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Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,376
16,030
California
I would just give it up and return that drive then install a SATA II drive that is known to work. Unless you are doing a lot of work with huge data files, you won't notice the difference with a SATA III drive anyway.
 

yz999zz

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2011
1
0
I would just give it up and return that drive then install a SATA II drive that is known to work. Unless you are doing a lot of work with huge data files, you won't notice the difference with a SATA III drive anyway.

I agree.

I have the same problem with my OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (Sata 3), the system freezes random for about 15-30 sec, it happens on Lion and Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro early 2011 13" (last model).
I asked to OWC who told me this is an Apple issue, then the Genius from Apple told me this is an OWC issue and they can't do nothing because is a thirty party SSD.
So I decided to sell my OWC and buy a new sata-2 SSD like Samsung 470 series wich is the same drive used by Apple.
I'm almost sure that I won't notice ANY difference between two drives, unless huge file copy.
 

psykick5

macrumors 6502
Sep 4, 2011
350
0
I would just give it up and return that drive then install a SATA II drive that is known to work. Unless you are doing a lot of work with huge data files, you won't notice the difference with a SATA III drive anyway.

Plus the SATA II upgrade over your old HDD is still HUGE! :D
 

bb426

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2011
421
133
California
Plus the SATA II upgrade over your old HDD is still HUGE! :D

Man, I'd hate to give up my drive though.... not to mention, I've already gone through an exchange. Plus, selling it on eBay or whatever takes too long. I absolutely refuse to do any more shipping for any reason for a long time. Don't know anybody who would want to buy my drive though, especially close to the price I paid (basically it's brand new, a week old for this exchanged one). I suppose I could ask Facebook.

10.7.2 (beta) doesn't fix the issues either unfortunately.

I haven't done any research on any SATA II SSD's that match up to my HyperX either. The whole situation just sucks.
 

b0rg

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2009
95
49
I had the same problems with my OCZ Vertex 3 and my Macbook 17" 2011.

Replaced the Vertex 3 and still problems, then i asked for a replacement Macbook and im lucky i got it and with this all is oke.

Like OWC said in their blog and its a wild guess, some macbooks 2011 work and some don't.

Apple using SATA2 drives so i recommend you use a SATA2 drive to. To bad you cant buy Apple SATA drives separately!!! :mad:
 

echosky81

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2011
29
0
Just return it and get a Crucial M4. Save some change and headache. It might be slower in benchmarks but it's pretty hard to tell in real world usage. You can also find "Apple's" SSD on ebay as well, I've seen a 256GB go for $300. It's just a rebranded Toshiba which you can easily find the model number by google searching.
 

ct2k7

macrumors G3
Aug 29, 2008
8,380
3,439
London
IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero affects Lion users mostly.

It could be an Adobe Flash issue (due to Apple disabling Flash's method of hardware acceleration). So I'd uninstall that if you have it installed, and see if you still get the error.
 

niceguyeddie

macrumors member
Jul 3, 2008
57
0
Just return it and get a Crucial M4. Save some change and headache.

I just installed a 256MB M4 and it gave me a major headache, although I solved the constant beachballs and freezing it now runs blazing fast and stable.

The M4 came with firmware 2 which I then upgraded to the lastest version 9. It was still freezing almost constantly. So I done a PRAM reset (about 4 or 5 cycles) and a SMC reset, now it is giving me absolutely zero problems and is very stable and fast.

**EDIT** I spoke too soon. Beachballing has returned. Not as much as before but still makes the machine too unstable to do any work on. Hijo de puta!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:

echosky81

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2011
29
0
I just installed a 256MB M4 and it gave me a major headache, although I solved the constant beachballs and freezing it now runs blazing fast and stable.

The M4 came with firmware 2 which I then upgraded to the lastest version 9. It was still freezing almost constantly. So I done a PRAM reset (about 4 or 5 cycles) and a SMC reset, now it is giving me absolutely zero problems and is very stable and fast.

You should always do a PRAM and SMC reset when installing completely new hardware especially a hard drive in a MBP. The thing about the M4 is that it has a much better track record than any other SATA III drive in the Macbook Pros as far as stability goes. The Vertex 3 and Intel 510 have had nothing but problems. I myself was completely set on getting a Vertex 3 this revision around but stayed away from anything Sandforce based because I think they rushed this release and consumers are getting the shaft. I have heard of many more successful installs of the M4 in the 2011 MBPs than any other SATA III drive.
 

bb426

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2011
421
133
California
So... after a long time of having the same issues, I've decided to see how the SSD works in the Optibay. So I swapped the HDD and the SSD.

Well it works! No hang ups!! It's just a little slower though, which sucks because of the reduced link speed. It just bites that the Optical drive is only 3 gigabit.

Don't know how long I'm gonna live with this, but I'm happy that there's no more hangs. I just wish I could come to a better conclusion as to what was causing the problem.
 

echosky81

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2011
29
0
So... after a long time of having the same issues, I've decided to see how the SSD works in the Optibay. So I swapped the HDD and the SSD.

