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TRIM Support Enabler

MacBird said:
Thanks for writing the program! Any idea why it doesn't work with my CORSAIR CMFSSD-256GBG2D running 10.6.7 on a MBP5,1?
Click to expand...

I googled and found that you have to update the firmware to enable TRIM support on that SSD
So go look at Support Downloads at Corsairs website
 
Cindori said:
That's the point of the patch. It not only gives you TRIM support one patch before Apple releases it, it could possibly be the only way to get TRIM support throughout SL and even in Lion.... Unless Apple makes any changes.
Click to expand...

A tangental question, please.
What is the benefit of trim support in using the computer in real world situations?
Will it improve the lifespan of the ssd?
Will it make demanding programs such as Photoshop or Final Cut Pro perform better/faster in any way?
I'm not really sure of what it means for productivity, stability or lifespans of ssd drives.
Thanks a lot for your efforts, by the way.
 
Cindori said:
I googled and found that you have to update the firmware to enable TRIM support on that SSD
So go look at Support Downloads at Corsairs website
Click to expand...

Thanks, Cindori! I was afraid of that. The firmware update requires a Windows computer/installation, which I don't have.

Thanks again for taking the time to write this program, it's much appreciated!
 
I did the patch and for some reason its slower when I boot up. Is there anyway to uninstall this patch? Thanks for the help.
 
gozee said:
I did the patch and for some reason its slower when I boot up. Is there anyway to uninstall this patch? Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

As suggested, I ran a permissions repair and after two or three reboots, the boot up time was back to normal.
 
Luis Ortega said:
A tangental question, please.
What is the benefit of trim support in using the computer in real world situations?
Will it improve the lifespan of the ssd?
Will it make demanding programs such as Photoshop or Final Cut Pro perform better/faster in any way?
I'm not really sure of what it means for productivity, stability or lifespans of ssd drives.
Thanks a lot for your efforts, by the way.
Click to expand...

TRIM allows your OS to tell the SSD which blocks are not in use anymore. Writing to an SSD is fast only if the block is completely empty. In the past, the issue was that if you deleted a file, the OS didn't tell the SSD to erase it, the OS just showed it as free space, even though it really wasn't. When you then wanted to write something to that block, first it had to be read to the cache before the block could be erased. That caused write speeds to be only 50% from the original.

This article is great in explaining the degradation issue. Of course, newer firmwares do garbage collection so the need for TRIM isn't as big as it used to be.
 
Actually I've downloaded two different versions of the app:
- one is "enabler.zip" (which contains "Zeus.app") and GUI let you get the Model code before patching
Code: 
$ md5 enabler.zip
MD5 (enabler.zip) = 5007f9fb4e9a4a0bb6459556f8a2efd6

- the other is "TRIMEnabler.zip" (which contains "TRIM Enabler.app") and the GUI got only the patch buttom
Code: 
$ md5 TRIMEnabler.zip
MD5 (TRIMEnabler.zip) = 7b8c464de47c0c9a90b0d8edff03d67f

The second one should be the newest, am I right?
If things goes wrong after I reboot in safe mode what should I do? Just replace the original IOAHCIBlockStorage file inside "IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/"?

TIA
 
Hellhammer said:
TRIM allows your OS to tell the SSD which blocks are not in use anymore. Writing to an SSD is fast only if the block is completely empty. In the past, the issue was that if you deleted a file, the OS didn't tell the SSD to erase it, the OS just showed it as free space, even though it really wasn't. When you then wanted to write something to that block, first it had to be read to the cache before the block could be erased. That caused write speeds to be only 50% from the original.

This article is great in explaining the degradation issue. Of course, newer firmwares do garbage collection so the need for TRIM isn't as big as it used to be.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Hellhammer
edit: So what do you think about the owc ssds that claim to use something called sandforce controllers that are supposed to eliminate this gradual slowing down of the ssd speeds?
Is it marketing hype? Does it mean that trim is not needed for those drives?
 
