Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

[Tacàritx]

I did the same things. I didn't find such a thing. Boot from internal disk is OK. The only different thing is format. I use below,

diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ "MacintoshHD" /dev/disk0

and then I use Diskutil App(not command line tool, High-sierra containing).

I'm not sure that I remember that Diskutil App(not command line tool, High-sierra containing) has not "APFS" menu to formt Disk at first format(non APFS). for APFS formatted disk APFS menu appears. Diskutil App(not command line tool, High-sierra containing) dose not recognize non-fromat disk. So you might use command line tool, as like me. I chose JHFS+, I think that High-Sierra installer will change the format from JHFS+ to APFS.

You can re-format using Diskutil App(not command line tool) after formatting using command line tool(diskutil). first format by command line tool(diskutil) should be JHFS+, avoiding some troubles.

I'm not sure that this different is the reason of boot trouble. But I don't surprise that some sequential routine (like EFI Boot-rom change) may happen at initial install of High-Sierra.

It would be great if you could refer to something.

Hello @t0mX,
Thanks for the answer. I tried it!
First I have formated my Kingston KC1000 with 4k sectors using xubuntu USB Key.
Command: sudo nvme format -l 1 /dev/nvme0n1
Worked, and I can see correct 4k format sectors with nvme utility.

Then reboot to High Sierra USB disk and opened terminal. Now disk is blank and cannot view it from the Graphical disc utility, so I have to use command based diskutil:
Command: diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ "Macintosh HD" GPT Disk0

GPT Partition table created and JHPFS+ partition created. Now disk can be found to install High Sierra. As part of the install process, partition is converted to APFS. Installed High Sierra again and at some reboot have seen blinking ? folder.
Pressed "alt" and forced to boot to "Macintosh HD".

Reset again PRAM & SMC after each reboot.
With High Sierra fully installed I have openend boot disk utility from setting and have configured to boot from "Macintosh HD". (reiterated)

Now directly boots to Internal Kingston SSD HD, after 30 seconds delay, and OSX boots correctly without having to press "alt" each time.

But if I press "alt" still shows orange disk!
But if the disk boots directly to OSX, the only aesthetic inconvenients are 30s delay and "Orange" color of hard disk, nothing serious!

Best regards,
Joan

 

[@t0mX]

So I have tried to install EFI update manually but problem is that , regardless what disk I use, thunderbolt HDD or usb stick they are all mounted as disk1 and not as disk0 and update script for EFI partition was written for disk0 ... or so it seams ...
since one can not change disk numbering I guess there is no other solution to update EFI but original SSD ...

Yes. you need and AHCI drive (original apple or OEM) to do the bootrom firmware upgrade before enything else.

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hello,

i'm getting 1500/1200 on a mid-2014 15" rMBP and I have 4x 2.0 pci-e lanes where you (should) have 4x 3.0 pci-e lanes... Can you check this in your system summary?

Gilles, do you think this is due to KC1000 480gb vs PM961 1tb drive performance or something else?

Hello,
the early 2013 MBPr 13" has 4x PCIe 2.0 lanes, not PCIe 3.0 (maybe I incorrectly stated it in the first excel sheet I did...). So 1100-1400Mb/sec are normal values.

 

[@t0mX]

You wrote on your Excel Sheet "PCI-e 2.0 x4 = 1400 mo/sec", that is for either read or write correct?

 

[maenpaa24]

Hello there,
I think we can't still make a conclusion. Work and tests are still in progress.

To me, there remains three issues :
#1 - hibernation issue with Mac before late-2014 : it seems we can get around it with good results with setting "standbymode" to 0 in the terminal
#2 - blinking folder at startup, or hot restart not working : I couldn't reproduce this issue... but lots of users here reproduce it... I would love to collect data here and be able to reproduce the issue... Need further investigation on it...
#3 - kernels panics on heavy loads : Easily reproducible : it occurs on huge, long copy tasks on any mac with a 512B NVMe formatted SSDs and a fast external storare... In my case it occurs on every tested mac while having booted on a 512B formatted NVMe drive (Samsung, intel) under 10.13, and with trying to backup all NVMe SSD to an external, fast, USB 3.0, SSD able of at least 300MB/sec.
After a few minutes of high speed copy, kernel panic occurs nearly 100% of the time...
Maybe a heat issue ? not sure I've checked the temperature with DriveDX and not seen anything abnormal... More a NVMe driver issue...

