MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[PeroPenx]

I'm not sure why you would expect a speed increase without RAID.
The delock is x8 which is enough for a PCIe 2.0 slot to do PCIe 3.0 x4.

Because of the switch. DeLock uses ASMedia x8 ASM2824 and Sonnet uses x16 PLX PEX8747.
With DeLock speed was never more than 2800 even with RAID. And Sonnet should be around 3200 with one blade. But it is not, at least according to Blackmagic. With ATTO and Amorphous it is, and I guess then it is all right.

edit:

Ok, I repeated atto test while looking at the temperatures on both blades. They never went over 50°C, so everything was ok. This time test was significantly better. Both blades perform as expected

i also did full test (from 512b to 64mb) to see is it going to raise temperature but again it stayed beyond 50°C and results were again as expected

I guess it was a false alarm. Thanks for your help

 

[joevt]

Ok, I repeated atto test while looking at the temperatures on both blades. They never went over 50°C, so everything was ok. This time test was significantly better. Both blades perform as expected View attachment 2041716 View attachment 2041717 View attachment 2041715

i also did full test (from 512b to 64mb) to see is it going to raise temperature but again it stayed beyond 50°C and results were again as expected

I guess it was a false alarm. Thanks for your help

Good to see that you can get the 6000+ MB/s bandwidth from both drives at once.
You should do separate tests in ATTO for each drive, to compare with the test that includes all drives - so you can see better if you're hitting a bottleneck. You did the separate tests using AmorphousDiskMark and got ≈3260 MB/s each. I guess it would be interesting to see how they perform individually also in ATTO. If ATTO also shows ≈3260 individually, then you can see that you are hitting the PCIe 2.0 x16 limit since your result (≈6000 MB/s) is less than double (≈6500 MB/s) for the total. But with 3 NVMe you'll really hit the limit.

If the drives are not hitting the PCIe 2.0 x16 limit, then a Raid 0 will probably be slightly less than the total without RAID that you see from ATTO since a RAID cannot be faster than the speed of the slowest drive multiplied by the number of drives.

 

[krakman]

Update 26 Nov 2022: 4 months use without any further problems. Rock solid!
I installed Win 10 via bootcamp and that works well too, although I only use it for the WD NVME drive utility program.


Update: I spent the last 4 days editing a couple of wedding videos in FCPX and the Trashcan has been rock solid.
No KPs, no hangs, no beachball.
I assume the initial problems I experienced were either - a faulty NVME adapter or dirty/poor contacts or something that was fixed in Monterey 12.5

WD SN770 2TB NVME now working fine in Trashcan MP

Last month when I installed the SSD it would KP when transferring large files, although intermittent it would KP regularly during the day and made editing video impractical.

I wiped the SSD and then reinstalled it with another NVME adaptor ( same brand but different unit) This time I cleaned all the contacts thoroughly before installing.

The drive have been working fine now for several days, I have installed Win 10 Via bootcamp (previously this would KP during installation) and I have copied over a 136GB FCPX video project (previously this caused a KP)

The only other difference since the first installation is the release of Monterey 12.5 (could that have fixed something???)

So far its been 3 days without a single KP!

 

[Mike Richardson]

Monterey is now installed. So far running 24 hours stable with the Intel 660p 1 TB and the Micro Connections adapter card.

FileVault encryption occurred without a hitch.

Since that message until today it ran without even needing a reboot. I converted some video files using the NVMe as a scratch. As long as the video conversion is on the GPU, you know, my 2019 MacBook Pro is still faster of course, but the Mac Pro is fast enough. (The laptop is slower if I factor in having to copy the files there, process and copy back).

Today I rebooted because Disk Utility was screwed up, but not because of the NVMe. It's because I have several drives and some are password encrypted, and it has royally sucked ever since they got rid of the good Disk Utility a long time ago. #SteveJobsDied

I don't know if Mexico Monterey is going to have any more point releases though since someone said that's where it screws up sometimes.

I think this combo of the Intel drive and Micro Connections card is probably fine to list. It's a really good value too, you get a nice ~2x bump in speed over a Sonnet Tempo card. (and that was a 2x bump over onboard).

