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Mac Mini SSD (solid state drive) discussion thread

Osamede said:
This is to go in a Mac Mini for use as a HTPC/Plex server/whole whouse Squeezebox server/general family file server.

The Samsung material seems to define the 845 DC Pro as "write intensive" and the 845 DC Evo as "read intensive".

Reason I am looking at these is because of power loss protection that only this and the Intel 730s seems to have. We tend to suffer power outages from time to time and so far this has probably contributed to early bricking of a Crucial M4 that I had in a self-built Win 7 desktop that was doing these duties described above.

Also, If I understand what you are saying the Samsung 840 Pro has no problems whatsoever?
Click to expand...

No, the 840 Pro uses a different controller from the Evo and the Pro also uses MLC NAND, which is far more reliable.

Most datacenter SSDs are actually optimized for intensive random read operations. If you compare the raw IOPS figure and sequential figures between the 840 Pro and 845DC Pro, you'll see that the 840 Pro wins in all aspects, except for the lack of power loss protection.
 
Just checked and unfortunately, it seems like I cannot buy the 840 Pro anymore where I am
 
I'm on my 2nd Crucial M550 SSD for my 2012 quad. The first one worked great for about a month but then I started getting somewhat frequent hangs that would last about 10-15 seconds. I found out that there is a firmware update for it but I couldn't apply it as it would only work with an internal bootable media (i.e. dvd). I wasn't able to do it so I sent it back. Plus, local Genius Bar ran a SMART utility which indicated the drive was failing due to reallocated sector counts. Subsequently learned that these are normal with SSD's.

Crucial said they'd send me one with the latest firmware update. Sure enough, the one they sent did not have it. Then I discovered I had accidentlally popped off the IR sensor cable when taking the drive out to send it back. :mad:

So far the replacement is working fine. If it starts acting up again, I may have to go back in, take the drive out, and apply the update externally. Hoping it doesn't come to this!
 
What about just buying a 850 Pro SSD and a little UPS? This also helps in protecting your machine against power surges etc.
 
Is there much point in upgrading my 830 SSD? I am getting just over 400 MB/s Write and 470 reads, will I get anything better in upgrading? Would like to move to 500GB
 
[[ will I get anything better in upgrading? Would like to move to 500GB ]]

You may get a slight speed increase that is "measurable" using diagnostic applications (such as BlackMagic), but...

... I doubt that, from a point of "perceptivity", that the increase will be very noticeable at all...
 
Mac Mini SSD (solid state drive) discussion thread

The one question I would like answered - I have posed it here and elsewhere, without much success, is 'how important are firmware upgrades'?

I've had Crucial M500 SSD's in my MM and cMBP for close on two years now, and have never bothered to check the firmware, much less worry about actually updating it.

The few times I did have a look around on the Crucial forums, I saw some threads dealing with issues surrounding the updates - it looks fairly complicated to do, and appears to occasionnally cause more problems than what was initially being solved?!

Anyone have some views on the above? Is it necessary to update - or is it a case of "if it ain't broke, then don't try and fix it"?
 
I have the same question. I've never firmware updated any of my SSDs yet. I tried doing it with my Crucial MX100 but when visiting their webpage for it that service was down.
 
I have a Crucial m500 running my late-2012 Mini via a USB3/SATA dock.

I've never bothered to update the firmware, and it's run great for a year now.

As mentioned above, it "ain't broke", so why "fix" it?
 
Fishrrman said:
I have a Crucial m500 running my late-2012 Mini via a USB3/SATA dock.

I've never bothered to update the firmware, and it's run great for a year now.

As mentioned above, it "ain't broke", so why "fix" it?
Click to expand...

The M500 in my home server corrupted and died after about 12 months. First slow to boot, then would not boot sometimes, then not boot at all. I suspect it was not able to deal with the power outages we had which happened about 5 or 6 times in that period.
 
Cassady said:
The one question I would like answered - I have posed it here and elsewhere, without much success, is 'how important are firmware upgrades'?

I've had Crucial M500 SSD's in my MM and cMBP for close on two years now, and have never bothered to check the firmware, much less worry about actually updating it.

The few times I did have a look around on the Crucial forums, I saw some threads dealing with issues surrounding the updates - it looks fairly complicated to do, and appears to occasionnally cause more problems than what was initially being solved?!

Anyone have some views on the above? Is it necessary to update - or is it a case of "if it ain't broke, then don't try and fix it"?
Click to expand...

