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

[Earl Urley]

For 2015 I have yet to find a drive that matches the Apple drives. I have yet to test Samsung EVO 960.
[doublepost=1513961642][/doublepost]
I never got 4-lane on any drive with the Sintech adapter yet even if I get PCIe 3-0. Do you think the adapter is the culprit? It doesn't do anything but reroute wires. What other alternatives are there?

Are you doing all this on one machine? There's other adapters from CableCC, Micro SATA, etc. available, but in this thread we've concluded the most reliable one is from Sintech. Are you using any kind of shielding, like the Kapton tape mentioned here?

 

[tetet]

I experimented about MacBook pro 15 mid 2014.

adapter : sintech small(old), sintech large(new)
SSD : MZ-HPU256, 960 Evo250, THNSF5256(toshiba)

A slight surprising result is appearing. It is understood that there is mutual compatibility of adapter and SSD ( also macbook pro version). I could not get PCIe x4 with sintech large(new) adapter.

Interesting. I got PCIe 2.0 x4 with large sintech adapter on PM961, with no issue on reboot. I can post image for proof.

To clarify, Sintech has one and only one type of adapter, which is large and spring loaded. They sell directly through their website. This adapter has no reboot issue.

NF Technology is a competing manufacturer with Sintech, and they make the smaller one. You can find "NF" marking on the back. They do not sell to customer directly, but only through different re-sellers. This adapter has reboot issue.

 

[wawon]

Interesting. I got PCIe 2.0 x4 with large sintech adapter on PM961, with no issue on reboot. I can post image for proof.

Thanks for the good informations. I have 3 sintech adapters(large), So using another adapter, I tried again. I got PCIe x4.

NF Technology is a competing manufacturer with Sintech, and they make the smaller one.

Certainly small adapters were not purchased directly from sintech, it is described as NF, it seems to be made by NF Technology.

I attached the corrected results.

 

[RUSGOLDER]

The PCIE version is different becouse of different processors. 4288U - pcie 2.0 and 4850HQ - pcie 3.0.

The syntech old type adapter don't use pin 50 (PCIE reset) the reason it has problems with restart.
Also don't use pin 52 - change clock. Probably becouse of it problems with sleeping.

 

[majonex]

Reboots after sleep

In a MacBook Air 2013 I got 3 reboots when closing the lid (overnight) and opening it. I thought this was caused by the WD Black 256gb (which unfortunately works terrible on the Macs I have tested) but the same issue arose on the Intel P600. After a SMC reset I have not seen the issue. Still wondering if there is a power issue between drives and how this could affect e.g. sleep issues. Of course Apples drives are tuned for OS X.

 

[majonex]

Are you doing all this on one machine? There's other adapters from CableCC, Micro SATA, etc. available, but in this thread we've concluded the most reliable one is from Sintech. Are you using any kind of shielding, like the Kapton tape mentioned here?

I am lucky to have (at the moment) these machines to test on: MB Qir 2013, MBP 13 late-2013,MBP 13 2015, MBP 15 2015. Have only tested with the Sintech small adapter. Will try the capton tape which I have a roll of!

 

[desperex]

Guys,
I've been running my macbook pro mid 2014 with 960 evo for almost a week,
everything is good except the temperature when there's no activity and fans are off, check the screenshot.
63 degrees Celsius, is that ok?
Is there anything that could be done to improve the cooling?

UPD: Found some similar feedback, looks like it's normal.
Since we can't put heatsinks in pretty slim body, I just wonder what other things could be done?

And I'm also interested in your numbers, check your Heath Indicators in DriveDX.

 

[Dagoth Nik]

The PCIE version is different becouse of different processors. 4288U - pcie 2.0 and 4850HQ - pcie 3.0.

The syntech old type adapter don't use pin 50 (PCIE reset) the reason it has problems with restart.
Also don't use pin 52 - change clock. Probably becouse of it problems with sleeping.

Странно, что без PERST# вообще это всё дело завелось. Как я понял, без него PCI-E устройтва не работают. А CLKREQ# - сигнал требования опорного тактового сигнала В общем спорно всё это. И что самое интересное, не у всех проблемы со старыми адаптерами.

It's strange that without PERST # this is the whole thing. As I understand it, without it, PCI-E devices do not work. And CLKREQ # - the signal requirement of the reference clock signal. In general, all this is debatable. And most interestingly, not all have problems with the old adapters.

 

[Audit13]

Installed a 256 gb Intel 600p into an early 2015 MBA with a large Sintech adapter without capton tape. Installed 10.13.2 without any problems. Restart a few times after installing and no problem restarting.

I'll close the lid overnight and see what happens in the morning.