Those 3 issues may not be unsurmontable.
For now, the rules are :
- always update the BootRom
- for now, prefer 4K formatted SSDs.


As a reminder, here is an update on all updates that are possible :
- Apple AHCI PCIe (12+16) drives : no change here. They work, but they are expensive ($500 for 500 GB...) and hard to find used (and I don't speak of getting new ones...)
- Apple NVMe PCIe (12+16) drives : same remarks as upper for the price and availability. They need 10.10.2 at least, and we now know that they work on all Mac from late 2014 and up without issue, and they work on late 2013 to mid 2014 mac with the updated Bootrom, but with hibernation issue.
- Tiers Apple-form PCIe SSD (OWC - MCE - Transcend 960) : as expensive as Apple drives, but easily available new, with warranty, and they work in all case (OWC have some compatibility issue though)
- Tiers M.2 2280 AHCI SSD : work with Sintech adapter... LiteOn LGT-512B1P, XP941, Kingston HyperX predator were available and not too expensive but they are now hard to find...
- Tiers M.2 2280 NVMe SSD : they are easily availaible, fast, cheap... the subject of this thread...

For thoses last NVMe drives, there is two categories :
- NVMe drives that can be formatted in 4K logical blocs (Kingston KC1000, WD Black, Toshiba G3/G4) :
once formatted in 4K blocs with linux, they do work natively in every mac from late 2014 without bootrom needed, and even Mac from late 2013 to mid 2014 macs with Bootrom updated.
- NVMe drives that are formated in 512B blocs (Samsung SM951 - 960 Evo - 960 Pro) : they only work with Mac with updated Bootrom. They have hibernation issue on pre-late 2014 mac. They need 10.13, and as of 10.13.0, the NVMe driver seem to make some kernel panics some times...


As for now, I would like to collect more info (BootRom, firmware of SSD, powermanagement settings, etc) on the machines of those having hot restart problem, or blinking folder, as I never encoutered it...
I don't know yet if Apple will try to work on resolving issue with 512B drives...

After weeks of testing, I'm quite satisfied with the results thought, but not totally...

Especially I think the best price/capacity/reliability for now is the Toshiba G3/G4 or the Kingston KC1000, because they are damn fast, cheap, and can be formated in 4K.

I hope there will be an update on the 10.13 NVMe driver. If there is, the Samsung 960 evo/pro would be the best choice !

(Ps : attached are some benchs on mid 2015 rMBP 15")
[doublepost=1508816810][/doublepost]
Yes, here it is :

View attachment 727021

Has anyone tested a toshiba g3/g4 drive on a mac/macbook pro/macbook air?

 

[MacIsHard]

Hi there
Just dropping in to say that I have the same problem of the 960 evo, when trying to be installed just shows a folder with a ? on. It also had a hard time detecting the SSD and as mentioned dont complete the installation when I try.

Im running the latest boot-rom on a 2014 mid MacBook Pro 15" with the Chenuang adaptor.

Anyone who has found a fix on the blinking folder problem? And would regular tape work?

 

[wawon]

But if I press "alt" still shows orange disk!
But if the disk boots directly to OSX, the only aesthetic inconvenients are 30s delay and "Orange" color of hard disk, nothing serious!

It was nice to be improved even to some extent. I also found same phenomena, 30s delay boot at MacBook Air Mid2013 and 960 Evo (1st High-Sierra install to 960 Evo on MacBook Air), but the case of MacBook Pro 13 Early2015 and 960 Evo (replace 960 Evo from MacBook Air to MacBook pro) is OK, soon boot. that is the same SSD and same contents. In both cases, Apple diagnosis (at start-up press D or option-D) shows No problem. Sorry, now I lost that trial environment with these case. So I can not try more.

