Samsung SSD 840 freezes OSX Lion on MacbookPro Early 2008

i could be off base here but I do have experience using a samsung 830 series in my late 08 Macbook Uni.

Because Samsung uses it's own controller as opposed to Marvel, JMicro and Sandforce - more likely than not - it's a compatability issue with your controller. I know it was an issue with mine when I installed the 830 Series SSD.

When I did a firmware update - it did help a little but I decided it's not worth it for me so I returned it and bought a Sandisk Extreme instead - with the Sandisk Extreme I had to change it to a Mac firmware in order to support higher negotiated link speed instead of the 1.5GB/s that it connects to.

In any event, if you're patient enough, leave it the way it is and just hope Samsung releases a firmware that fully supports SATA I controller. Or you can exchange for a different brand.

Bimmer is right:

your sata conection inside is 1.5GB/s (sata1) and the 840 is TWO steps faster, sata3=6GB/s. Although downwards compatible this leads to problems when it is more than one step downwards. Return the 840 and buy a cheaper (older) SSD with max sata2 connector (thus not the 830 which is also sata3). For the same money you have a much larger sata2 SSD.

You can install SATA III SSD but get the ones with the older SATA III controller like the KIngston V200, Kingston V+ 200 or SATA II SSD like the OCZ Agility 2, OCZ Vertex 2.

You can also use the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid drive which is almost close to SSD speed and has a larger capacity.

I advise against sata3, even with some less critical controllers: two steps down compatibility will probably give issues. This remark is only based on a small number of SSD upgrades (8).

I have a macbook pro 5.1 (unibody late 2008) I have some battery issues with momentus XT 750 Hybrid SSD...

I read somewhere in this forums where many people complain about the battery life ( the Hard drive drains the battery real quick) and actually it seems that is an actual problem for macbook pro users..

Im not totally sure about it but I do believe the drive drains the battery way faster that other drives...

Hello jcan87,

your problem is different, you may have more response by starting a new thread.

The XT hybrid created a number of issues: see older threads 2009 2010 2011. This disk has a very different controller and the concept did not come through in the market because the SSD were decreasing in price fast.

Lex

I find it strange that everyone has simply said its because the drive is Sata III. And that you should basically change to a Sata II drive.

I say this because the OP said himself that the drive worked flawlessly when running Snow Leopard. I myself run a Samsung 840 on a 2007 Sata I MacBook with a snow Leopard and its runs fine. No issues whatsoever.

I can't see how the SSD is at fault on Lion or ML when it works fine on SL. Yes maybe it's just a case of updating the Firmware. Have you tried this? Samsung provide a Mac download for this.

Was the drive removed when you changed OS? Is it seated properly if so?

I say this s there should be no reason a Sata III drive is incompatible with a Sata I machine. And as for recommending Sata II drives, although this could be different in the US - These are becoming increasingly harder to find in the UK, and ate actually more expensive here when you find one stocked... Because of the supply and demand basis that tech goods are priced.

I had the problem too: Installed a Samsung 840 EVO in the old HD's place and moved the old HD to the optical bay. Upgraded to Mountain Lion and the freezes....

Today I tried unmounting the old HD (made an AppleScript to mount and unmount).

Strangely enough I haven't had a single freexe since. Tried stressing the SSD by opening lots of applications etc.

Is this the solution? Or am I just lucky?

Edit: MBP is pre-unibody (early 2008) with SATA I

OOps: Forgot that I activated TRIM using Trim enabler also. Maybe this is the cure? Just now I'm running the mac with the old HD mounted again, and haven't had any freezes yet.....

sorry for this unscientific approach😊

- Trim Enbler 2 is no problem for 10.6.8 10.6.7 and 10.6.8 Does not do a superjob but does it. Do not use TE 3, not even 3.1.

After "Trimming" check in SysteInformation (Apple Menu while holding Alt(=option) key, second entry), whether Trim is "yes", because after some OS updates the Trim is gone because the IOAHCIFamily.kext is changed. After trim"ming" close the TE app and move it to a backup folder. Using it twice means that you can not reverse the Trim command because the orig file is overwritten with the trimmed file.