I'm very happy with the results so far

Tried to update the firmware from 100c top 121c without luck as I can't get the Intel firmware tool to work on the air.

Thanks to everyone in this thread for the great information.

 

[ironever]

(apologise for my poor english).

Thanks guys, especially @gilles_polysoft, and lots of useful information in this thread.

I tried new SinTech adapter with Samsung Evo 960 512GB on MBA 2017, and with careful tape on the back of the adapter, all works. no sleep and hibernate issue, no restart issue, no kernel panic, and all are smooth. And I'd say the tape is very important, otherwise kernel panic / sleep occurs often.

I tried the old sintech adapter also, the only problem is "sleep", and need change the hibernatemode to 25.

 

[majonex]

(apologise for my poor english).

Thanks guys, especially @gilles_polysoft, and lots of useful information in this thread.

I tried new SinTech adapter with Samsung Evo 960 512GB on MBA 2017, and with careful tape on the back of the adapter, all works. no sleep and hibernate issue, no restart issue, no kernel panic, and all are smooth. And I'd say the tape is very important, otherwise kernel panic / sleep occurs often.

I tried the old sintech adapter also, the only problem is "sleep", and need change the hibernatemode to 25.

Not sure what you mean with the "old" Sinctech adapter. I have this one. I also have issues with panic on sleep. I also tried the OS-independant Intel firmware upgrade tool on several MacBook models. When i have an Apple SSD installed I can boot to the program. If I have the Intel 600P NVMe installed I can choose the linux boot disk but then I get a black screen. So you say you have no panic/sleep issues with the "new" adapter. Please send a link to it.

 

[Audit13]

Not sure what you mean with the "old" Sinctech adapter. I have this one. I also have issues with panic on sleep. I also tried the OS-independant Intel firmware upgrade tool on several MacBook models. When i have an Apple SSD installed I can boot to the program. If I have the Intel 600P NVMe installed I can choose the linux boot disk but then I get a black screen. So you say you have no panic/sleep issues with the "new" adapter. Please send a link to it.

Difference between "old" and "new" Sintech: Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

I cannot get the Intel firmware update tool to work either. Tried different methods (CD, DVD, three USB flash drives) without any luck. I'm going to try bootcamp. If that doesn't work, I will have to buy a pice to m.2 adapter and flash in a windows desktop.

My Intel 600p doesn't panic with the new, larger Sintech adapter. Sleep works except battery drained from 91% to 66% in 8 hours with lid closed and Air sleeping.

 

[RUSGOLDER]

Странно, что без PERST# вообще это всё дело завелось. Как я понял, без него PCI-E устройтва не работают. А CLKREQ# - сигнал требования опорного тактового сигнала В общем спорно всё это. И что самое интересное, не у всех проблемы со старыми адаптерами.

PERST используется для перезагрузки устройства судя по описанию Samsung.
Исправить пайкой там сложно, где-то под коннектором нужно прервать заземление иначе ничего не получится. Я просто заказал новый переходник. В приложении файлы с правильным подключением дорожек PERST и CLKREQ.

 

[gilles_polysoft]

UPD: Found some similar feedback, looks like it's normal.
Since we can't put heatsinks in pretty slim body, I just wonder what other things could be done?

Hi,
thanks for your report.
Yes 63 celsius degree is definitely normal, I've tested more than 10 different brand/models/capacity NVMe SSDs and such temperatures are common...Most NVMe are tuned for speed and spread around 5 watts.. but all SSDs are heated-controlled and throttle (reduce their speed) as soon as temperature exceed lets say 70 degrees.

You may want to get better thermal dissipation, you can add some thermal pad between the SSD and the bottom case (OWC does that with their SSDs that spread a lot of heat) so that thermal conduction occurs.
But as for me and with 4 month ot experience of using NVMe drives in macbook pros, i've not found it usefull...

 

[majonex]

A lot of good advice about thermal dissipation that I have to try @gilles_polysoft . My most concern is the kernel panic on sleep. Here is my crash log. It is clearly related to sleep issue. Now I dissabled hibernate and it did not help. After I leave the MBA for some hours it restarts (twice) when I open the lid.

