How to update firmware for SSD

The issues with DOS/FreeDOS seem to have been fixed with the latest version of the .iso.

Tested this on a Mid 2010 MBP with an 840 Pro.

1. Go To http://www.samsung.com/us/support/ and put in the SSD name (840 Pro - 512Gb in my case).

2. Click on Downloads -> Firmware.

3. Download the ISO

4. The filename in my case is Samsung_SSD_840PRO_DXM05B0Q_Mac.iso.

5. In Disk Utility burn this .iso file to a CD-R or CD-RW or DVD (about 3MB). I have not had much luck with bootable USB. A CD-RW would save making a coaster. 😉

6. Restart your MAC and hold the ALT Key. The CD should show up as "Windows".

7. Select it.

8. It should scan your system and find the SSD and show the current version.

9. Follow the prompts and it should update the firmware.

10. A backup of your disk that you are updating is very highly recommended.

Successful update from DXM04B0Q to DXM05B0Q.

If the CD/DVD is in the drive, it can also be selected as a Startup Disk in System Preferences (Shows up with the firmware version). 🙂

Message was edited by: Loner T

Thank you for sharing your experience !

I will retry as soon as possible by dowloading the new iso and burning it again to a CD.

Thanks again.

In the case of the 840Pro, the same firmware file can be used for the various 128/256/512GB sized drives.

I've just retried.

I followed your link and ended here http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/MZ-7PD256BW? , clicked the download\firmware tab, downloaded the Samsung_SSD_840PRO_DXM05B0Q_Mac.iso file and burnt the CD with Apple Disk Utility.

Same result : black screen displaying "No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key".

My machine is a 2012 MacBook Pro 15' :

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2,3 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 4

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 6 MB

Memory: 16 GB

Boot ROM Version: MBP91.00D3.B08

SMC Version (system): 2.1f175

Serial Number (system): C2*****5Y7

Hardware UUID: 687DB7BC-4E99-5515-80A9-D633D2D4155E

I wonder what I'm doing wrong.

<edited by host>

May I suggest that you do not post your machine serial number on a public forum. 😉

Do you see your CD/DVD in the Startup Disk and/or when you press the ALT Key?

This is what my CD-R shows up as.

Yes, I do see the CD in both cases.

Cmd-i on the CD icon shows exactly the same screenshot as yours.

When starting with the Alt key pressed, the CD even shows up as "Windows" as you mentioned it in a previous post.

I tried with two different downloads, from the one you provided and also from the French support site http://www.samsung.com/fr/support/model/MZ-7PD256BW-downloads just in case.

None of them worked.

I even waited for a while with the "No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key" message, just in case it would need some time to load or whatever, but nothing happened.

If I could avoid to use bootcamp and get into the hassle of installing Windows, would save me some time !

Thx for your help !

I have exactly the same problem. I burnt the iso to a disc and it shows up as windows in the start up pane of the system preferences and when I re-boot the computer holding down the Allt key. However, in both cases I just get a grey screen and the machine does not boot into the updater. After a few minutes the machine reboots but

again to a grey screen. This behaviour repeats.

This is exactly what happened for me with the previous version from Samsung. It looks to me as if their software just does not work with some macs. Mine is a 2008 Mac Pro, 3,1.

Update: Very Strange

Dear Loner T,

I looked at your screenshot of the info on your SSD and then checked mine. My Mac now shows:

Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series:

Capacity: 512.11 GB (512,110,190,592 bytes)

Model: Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series

Revision: DXM05B0Q

Thus it looks as if it has actually updated to the latest revision. Whilst it was sitting there with the Grey screen the update was actually occuring. This is very strange as there was no screen dialogue with the updater or request for confirmation.

When yours ran, what did you actualy see?

Dear David,

This is not complete, but it should provide some clarity with images.

1. Mounting the .iso results in this.

2. Double click on this IMG file results in this volume on OS X side.

3. Since my device is already updated and I have no way to downgrade, running this in a DOS Simulator (http://www.dosbox.com) this is the first screen you should see...

Since DosBox has no access to hardware, it will fail at this point, after a few more messages.

I have a QT movie, but I have no way to post it from this point on in the execution sequence in DosBox.

Once the MAC is booted (without using an external video capture device like a camcorder), i have no way to show the video of an actual upgrade.

@Loner T

I got the same screen using the bootable cd "No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key" somehow it doesnt detecte automatically the drive, and in the end I found out that I had the latset version I didnt need to update anything just like @David.

But my problem was that I didnt have TRIM enabled, thats why my hard drive was runnig slow and I tought that updating the firmware would do the trik.

On non-Apple supplied SSDs, TRIM is not supported. It can be enabled via a hack, but it is tricky, if version upgrades provide newer versions of kext files.

Thanks. Well my disc image does contain the same files as yours but when I booted from it I NEVER saw any DOS screen and yet the upgrade seems to have occured as evidenced by the Firmware reported by the system profiler.

I suppose I should be grateful but I really don't like it when things operating at such a low level don't appear to behave correctly.

@David... I am not certain, but the behaviour could be related to displays. Since I did it on a laptop vs presumably an external display in your case. I agree, the update should not be a silent update. My upgrade also had prompts and screens change based on timers rather than user input. I have a USB-to-SATA adapter, but Samsung the updater seems to only look for a SATA connection.