 

[Earl Urley]

Just wanted to report success on my Late 2013 13-inch rMBP with the Sintech adapter, Kapton tape, and a 500 GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2.

First I cloned my drive using the latest Carbon Copy Cloner to a disk image on a USB 3.1 drive.

Shut down, disconnected battery, removed Samsung SM951 256GB AHCI drive (already had HS on it.)

Booted from High Sierra USB key, ran Disk Utility, did the View All Devices / quit / run Disk Utility again trick.

Formatted the 960 EVO as a 500 GB APFS volume.

Ran the install MacOS menu, installed clean HS.

Rebooted, then mounted the USB drive and the disk image, then ran Migration Assistant and restored my account.

Rebooted, System Preferences went straight to Security and gave me a checklist of extensions to Allow to run once more. Came up with some mystery extensions that I didn't bother to re-enable, just did the important ones that I knew about like Little Snitch.

Rebooted a few more times to let the extensions enable properly, then I was done!

Blackmagic Speed Test gives me 1400 MB/sec read, high 1300's/sec MB write now, much better than the 800 MB I was getting without the Kapton tape.

Also performed the proper pmset commands.

Edit: There might be a 5-8 second pause before booting begins.

Thanks to all who contributed!

 

[KhunJay]

Just checking: will this upgrade work on a Macbook Air mid 2012?

On the subject of sintech adaptors, they have two types....a short one and a longer one....the sintech folks said get the short one it's slimmer.
But I have read about someone here who used the short adaptor having to place a 3mm rubber wedge to lift the drive for a better connection.

Would it be better to get the longer adaptor since it would probably provide a uniformly raised surface on which the new ssd would rest?

 

[Tacàritx]

It was nice to be improved even to some extent. I also found same phenomena, 30s delay boot at MacBook Air Mid2013 and 960 Evo (1st High-Sierra install to 960 Evo on MacBook Air), but the case of MacBook Pro 13 Early2015 and 960 Evo (replace 960 Evo from MacBook Air to MacBook pro) is OK, soon boot. that is the same SSD and same contents. In both cases, Apple diagnosis (at start-up press D or option-D) shows No problem. Sorry, now I lost that trial environment with these case. So I can not try more.

With the information we can see in this thread (summarized by Gilles)the same SSD NVMe disks behave different depending on Macbook models.
First group pre-late 2014 models have sleep/hibernation issues and, as you noted, the 30s delay+orange disk boot (blinking folder).
Second group, 2015 and above, seems to tolerate better non Apple SSD disks and NVMe.

In any case they must have updated boot rom with NVMe disks.

I can do the easy test you propose with my devices:
Current rMBP Late 2013 (Brom updated) with Kingston KC1000
=>Actually with OSX High Sierra + 30s delay + Orange boot disk (But automatic boot to System, no need to press "alt")

rMBP Early 2015 (Brom updated) with original Apple SSD

I will test to insert the Kingston KC1000 from the rMBP 15" on the rMPB 13" Early 2015 and see how the SSD is detected in this model. I will see how behaves with 30s delay and blinking folder.

As soon I have results I will post here,
Joan

 

[Earl Urley]

Just had a thought.. do we know if TRIM is enabled on NVMe devices?

Or is that part and parcel of APFS?

SAT SMART driver doesn't recognize NVMe drive, and in System Info my 960 EVO shows up under NVMExpress pane, but no TRIM status mentioned.

 

[Tacàritx]

With the information we can see in this thread (summarized by Gilles)the same SSD NVMe disks behave different depending on Macbook models.
First group pre-late 2014 models have sleep/hibernation issues and, as you noted, the 30s delay+orange disk boot (blinking folder).
Second group, 2015 and above, seems to tolerate better non Apple SSD disks and NVMe.

In any case they must have updated boot rom with NVMe disks.

