Update on Runcore SSD

[applesupergeek]

Bol Dave in your efforts, you 'll come out of this much stronger.

I too have bought the runcore ssd on your suggestion. I am eagerly waiting for it.

 

[Runcore]

Great news on two fronts everyone.

#1 Due to a bridge chip issue the PCB in the USB case for the Lif Rev B/C drives was not working with the Stock SSD or HDD out of the Rev B/C.

The Runcore design team worked through he night to hand make enough new Lif to USB PCB's to cover everyone who has already ordered the Lif drive. We have already shipped them out to the resellers. They will be shipping them to you hopefully by Friday or next Monday.

Also, FYI the shipments of Lif drives out to resellers now have these PCB's in them.

#2 The pitch and quality of the included screw driver did not meet the pitch of the Airs screws making it a bit harder to open the case for some users.

From this point on and included in the newest batch hitting retail stores on Friday a brand new high carbon precision screw driver is now included. It its perfectly flush inside Airs screws. You could put it in one and hold the Air sideways and the screw driver would not come out.

This goes for the next batch of MBA Zif drives as well.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

 

[PsyD4Me]

sounds great

 

[PsyD4Me]

Great news on two fronts everyone.

#1 Due to a bridge chip issue the PCB in the USB case for the Lif Rev B/C drives was not working with the Stock SSD or HDD out of the Rev B/C.

The Runcore design team worked through he night to hand make enough new Lif to USB PCB's to cover everyone who has already ordered the Lif drive. We have already shipped them out to the resellers. They will be shipping them to you hopefully by Friday or next Monday.

Also, FYI the shipments of Lif drives out to resellers now have these PCB's in them.

#2 The pitch and quality of the included screw driver did not meet the pitch of the Airs screws making it a bit harder to open the case for some users.

From this point on and included in the newest batch hitting retail stores on Friday a brand new high carbon precision screw driver is now included. It its perfectly flush inside Airs screws. You could put it in one and hold the Air sideways and the screw driver would not come out.

This goes for the next batch of MBA Zif drives as well.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

Matt, how about the new batch that you just sent to mydigitaldiscount.com on Wed.
Will this one include the new materials?

 

[Runcore]

PsyD4Me, yes it will include the new screw driver and the new PCB.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

 

[kenmarered]

After inserting the ribbon, did you flip down the black piece so it's clamped in place?

Thank-you! The connection is so small I didn't spot the black flap - once I flicked that everything went to plan and my upgrade is now complete - thanks to everyone for the help!

My thoughts? The strange thing is that before 'upgrading' start-up time was 30 seconds. With the runcore ssd it's 69 seconds! That's not what I was expecting.

I used disk utility to verify the disk and everything is okay.

Has anyone else noticed this delay? Any ideas why boot-up is now so slow?

My xbench numbers are as impressive as others have reported:

Before:

Results 133.87
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.6.2 (10C540)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir2,1
Drive Type APPLE SSD SM128
Disk Test 80.95
Sequential 64.29
Uncached Write 53.80 33.03 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 58.04 32.84 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 47.69 13.96 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 184.07 92.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 109.29
Uncached Write 52.14 5.52 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 68.41 21.90 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1432.48 10.15 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 474.51 88.05 MB/sec [256K blocks]

After:

Results 178.10
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.6.2 (10C540)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir2,1
Drive Type RunCore 128G-C SSD
Disk Test 191.04
Sequential 162.94
Uncached Write 230.78 141.70 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 206.04 116.58 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 80.28 23.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 344.17 172.98 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 230.86
Uncached Write 78.63 8.32 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 340.86 109.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 2102.34 14.90 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 834.49 154.85 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[Runcore]

OOPs you probably have the drive partitioned incorrectly.

You are going to have to do it all over again. Hook it up via USB and use the disk utility to partition it with a GUID Partition Table.

Once you do that you will be all set.

Someone needs to do a thorough MacGuide on this upgrade there are so many people that have so many different questions.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

 

[kenmarered]

Thanks for the fast reply, Matt.

I just used the drive as-is. Backed up using Carbon Cloner.