Anonymous UUID:       D08048E5-BE94-41B9-0996-5B7141698992

Sat Dec 23 15:07:38 2017

*** Panic Report ***
panic(cpu 3 caller 0xffffff7f920a1a3c): nvme: "Fatal error occurred. CSTS=0xffffffff
. FW Revision= PSF109C\n"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/IONVMeFamily/IONVMeFamily-356.30.6/IONVMeController.cpp:5275
Backtrace (CPU 3), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff911f213a10 : 0xffffff8010a505f6
0xffffff911f213a60 : 0xffffff8010b7d604
0xffffff911f213aa0 : 0xffffff8010b6f0f9
0xffffff911f213b20 : 0xffffff8010a02120
0xffffff911f213b40 : 0xffffff8010a5002c
0xffffff911f213c70 : 0xffffff8010a4fdac
0xffffff911f213cd0 : 0xffffff7f920a1a3c
0xffffff911f213e30 : 0xffffff801109693c
0xffffff911f213ea0 : 0xffffff8011096866
0xffffff911f213ed0 : 0xffffff8010a89e74
0xffffff911f213f40 : 0xffffff8010a89965
0xffffff911f213fa0 : 0xffffff8010a014f7
     Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
        com.apple.iokit.IONVMeFamily(2.1)[8C2350A2-A812-3B8C-8DE1-3A6911793417]@0xffffff7f9208f000->0xffffff7f920cbfff
           dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleMobileFileIntegrity(1.0.5)[58669FC2-CC90-3594-AD69-DB89B923FD20]@0xffffff7f916be000
           dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[C08F7FC1-78A4-3A1B-BFE2-C07080CF2048]@0xffffff7f91334000
           dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM(2.1)[79C21A42-B04F-314F-BA88-F221F3D54094]@0xffffff7f92084000
           dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(2.1)[B0FCE898-1542-34C0-B845-46FAE81DD9E6]@0xffffff7f91251000
           dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily(31)[D2F2FBDF-4EE4-38BA-99F5-B699F886F413]@0xffffff7f92023000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
17C88

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 17.3.0: Thu Nov  9 18:09:22 PST 2017; root:xnu-4570.31.3~1/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: 87641697-A3DD-30C4-B010-E65ECE57550B
Kernel slide:     0x0000000010600000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff8010800000
__HIB  text base: 0xffffff8010700000
System model name: MacBookAir6,2 (Mac-7DF21CB3ED6977E5)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 98504371579
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EOF
Model: MacBookAir6,2, BootROM MBA61.0103.B00, 2 processors, Intel Core i7, 1,7 GHz, 8 GB, SMC 2.13f15
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Built-In
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 4 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x80AD, 0x483943434E4E4E384A544D4C41522D4E544D
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM0, 4 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x80AD, 0x483943434E4E4E384A544D4C41522D4E544D
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x117), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.77.37.5.1a3)
Bluetooth: Version 6.0.2f2, 3 services, 27 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Wi-Fi, AirPort, en0
USB Device: USB 3.0 Bus
USB Device: Internal Memory Card Reader
USB Device: BRCM20702 Hub
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Bus: MacBook Air, Apple Inc., 23.6

 

[Dagoth Nik]

PERST используется для перезагрузки устройства судя по описанию Samsung.
Исправить пайкой там сложно, где-то под коннектором нужно прервать заземление иначе ничего не получится. Я просто заказал новый переходник. В приложении файлы с правильным подключением дорожек PERST и CLKREQ.

Хм, а можно подробнее, какой контакт? Сверху четвёртый, после разрыва, после трёх пустых? Который к пятаку идёт?

 

[ironever]

Not sure what you mean with the "old" Sinctech adapter. I have this one. I also have issues with panic on sleep. I also tried the OS-independant Intel firmware upgrade tool on several MacBook models. When i have an Apple SSD installed I can boot to the program. If I have the Intel 600P NVMe installed I can choose the linux boot disk but then I get a black screen. So you say you have no panic/sleep issues with the "new" adapter. Please send a link to it.

I bought the adapter from the same link, and I think your adapter should be the new version because recently we all received the new version from the same link. And Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe compared them side by side.

For the panic on the air, my experience is that the thickness of tape on the back of adapter is very important, I tried several times with the new version adapter before I got rid of the panic and sleep issue. The touch between the adapter and the pcie connector of the mainboard seems very sensitive, and the thickness of the tape should not be high or low.

And I also put a small rubber near the side of adapter on the battery edge, and the thickness of rubber is a little higher than the adapter to prevent the bottom panel from touching the adapter. ( but I don't know if this is the case, and it just looks to me that there is no much room between the adapter and the bottom panel. )

And no exceptional battery drain in my side till now.

And before I got rid of the panic/sleep issue, hibernatemode 25 can solve the sleep issue in my side.

 

[RUSGOLDER]

Хм, а можно подробнее, какой контакт? Сверху четвёртый, после разрыва, после трёх пустых? Который к пятаку идёт?

PERST Пятый после разрыва, после трёх пустых. Он идет на противоположную сторону на пятый справа. Их по идее нужно соединить. Кроме того этот контакт соединен с землей под коннектором и эту связь нужно разорвать, а как именно можно понять только после его отпайки.

