point?

Can anyone get this SSD (or perhaps an M4??) to work in the optical slot on a Mid 2012 13" MBP?

Should I just swap the HDD and SSD locations? (I originally selected this configuration to get the HDD damping and motion sensor active on the HDD, so kept the HDD in the stock position). If you recommend a location swap... is that an issue I should be concerned about?

Thanks,

Dan

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Oct 5, 2012 2:32 PM

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Answer 1

Dan__.jpg Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2012 6:47 AM in response to Dan__.jpg

Dan__.jpg wrote:

Here's what I've got:

Mid 2012 Macbook Pro, 13", base model (MacBookPro9,2 ; 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3)
OS X V10.8.2
EFI Firmware (2.9, downloaded and installed 10/4/2012)
Samsung 830 SSD, 256GB, with Jan 2012 firmware
BrainyTrade Hard Drive Caddy from Amazon

Used Migration Assistant to copy data from old MB (2006), running Snow Leopard.
SuperDuper

I finally got the Samsung 830 working (boots, runs great) in the primary HDD location, and the HDD works fine (boots, runs well) in the optibay using the Amazon/BrainyTrade Caddy but the SSD would not work the other way around.

To recap the failure:

1) Upgraded OS and EFI firmware

2a) Tried initializing SSD in external USB/FW enclosure, single partition, GUID, copied HDD to SSD using SuperDuper, made bootable, checked out ok. Put in Caddy, swapped out optical drive, put SSD in caddy inside, rebooted, got "Disk is not recognizable, Initialize...".

2b) Tried initializing SSD internally after confirming external operation of SSD and wiping, got same error. During attempt to initialize, got "Waiting for the disks to reappear" for > 20 minutes in Disk Utility.

3) Confirmed proper operation of Optical drive and cable

To recap the success:

1) After having previously upgraded the OS and EFI firmware...

2) Put SSD in primary HDD location

3) Put stock HDD in optibay using same caddy

4) Booted fine to HDD in optibay by default actions (took a little longer)

5) Initialized SSD in the primary HDD location (single partition, GUID)

6) Copied HDD to SSD using SuperDuper, made bootable, (took about 1/3 the time as via USB)

7) Set MBP to boot from SSD, checked out ok. Initial impressions are "nice and quick".

So, the Mac works, the caddy works, the HDD works, and the SSD works. Only thing that wouldn't is the SSD while in the optibay - for me, it won't initialize or be recognized as initialized.

It appears that the architecture is sufficiently different between the primary drive location and optibay, and that Apple's EFI firmware (v2.9) is not currently sufficient at this date (early Oct 2012) to support a Samsung 830 SSD in the optibay of a 13" MBP.

Has anyone gotten any 6Gb/s SSD (perhaps an M4) to work in the optical slot on a Mid 2012 13" MBP? It appears that OWCs caddy and Mercury SSD drive are working according to their website. EFI Update 2.9 Resolves 6Gb/s Drive Performance Issues In 13" 2012 MacBook Pro

Any others?

And lastly, I originally selected the other configuration to get the HDD damping and motion/drop sensor active on the HDD, so wanted the HDD in the stock position). If I keep the HDD in the optibay as it is now, is that an issue I should be concerned about?

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