Mac Pro Best Drive Configuration

[steveOooo]

Not sure about fusion drive but I've had a combined ssd/hdd setup since 2011 and apps / system startup load very quickly

My setup

Ssd - apps are stored here
Hdd - home directory (docs, movies, music, photos etc..) stored here

To set this up, install os onto ssd as per clean install (home directory is set to the ssd at this point)
Then system prefs - users - advanced - select where the home directory will be (your 3.5' spinning disc)
Restart and hey presto

No idea if it's overall quicker than using a official fusion drive setup but everything loads quickly enough for me

 

[JedNZ]

Yep, that's what I've got here, except mine is a little more exotic. I have my SSD in a SATA III PCIe card, and my FD is a NVMe coupled with a HDD.

I wouldn't be surprised if user curated FD's are better than Apple's ones, as most of users have much larger SSDs (Apple use 24GB and 128GB from what I've read).

 

[sterile stork]

Many sincere thanks for curating the guide. I've encountered a bit of a hiccup myself and would appreciate any guidance from the expertise within here. Using an Angelbird PX1 with a 512 GB Samsung 960 PRO m.2 NVMe installed, followed the instructions per your guide, JedNZ and have gotten the drive to be recognized, listed under NVMExpress under System Report, however only as external, no SMART, no TRIM on 10.12.3--any thoughts?

 

[JedNZ]

Have you enabled TRIM support? You can do this via the following terminal command:
sudo trimforce enable

You may need to disable SIP before you do this, if it doesn't work at first.

Other than that, I'm not aware of any other steps I made to get TRIM working. TRIM was actually already activated on my system before I installed the NVMe.

 

[Stephen Valente]

I've been looking at a product called the Angelbird Wings PX1. Worth trying for a fast booting SSD?

 

[itdk92]

I've been looking at a product called the Angelbird Wings PX1. Worth trying for a fast booting SSD?

Just FYI the angelbird has no ssd installed, it's just an enclosure

But atm I am actually considering buying one of those to try it out instead of the amfeltec, to check temperatures.

On the amfeltec x16, temps are around 50C with only 1 drive installed

The ssd is a HyperX 960GB

 

[Logan_the_man]

Okay. Finally got it working (again). A Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVMe SSD in a PCIe adapter.

Steps:
1. Disable SIP by booting into your Recovery Drive (Command+R at startup) and select Terminal from the Utility menu. Enter this command line: csrutil disable; reboot
2. Curate an NVMe kext using the GITHUB process - instructions can be found here. The version I made is specific to my MacOS - 10.12.3 - unknown if this will work in subsequent versions of macOS, or future versions. The file that was output is called: HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext
3. Use Kext Utility (download site here) to install the above created kext. So simply drag the kext file to Kext Utility - it will place it at System > Library > Extensions - will also fixed permissions and flush caches etc.
4. Navigate to System > Library > Extensions and remove (backup a copy somewhere) IONVMeFamily.kext
5. Update: Step 5 is not needed. The HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext only needs to be in System > Library > Extensions. [Original step: Option+Drag (copy) the HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext to Library > Extensions manually. Then use Batchmod (or other utility) to set the permissions to root:wheel ]
6. Delete IONVMeFamily.kext if it exists at Library > Extensions
7. In Terminal, type this command: sudo kextload (include a space at the end) then copy the HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext file from System > Library > Extensions . The final command will look like this: sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext
8. Check Disk Utility to see if the NVMe drive is listed. If it hasn't been formatted you may get a dialog box inviting you to format it. If not, then do a Restart
9. On Restart my NVMe showed up on the Desktop (I had formatted it from an earlier attempt).

I have my Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVMe in PCIe slot 3. I'm getting Read: 1400MB/sec, and Write: 1500 MB/sec.

Questions - can you help:
Q1. The Samsung 960 EVO is capable of Read: 3200 MB/sec, and Write: 1900 MB/sec. Anyone know how I can squeeze out more of that speed? Partial answer: Theoretical maximum speeds in PCIe slots 3 and 4 mean you can only get up to 2000MB/s as they are only x4 (4 times 500MB/s). Not sure I can better my results, but ideas welcomed.
Q2. Can anyone confirm if I moved the PCIe card to PCIe slot 2 (x16) would I get faster speeds? Answer: Does not achieve better results. In fact, a known (so I've read) bug means you actually get half the speed!! not twice the speed. Leave the NVMe PCI adapter in PCIe slot 3 or 4.
Q3. Anyone know how to update the RecoveryHD to include HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext so I can mount and access the NVMe FD? I used this method but the NVMe doesn't register (doesn't mount, doesn't show in Terminal using diskutil list or in Disk Utility etc.

