Should TRIM be set to "on" for iMac Pro SSD

[rjtiedeman]

When I migrated from my cMP the old software came with it. I was just checking Disk Sensei which I used to set my SSDF in my old mac. The TRIM is set to off. Should it be set to ON - TRIM ????

Don't all SSD need TRIM to prevent slow down?

 

[chrfr]

Trim is automatically enabled for stock Apple SSDs. Don’t use Disk Sensei for it.

 

[jerwin]

what about external SSDs?

 

[chrfr]

what about external SSDs?

With macOS, you can only use Trim on Thunderbolt SSDs. It’s not functional for USB or FireWire devices. You can just enable trim with the “trimforce” command, which is built into macOS now.

 

[rjtiedeman]

I will remove Disk Sensei just in case I am ever tempted to push the button. Looks like trouble

 

[mikehalloran]

With macOS, you can only use Trim on Thunderbolt SSDs.

and only if you boot from those SSDs. If you do, the following Terminal command enables TRIM since OS 10.10.4:

sudo trimforce enable

TB connected SSDs are automatically TRIMed when you boot from the internal. Installing an OS on the external so that you can boot and enable TRIM has absolutely no effect when booted from the internal—that's just the way it works.

Conversely, you can use the Terminal command to enable TRIM while booted via USB. Terminal will report success but it doesn't mean a thing. When you check About this Mac, you'll see that TRIM is not enabled—can't be done over USB.

Cindori was great from OS 7 – 10.10.4 as the Terminal commands were complex and often changed with the OS. I was happy to give them $10 for the tools even though the core function was free. Support the developer and be grateful for the convenience. I never use the tools anymore—there are others...

 

[jerwin]

psudo trimforce enable

the command is sudo

i.e do this as superuser.

 

[mikehalloran]

the command is sudo

i.e do this as superuser.

Damned auto-correct. Thanks for catching that. Usually, I just copy and paste in.

I have edited my post.

 

[naerct]

and only if you boot from those SSDs. If you do, the following Terminal command enables TRIM since OS 10.10.4:

sudo trimforce enable

TB connected SSDs are automatically TRIMed when you boot from the internal. Installing an OS on the external so that you can boot and enable TRIM has absolutely no effect when booted from the internal—that's just the way it works.

Conversely, you can use the Terminal command to enable TRIM while booted via USB. Terminal will report success but it doesn't mean a thing. When you check About this Mac, you'll see that TRIM is not enabled—can't be done over USB.

Cindori was great from OS 7 – 10.10.4 as the Terminal commands were complex and often changed with the OS. I was happy to give them $10 for the tools even though the core function was free. Support the developer and be grateful for the convenience. I never use the tools anymore—there are others...

Thanks Mike, I got a lot from your post, and won't bother with another copy of Disk Sensei. After responding to another post I saw that TRIM was working, but only on the NVMe drives. I'll do the trimforce command on my cMPs. On the 12-core, both the SATA SSDs now show TRIM. On the 4-core, it worked on a really old Vertex2 SSD, but for the old OWC Accelsior, no trim tag was shown and that didn't change. That's funny, that the NVMe Samsungs got TRIMed as expected, but not the 860 or the Crutial SSD which were in a RAID0.
One of the reasons I'd rather use Disk Sensei for clients is probably obvious, but the app extras can help me diagnose problems, and most of them don't have better apps like Drive Genius.

 

[mikehalloran]

that the NVMe Samsungs got TRIMed as expected, but not the 860 or the Crutial SSD which were in a RAID0.

How connected?

ne of the reasons I'd rather use Disk Sensei for clients is probably obvious, but the app extras can help me diagnose problems, and most of them don't have better apps like Drive Genius

Disk Sensei is not needed for TRIM beginning with OS 10.10.4.

I bought it earlier and still maintain with updates. The SMART tests are about as good as those in TechTool Pro — I keep forgetting that when people want an inexpensive test suite. Too bad that SMART, like TRIM does not work over USB-anything. I may have to put my 2010 iMac with eSATA back in service just so that I can test suspect HDDs and SSDs.

I can't find a TB3 toaster style dock anywhere—only USB-C and that won't work for my needs.

