I have zero competance with SSDs. Could somebody please explain to me how the status is with this 850 PRO. Is it worth keeping, or should I return it?
PS: What does "Wear leveling count" mean?
I am grateful for any hjelp!
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MBP 1,1-10,2 Samsung 850 PRO Health
- Thread starter bjolester
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I have zero competance with SSDs. Could somebody please explain to me how the status is with this 850 PRO. Is it worth keeping, or should I return it?
PS: What does "Wear leveling count" mean?
I am grateful for any hjelp!
Sounds like they potentially lied about the used for "a few hours", but given the low wear it's possible it wasn't even a boot drive.
I would be comfortable keeping it. The TBW on those is 300TB and you are at about 12TB. Check the serial number. Those originally had a 10 year warranty attached to them so you should have at least ~1 year worth of coverage from today (it should last a lot longer).
I would be comfortable keeping it. The TBW on those is 300TB and you are at about 12TB. Check the serial number. Those originally had a 10 year warranty attached to them so you should have at least ~1 year worth of coverage from today (it should last a lot longer).
To me the life left and other stuff in the top part look great and in fact all on that screen looks good.
As new SSDs are dirt cheap I usually buy new but sometimes for some vintage machines which need smaller drives I go with second hand Intel server SSDs. They usually have very good DriveDX -figures even though they have been used.
IMO, if this drive was cheap I would keep it.
As new SSDs are dirt cheap I usually buy new but sometimes for some vintage machines which need smaller drives I go with second hand Intel server SSDs. They usually have very good DriveDX -figures even though they have been used.
IMO, if this drive was cheap I would keep it.
Thank you! It seems the warranty has coverage until 2027. Should I register the SSD at Samsung maybe?
I paid about $45 for the 850 PRO, which is roughly the price of a brand new Samsung 870 EVO (which I am a bit ambigiuous about) in Norway.
It doesn't matter since you won't have the original receipt, but at least you just confirmed a few things. It was purchased several years after the drive was introduced to the market likely indicating a later manufacturing date and it wasn't used that heavily.
I just saw your recent post so at about the same price of an 870 EVO. The warranty is essentially the difference here then. Samsung should cover you for at least a year since their policy for as long as I can remember defaults to the original launch date if no receipt can be furnished. I would double check that as different countries might have different policies.
Just ran a few searches and seeing conflicting posts about how samsung handles a request, but mostly positive feedback that Samsung will likely not even bother asking for it if service is needed.
Personally I wouldn't worry about it all that much given that the likely hood that the drive will fail on you anytime soon is low.
Personally I wouldn't worry about it all that much given that the likely hood that the drive will fail on you anytime soon is low.
I understand that $45 has a different meaning as to value for different people but I wouldn't deal with returning it. Seems like a good drive in good condition that will probably last a long time. Only thing I would like is have the firmware updated and I believe you pretty much need a windows machine for that.
The Samsung Magician software should be able to update the firmware, but it does not function on the 850 PRO as long as it is connected to my MBP as an external SSD. Is there a work-around to this?
The drive is in very good health, I wouldn't worry.
I have a 1TB 850 Pro with over 100TBW and its still working perfectly.
I have a 1TB 850 Pro with over 100TBW and its still working perfectly.
I bought a Micron 1TB SSD with 36k hours and 68% health. It was salvaged from a decommissioned server.
I have been using it as boot drive for my iMac for 4 years.
And I expect it to last me another 5 years at least.
Don't worry too much about the life of old SSDs. If they died prematurely, it would have happened within the first 3 years of usage in a server. Mostly because of some failed components that regulate the power to the NAND chip.
I have been using it as boot drive for my iMac for 4 years.
And I expect it to last me another 5 years at least.
Don't worry too much about the life of old SSDs. If they died prematurely, it would have happened within the first 3 years of usage in a server. Mostly because of some failed components that regulate the power to the NAND chip.
@bjolester The drive you bought is in excellent shape. Congratulations! Especially considering that it is PRO series. 12TB total LBAs written is peanuts for 500GB.
I have statistics on around 60+ Samsung SSD drives, so I know what I'm talking about.
Also, I would choose 850 PRO over 870 EVO every time.