Next up/to do:
a. I'll enable SIP again and see if it still works. Works!
b. I'll create a Fusion Drive with my NVMe drive and a 2TB WD Black Caviar. Works!
c: Create a User account on this and see if I can logon to that User account. Works!
c. I'll then dd (copy) my entire 2TB of User data onto the FD and see if that works. Works!
d. Restarting holding the Shift key down - no problems and doesn't affect the kext.

Even shows up correctly in System Information NVMExpress, with TRIM support.
View attachment 688635 View attachment 688640


Thanks to h9826790 for the encouragement to do this.

OMG am I in a pickle. I just got the Samsung 960 Pro nvme ssd, and an angel wings adapter. I really wish I can get my computer to recognize it though. Need help please. Here's my system: Trash Can late 2013. OS 10.12.2. Sierra I run the PCIE cards off of a Sonnet expansion Chassis. Echo Express iii Thunderbolt 2.0. The pcie slots are Gen 2.0 but they support full height and length cards over.

I dove into this pcie ssd thing because I'm an audio editor. And external hard drives actually suck for audio/video editing which is quite contrary to what the retailers say right? Like they say the externals are great work drives for editing software. ***Insert face palm emoji and make it a gif where im shaking my head left to right***** They suck!

So I really have no idea what I'm doing because I'm not supposed to worry about why my programs crashing when I got clients in the other room ya know...I pay the big bucks(which I dont have) for thunderbolt hard drives and then learn they actually only transfer like 200 megs a second **WAY TO SLOW**...Why is it thunderbolt for 200 megs?! I know I'm a sucker lol!

What I'm trying to say is if someone could make a super idiot proof procedure to get this SDD recognized for me and my system I'd really appreciate it. For Trash can. Or just share a link to the way for trash cans... I think there are a lot of people like me that need to be told like every single step like way to broken down. Or just like some guidance for what I should do. Like I have no Idea what to do. Anything Helps...I've been trying some stuff, but I dont know what Im doing wrong. And I cant find a way to get this thing to work on the trash can... If I had a cMP I think I could figure out this stuff.

Thanks yal,

Logan

 

[Squuiid]

OMG am I in a pickle. I just got the Samsung 960 Pro nvme ssd, and an angel wings adapter. I really wish I can get my computer to recognize it though. Need help please. Here's my system: Trash Can late 2013. OS 10.12.2. Sierra I run the PCIE cards off of a Sonnet expansion Chassis. Echo Express iii Thunderbolt 2.0. The pcie slots are Gen 2.0 but they support full height and length cards over.

I dove into this pcie ssd thing because I'm an audio editor. And external hard drives actually suck for audio/video editing which is quite contrary to what the retailers say right? Like they say the externals are great work drives for editing software. ***Insert face palm emoji and make it a gif where im shaking my head left to right***** They suck!

So I really have no idea what I'm doing because I'm not supposed to worry about why my programs crashing when I got clients in the other room ya know...I pay the big bucks(which I dont have) for thunderbolt hard drives and then learn they actually only transfer like 200 megs a second **WAY TO SLOW**...Why is it thunderbolt for 200 megs?! I know I'm a sucker lol!

What I'm trying to say is if someone could make a super idiot proof procedure to get this SDD recognized for me and my system I'd really appreciate it. For Trash can. Or just share a link to the way for trash cans... I think there are a lot of people like me that need to be told like every single step like way to broken down. Or just like some guidance for what I should do. Like I have no Idea what to do. Anything Helps...I've been trying some stuff, but I dont know what Im doing wrong. And I cant find a way to get this thing to work on the trash can... If I had a cMP I think I could figure out this stuff.

Thanks yal,

Logan

Personally, I'd return the 960 and buy a HyperX Predator instead. These are AHCI and you'll have a MUCH easier time with them. No driver editing/additions required. Just plug and play.
While not quite as fast it will easily still suit your needs at up to 1400 MB/s read and 1000 MB/s write.
They come in 240GB, 480GB and 960GB.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

 

[TheBeastMid2012;-)]

NVME Booting works! I'm writing this on my cMP 5.1 EVO 960 500 GB with a booted 10.12.4, have a look at the pic. If you'd like to achieve the same, feel free to contact me.
It has three downsides though, first no recovery mode and second, I guess no FileVault, ah and yes SI is turned off.

 

[h9826790]

NVME Booting works! I'm writing this on my cMP 5.1 EVO 960 500 GB with a booted 10.12.4, have a look at the pic. If you'd like to achieve the same, feel free to contact me.
It has three downsides though, first no recovery mode and second, I guess no FileVault, ah and yes SI is turned off.

Interesting, can you share the procedure here?

 

[JedNZ]

TheBeastMid2012;-) please share

 

[itdk92]

Okay. Finally got it working (again). A Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVMe SSD in a PCIe adapter.