I think it's just going to be easier if I re-format it & reinstall osx & my software.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

The strange thing is that before 'upgrading' start-up time was 30 seconds. With the runcore ssd it's 69 seconds! That's not what I was expecting.

I had the same problem after swapping my 80GB HDD in my MBA rev A for a 128GB RunCore SSD, where it seemed like there was a 30-40 second "pause" during booting before the Apple logo showed up. I reset PRAM and now it boots quickly again with the RunCode.

 

[kenmarered]

Thanks to everybody for the help. I finally completed the upgrade, having reinstalled the OS to get a GUID and reset the PRAM.

Boot up is now 28 seconds vs 30 seconds with the Apple SSD.

The XBench comparisons are still good:

runcore ssd vs apple ssd:
Overall = 153.13 vs 133.87
Disk Test = 195.62 vs 80.95


I'm no xbench expert, but the overall score does puzzle me. After I first installed the Runcore SSD but before I reformatted the disc to a GUID partition, the overall score was 178.10 but because start-up time was 90 seconds, I followed the advice provided above and resolved the start-up issue. But now the overall xbench score has reduced to 153.13 from the 178.1 score right after the initial upgrade.

The only other xbench score that has lowered is the UI Test (215.12 to 202.35 which is lower than with the Apple SSD).

I don't want to get too retentive over the xbench scores, but this puzzles me.

 

[UltraTux]

Great news on two fronts everyone.

#1 Due to a bridge chip issue the PCB in the USB case for the Lif Rev B/C drives was not working with the Stock SSD or HDD out of the Rev B/C.

The Runcore design team worked through he night to hand make enough new Lif to USB PCB's to cover everyone who has already ordered the Lif drive. We have already shipped them out to the resellers. They will be shipping them to you hopefully by Friday or next Monday.

Also, FYI the shipments of Lif drives out to resellers now have these PCB's in them.

#2 The pitch and quality of the included screw driver did not meet the pitch of the Airs screws making it a bit harder to open the case for some users.

From this point on and included in the newest batch hitting retail stores on Friday a brand new high carbon precision screw driver is now included. It its perfectly flush inside Airs screws. You could put it in one and hold the Air sideways and the screw driver would not come out.

This goes for the next batch of MBA Zif drives as well.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

Hi Matt,

How do I get the new USB PCB replacement? - 'cause mine is not working on my 120 GB stock HDD.

Thanks.

 

[petestein1]

Thanks to everybody for the help. I finally completed the upgrade, having reinstalled the OS to get a GUID and reset the PRAM.

All, a quick question. I have a Runcore 128 SSD for my Rev A on the way here (to replace a dead drive).

People keep talking about "partioning the drive" with "the disk utility" to a "GUID".

Are you talking about Apple's Disk Utility?

If so, I don't see GUID as a partitioning option.

Help?

 

[nj-mac-user]

All, a quick question. I have a Runcore 128 SSD for my Rev A on the way here (to replace a dead drive).

People keep talking about "partioning the drive" with "the disk utility" to a "GUID".

Are you talking about Apple's Disk Utility?

If so, I don't see GUID as a partitioning option.

Help?

Yes, Disk Utility as in Apple's Disk Utility. From Disk Utility:

Select the drive from left side > Click the "Partition" tab > Select "1 Partition" from drop down menu > Click "Options" > Select a partition scheme (ie. GUID), Click "OK" > Change the format to what you want (ie. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) > Click "Apply".

 

[petestein1]

...Select a partition scheme (ie. GUID), Click "OK" > Change the format to what you want (ie. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) > Click "Apply".

Any why do I need to partition the disk at all? I've never had one before. Or is this only required if indeed I want a partition? Possibly to run Windows or some such?

 

[KeithJM]

Why partition a disk?

Pete,
If this is a brand new disk and you aren't using one of the disk-copying utilities to copy an existing disk, you will probably need to partition it. Partitioning just defines what part of the disk is going to be used by the operating system, even if you just want the whole disk to be used for one operating system. Once the disk has at least one partition on it, the operating system (whichever one it is) can format that part of the drive to use for its file system.

You've never had to do this before because when you buy a computer with the operating system pre-installed, they've already partitioned and formatted the drive before they installed the operating system.