I can do the easy test you propose with my devices:
Current rMBP Late 2013 (Brom updated) with Kingston KC1000
=>Actually with OSX High Sierra + 30s delay + Orange boot disk (But automatic boot to System, no need to press "alt")

rMBP Early 2015 (Brom updated) with original Apple SSD

I will test to insert the Kingston KC1000 from the rMBP 15" on the rMPB 13" Early 2015 and see how the SSD is detected in this model. I will see how behaves with 30s delay and blinking folder.

As soon I have results I will post here,
Joan

I have results of my simple test. As I thought same disk, with High Sierra installed, on different MacBooks behave different from EFI BIOS viewpoint.

Kingston KC1000 on rMBP Late 2013 with updated boot ROM: 30s delay + disk colored Orange (automatic boot but sometimes appears blinking folder ?, rebooting from Apple menu)

Kingston KC1000 on rMBP Early 2015 with updated boot ROM: 30s delay + Normal grey boot disk (no blinking folder appeared)

 

[tetet]

Just checking: will this upgrade work on a Macbook Air mid 2012?

Longer one is for MacBook air 2012. Those M.2 SSDs are much cheaper since it is SATA. There are a lots of people selling these on ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263114838815
https://www.ebay.com/itm/263242706826

 

[flusher]

ok so i was thinking about upgrading 15" late-2013 to a NVMe 512GB SSD
used apple genuine SSUAX costs around 300$ on ebay
used samsung 960 costs around 200$ on ebay with adapter
wow save 100$ and have slightly better performance (although you can hardly notice it in real work)
but after reading a lot of info and this thread i have come to conclusion that it is not worth of saving 100$.
kernel panics, boot issues, un-sleep issues - all leads to loose of current work! and we are talking here about a professional equipment and working environment, not playing games.
and we cant really trust apple, next OS may have some even deeper troubles with 3rd party drives, no one knows for sure

 

[windows4ever]

I have nothing to add other than to say it's nice when the community comes together and comes up with solutions like they did in this thread. I bought a genuine Apple SSD several months ago after giving up on trying to use a 3rd party drive because there wasn't much info out there at the time.

 

[gilles_polysoft]

You wrote on your Excel Sheet "PCI-e 2.0 x4 = 1400 mo/sec", that is for either read or write correct?

Yes it is correct.
Write speed are usually lower than read speeds, especially on MLC/TLC SSDs (and it depends on capacity : my 128GB SM951 will be slower than a 512GB)

Hello @t0mX,
Thanks for the answer. I tried it!
First I have formated my Kingston KC1000 with 4k sectors using xubuntu USB Key.
Command: sudo nvme format -l 1 /dev/nvme0n1
Worked, and I can see correct 4k format sectors with nvme utility.
[...]
Now directly boots to Internal Kingston SSD HD, after 30 seconds delay, and OSX boots correctly without having to press "alt" each time.

But if I press "alt" still shows orange disk!
But if the disk boots directly to OSX, the only aesthetic inconvenients are 30s delay and "Orange" color of hard disk, nothing serious!

Hello Joan,
On my pre- late 2014 machines, the NVMe SSD appears in orange too ; but once booted it is properly recognized as "internal drive" (in System Informations -> Hardware -> Storage)

Total cold boot delay from power button pressed to desktop is ~15s on my mid 2015 15" rMBP, ~20s on a early 2015 MBA, and 28s on a late 2013 rMBP 13".
Delay from power button pressed to white apple logo appears is 1-2s on the 2015 rMBP and MBA, and 14s on the late 2013 rMBP 13"

 

[Tanjauser]

Hello!
Mac Pro 2013 + chenyang 12 16pin M.2 ngff ssd m-key + EVO 960 pro = Success

Aprox 1440 Read and write. 18 secs to boot.

Amazing!

 

[wawon]

I can do the easy test you propose with my devices:
Current rMBP Late 2013 (Brom updated) with Kingston KC1000
=>Actually with OSX High Sierra + 30s delay + Orange boot disk (But automatic boot to System, no need to press "alt")

rMBP Early 2015 (Brom updated) with original Apple SSD

I will test to insert the Kingston KC1000 from the rMBP 15" on the rMPB 13" Early 2015 and see how the SSD is detected in this model. I will see how behaves with 30s delay and blinking folder.