About a month after installing a Crucial M500 in my 2012 QC refurb, I started getting temporary hangs. I'd get the beach ball for 15 seconds and it would go back to working. I brought it to my local Apple store; they ran a diagnostic that said the drive was failing (reallocated sector counts..something like that). I discovered that there was a firmware update. Crucial said the update could help with the freezes. However, I couldn't upgrade the firmware as it had to be bootable and my DVD drive is external. So I sent the drive back to them; the rep said they'd send me a refurbed one and that it should have the new firmware. It didn't. But so far, it's working fine.
 
Wow, all the M500 issues. I have three 960GB models, the first bought in Nov 2013 and two from Jan 2014.

The first one was installed in my 2012 MBP right after I got it. It has had a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition added and removed. Currently it has a Windows 10 installation Boot Camped on it.

The second one was installed in a 2010 Mac Pro, both as SATA 2 and on a PCIe card. Then it found its way to a 2012 mini 2.6 quad, and finally it is mounted on an Apricorn Vel Duo x2 card in a 2012 Mac Pro. It also spent some time doing SATA 2 duty in my current Mac Pro.

The third went into a 2012 mini 2.3 then to the mini 2.6 (dual SSDs) and now back to the 2.3. It is hard remembering where the poor M500s have been.

One of the M500s has been OS X then Windows 8.1 then OS X then Windows 8.1. Most of the time when they were moved the OS just cranked up in the new machine with a couple of minor adjustments (even Windows).

Needless to say the poor things have been tortured a bit. The firmware update was performed on two of them via Windows. The M500s have not missed a beat yet. They truly have performed perfectly, not as fast as some of the competition but flawlessly never-less.

Oh, and TRIM? They had it during their glorious but short Mavericks days but nothing since then except for the Windows SSD (I guess).
 
i have a late 2009 Mac Mini 2.53 C2D with the Nvidia MCP79 SATA
chipset. the original 5400 rpm drive showed a Link Speed of 3Gb
and Negotiated Link Speed 3Gb

after installing a Samsung 850 EVO I'm seeing a Link Speed of
3Gb and Negotiated Link speed 1.5Gb


any ideas ?


EVO_zpsjjw8vwya.jpg
 
burninglegs said:
Is there a dedicated SSD thread buried somewhere here in the Mac Mini forum? I did a search and didn't find anything. I thought maybe a "dedicated" thread might be helpful?


Anyways I have a general question as I am looking at getting a SSD to upgrade my late 2012 i7 Mini. I want a 500-512GB drive. Looking for the best bang for the buck. From my limited understanding and reading, Samsung (840 Pro/850 Pro) and Crucial M500 seem like they are good bang for the buck. Are those basically the best options for bang for your buck at the moment?
Click to expand...

When your get the SSD look at this video for the install.

 
ParishM said:
i have a late 2009 Mac Mini 2.53 C2D with the Nvidia MCP79 SATA
chipset. the original 5400 rpm drive showed a Link Speed of 3Gb
and Negotiated Link Speed 3Gb

after installing a Samsung 850 EVO I'm seeing a Link Speed of
3Gb and Negotiated Link speed 1.5Gb


any ideas ?


Image
Click to expand...


you put a 850 in it is a sata III or a 6.0 the Nvidia chipset from 2009 was picky

So when it sees a sata III ssd it downrade you to sata I.

Your options are:

1)live with it and pull the drive when you get rid of your mac mini.
2)return the drive and find a sata II ssd usd on ebay
3)Return the drive and find a sata II ssd new on newegg
4)Return the drive and pm me I have multiple samsung sata II ssds 256gb in good shape.
 
trs0722 said:
I'm on my 2nd Crucial M550 SSD for my 2012 quad. The first one worked great for about a month but then I started getting somewhat frequent hangs that would last about 10-15 seconds. I found out that there is a firmware update for it but I couldn't apply it as it would only work with an internal bootable media (i.e. dvd). I wasn't able to do it so I sent it back. Plus, local Genius Bar ran a SMART utility which indicated the drive was failing due to reallocated sector counts. Subsequently learned that these are normal with SSD's.

Crucial said they'd send me one with the latest firmware update. Sure enough, the one they sent did not have it. Then I discovered I had accidentlally popped off the IR sensor cable when taking the drive out to send it back. :mad:

So far the replacement is working fine. If it starts acting up again, I may have to go back in, take the drive out, and apply the update externally. Hoping it doesn't come to this!
Click to expand...

The Crucial M550 and MX100 can be updated using an EFI bootable USB, so you shouldn't need to take the SSD out of the Mac. Some details here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1844323/

For the M500 users, I don't think this method is possible, so the drive might need to be removed from the Mac Mini.
 
Last edited:
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