External Boot SSD iMac Problems

[I Need a Drink]

I installed two 850 EVO SSDs in external Inateck FE2002 enclosures. One was installed on my Mac Mini 2014 and the other on my iMac 2013. I've only been running them for 2 days so far, but my iMac has stopped responding twice. Once when I tried to open Word, after I had already been using the computer for about 15 mins on the web, and again this morning when I woke it up from sleep. The only way to fix the issues is to hold the power button to shutdown and reboot. So far (I hope it continues) the Mini hasn't had any problems.

The difference in the two computers is that on the Mini I did a clean install and then reinstalled my apps and transferred over my documents and such from a USB flash drive. On the iMac I had done a clean install about a week ago to fix some issues that I had with iCloud, so I just used Carbon Copy Cloner for that one.

Could the problem on the iMac be because of cloning the drive? I've already run First Aid and everything seems OK. If the problem persists, I may try a clean install on the iMac to see if that helps. Any suggestions?

Also, should I go the clean install route on the iMac. How do I make sure that all the cells are cleared on the SSD since I can't run Trim and Samsung Magician won't work with a external enclosure if I hook it up to my Windows machine?

Thanks.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I installed two 850 EVO SSDs in external Inateck FE2002 enclosures. One was installed on my Mac Mini 2014 and the other on my iMac 2013. I've only been running them for 2 days so far, but my iMac has stopped responding twice. Once when I tried to open Word, after I had already been using the computer for about 15 mins on the web, and again this morning when I woke it up from sleep. The only way to fix the issues is to hold the power button to shutdown and reboot. So far (I hope it continues) the Mini hasn't had any problems.

The difference in the two computers is that on the Mini I did a clean install and then reinstalled my apps and transferred over my documents and such from a USB flash drive. On the iMac I had done a clean install about a week ago to fix some issues that I had with iCloud, so I just used Carbon Copy Cloner for that one.

Could the problem on the iMac be because of cloning the drive? I've already run First Aid and everything seems OK. If the problem persists, I may try a clean install on the iMac to see if that helps. Any suggestions?

Also, should I go the clean install route on the iMac. How do I make sure that all the cells are cleared on the SSD since I can't run Trim and Samsung Magician won't work with a external enclosure if I hook it up to my Windows machine?

Thanks.

I would suggest that you create a new partition on your iMac internal hard drive and install a clean copy of the OS o the new partition. Boot to the new partition and see if the issue still happens. When you are done, boot back to the original partition and delete the new partition. This will probably be the simplest, less destructive way to determine if the issue is with the clone.

 

[I Need a Drink]

Thanks for the heads up. If I end up having to clean install on the SSD, is there a easy way to erase all the cells with my Mac or am I going to have to take it out of the enclosure and put it in my Windows machine and run Samsung Magician?

 

[Taz Mangus]

Thanks for the heads up. If I end up having to clean install on the SSD, is there a easy way to erase all the cells with my Mac or am I going to have to take it out of the enclosure and put it in my Windows machine and run Samsung Magician?

SSDs are different than spinning hard drives. An erase should be all that you need on the Mac.