In High-Sierra from BootCamp environment (windows), Boot-Disk can not be selected and can not be shown, it is saying because of APFS, but there is a possibility that setting method of Boot-disk may change, I guess. Orange Disk means external disk, not internal disk, so EFI Boot firm may be searching internal Boot-disk. if so, 15-30sec delay boot time may be internal Boot-disk searching time. The searching is fail and Mac boots at external Boot-disk.

Could you tell me the condition. Are theses Boot-delay time is measured at Boot-disk set to internal disk(SSD)? Dose the delay time change if boot disk set or not?

If we could set internal NVMe SSD as a internal Boot-disk for pre 2014 macs, Macs may boot soon.

 

[User9]

Just starting to get kernel panics on WD Black like other people when the screen sleeps...." InitializeNVMe error = 0xE00002D7\n"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/IONVMeFamily/IONVMeFamily-234.60.2/IONVMeController.cpp:268"

Could someone please advice an urgent fix for this please! I need a web-link to a known fix. Any recommendation welcome! Thanks!

WD 512 Black SSD on Macbook Pro Retina 13 2015

 

[wawon]

Just starting to get kernel panics on WD Black like other people when the screen sleeps...." InitializeNVMe error = 0xE00002D7\n"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/IONVMeFamily/IONVMeFamily-234.60.2/IONVMeController.cpp:268"

Could someone please advice an urgent fix for this please! I need a web-link to a known fix. Any recommendation welcome! Thanks!

WD 512 Black SSD on Macbook Pro Retina 13 2015

Is that screen sleep? I think that is deep-sleep, hibernation. If so, You should set never deep-sleep.

Open "Terminal" in Utility folder under Application folder. type below.

pmset -g

list of pmset command setting is shown, then type.

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0 standby 0 autopoweroff 0

then you should input administrator password.

Please in mind this is my private opinion. If you like this, try.

ref:
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/pmset.1.html
https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...nce-between-autopoweroff-and-standby-in-pmset
http://iatkos.me/9-blog/107-hibernate-deep-sleep.html

 

[User9]

Hello to all,

Could someone please confirm to be error free you need
1. Hibernation mode 0
2. Standby 0
3. Autopoweroff 0? Can this one be left to 1 or do you also get kernel panic if left on

Thanks

This SSD is getting more glitchy by the day LoL but surely is fun to play around just not on your production machine. The error came up out of the blue when the screen sleeps vs closing lid (100% kernel panic)
[doublepost=1509020497][/doublepost]Ok it is more stable. But every restart it gives the folder icon with question mark in it! the only way to boot it is to force turn off and then on again then it will boot. Anyone got ideas on how to fix this?

 

[ghifar]

1000 read 1500 write, awesome, compared to the 400 read 900 write I was getting.

hello, do you have any issue with sleep and boot delay like other mbpr models?

 

[Earl Urley]

Is that screen sleep? I think that is deep-sleep, hibernation. If so, You should set never deep-sleep.

Open "Terminal" in Utility folder under Application folder. type below.

pmset -g

list of pmset command setting is shown, then type.

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0 standby 0 autopoweroff 0

then you should input administrator password.

I use these settings and haven't had any kernel panics, crashes, or other issues. Also I close the laptop and wake it up after random periods (30 minutes-several hours) and no problems waking up or running after.

 

[wawon]

In High-Sierra from BootCamp environment (windows), Boot-Disk can not be selected and can not be shown, it is saying because of APFS, but there is a possibility that setting method of Boot-disk may change, I guess. Orange Disk means external disk, not internal disk, so EFI Boot firm may be searching internal Boot-disk. if so, 15-30sec delay boot time may be internal Boot-disk searching time. The searching is fail and Mac boots at external Boot-disk.

Could you tell me the condition. Are theses Boot-delay time is measured at Boot-disk set to internal disk(SSD)? Dose the delay time change if boot disk set or not?

If we could set internal NVMe SSD as a internal Boot-disk for pre 2014 macs, Macs may boot soon.