Steps:
1. Disable SIP by booting into your Recovery Drive (Command+R at startup) and select Terminal from the Utility menu. Enter this command line: csrutil disable; reboot
2. Curate an NVMe kext using the GITHUB process - instructions can be found here. The version I made is specific to my MacOS - 10.12.3 - unknown if this will work in subsequent versions of macOS, or future versions. The file that was output is called: HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext
3. Use Kext Utility (download site here) to install the above created kext. So simply drag the kext file to Kext Utility - it will place it at System > Library > Extensions - will also fixed permissions and flush caches etc.
4. Navigate to System > Library > Extensions and remove (backup a copy somewhere) IONVMeFamily.kext
5. Update: Step 5 is not needed. The HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext only needs to be in System > Library > Extensions. [Original step: Option+Drag (copy) the HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext to Library > Extensions manually. Then use Batchmod (or other utility) to set the permissions to root:wheel ]
6. Delete IONVMeFamily.kext if it exists at Library > Extensions
7. In Terminal, type this command: sudo kextload (include a space at the end) then copy the HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext file from System > Library > Extensions . The final command will look like this: sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext
8. Check Disk Utility to see if the NVMe drive is listed. If it hasn't been formatted you may get a dialog box inviting you to format it. If not, then do a Restart
9. On Restart my NVMe showed up on the Desktop (I had formatted it from an earlier attempt).

I have my Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVMe in PCIe slot 3. I'm getting Read: 1400MB/sec, and Write: 1500 MB/sec.

Questions - can you help:
Q1. The Samsung 960 EVO is capable of Read: 3200 MB/sec, and Write: 1900 MB/sec. Anyone know how I can squeeze out more of that speed? Partial answer: Theoretical maximum speeds in PCIe slots 3 and 4 mean you can only get up to 2000MB/s as they are only x4 (4 times 500MB/s). Not sure I can better my results, but ideas welcomed.
Q2. Can anyone confirm if I moved the PCIe card to PCIe slot 2 (x16) would I get faster speeds? Answer: Does not achieve better results. In fact, a known (so I've read) bug means you actually get half the speed!! not twice the speed. Leave the NVMe PCI adapter in PCIe slot 3 or 4.
Q3. Anyone know how to update the RecoveryHD to include HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_3.kext so I can mount and access the NVMe FD? I used this method but the NVMe doesn't register (doesn't mount, doesn't show in Terminal using diskutil list or in Disk Utility etc.

Next up/to do:
a. I'll enable SIP again and see if it still works. Works!
b. I'll create a Fusion Drive with my NVMe drive and a 2TB WD Black Caviar. Works!
c: Create a User account on this and see if I can logon to that User account. Works!
c. I'll then dd (copy) my entire 2TB of User data onto the FD and see if that works. Works!
d. Restarting holding the Shift key down - no problems and doesn't affect the kext.

Even shows up correctly in System Information NVMExpress, with TRIM support.
View attachment 688635 View attachment 688640


Thanks to h9826790 for the encouragement to do this.

This sound very promising. Thank you for your awesome contribute.

Have you since updated to 10.12.4? is the spoofing working without repatching?
Could I ask you to provide the curated kext for a Samsung 960 EVO?

 

[JedNZ]

Github have updated the NVMe kext patch, so by curating a new updated versions I've successfully upgraded to 10.12.5 today. All working well on my Samsung 960 EVO 500GB M.2 SSD blade.

You can curate your own NVMe kext by downloading the files and following their directions here. See this post for my full instructions on the process.

 

[itdk92]

Github have updated the NVMe kext patch, so by curating a new updated versions I've successfully upgraded to 10.12.5 today. All working well on my Samsung 960 EVO 500GB M.2 SSD blade.

You can curate your own NVMe kext by downloading the files and following their directions here. See this post for my full instructions on the process.

Yes awesome news and thank you so much!

After fiddling the whole morning I have now a nvme drive working properly, also about 1400MB/s read-write

I tried to generate a patched file with the --spoof option, but it did not work :/

 

[JedNZ]

I did try the --spoof option in my earlier attempts, but gave up on it and settled for the normal option (and so just removed IONVMeFamily.kext so as to avoid the startup conflict).

 

[Bion1nc]

NVME Booting works! I'm writing this on my cMP 5.1 EVO 960 500 GB with a booted 10.12.4, have a look at the pic. If you'd like to achieve the same, feel free to contact me.
It has three downsides though, first no recovery mode and second, I guess no FileVault, ah and yes SI is turned off.

[doublepost=1495411570][/doublepost]

NVME Booting works! I'm writing this on my cMP 5.1 EVO 960 500 GB with a booted 10.12.4, have a look at the pic. If you'd like to achieve the same, feel free to contact me.
It has three downsides though, first no recovery mode and second, I guess no FileVault, ah and yes SI is turned off.

