SSD 510 compatibility problems with Macbook Pro

[idata]

Hello,

it seems there is a compatibility problem between the Intel 510 Solid State Disks and the new (early 2011) Macbook Pro. A lot of people (including me) are experiencing problems with this SSD in their new Macbook Pros. See for example

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12192122# post12192122 http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12192122# post12192122

http://www.macuser.de/forum/f10/welche-ssd-fuer-425659/index107.html http://www.macuser.de/forum/f10/welche-ssd-fuer-425659/index107.html (German)

To be fair, there seem to be similar problems with Crucials C300

http://forum.hardmac.com/index.php?s=0c6a8e832764fd8a9497e34b57df7b68&showtopic=9921&pid=17870&st=0&... entry17870

The problem may be related to the SATA 3 mode utilized between the mentioned SSDs and the Intel Sandy Bridge SATA-Controller. I don't know and can't tell if Apple or Intel are responsible for these problems, but I think it is in the uttermost interest of Intel to resolve them (or make Apple resolve them). Otherwise Intel will have a hard time selling new SSDs to Apple owners...

The http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-029623.htm# 4 Intel SSD FAQ states:

All Intel Mainstream Solid-State Drives are tested and validated on the latest Intel-based notebook and desktop platforms.

I bought Intel for getting a reliable SSD for use in my Intel based notebook. Now it isn't working properly at all. I'm very disappointed.

regards,

Markus

[idata]

"Basically you ping the drive to avoid LPM (power management) from locking up the drive."

That makes sense. The 510 uses more power than other Intel SSDs due to the SATA 6Gb/s interface, and it's power requirements are above that supplied when LPM is active. Whatever that threshold is, this and other drives need more than it allows. The Apple approved SSDs are fine at that level. It must be very low, since the 510's idle power usage is low.

[idata]

It looks like there hasn't been much activity on this thread for over a month.

Is that because the problem has been solved somehow?

After reading for about 4 hours: from other Macbook threads where SATA-3 / 6gbps problems are discussed, this problem appears to happen with *all* 6gbps drives (intel 510, OCZ Vertex3, Kingston HyperX, Crucial's drives, etc). It also appears to have some dependency on when the macbook was manufactured, with the trend appearing to be that the later in the year, the better the chances the drive will work (no beachballs/hangs), but no guarantee (there are no reports I can find of an August 2011 machine having a problem, but certainly macbooks made in June have been reported as having the problem). It's not clear whether the cable was changed by Apple at some point, but it is clear that Apple silently changed the SATA configuration on the current Macbooks: from 6gbps main / 3gbps optibay to 6gbps for both. And that also appears to affect the problem (but still not completely solve it!)

Hmm. Here's where I am: i've just ordered a macbook pro 15", it'll arrive around Sept. 15. I want a 6gbps SSD to try, and I want to try it in the first 14 days because if it doesn't work then I believe I have the option to still return my macbook.

Here's the question: do any of you believe the intel 510 is a better option than say the OCZ Vertex3 MIOPS or the Kingston HyperX?

thanks for your advice.

[idata]

No, I received my new MacBook Pro and my Intel SSD 510 about a month ago and can confirm that the problem persists.

What's more, I did some investigation on the fix described by Lance French, regarding LPM and it appears to me that this is nonsense, that is, from what I've seen it's not clear to me how that could work. I'm weary to install binaries that just float around in the web, so I've downloaded the original utility on which that fix is based, hdapm, which can be obtained here: http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm

From what I understand after reading the http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/M4-512gb-Macbook-Pro-15-i7-2-3-2011/m-p/51534/mes... U51534 originial discussion of that fix and the http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/mbp-2011-sata-6-temporary-DIRTY-fix/td-p/50446 discussion on the "scripted" version, hdapm was only modified so that it sends APM commands continuously, rather than once. That said, when I try to use hdapm as described, the result is as follows:

$ sudo hdapm disk0 max

disk0: INTEL SSDSC2MH120A2 Setting APM level to 0xfe: FAILED: APM not supported

Now, doing that continuously rather than once shouldn't have much of an effect either, or am I missing out on something?

Any other reports on the http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2011/20110415_1_Tinfoilfix--howto.html tinfoil approach?

[idata]

I'm having the same problems with my Intel 510 SSD and MacBook Pro. Will try to order the cable from iFixit.

Thanks