- It is necessary for a detailed answer to give more info about your installation: OS, computer age and model, etc. Easy would be that you download Etrecheck (www.etresoft.com) run it and post the list here.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2008)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro4,1

1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

4 GB RAM

Video Information:

GeForce 8600M GT - VRAM: 256 MB

Startup Items:

BRESINKx86Monitoring - Path: /Library/StartupItems/BRESINKx86Monitoring

EyeConnect - Path: /Library/StartupItems/EyeConnect

M-Audio FireWire Audio Helper - Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-Audio FireWire Audio Helper

PACESupport - Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

Qmaster - Path: /Library/StartupItems/Qmaster

VirtualBox - Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

System Software:

OS X 10.8.5 (12F37) - Uptime: 0 days 11:36:51

Disk Information:

Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB disk0 : (250,06 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

SSD (disk0s2) /: 249,2 GB (180,35 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Kernel Extensions:

com.smarttech.iokit.SMARTBoard (11)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.m-audio.firewire.helper.plist

[failed] com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist

[failed] PACESupport.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.smarttech.boardservice.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.floatingtools.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.ink.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.SBWDKService.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.smartnotification.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.systemtrayicon.plist

[loaded] com.wacom.pentablet.plist

[loaded] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[loaded] com.Livestation.plist

[failed] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.trashSizeWatcher.plist

[failed] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist

[failed] com.micromat.SMSDaemon.plist

[not loaded] com.valvesoftware.steam.ipctool.plist

[loaded] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

User Login Items:

EyeTV Helper

AirPort-baseagent

aaaTypeIt4MeMenu

TransmitMenu

TypeIt4Me

iTunesHelper

Alfred

Dropbox

CNQL1208_ButtonManager

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Clusters

DivX

Flash Player

Flip4Mac WMV

GeekTool

Growl

Java

PreferencesPane

MacFUSE

Perian

SMART Board

WacomTablet

Internet Plug-ins:

DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

JoostPlugin.plugin

LogitechHarmony.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Picasa.plugin

Bad Fonts:

None

Top Processes by CPU:

44% find

5% WindowServer

5% Mail

2% EtreCheck

2% hidd

1% locate.code

1% syncdefaultsd

0% helpd

0% com.apple.iCloudHelper

0% SMART Ink

Top Processes by Memory:

119 MB WebProcess

102 MB mds

86 MB WindowServer

86 MB Mail

82 MB Dock

82 MB Safari

66 MB Dropbox

41 MB Contacts

41 MB Calendar

37 MB helpd

Virtual Memory Statistics

1.85 GB Free RAM

1.53 GB Active RAM

102 MB Inactive RAM

533 MB Wired RAM

370 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Your issues: two possibilities:

a. Something wrong with 840EVO, unilkely, but it is still in warranty. We will find out.

b. 4GB Ram is a bit low, but in the list enough is free, discuss it later on.

c. Software issues with incompatible or crap software: this has to be solved in both cases, because you have software that should not be there (remedy this will take some time)

and in the following I will discuss that first:

C1. Check "Trim Support" in the SystemInformation?

- If Trim is yes, run Trim Enabler again and see if it switches back: leave it NO for the moment. If it stays Yes, then we know something is not quite right in that kext. We need to do the combo update later on.

- If Trim is NO in SystemInformation, leave it like that for the moment. Kext OK.

C2.

1. You do absolutely not need CleanmyMac, TypeIt4Me, TransmitMenu, CNQL_ButtonManager. And together they really make a mess!

Uninstall CleanMyMac completely; I hope you did not do fancy things like deleting unused languages: that alone is already cause for panics and crashes.

And uninstall TypeIt4MeMenu.

And uninstall TransmitMenu.

And uninstall CNQL1208_ButtonManager.

2. Update CarbonCopyCloner to the latest version, if you did not do that already.

3. In SystemPreferences/Users&Groups LoginItems tab:

take out all (you can put back later what you want.

4. Make a new folder on your desktop, name it PluginSys.

Make a second folder on your desktop and name it PluginUser.

In (username) /Library/InternetPlugins move picasa.plugin to the desktop PluginUser folder.

In (ssd) /Library/InternetPlugins move

JoostPlugin, LogitechHarmonyPlugin, RealPlayerPlugin, and SilverlightPlugin

to the desktop PluginSys folder.

5. In the SystemPreferences/JavaApplet/SecirityTab disable Java in the browser, In Safari/Preferences/SecurityTab disable the Java InternetPlugin. Quit Safari (from the menu).

6. Now restart the mac.

7. SmartTech Board: do you use it? Are the software and drivers on the latest version? This important because there is a kext that may be causing issues. If you do not use the board uninstall all software that is installed.

8. Uninstall the Clusters Applet in SystemPreferences (check in this applet or in the installer whether there is an uninstaller, otherwise just move it to the trash).

9. Uninstall the Geek Tool Applet.

10. You do not really need Growl, the Notifications center is a perfect tool. Thus uninstall the Growl Applet.

11. Macfuse is probably not uptodate anymore. Uninstall it.

12. Wacom Tablet and Smartboard Applets: uninstall them, you can reinstall later what is absolutely necessary.

13. Uninstall Alfred and BaseAgent.

14 Really nasty software is Valvesoftware Steam, UNINSTALL it.

Now restart the computer again. make a new Etrecheck list, we will delete leftovers and bring back the Trim command with a 10.8.5 proven app. And see what software you need or can not miss alltogether.