I find "bless" and "nvram" command.
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/bless.8.html
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/nvram.8.html

example: internal SSD is MZ-JPV256 (Apple), MacBook Pro 15 Mid2015

(No boot disk set)

$ bless -info
Can't access "efi-boot-device" NVRAM variable


(boot disk set to internal SSD)

$ bless -info
finderinfo[0]: 185 => Blessed System Folder is /System/Library/CoreServices
finderinfo[1]: 439804 => Blessed System File is /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
finderinfo[2]: 0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]: 0 => No alternate OS blessed file/folder
finderinfo[4]: 0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]: 185 => OS X blessed folder is /System/Library/CoreServices
64-bit VSDB volume id: 0xA33BD89868AB1F3B

$ bless -getBoot
/dev/disk1

$ nvram -p
efi-boot-device-data %02%01%0c%00%d0A%03%0a%00%00%00%00%01%01%06%00%00%01%01%01%06%00%00%00%03%12%0a%00%00%00%00%00%00%00%04%01*%00%03%00%00%00%e0%98w%17%00%00%00%00 _%13%00%00%00%00%00%aa%04%bf%deJ%dc:J%a7%f9%c1%b0<p%cdn%02%02%7f%ff%04%00
BootCampProcessorPstates %0f%00
bluetoothInternalControllerInfo %90%82%ac%05%00%000%14%18e%90%d1%ab%9a
prev-lang:kbd ja:0
SystemAudioVolumeDB %f1
efi-apple-recovery <array><dict><key>IOMatch</key><dict><key>IOProviderClass</key><string>IOMedia</string><key>IOPropertyMatch</key><dict><key>UUID</key><string>0803D1E0-1792-45A0-88E4-B888D3C95E47</string></dict></dict><key>BLLastBSDName</key><string>disk0s1</string></dict><dict><key>IOEFIDevicePathType</key><string>MediaFilePath</string><key>Path</key><string>\EFI\APPLE\FIRMWARE\MBP114_0177_B00.fd</string></dict></array>%00
fmm-computer-name MacBookPro15
efi-boot-device <array><dict><key>IOMatch</key><dict><key>IOProviderClass</key><string>IOMedia</string><key>IOPropertyMatch</key><dict><key>UUID</key><string>DEBF04AA-DC4A-4A3A-A7F9-C1B03C70CD6E</string></dict></dict><key>BLLastBSDName</key><string>disk0s3</string></dict></array>
ALS_Data ^%0d%8ax%00%00%00%00
bluetoothActiveControllerInfo %90%82%ac%05%00%00%00%000%14%18e%90%d1%ab%9a
SystemAudioVolume ]
backlight-level u%01


if you have a chance and time, please check this command using NVMe SSD.

 

[wawon]

In High-Sierra from BootCamp environment (windows), Boot-Disk can not be selected and can not be shown, it is saying because of APFS, but there is a possibility that setting method of Boot-disk may change, I guess. Orange Disk means external disk, not internal disk, so EFI Boot firm may be searching internal Boot-disk. if so, 15-30sec delay boot time may be internal Boot-disk searching time. The searching is fail and Mac boots at external Boot-disk.

Could you tell me the condition. Are theses Boot-delay time is measured at Boot-disk set to internal disk(SSD)? Dose the delay time change if boot disk set or not?

If we could set internal NVMe SSD as a internal Boot-disk for pre 2014 macs, Macs may boot soon.

I find similar phenomena at MacX86(Hackintosh). Because of using 3rd party SSD, it may be similar MacX86.

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/hard-drive-icon-yellow.64156/
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/orange-disk-icons-in-lion.23175/

Internal Disk(s) apear external Disk(s), 25-30sec delay boot, It is similar. The Solution is like that "Install IOAHCIBlockstorageinjector via Mulitbeast".

Mulitbeast:
http://www.multibeast.com

IOAHCIBlockstorageinjector:
https://www.hackintosh.zone/file/1028-hackintosh-high-sierra-basic-kexts/

I feel like I'm getting deeply into the depth.