Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I highly recommend the Runcore 128 GB SSD for the MBA 3X speed and performance!
- Thread starter Scottsdale
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hey all,
Just a quick note about my issues with the Runcore 128 on my RevB Air (1.86)
Since the update to 10.6.4, I have not had anymore "spinning beachball freezing - forced to reboot" errors after letting it sleep for extended periods of time.
I am not 100 percent convinced that it is fixed yet, but this is the longest its gone without a freeze since I've had the Runcore.
Also of note, since I have had the drive I have checked the cable twice, taped it down as per scottsdale, done the firmware upgrade but none of it ever seemed to help... let it sleep overnight and usually within 10 minutes or so... beachball freeze.
Again, since 10.6.4 upgrade... no freezes yet and haven't rebooted for three full days now.
Heres to hoping it's fixed!
Just a quick note about my issues with the Runcore 128 on my RevB Air (1.86)
Since the update to 10.6.4, I have not had anymore "spinning beachball freezing - forced to reboot" errors after letting it sleep for extended periods of time.
I am not 100 percent convinced that it is fixed yet, but this is the longest its gone without a freeze since I've had the Runcore.
Also of note, since I have had the drive I have checked the cable twice, taped it down as per scottsdale, done the firmware upgrade but none of it ever seemed to help... let it sleep overnight and usually within 10 minutes or so... beachball freeze.
Again, since 10.6.4 upgrade... no freezes yet and haven't rebooted for three full days now.
Heres to hoping it's fixed!
I have MBA 1.86Ghz Rev. A
I installed 64GB Runcore yesterday.
I re-installed MacOSX 10.6 and it took forever, it was much faster with the old 4200rpm hdd.
After the install everything is much faster, I can feel that, but now I have to wait a lot after turning on the MBA, it just hangs on a white screen for a while then apple logo shows up.
Any ideas?
I installed 64GB Runcore yesterday.
I re-installed MacOSX 10.6 and it took forever, it was much faster with the old 4200rpm hdd.
After the install everything is much faster, I can feel that, but now I have to wait a lot after turning on the MBA, it just hangs on a white screen for a while then apple logo shows up.
Any ideas?
happyslayer,
I started this thread at tweaktown forums hoping to resolve the sleep issues with the 128gb drive:
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f78/macbook-air-rev-c-hangs-wake-sleep-w-128gb-runcore-39131/
It's been a few days since your post, have you experienced any wake from sleep issues since then?
I started this thread at tweaktown forums hoping to resolve the sleep issues with the 128gb drive:
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f78/macbook-air-rev-c-hangs-wake-sleep-w-128gb-runcore-39131/
It's been a few days since your post, have you experienced any wake from sleep issues since then?
I've never had that kind of problem after 64gb SSD upgrade. I used on 10.6.3 and 10.6.4
The only problem (?) I am having is longer waiting time during the powering on.
I have MBA 1.86Ghz Rev. A
I installed 64GB Runcore yesterday.
I re-installed MacOSX 10.6 and it took forever, it was much faster with the old 4200rpm hdd.
After the install everything is much faster, I can feel that, but now I have to wait a lot after turning on the MBA, it just hangs on a white screen for a while then apple logo shows up.
Any ideas?
Just for future reference, people might get confused when you say you have a "Rev A" MBA with a 1.86 GHz CPU. If you have a "Rev A" it's a 1.8 GHz Merom CPU. The "Rev B/C" have 1.86 GHz Penryn CPUs. A lot of people mix it up, and it often leads to confusion as the posters replying to you will be confused as to whether you actually have a Rev B/C (v 2,1) MBA since you stated a 1.86 GHz CPU.
Right now I am wondering if these Runcore problems are happening on v 1,1 MBAs at all? I thought it was only the v 2,1 MBAs with LIF SSDs that were having some of these problems?
BTW, I think you need to reset your PRAM/SMC...
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Good luck.
MBA, what ESD precautions did you take, if any. I have seen a CONSIDERABLE temperature increase after installing Runcore SSD. I reinstalled it twice, fiddling over every step. I used to assemble my computers myself, so installing the drive was a breeze.
My MBA has practically become unusable: I can't keep my hands on it. It's uncomfortably hot along the left side.