 

[hwojtek]

I just bought and installed a Ableconn PEXM2-130 Dual PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Adapter Card. It features the ASMedia ASM2824 Switch, so essentially it's more or less the equivalent of the well-known Syba card (SI-PEX40129). The biggest difference compared to Syba would be lack of fan on the Ableconn. Recent Syba cards reportedly are no longer supporting single blades and/or have some other issues with the firmware disabling them altogether in a 4,1/5,1 Mac Pro. I might have suffered from that with a Syba was not recognized in my computer, so I returned it and went for the Ableconn.
Now I remember to see some comments about Ableconn suffering from the same single-blade issues, however this is not my scenario, so I didn't bother a lot.
Installation was a breeze, an OpenCore rescue CD comes in vary handy, as you need to re-bless the OC EFI partition. Otherwise the test numbers are more or less doubled compared to simple PCIe → NVMe adapters. Using a 2TB Adata SX8200 Pro for MacOS and 1TB Adata SX8200 Pro for Windows:

 

[trifero]

I just bought and installed a Ableconn PEXM2-130 Dual PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Adapter Card. It features the ASMedia ASM2824 Switch, so essentially it's more or less the equivalent of the well-known Syba card (SI-PEX40129). The biggest difference compared to Syba would be lack of fan on the Ableconn. Recent Syba cards reportedly are no longer supporting single blades and/or have some other issues with the firmware disabling them altogether in a 4,1/5,1 Mac Pro. I might have suffered from that with a Syba was not recognized in my computer, so I returned it and went for the Ableconn.
Now I remember to see some comments about Ableconn suffering from the same single-blade issues, however this is not my scenario, so I didn't bother a lot.
Installation was a breeze, an OpenCore rescue CD comes in vary handy, as you need to re-bless the OC EFI partition. Otherwise the test numbers are more or less doubled compared to simple PCIe → NVMe adapters. Using a 2TB Adata SX8200 Pro for MacOS and 1TB Adata SX8200 Pro for Windows:

View attachment 2048258

View attachment 2048259

Nice!

 

[splifingate]

the test numbers are more or less doubled compared to simple PCIe → NVMe adapters

Very nice!

Is it in an x16 slot, or x4?

 

[hwojtek]

Is it in an x16 slot, or x4?

Yeah, I forgot to mention it. Right above the GPU, in #2 slot (x16) though it connects x4 as expected.

 

[idealtracks]

I just bought and installed a Ableconn PEXM2-130 Dual PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Adapter Card.

Now I remember to see some comments about Ableconn suffering from the same single-blade issues, however this is not my scenario, so I didn't bother a lot.

Awesome!

Could you please test this card with a single drive installed and see if it still works and performs the same? Thank you!

 

[joevt]

Yeah, I forgot to mention it. Right above the GPU, in #2 slot (x16) though it connects x4 as expected.
View attachment 2048828

Problem with PCI tab of System Information.app is that it does not show the hierarchy like USB and Thunderbolt tabs do. What's missing is the parents of the listed devices. For that you need ioreg or pciutils. Try my pcitree.sh script.

 

[hwojtek]

Try my pcitree.sh script.

Sure. I did it in Ubuntu, since I didn't want to mess with directhw.kext on my production system, so here you go:

Spoiler: wojtek@LinuxMacPro:~$ sudo bash pcitree.sh

#=========================================================================================
┬[0000:00]
├─00:00.0           # g1x4           [8086:3406] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation 5520 I/O Hub to ESI Port
├┬00:01.0-[01-04]   # g2x4           [8086:3408] [0604] (rev 22) PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 1
│└┬01:00.0-[02-04]  # g2x4           [111d:8061] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : Microsemi / PMC / IDT PES12T3G2 PCI Express Gen2 Switch
│ ├┬02:02.0-[03]    # g2x4 > g2x2    [111d:8061] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : Microsemi / PMC / IDT PES12T3G2 PCI Express Gen2 Switch
│ │└─03:00.0        # g2x2           [1b21:1242] [0c03]          USB controller            : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1142 USB 3.1 Host Controller
│ └┬02:04.0-[04]    # g2x4 > g1x4    [111d:8061] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : Microsemi / PMC / IDT PES12T3G2 PCI Express Gen2 Switch
├┬00:03.0-[05]      # g2x16          [8086:340a] [0604] (rev 22) PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3
│├─05:00.0          # g3x16 > g2x16  [1002:67df] [0300] (rev ef) VGA compatible controller : Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590]
│└─05:00.1          # g3x16 > g2x16  [1002:aaf0] [0403]          Audio device              : Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590]
├┬00:07.0-[06-0b]   # g2x16 > g2x8   [8086:340e] [0604] (rev 22) PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7
│└┬06:00.0-[07-0b]  # g3x8 > g2x8    [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ ├┬07:00.0-[08]    # g3x4           [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ │└─08:00.0        # g3x4           [1cc1:8201] [0108] (rev 03) Non-Volatile memory controller : ADATA Technology Co., Ltd. XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive
│ ├┬07:04.0-[09]    # g3x4 > g1x1    [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ ├┬07:08.0-[0a]    # g3x4           [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ │└─0a:00.0        # g3x4           [1cc1:8201] [0108] (rev 03) Non-Volatile memory controller : ADATA Technology Co., Ltd. XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive
│ └┬07:0c.0-[0b]    # g3x4 > g1x1    [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
├─00:0d.0           # g0x0           [8086:343a] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0d.1           # g0x0           [8086:343b] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0d.2           # g0x0           [8086:343c] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0d.3           # g0x0           [8086:343d] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0d.4           # g0x0           [8086:3418] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Physical Layer Port 0
├─00:0d.5           # g0x0           [8086:3419] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500 Physical Layer Port 1
├─00:0d.6           # g0x0           [8086:341a] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0d.7           # g0x0           [8086:341b] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0e.0           # g0x0           [8086:341c] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0e.1           # g0x0           [8086:341d] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0e.2           # g0x0           [8086:341e] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0e.3           # g0x0           [8086:341f] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0e.4           # g0x0           [8086:3439] [0600] (rev 22) Host bridge               : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:0f.0           # g0x0           [8086:3424] [1101] (rev 22) Performance counters      : Intel Corporation Device
├─00:10.0           #                [8086:3425] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Physical and Link Layer Registers Port 0
├─00:10.1           #                [8086:3426] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Routing and Protocol Layer Registers Port 0
├─00:11.0           #                [8086:3427] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500 Physical and Link Layer Registers Port 1
├─00:11.1           #                [8086:3428] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500 Routing # 0000:00:11.1 Protocol Layer Register Port 1
├─00:13.0           #                [8086:342d] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub I/OxAPIC Interrupt Controller
├─00:14.0           # g0x0           [8086:342e] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers
├─00:14.1           # g0x0           [8086:3422] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers
├─00:14.2           # g0x0           [8086:3423] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers
├─00:14.3           #                [8086:3438] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Throttle Registers
├─00:15.0           #                [8086:342f] [0800] (rev 22) PIC                       : Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 Trusted Execution Technology Registers
├─00:16.0           # g0x0           [8086:3430] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.1           # g0x0           [8086:3431] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.2           # g0x0           [8086:3432] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.3           # g0x0           [8086:3433] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.4           # g0x0           [8086:3429] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.5           # g0x0           [8086:342a] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.6           # g0x0           [8086:342b] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:16.7           # g0x0           [8086:342c] [0880] (rev 22) System peripheral         : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 Chipset QuickData Technology Device
├─00:1a.0           #                [8086:3a37] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
├─00:1a.1           #                [8086:3a38] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
├─00:1a.2           #                [8086:3a39] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
├─00:1a.7           #                [8086:3a3c] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
├─00:1b.0           # g0x0           [8086:3a3e] [0403]          Audio device              : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller
├┬00:1c.0-[0c]      # g1x1 > g1x0    [8086:3a40] [0604]          PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 1
├┬00:1c.1-[0d]      # g1x1 > g1x0    [8086:3a42] [0604]          PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 2
├┬00:1c.2-[0e]      # g1x1           [8086:3a44] [0604]          PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 3
│└─0e:00.0          # g1x1           [8086:10f6] [0200]          Ethernet controller       : Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection
├┬00:1c.3-[0f]      # g1x1           [8086:3a46] [0604]          PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 4
│└─0f:00.0          # g1x1           [8086:10f6] [0200]          Ethernet controller       : Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection
├┬00:1c.4-[10-11]   # g1x1           [8086:3a48] [0604]          PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 5
│└┬10:00.0-[11]     # g1x1           [104c:823e] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : Texas Instruments XIO2213A/B/XIO2221 PCI Express to PCI Bridge [Cheetah Express]
│ └─11:00.0         #                [104c:823f] [0c00] (rev 01) FireWire (IEEE 1394)      : Texas Instruments XIO2213A/B/XIO2221 IEEE-1394b OHCI Controller [Cheetah Express]
├┬00:1c.5-[12]      # g1x1           [8086:3a4a] [0604]          PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 6
│└─12:00.0          # g1x1           [14e4:43a0] [0280] (rev 03) Network controller        : Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
├─00:1d.0           #                [8086:3a34] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
├─00:1d.1           #                [8086:3a35] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
├─00:1d.2           #                [8086:3a36] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
├─00:1d.7           #                [8086:3a3a] [0c03]          USB controller            : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
├┬00:1e.0-[13]      #                [8086:244e] [0604] (rev 90) PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge
├─00:1f.0           #                [8086:3a18] [0601]          ISA bridge                : Intel Corporation 82801JIB (ICH10) LPC Interface Controller
├─00:1f.2           #                [8086:3a22] [0106]          SATA controller           : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SATA AHCI Controller
└─00:1f.3           #                [8086:3a30] [0c05]          SMBus                     : Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller

 

[joevt]

Sure. I did it in Ubuntu, since I didn't want to mess with directhw.kext on my production system, so here you go:

Glad it works. DirectHW.kext is only for old Mac OS versions (or non-Intel Macs if DirectHW.kext ever gets ported to PowerPC or Arm). I think in your case you just need to set the debug flags in boot-args.
The output looks correct.
Here's slot 2 and your PCIe card:

├┬00:07.0-[06-0b]   # g2x16 > g2x8   [8086:340e] [0604] (rev 22) PCI bridge                : Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7
│└┬06:00.0-[07-0b]  # g3x8 > g2x8    [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ ├┬07:00.0-[08]    # g3x4           [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ │└─08:00.0        # g3x4           [1cc1:8201] [0108] (rev 03) Non-Volatile memory controller : ADATA Technology Co., Ltd. XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive
│ ├┬07:04.0-[09]    # g3x4 > g1x1    [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ ├┬07:08.0-[0a]    # g3x4           [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch
│ │└─0a:00.0        # g3x4           [1cc1:8201] [0108] (rev 03) Non-Volatile memory controller : ADATA Technology Co., Ltd. XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive
│ └┬07:0c.0-[0b]    # g3x4 > g1x1    [1b21:2824] [0604] (rev 01) PCI bridge                : ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2824 PCIe Gen3 Packet Switch

The important part is that it's connecting at gen 2 x8 and the two NVMe are connecting at gen 3 x4.

 

[hwojtek]

The important part is that it's connecting at gen 2 x8 and the two NVMe are connecting at gen 3 x4.

That's great news, thank you. So it seems the card makes good use of the available SSD bandwidth with still a bit of speed to spare.

 

[TzunamiOSX]

Looks like there are two versions of the 970 Evo Plus out there. One with Phoenix-Controller PCIe Gen3 x4 and one with the Elpis-Controller of the 980 Pro.

Are both versions compatible with the Mac Pro 5,1?

 

[Mike Richardson]

I don't know if Mexico Monterey is going to have any more point releases though since someone said that's where it screws up sometimes.

Mexico Monterey 12.5.1 came out a few days ago, doing the update now. If it works then I'll list the drive and card.

 

[ClaudAA]

Besides the Samsung 980 series problems with PCIe v2.0, there are also issues with the TRIM timeout at boot time when using APFS because the Samsung controller takes too much time to clean/dealocate blocks, a problem that is happening since SM951-AHCI and affect several models with different intensity, worst offenders being PM981, the SM951-AHCI line and the 960 EVO.

My 970 PRO also suffers it from time to time, but it's tolerable without needing to disable TRIM or apply any workarounds like SetApfsTrimTimeout, while the SM951-AHCI becomes practically unusable after it's full and erased a few times.

You can read more below:

SSD hall of shame:

SSD hall of fame needs new entries · Issue #192 · dortania/bugtracker

Guide Anti-Hackintosh Buyers Guide (link) After our discovery of a severe bug in the TRIM implementation of practically all Samsung SSDs we spent time investigating which SSDs are affected by all k...

github.com

SetApfsTrimTimeout:
https://dortania.github.io/docs/latest/Configuration.html

Thanx Alex, am always learning... am realizing I bought the wrong SSD 980 Pro 2TB that advertise ~7000mb/s, not a gamer but want fast I/O for my engineering soft that uses it.
Currently I have a 1 slot OWC card works but not great performance ~1.5gps.
I also want to pair it with a 4 slot card for future increase in capacity/speed, so I need a switch type card.
I will keep reading, hopefully will get the right set up.