Hi again

Hope I managed to remove every item you mentioned.

Trim is still on after having run Trim Enabler and asking it to stop Trim(ming)

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2008)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro4,1

1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

4 GB RAM

Video Information:

GeForce 8600M GT - VRAM: 256 MB

Startup Items:

BRESINKx86Monitoring - Path: /Library/StartupItems/BRESINKx86Monitoring

EyeConnect - Path: /Library/StartupItems/EyeConnect

M-Audio FireWire Audio Helper - Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-Audio FireWire Audio Helper

PACESupport - Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

Qmaster - Path: /Library/StartupItems/Qmaster

VirtualBox - Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

System Software:

OS X 10.8.5 (12F37) - Uptime: 0 days 0:0:34

Disk Information:

Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB disk0 : (250,06 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

SSD (disk0s2) /: 249,2 GB (180,25 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Kernel Extensions:

com.smarttech.iokit.SMARTBoard (11)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.m-audio.firewire.helper.plist

[failed] com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist

[failed] PACESupport.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.smarttech.boardservice.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.floatingtools.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.ink.plist

[loaded] com.smarttech.SBWDKService.plist

[failed] com.smarttech.smartnotification.plist

[failed] com.smarttech.systemtrayicon.plist

[loaded] com.wacom.pentablet.plist

[loaded] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[loaded] com.Livestation.plist

[failed] com.micromat.SMSDaemon.plist

[not loaded] com.valvesoftware.steam.ipctool.plist

[loaded] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

User Login Items:

EyeTV Helper

AirPort-baseagent

iTunesHelper

Dropbox

3rd Party Preference Panes:

DivX

Flash Player

Flip4Mac WMV

GeekTool

Java

PreferencesPane

Perian

Internet Plug-ins:

DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

JoostPlugin.plugin

LogitechHarmony.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Bad Fonts:

None

Top Processes by CPU:

66% Dropbox

59% goobspatch

17% Image Capture Extension

5% WindowServer

5% FinderLoadBundle

4% Transmit

4% mds

3% CIJScannerRegister

2% Finder

2% hidd

Top Processes by Memory:

77 MB goobspatch

65 MB Dropbox

61 MB Dock

54 MB mds

47 MB Transmit

45 MB WindowServer

29 MB CalendarAgent

29 MB SMART Ink

29 MB coreservicesd

25 MB Finder

Virtual Memory Statistics

2.56 GB Free RAM

980 MB Active RAM

159 MB Inactive RAM

338 MB Wired RAM

240 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

That is quick! Today from now (12:30) to 18:00 I have time, tommorrow I am travelling all day and evening. So I hope to do it all today!

Same lettering:

C1. delete the TrimEnabler we will use something else after correcting the failures:

quit the app, delete it to the Trash, (username) /Library/Caches/ delete Cindori.Trim-Enabler.plist, (username) /Library/Preferences/ delete Cindori.Trim-Enabler.plist.

That's it, then it is gone now.

C2.

1. OK.

2. OK.

3. you left some LoginItems: take out the Airport-baseagent.

btw, do you still have the Canon printer/scanner? if no the CIJscanner is still there (checked as univisible?), leave it there if you have the Canon, else remove it.

4. InternetPlugins: take the Silverlight out: you can delete it;

Joostplugin is still there, why?

5. Check what you did, all ok?

6. --

7. give me some answers, see my last list. You have either Wacom, or Smartboard, or both, or nothing.

8. --

9. you must get rid of the GeekTool.....!

10. 11. 12. OK

13. BaseAgent is still there, uninstall it.

14. Steam still there, uninstall it.

15. Uninstall the following apps:

BaseAgent, Chrome (and its extensions/plugins)

In ActivityMonitor >all processes> click the ProcessName column once, fid transmit and Quit it, find goobspatch and Quit it, when necessary ForceQuit.

If you do not use BBedit uninstall it.

16. Now we are going to clean some unnecessary or crap things:

go to (ssd) /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder, and delete:

- com.smarttech..... delete them all

go to (ssd) /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder, and delete:

- PACESupport.plist (this is a bad one!): delete delete !!

- com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist

- com.barebones.textwrangler.plist (this is BBedit's plist)

go to (username) /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder, and delete:

- com.adobe.ARM.......

- com.micromat.SMSDaemon.plist

- com.valvesoftware.steam.ipctool.plist !!!

Restart the mac.

Run Etrecheck again. Answer the questions. Then the onla thing we still have to do is clear the Trim issue.

Post everything here and while waiting for my return post, download the 10.8.5 Combo Update.