The fan is always on, too.
My machine used to be super quiet and cool, I used to write on it for hours on end without the fans kicking in. Now, they kick in within 1 minute after startup.
NET:
- Disk test: 104.88 overall score
- Noisy MBA
- VERY HOT.
It's odd that the left side is heating up after you changed the drive. If I remember correctly, the drive is on the right. If the SSD is heating up, you would expect that side to heat up. Over the last couple of years I have noticed more left sided heat esp with power plugged in or with processor intense activity. Have you checked the activity monitor to see if something is running in the background and heating up the cpu?
I changed the thermal paste to an arctic silver product when I installed the 256gb photofast drive and have not experienced any significant change in temp behaviour (neither better nor worse). May be worth trying on your machine as lots of posts have reported overall improvement and its quite cheap and simple to do.
BTW have you noticed any problems with wake from sleep reported by others in this thread?
You're correct, the drive's on the right side. But my left side is scorching hot. It's the black blob above the battery and to the left of the hard drive that heats up.
I've now re-formatted the drive and did a fresh install of Snow Leopard; will see if this helps. At the moment, no help at all, but the Spotlight is still indexing, so I have my hopes
When I open my Activity Monitor, I have SystemUIServer at 1.6% of CPU, Activity Monitor itself (1.6%), and Safari (0.4%). The Spotlight isn't getting shown. My fan is blazing full speed, and the whole left side is a frying pan.
My battery drains real fast now, supporting that frantic fan activity.
I'll consider the thermal paste change, but at this point I'm pondering dumping the MBA altogether. The old stock SSD is dead; the replacement at Apple was too expensive, the Runcore SSD is frying my motherboard. This MBA was my main writing machine; now I can't touch it.
As for the sleep problems, no - none at all. The firmware at my Runcore is the latest one, 1916 or whatever the heck it should be.
Yes, that's his CPU heating up? Doesn't make much sense. The only time I trust statements like his is when someone says, the baseline temp of my MBA's CPU was X until I installed BLANK and the temp was then X2. I just think a lot of people guess if something doesn't feel right they blame it on what is new... but sometimes that's not the problem or there is nothing different at all. I don't know how installing a Runcore SSD could make the CPU temperature rise?
Yes, let's discredit my statements
I bought the Rancore in part due to this thread; don't disappoint me by mistrust.The MBA used to be cool and silent, and now it's hot and noisy. End of story. I'll check how it's doing later today.
I've never needed to check my temp before, so - I don't know it.
Yes, let's discredit my statements
The MBA used to be cool and silent, and now it's hot and noisy. End of story. I'll check how it's doing later today.
I've never needed to check my temp before, so - I don't know it.
It is not an attempt to discredit your statement. If you have factual baseline information before and after, that's different than just blaming the Runcore SSD. I am sorry you're having problems, but it' possible the problem is something other than the Runcore SSD. What you're describing doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the Runcore SSD. So please clarify and give us some more information about it if you really believe the problem is the Runcore SSD.
Runcore 128 SSD in Rev. A Air with 1.6 GHz and 80 GB HD
I'm planning to replace my 80 GB HD in my Rev. A Macbook Air with the Runcore 128 SSD. I've read all the posts in this thread and related posts in this forum and others. It appears that I'll get a significant speed boost, plus I need the extra space. I'm pretty handy and don't anticipate any problems in performing the upgrade.
My question is: Is there anything I should especially watch out for or do in going from the HD to the SSD? Will cloning my current HD work OK or are there some essential system files that would be installed via a fresh install of SL?
Thanks to all who have paved the way.
I'm planning to replace my 80 GB HD in my Rev. A Macbook Air with the Runcore 128 SSD. I've read all the posts in this thread and related posts in this forum and others. It appears that I'll get a significant speed boost, plus I need the extra space. I'm pretty handy and don't anticipate any problems in performing the upgrade.
My question is: Is there anything I should especially watch out for or do in going from the HD to the SSD? Will cloning my current HD work OK or are there some essential system files that would be installed via a fresh install of SL?
Thanks to all who have paved the way.