Last edited:
Caesar_091 said:
Actually I've downloaded two different versions of the app:
- one is "enabler.zip" (which contains "Zeus.app") and GUI let you get the Model code before patching
Code: 
$ md5 enabler.zip
MD5 (enabler.zip) = 5007f9fb4e9a4a0bb6459556f8a2efd6

- the other is "TRIMEnabler.zip" (which contains "TRIM Enabler.app") and the GUI got only the patch buttom
Code: 
$ md5 TRIMEnabler.zip
MD5 (TRIMEnabler.zip) = 7b8c464de47c0c9a90b0d8edff03d67f

The second one should be the newest, am I right?
If things goes wrong after I reboot in safe mode what should I do? Just replace the original IOAHCIBlockStorage file inside "IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/"?

TIA
Click to expand...

The first was just bugtesting.
The finished app is the second.

Yeah. I will make a version with a Restore-ability tomorrow.
 
Cindori said:
But unless Apple makes any changes, everyone on Intel, Crucial, OCZ, Corsair, etc, SSD drives, will not have TRIM from the start in either 10.6.8 or Lion.
Click to expand...

So when 10.6.8 arrives we will have to patch again for TRIM on non apple ssd?
Thanks once again for TRIMMING my INTEL :D
 
Luis Ortega said:
Thanks, Hellhammer
edit: So what do you think about the owc ssds that claim to use something called sandforce controllers that are supposed to eliminate this gradual slowing down of the ssd speeds?
Is it marketing hype? Does it mean that trim is not needed for those drives?
Click to expand...

SandForce based SSDs have very good garbage collection so TRIM is not as crucial as it is with some drives. In fact, most of the newer SSDs have firmwares that do GC so they experience no to very little degradation. Of course, TRIM won't do anything bad so it's a good addition.
 
Given I have an Apple SSD and System Profiler reports TRIM is disabled, is using this tool the best way to enable it?

The model is TS128A ... I couldn't google any information on TRIM support.
 
I found a fix for the slow boot times. It will be released in a new version tomorrow! :)
 
Nice work! I just installed it on my Mac Pro 6 x 3.33 running 10.6.7, OWC 120GB Mercury, boot times have gone from 17 seconds to 29 pretty consistently though, will wait in the new version to install on my MacBook Pro..
 
Yes, another success!
(running 10.6.7 with the config you can read in sign; tomorrow I'll try the patch on a late 2008 MB with an Apple SSD)

Code: 
Intel ESB2 AHCI:

  Vendor:	Intel
  Product:	ESB2 AHCI
  Link Speed:	3 Gigabit
  Negotiated Link Speed:	3 Gigabit
  Description:	AHCI Version 1.10 Supported

OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD:

  Capacity:	240,06 GB (240.057.409.536 bytes)
  Model:	OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD             
  Revision:	320A13F0
  Serial Number:	MXE24010E39A6376    
  Native Command Queuing:	Yes
  Queue Depth:	32
  Removable Media:	No
  Detachable Drive:	No
  BSD Name:	disk3
  Medium Type:	Solid State
  TRIM Support:	Yes
  Bay Name:	Bay 1
  Partition Map Type:	GPT (GUID Partition Table)
  S.M.A.R.T. status:	Verified
 
Caesar_091 said:
Yes, another success!
(running 10.6.7 with the config you can read in sign; tomorrow I'll try the patch on a late 2008 MB with an Apple SSD)
Click to expand...

Ops!! The system hangs up after a few minutes :(
I'm trying to restore the right file from 10.6.7 combo update using Pacifist; if I look for "IOAHCIFamily.kext" I find two files... which one should I restore to my boot disk? :confused:

EDIT: booting in safe mode I've restored both of them since they were different in sizes/contents. Now the system is up and running again flawlessly... I will try again the hack on the MP as soon as something will change :)
 
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Worked perfectly with my Intel X25M G2 SSD, thank you very much ! :)

A couple of dumb questions, if I may: will this just run in the background from now on without any additional feedback ? Will it start 'cleaning up' the garbage that has accumulated since the time I started using the SSD ? Is there any way to statistically track performance improvements ?

Many thanks once again.
 
Worked on my Intel X25M G2 160GB, at least I haven't had any problems with it since I installed it 15 min ago. TRIM Support = YES in System Profiler, no long initial boot. Will update if problems. Thanks!
 
Not working here..

Cindori, great work for putting this together.

I applied to the patch, but for some reason it's not working for me.
I have a 2010 MBP with stock Apple SSD TS256A.

Suggestions?
Much appreciated.
 
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