Well it works! No hang ups!! It's just a little slower though, which sucks because of the reduced link speed. It just bites that the Optical drive is only 3 gigabit.

Don't know how long I'm gonna live with this, but I'm happy that there's no more hangs. I just wish I could come to a better conclusion as to what was causing the problem.

There's so many factors it could be to honest. This is a newer drive and firmware plays a big role in drive stability. The new Sandforce drives are know to have problems though, you can get more insight into this on the OCZ forums.
 

bb426

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2011
421
133
California
There's so many factors it could be to honest. This is a newer drive and firmware plays a big role in drive stability. The new Sandforce drives are know to have problems though, you can get more insight into this on the OCZ forums.

Definitely. I just wish they wouldn't have struck a deal with Sandforce so they could get first exclusivity... it's so dumb because really it just screws those who really need the updates. That's the world for ya.

Kingston kept telling me it's not the firmware... I believe it is, but I'm just going off what they told me.
 

echosky81

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2011
29
0
Definitely. I just wish they wouldn't have struck a deal with Sandforce so they could get first exclusivity... it's so dumb because really it just screws those who really need the updates. That's the world for ya.

Kingston kept telling me it's not the firmware... I believe it is, but I'm just going off what they told me.

It's up to you what you choose but the M4s are solid, you bought a SATA III drive to use it for those speeds. I'd just return it, the Crucial runs on a Marvell chip which seems to be the sweet spot for the MBPs SATA III Controller. Another thing about firmware is you want to go with a company that has a proven track record of producing firmware updates. OCZ and Crucial are strong performers in that category.
 

niceguyeddie

macrumors member
Jul 3, 2008
57
0
It's up to you what you choose but the M4s are solid, you bought a SATA III drive to use it for those speeds. I'd just return it, the Crucial runs on a Marvell chip which seems to be the sweet spot for the MBPs SATA III Controller. Another thing about firmware is you want to go with a company that has a proven track record of producing firmware updates. OCZ and Crucial are strong performers in that category.

This is not true. The Crucial M4s have exactly the same problems as all the other SATA III drives.
 

bb426

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2011
421
133
California
I agree, it's not the SSD but Apple. Crucial M4 had also problems and they released a fw update.

Have you guys ran snow leopard on the SSD (for those of you who are having problems)? I've only ran Lion on it since I upgraded, so just wondering.

And as I said and me and my colleagues have discussed (we have a huge group of us in another forum), we believe it has to do with either Intel (need an updated driver), or Apple (updated MBP firmware). Since it works without having problems in the slower bay (3 gigabit Optical Drive), it has to do with the higher speed (6 gigabit). BUT, Windows 7 works just fine in Bootcamp in the 6 Gigabit bay, which suggests it's software. While there have been people who say they've had no problems with with OS X and SATA III, it's not entirely clear if there's a pattern with specific drives, but it only has to do with SATA III.

With this speculation, I find it hard to believe it's a bad MBP or a bad SSD or a bad cable. It's not hardware, it's software.
 

andrewho83

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2011
2
0
Toronto
I am also experiencing the same issues with a OCZ Vertex 3 and have searched the web far and wide for solutions/discussions about this shortcoming. Many forums have pointed out that it is indeed a hardware related issue, something about the graphics card switching (sandy bridge). Initially some sources pointed out it was a cable issue, and they had released a replacement cable/foil addon, to which I installed, and found no fix. I am now firmly believing that it is indeed a hardware issue.

refer to here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3137488?start=0&tstart=0

and also here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?89970-A-call-to-all-Macbook-Pro-2011-Users-with-SATA3-Issues


Unfortunately this problem is widespread across all SATA3 SSD's, and the fact that Apple claims to support the technology but doesn't have an active SATA3 SSD out in the market, favours the problem. I believe they are releasing a SATA3 in the future, but as of now all SATA3 SSD's are experiencing the lagging/beachball/stuttering issue. And to add salt to the wound, Apple is not admitting the issue (some say because Apple doesn't want to damage their reputation, and also wishes to minimize the financial burden of having to replace the affected).

Some people have communicated with Apple over the phone, and geniuses (of whom are aware of the problem, but deny it) and have had their logic board replaced (most probable culprit) after reproducing the problem.

I am extremely frustrated with Apple since this (2011 MBP + SSD) is my first foray into the MAC OSX world coming from 20 years of PC usage. There are days where my MBP is working wonders, and then there are days where constant freezing/beachballing occurs. Sadly, I am going to have to clone my SSD over to a 7200 HDD, and in the meantime, wait for a solution to which Apple has become ignorant over.

I think we need to be represented on a larger scale as the SSD userbase + 2011 MBP is rather small, especially since this only affects SATA3 SSD's.
 