This was a blatant move of advertising, and poorly executed at that. Sadly, you are not even a newbie and have an avatar. How long have you worked for Runcore, or gotten comped drives?
Take your ads elsewhere please thank you. Saying Runcore is the only option is blatant stupidness at its best. People's money would be better spent on the performers of this day and age. Intel, OCZ, make awesome reliable drives that ahem.. yah.
We don't need to throw some xbench out now do we?
Runcore will be your Apple computer's bad core.
Take your ads elsewhere please thank you. Saying Runcore is the only option is blatant stupidness at its best. People's money would be better spent on the performers of this day and age. Intel, OCZ, make awesome reliable drives that ahem.. yah.
We don't need to throw some xbench out now do we?
Runcore will be your Apple computer's bad core.
Cloning worked perfectly fine for me (once I had the RMA replacement 128GB Runcore drive, as the original one that was shipped to me wouldn't mount correctly in the USB-drive step). [I still have my original 64GB SSD drive/data, "Just in case something wasn't copied correctly," as a USB drive. How paranoid is that?]
Don't worry, be happy!
Sorry guys & gals...
It did the lockup after sleep thing two days ago. Spinning beach ball after about 10 minutes of use after coming out of sleep.
On the bright side, it worked well without issues for over a week.
It did the lockup after sleep thing two days ago. Spinning beach ball after about 10 minutes of use after coming out of sleep.
On the bright side, it worked well without issues for over a week.
No, was an excited user of a great product. The Runcore SSD worked amazing for me, and it has been amazing for many others that have used it. I definitely admit some have had problems. I had some problems for a while with mine, but it was a connection issue.
I have personally had over 30 people tell me they bought and love the Runcore SSD. This thread is actually pretty old, and it has provided good information for us MBA users. You want to brag about Intel and OCZ, but neither of those manufacturers make an SSD that has the same form factor and connector as the MBA uses. It's a 1.8" 5mm tall drive with an LIF connector. When this thread was created, Runcore was the only manufacturer that made a drive for the MBA.
I don't think you know what you're talking about when it comes to the MacBook Air. Perhaps you should read a bit and educate yourself before you criticize me so blatantly. Go find an Intel or OCZ SSD that will fit in the MBA... LMAO!
Hi all,
I purchased a 128GB Runcore SSD as a worthwhile update to my Rev A MBA, following the glowing recommendations on this thread and other places. My Runcore SSD was purchased directly from Runcore through their online store in December 2009 and has failed now with the question mark folder on booting. It has been installed and working well in my Apple MacBook AIR Rev-A since January this year, very happy with the performance as described on this thread. Last week it failed to start on power on and does not work any more. When it was working it was amazingly fast and dependable for me, but when it failed .....
The MacBook does not see the boot disk drive at startup, showing the Apple blinking "?" folder icon after trying for about 3 minutes. Test software booted from a DVD does not see the drive at all and there is no response to SMART tests.
The Runcore model is RCP-IV-ZA1828-C through the Runcore store for the MBA Rev A, and it was running FW 1916, P/N 14092800 and S/N 280912050101. My original slow Apple 64GB SSD drive works fine in the AIR then and now, and the Runcore SSD is not visible now when installed in the USB enclosure and connected to any Mac.
I have emailed Runcore Support twice over the last week asking what I have to do to get it repaired or replaced under warranty, no response at all so far?
Not happy with Runcore product (good performance but bad reliability and longevity) and support (NONE!) at all at the moment ....... when it's good it's very, very good, but when it goes bad there's nothing!
Regards and good luck to all the happy and not so happy Runcore customers, looks like we'll all need it!!!
All the best,
Tony.
I purchased a 128GB Runcore SSD as a worthwhile update to my Rev A MBA, following the glowing recommendations on this thread and other places. My Runcore SSD was purchased directly from Runcore through their online store in December 2009 and has failed now with the question mark folder on booting. It has been installed and working well in my Apple MacBook AIR Rev-A since January this year, very happy with the performance as described on this thread. Last week it failed to start on power on and does not work any more. When it was working it was amazingly fast and dependable for me, but when it failed .....
The MacBook does not see the boot disk drive at startup, showing the Apple blinking "?" folder icon after trying for about 3 minutes. Test software booted from a DVD does not see the drive at all and there is no response to SMART tests.