 

[tsialex]

Thanx Alex, am always learning... am realizing I bought the wrong SSD 980 Pro 2TB that advertise ~7000mb/s, not a gamer but want fast I/O for my engineering soft that uses it.
Currently I have a 1 slot OWC card works but not great performance ~1.5gps.
I also want to pair it with a 4 slot card for future increase in capacity/speed, so I need a switch type card.
I will keep reading, hopefully will get the right set up.

Without a PCIe switched adapter, you can't overcome the ~1450MB/s real life bandwidth of the PCIe v2.0 slots. This is a Mac Pro hardware limitation, where the age of the Mac Pro platform is clearly showing.

Samsung drives when supported by macOS are very well liked for the raw performance and reliability, but the TRIM issue with APFS is a constant bummer. Some people never notice, but those affected have extremely long boot times or performance issues with some edge cases (and some models after completely full, like SM-951 model line).

I have several Samsung blades, from the earlier SSUBX and SM951-AHCI to the standard 980, but my most recent acquisition was a 2TB 970 EVO Plus blade, excluding the APFS TRIM issues at boot up, works without any bugs with the Mac Pro PCIe v2.0 slots and with full performance when installed on a PCIe v3.0 switched adapter like my HighPoint SSD7101A-1 - also works very well with a MacPro6,1 where is installed with a heatsink for around a six weeks with no issues to this day.

My experience with the 980 blade is not so good, sometimes have issues booting when directly connected to the Mac Pro PCIe v2.0 slots and also had constant issues when the blade was installed in MacPro6,1, but I have to say that the 980 blade works perfectly when installed on the SSD7101A-1. I bet that Samsung could easily solve the booting issues when installed to PCIe v2.0 slots with a new firmware revision, but who knows when it will be addressed.

 

[ClaudAA]

Thanks Alex !!! absolutely clear, it really makes a difference to have the right information. Will follow on the advices for my two cMP 5,1 and will report the speeds with the different configs for others to see as well.
👌🙏👏👏👏

 

[TzunamiOSX]

Samsung drives when supported by macOS are very well liked for the raw performance and reliability, but the TRIM issue with APFS is a constant bummer. Some people never notice, but those affected have extremely long boot times or performance issues with some edge cases (and some models after completely full, like SM-951 model line).

How can i test for this Trim problems? I want to test my Samsung 970 Pro for this issue

 

[tsialex]

How can i test for this Trim problems? I want to test my Samsung 970 Pro for this issue

If you read the page the I linked on my post that was referenced by @ClaudAA you will see what the problem really is and notice that the issue is basically long boot times/time-out while doing TRIM and performance drops that came from the fact that the sectors were not trimmed in the background. There is no test for this, AFAIK, besides tweaking SetApfsTrimTimeout to see if the problem arises.

 

[TzunamiOSX]

Is SetApfsTrimTimeout part of OpenCore, because i dont use it? I'm on Mojave and sometimes on Catalina (dosdude).

 

[tsialex]

Is SetApfsTrimTimeout part of OpenCore

Correct.

and sometimes on Catalina (dosdude).

You should start moving to BigSur, Catalina days are counted on your fingers - the day Ventura is released Apple will stop issuing Catalina security updates.

 

[joelkalsi]

Got an Evo 960 1TB on a Lycom DT120 PCIe adapter. Used to use it in Sierra with the kext hack until a system security update broke the hack (seems they didn't offer kexts for the final updates as it was already natively working in High Sierra+). Now I've got Monterey installed on the 5,1 via the OC "easy install package" and the blade seems to be read only. Is this something to do with Opencore or should the blade be re-formatted in another file system like APFS?

 

[Macschrauber]

Got an Evo 960 1TB on a Lycom DT120 PCIe adapter. Used to use it in Sierra with the kext hack until a system security update broke the hack (seems they didn't offer kexts for the final updates as it was already natively working in High Sierra+). Now I've got Monterey installed on the 5,1 via the OC "easy install package" and the blade seems to be read only. Is this something to do with Opencore or should the blade be re-formatted in another file system like APFS?

Sounds like it is formatted in NTFS what MacOs has just read-only drivers. Format it in APFS.

 

[joelkalsi]

Sounds like it is formatted in NTFS what MacOs has just read-only drivers. Format it in APFS.

Ahh nope, but solved it now for somewhat as noob of a reason; The disk was missing writing rights for "everyone" - but I don't know why it would need that as I'm logged in as an admin. Earlier I had it on Sierra on another Mac Pro (had it working with the kext hacks back in the day), so is it somehow designated to another system? I'm a noob with most things unix.