I mean if you don't I'd like to know how you did, I currently have 2 SM951 NVMe but I can't boot off of em, I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks

 

[hardy43]

I did try the --spoof option in my earlier attempts, but gave up on it and settled for the normal option (and so just removed IONVMeFamily.kext so as to avoid the startup conflict).

I am really interested in getting a Nvme drive and using it for a scratch disk. I was looking at the AHCI sm951 but cant find one at a good price that will ship to me. Ive just been looking at the github directions to rekext to make the Nvme visible etc and have no idea where to start
any chance you could point me in the right direction?

Cheers

 

[JedNZ]

Please clarify: do you need help choosing an NVMe blade (best in class is Samsung 960 Pro, 2nd in class is 960 EVO) or following the GitHub instructions to curate an NVMe kext? The directions are fairly good so if you're stuck on a step let us know which one.

 

[hardy43]

Please clarify: do you need help choosing an NVMe blade (best in class is Samsung 960 Pro, 2nd in class is 960 EVO) or following the GitHub instructions to curate an NVMe kext? The directions are fairly good so if you're stuck on a step let us know which one.

Cheers, it was more to do with following the Kext instructions. I have never done anything like that before and it looked overwhelming
I have seen a fee youtube vids where they use the GitHub files for their hackintosh's so I'm guessing the same principle would apply to me.
I think I'm just going to do a full back up of my files and os and then just try it out and see what happens.
What adapter do you use? Ive heard from several people that the DT-120 is a very good adapter

 

[JedNZ]

I'm using a no-brand generic PCI-e M.2 card - no need to buy a branded model like the Lycom DT-120 (which are very good - but three times the price last time I looked). The model I got has Read/Write LEDs, which some models don't come with. Of course you can also buy some with fans bolted on too. Just make sure there's a reference that says it'll work without drivers for macOS 10.10.x and upwards. You can find the same one I bought on eBay for around US$10. Search eBay using this text:
M Key PCI-E X4 To M.2 NGFF SSD Converter Adapter Card For 2230 2242 2260 2280

The instructions curating your own NVMe kext are very good, and hopefully my journey helps. Just make sure you remove IONVMeFamily.kext from System/Library/Extensions because you will get boot-up crashes if you leave it installed.

 

[hardy43]

I'm using a no-brand generic PCI-e M.2 card - no need to buy a branded model like the Lycom DT-120 (which are very good - but three times the price last time I looked). The model I got has Read/Write LEDs, which some models don't come with. Of course you can also buy some with fans bolted on too. Just make sure there's a reference that says it'll work without drivers for macOS 10.10.x and upwards. You can find the same one I bought on eBay for around US$10. Search eBay using this text:
M Key PCI-E X4 To M.2 NGFF SSD Converter Adapter Card For 2230 2242 2260 2280

The instructions curating your own NVMe kext are very good, and hopefully my journey helps. Just make sure you remove IONVMeFamily.kext from System/Library/Extensions because you will get boot-up crashes if you leave it installed.

Cheers, Ive just read up and found that NVMe are now supported nativly on high Sierra. I was waiting for an excuse to update from el cap anyway
Going to get the DT-120 (£20 on amazon) and pair it with a Samsung evo.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[OEMPT]

I wonder if the new 10.12.6 (beta 3 at the moment) and 10.13 High Sierra, which both seem to have nvme support ootb, finally bring nvme booting to the cMP. I am looking for a PCIe M.2 card and contemplating if I should wait for the confirmed booting support. Can anyone confirm this? No one has tried to do a clean install with High Sierra on a NVME drive with the cMP yet ?

 

[itdk92]

I am actually curious about the path to "remove" the curated kexts, to be ready for Nvme ootb support.

How to do that?

macOS system files reinstall + update to 10.12.6?

 

[JedNZ]

Every macOS update so far has automatically broken support because it re-installs the IONVMeFamily.kext anyway (and thus causes kernel crashes at boot up), so I'm thinking it's just a matter of removing the HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_x.kext and then applying the macOS updater or installer.

Due to my User account residing on the NVMe, I would have to log out of my primary User account first, and back in using another admin account that's housed on my boot volume, before updating/upgrading. Anyone else got some ideas on this one?

 

[joelkalsi]

Huh thanks guys! And JedNZ specifically (plus everyone involved in creating the kext utility etc)! Just got Samsung Evo 960 1TB up and running, with 1460/1400 speeds!

There was some concern at "sudo kextload" part when it said some problem with loading the kext from /System/... and when I went to the directory with kext and executed the kextload there the screen went blank and gave a kernel panic and auto-boot. After that everything seems fine. Anyone else had this?

Off to experimenting video edit with FCPX on that new drive now