GermanyChris

macrumors 601
Jul 3, 2011
4,185
5
Here
I am also experiencing the same issues with a OCZ Vertex 3 and have searched the web far and wide for solutions/discussions about this shortcoming. Many forums have pointed out that it is indeed a hardware related issue, something about the graphics card switching (sandy bridge). Initially some sources pointed out it was a cable issue, and they had released a replacement cable/foil addon, to which I installed, and found no fix. I am now firmly believing that it is indeed a hardware issue.

refer to here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3137488?start=0&tstart=0

and also here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?89970-A-call-to-all-Macbook-Pro-2011-Users-with-SATA3-Issues


Unfortunately this problem is widespread across all SATA3 SSD's, and the fact that Apple claims to support the technology but doesn't have an active SATA3 SSD out in the market, favours the problem. I believe they are releasing a SATA3 in the future, but as of now all SATA3 SSD's are experiencing the lagging/beachball/stuttering issue. And to add salt to the wound, Apple is not admitting the issue (some say because Apple doesn't want to damage their reputation, and also wishes to minimize the financial burden of having to replace the affected).

Some people have communicated with Apple over the phone, and geniuses (of whom are aware of the problem, but deny it) and have had their logic board replaced (most probable culprit) after reproducing the problem.

I am extremely frustrated with Apple since this (2011 MBP + SSD) is my first foray into the MAC OSX world coming from 20 years of PC usage. There are days where my MBP is working wonders, and then there are days where constant freezing/beachballing occurs. Sadly, I am going to have to clone my SSD over to a 7200 HDD, and in the meantime, wait for a solution to which Apple has become ignorant over.

I think we need to be represented on a larger scale as the SSD userbase + 2011 MBP is rather small, especially since this only affects SATA3 SSD's.

The issues you and the 34 pages of OCZ forums are having are the reason I've stayed away from the SATA 3..I had issues with my Vertex 2 and received a new Vertex 2 (in current use) I haven't had issues since, this is the "slower" drive. Don't get too frustrated I know there are also issues with Windows based PC's and SATA 3..I think it's just too new and it's like the wild west with SSD's no consistency.

My family has owned both macs & Windows pc since the IIc and 286sx 12 excluding the late 80's/early 90's this is the most fun time to play with computers advances are happening so quickly. There are so many possibilities and its cheaper than a shrink..
 

DWBurke811

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2011
820
1
Boca Raton, FL
Unfortunately this problem is widespread across all SATA3 SSD's, and the fact that Apple claims to support the technology but doesn't have an active SATA3 SSD out in the market, favours the problem.

Apple doesn't support SATA3, no where on the specs does it say SATA3.
 

pgolik

macrumors member
Sep 13, 2011
66
45
I have lots of these "_FCMIGUserCanLogin failed with error 268451843" errors, with associated freezes (about a minute each) like you describe, on a 2009 MBP with a Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive on Lion (no such problems on SL).
What I found is that when I force the rebuild of the spotlight index (there are many ways to do it, using Onyx is one of the simplest) they go away and the computer becomes usable again. They would eventually reappear after some time, and the same remedy helps.
It's been too short to fully confirm this, but I suspect that what may trigger those problems is when I'm away from my desk for a longer time, and the computer goes for a couple of days without a proper TM backup. The new backup mechanism introduced with Lion (the one that writes to /Volumes/MobileBackups) may be to blame in a weird interaction with some HDD controllers.
 

bb426

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 7, 2011
421
133
California
I have lots of these "_FCMIGUserCanLogin failed with error 268451843" errors, with associated freezes (about a minute each) like you describe, on a 2009 MBP with a Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive on Lion (no such problems on SL).
What I found is that when I force the rebuild of the spotlight index (there are many ways to do it, using Onyx is one of the simplest) they go away and the computer becomes usable again. They would eventually reappear after some time, and the same remedy helps.
It's been too short to fully confirm this, but I suspect that what may trigger those problems is when I'm away from my desk for a longer time, and the computer goes for a couple of days without a proper TM backup. The new backup mechanism introduced with Lion (the one that writes to /Volumes/MobileBackups) may be to blame in a weird interaction with some HDD controllers.

Weird. Yeah, clearing spotlight did fix the problem when I was having it. Now, I am not having the problem (because I switched the SSD to the Optical drive bay.). I think that the more people there are that actually report the problem to Apple, just by calling them or something, the more likely they'll address the problem some point soon. They won't fix it if there's only very few people reporting it.

I'm wondering if the EFI update did anything. I'm not willing to swap the drives again if there's no change in operation.
 

pgolik

macrumors member
Sep 13, 2011
66
45
I think that the more people there are that actually report the problem to Apple, just by calling them or something, the more likely they'll address the problem some point soon. They won't fix it if there's only very few people reporting it.

Apple won't do anything until it starts happening to people with Apple-installed disks. They'll just say they don't support third party components.
Meanwhile, there was a firmware update for my Seagate hybrid - will see if the problem reappears. No EFI update for my 2009 MBP.
 
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