 

[naerct]

How connected?

Disk Sensei is not needed for TRIM beginning with OS 10.10.4.
I can't find a TB3 toaster style dock anywhere—only USB-C and that won't work for my needs.

OWC has a TB2 unit with dual slots for both sizes. I would think they would also add a TB3 unit or you could get the adapter and use the current TB2 unit. I'm not sure you are going to get the full speed of TB3 anyway in that type of unit. I have a USB3 disk dock, but I only use it for old, retired spindle drives, so USB3 is plenty fast. Besides, my cMP won't boot from a USB3 port anyway.

Are you saying that TRIM can be done with Terminal, so Disk Sensei isn't needed? Without "trimforce", Mojave didn't TRIM my non-Apple SSDs, except for the NVMe blades. That included the old Vertex 2 in one of the optical bays in my 4-core and both SSDs mounted on my SATA3 Sonnet Pro PCI card in my 12-core. BTW, That SATA RAID0 (1000MB/s reads) on the Sonnet card boots faster than my switched NVMe Samsung 960 or 970 (2500 and 2700MB/s reads respectively). I am hoping that future OSs can make the NVMe bus as accessible as the SATA bus. I think the bootROM144 update for the cMPs smoothed things out somewhat, but didn't really change the BlackMagic drive speeds or the boot times. I know boot time has other factors, but knocking 20-30 seconds (after beep) off the boot time, does say something.

 

[mikehalloran]

Without "trimforce", Mojave didn't TRIM my non-Apple SSDs,

TRIM is part of the Mac OS since Lion 10.7. It works on the boot SSD and any SATA III or NVMe SSD connected PCIe, SATA/eSATA or Thunderbolt. TRIM is not supported in the firmware of older SSDs including SATA II.

Disk Sensei cannot change that. Like all such utilities, it's an API for Terminal in that regards. DS has a few other tools that many find useful—again, APIs for functionality in the Mac OS. I have it. Before Yosemite 10.4.4, the correct Terminal sequence was complex and what worked on one version of the OS wouldn't on another—Cindori made that issue go away for free and if you wanted the other utilities, it cost you $10–$40.

Why doesn't it work on your RAID 0 array? I don't know—perhaps the firmware of your external bay.

OWC has a TB2 unit with dual slots for both sizes.

Yea, there are two such units on the market. Apparently they work with the Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter. I'll probably go with the OWC since it has a pair of TB ports for daisy-chain. This will let me connect an old FireWire interface without hogging another of my TB3 ports. Two of those parts are being used by monitors.

Speed is not the issue. SATA III SSDs are slower than USB 3—I've tested this—so I gain nothing in that regard. I need to be able to run SMART tests on client drives. Like TRIM, this cannot be done over USB-anything. A dock takes a lot less room on my desk than my 2010 iMac with its eSATA port..

It's time for me to stick a fork in this topic. I'm done with it.

 

[naerct]

TRIM is part of the Mac OS since Lion 10.7. It works on the boot SSD and any SATA III or NVMe SSD connected PCIe, SATA/eSATA or Thunderbolt. TRIM is not supported in the firmware of older SSDs including SATA II.

Disk Sensei cannot change that. Like all such utilities, it's an API for Terminal in that regards. DS has a few other tools that many find useful—again, APIs for functionality in the Mac OS. I have it. Before Yosemite 10.4.4, the correct Terminal sequence was complex and what worked on one version of the OS wouldn't on another—Cindori made that issue go away for free and if you wanted the other utilities, it cost you $10–$40.

Why doesn't it work on your RAID 0 array? I don't know—perhaps the firmware of your external bay.


Yea, there are two such units on the market. Apparently they work with the Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter. I'll probably go with the OWC since it has a pair of TB ports for daisy-chain. This will let me connect an old FireWire interface without hogging another of my TB3 ports. Two of those parts are being used by monitors.

Speed is not the issue. SATA III SSDs are slower than USB 3—I've tested this—so I gain nothing in that regard. I need to be able to run SMART tests on client drives. Like TRIM, this cannot be done over USB-anything. A dock takes a lot less room on my desk than my 2010 iMac with its eSATA port..

It's time for me to stick a fork in this topic. I'm done with it.