I have statistics on around 60+ Samsung SSD drives, so I know what I'm talking about.
Also, I would choose 850 PRO over 870 EVO every time.
Thank you👍 I am becoming more and more happy with my 850 PRO purchase for every comment in this thread.
Why fix something that is not broken? Why take the risk? I would not do it unless I knew the fw on the SSD is somehow problematic and needs to be updated.
The very few Samsungs I have updated I did by installing them into a Winblows machine. There I had no problems. But, again - these were the kind that had known problems which were fixed by the update.
Now I understand there is a risk involved with attempting to update the firmware, obviously I will NOT think more about this.
There was a comment earlier in this thread where it was suggested that updating the firmware was a good idea, that is the reason for me wanting to research this matter further.
sadly the Samsung Magician software does not update firmware on a mac. It is completely ridiculous but it is what it is. So like others have said if the drive works good why change anything.
I have a 980 pro that was on the latest firmware when I got it but a lot of people were having issues with it on the previous firmware. I contacted Samsung because I was curious of how to update it in case there is a new version and their response was "use a pc" or send it to us and we'll do it for you.
Thank you all for very valuable and helpful advice👍
I have read quite a bit about the Samsung 850 PRO the last few days, and realise it is one of the better SSDs out there. Today I stumbled upon another 850 PRO, this one in 256GB size. This SSD had only about 4000 hours power on time and 5 TBW, I paid about $16. One of these (512GB or 256GB)will be installed in my MBP 13" mid-2012 and the other one will be designated to my 2010 MacPro 5.1
I have read quite a bit about the Samsung 850 PRO the last few days, and realise it is one of the better SSDs out there. Today I stumbled upon another 850 PRO, this one in 256GB size. This SSD had only about 4000 hours power on time and 5 TBW, I paid about $16. One of these (512GB or 256GB)will be installed in my MBP 13" mid-2012 and the other one will be designated to my 2010 MacPro 5.1
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Your 512GB drive has firmware EXM02B6Q.
I remember reading somewhere that this firmware version was problematic. I have it in my Samsung archive marked 'do not install'. Whether it was the firmware itself or the updater was problematic, I don't remember.
Anyway, the latest firmware version for 850 PRO is EXM04B6Q.
You can find iso disk images for both, Win and Mac here:
semiconductor.samsung.com
Using Samsung Magician is not required.
Hope this helps.
I remember reading somewhere that this firmware version was problematic. I have it in my Samsung archive marked 'do not install'. Whether it was the firmware itself or the updater was problematic, I don't remember.
Anyway, the latest firmware version for 850 PRO is EXM04B6Q.
You can find iso disk images for both, Win and Mac here:
Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global
Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.
Using Samsung Magician is not required.
Hope this helps.
Would you recommend attempting updating the firmware from the ISO disk image, booting from a CD?Your 512GB drive has firmware EXM02B6Q.
I remember reading somewhere that this firmware version was problematic. I have it in my Samsung archive marked 'do not install'. Whether it was the firmware itself or the updater was problematic, I don't remember.
Anyway, the latest firmware version for 850 PRO is EXM04B6Q.
You can find iso disk images for both, Win and Mac here:
Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global
Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.
Using Samsung Magician is not required.
Hope this helps.
Luckily my MBP has an optical drive, so in terms of hardware I am all set.
Have you experience with the updating procedure involving disconnecting the internal SATA cable (post #14)?
Regarding firmware version EXM02B6Q: It seems that it was the firmware update via Samsung Magician that was problematic in 2015, not the firmware itself - fortunately.
https://www.overclock.net/threads/s...e-exm02b6q-removed-from-samsung-site.1543150/
https://www.overclock.net/threads/s...e-exm02b6q-removed-from-samsung-site.1543150/
There's no need to disconnect anything. Just boot off of CD and update the firmware. Make sure the SSD is installed inside your machine.
I have updated numerous 840, 840 EVO, 850 EVO and even some Samsung OEM drives using this method and my 2011 MBP.
My only 850 PRO was up to date, when I got it, so I can't report on it.
Ah, ok, that was probably it.
If your's is working then you can leave it at EXM02B6Q. I haven't seen any version of Samsung firmware for 850/860/870 drives behaving funky on a Mac, to be honest.