The Runcore model is RCP-IV-ZA1828-C through the Runcore store for the MBA Rev A, and it was running FW 1916, P/N 14092800 and S/N 280912050101. My original slow Apple 64GB SSD drive works fine in the AIR then and now, and the Runcore SSD is not visible now when installed in the USB enclosure and connected to any Mac.
I have emailed Runcore Support twice over the last week asking what I have to do to get it repaired or replaced under warranty, no response at all so far?
Not happy with Runcore product (good performance but bad reliability and longevity) and support (NONE!) at all at the moment ....... when it's good it's very, very good, but when it goes bad there's nothing!
Regards and good luck to all the happy and not so happy Runcore customers, looks like we'll all need it!!!
All the best,
Tony.
Hi all,
I purchased a 128GB Runcore SSD as a worthwhile update to my Rev A MBA, following the glowing recommendations on this thread and other places. My Runcore SSD was purchased directly from Runcore through their online store in December 2009 and has failed now with the question mark folder on booting. It has been installed and working well in my Apple MacBook AIR Rev-A since January this year, very happy with the performance as described on this thread. Last week it failed to start on power on and does not work any more. When it was working it was amazingly fast and dependable for me, but when it failed .....
The MacBook does not see the boot disk drive at startup, showing the Apple blinking "?" folder icon after trying for about 3 minutes. Test software booted from a DVD does not see the drive at all and there is no response to SMART tests.
The Runcore model is RCP-IV-ZA1828-C through the Runcore store for the MBA Rev A, and it was running FW 1916, P/N 14092800 and S/N 280912050101. My original slow Apple 64GB SSD drive works fine in the AIR then and now, and the Runcore SSD is not visible now when installed in the USB enclosure and connected to any Mac.
I have emailed Runcore Support twice over the last week asking what I have to do to get it repaired or replaced under warranty, no response at all so far?
Not happy with Runcore product (good performance but bad reliability and longevity) and support (NONE!) at all at the moment ....... when it's good it's very, very good, but when it goes bad there's nothing!
Regards and good luck to all the happy and not so happy Runcore customers, looks like we'll all need it!!!
All the best,
Tony.
By the sound of it, it died... sorry to hear it happened so soon. I'll be ready for a similar experience with mine.
I'm not sure why do you defend this product so much, and why do you feel compelled to type "Runcore SSD" 4 times in a short paragraph (I won't insult you with any assumptions), but I wasn't "just blaming" anything on the SSD. What I said was, the only change in my MBA was the hard drive, and my cool and quiet laptop became hot and noisy.
I've never needed any baseline info. Before its SSD died, my MBA was a dream machine.
At any rate, I mucked about some more and may have resolved the issue by totally reinstalling Snow Leopard and rebuilding all my applications and libraries afresh. The laptop still runs warmer than before, but at least I can type without burning my hands. I can even read BBC online's front page without my fan bursting into overdrive. Hurray.
Somehow (1) restoring from Time Machine or (2) using MBA's original Leopard restore disks didn't work.
So for me, the issue is closed, at least until this SSD also dies.
WTF would you prefer I call it? A non-Runcore SSD? Seriously, that's messed up. It can become really confusing with the stock HDD or SSD if it's not clearly noted.
Quite honestly, your accusations are disgusting... I cannot review a product that at the time was the ONLY aftermarket SSD available for the MBA. The MBA which uses an off-sized 1.8" form factor also requiring the 5mm height requirement, and practically proprietary LIF connector not used anywhere else in the market.
For someone wanting faster and better than Apple could provide, the Runcore SSD has been a great product for me and many others. One thing that I will say is the numbers or performance gains that the Runcore SSD once held over the stock SSD has been limited substantially. Apple's drivers with 10.6, 10.6.2 and 10.6.3 made the stock SSD a lot faster. The drivers are getting better improving the performance of the stock SSD.
I think for a prosumer, or tech enthusiast who wants more performance than the MBA could get from the stock SSD the Runcore offering was great. There have been some issues with instructions which has probably been the reason for the vast majority of the problems. It's too bad there isn't a better instruction set available to ensure great results.