Кроме этого, по-хорошему, нужно еще CLKREQ сделать.

Переделка коннектора возможна, но я не вижу экономического смысла тратить столько времени, если можно купить за 650 р.

 

[Audit13]

I put a 256 GB Intel 600p into a Macbook Air early 2015 running the latest HS release with the large Sintech. Never had any reboot, sleep, or panic issues except for battery drain while in sleep mode but I applied Kapton tape to the top and bottom of the connector just to be safe.

Anyway to reduce battery drain while hibernating?

 

[nos1609]

Oh, that is great that my hope that Apple included the NVMe EFI driver inside the new firmware has become real with High Sierra update. By the way, I have few remarks to add as the discoverer of 4K conversion method

The list of 4K drives can be found in the same manual, initially minded for hackintoshers which can be found here
I can repost it right in the thread for convenience if needed.

Converting the drive to 4K mind the fact that some drives can experience performance drawbacks, which you can define by the Linux command output which shows differences in relative speed levels.

As for the bootrom firmware, the previous and only known macOS version able to manually flash custom bootroms aka EFI firmware is Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks. So If you are limited on time and do not want to bother with installing High Sierra in full cycle to get the bootrom updated, all you need is to put the needed bootrom file on the same USB drive with Mavericks and flash it through terminal. A bit more detailed indications can be found here. As you can see the author is spoofing Mac OS version, but much easier is booting right away from Mavericks. Also keep in mind that el cap and sierra installers use to preload the right bootrom version, instead of flashing it, which is not a persistent thing.

For those of you experiencing slow boot caused by loading delay, try using manual drive selection holding Option after the startup chime and once the drive appears and then hold Ctrl while clicking on it to make this choice perpetual. It might help shorting this boot time by 10 seconds while the firmware is seeking for internal drives.

And for the history
At the times of macOS Sierra, when I started my experiments with 4K drives, as there were no firmware with the EFI driver yet, I have found a solution to boot an old 2013 Mac Pro and a same year MacBook Air with a tricky solution, which imposes you the use of an SD card or of a USB stick as a sort of driver preloader. You can find more details here but in short, it consists in booting rEFInd bootloader on your mac with an injected NVMe driver which will provide you with the possibility to boot Sierra from an NVMe drive without flashing the bootrom. As this PoC required some ugly workarounds like USB or SD for refind bootloader I gave up on the idea pushing that further. By the way, as my major clients which are using professional grade audio software right now are forced to stay with 10.12, right now they are using this ugly workaround for about a year with converted RD400 without any issues.

 

[No_Good]

Reboots after sleep

In a MacBook Air 2013 I got 3 reboots when closing the lid (overnight) and opening it. I thought this was caused by the WD Black 256gb (which unfortunately works terrible on the Macs I have tested) but the same issue arose on the Intel P600. After a SMC reset I have not seen the issue. Still wondering if there is a power issue between drives and how this could affect e.g. sleep issues. Of course Apples drives are tuned for OS X.

Remove flag

 

[VEGASONE]

Just installed Samsung 960 Pro 500, Macbook Pro 13" early 2015 I7 3.1 with Sintech latest. So far so good. Crossing fingers. Used CCC to copy latest OS to USB drive and then back to SSD. Only scary thing is it takes longer to boot.

 

[VEGASONE]

View attachment 743990 Just installed Samsung 960 Pro 500, Macbook Pro 13" early 2015 I7 3.1 with Sintech latest. So far so good. Crossing fingers. Used CCC to copy latest OS to USB drive and then back to SSD. Only scary thing is it takes longer to boot.

THANKS!! for everyone's help.

 

[monofase]

Interesting. I got PCIe 2.0 x4 with large sintech adapter on PM961, with no issue on reboot. I can post image for proof.

To clarify, Sintech has one and only one type of adapter, which is large and spring loaded. They sell directly through their website. This adapter has no reboot issue.

NF Technology is a competing manufacturer with Sintech, and they make the smaller one. You can find "NF" marking on the back. They do not sell to customer directly, but only through different re-sellers. This adapter has reboot issue.

I installed a Samsung 960 Evo on my brother's MBP 13 Late 2013 and I got it working. At the moment the only downside is the reboot issue. The machine is working very fast and the tape (plain electrical tape, at the moment) resolved a lot of issues.

I bought an original Sintech adapter from their website, but the reboot issue still persists. Any idea?
Thanks.

Tomorrow I'll try to put the same SSD in a client's MBA 2014 and see if it works.

 

[ironever]

I installed a Samsung 960 Evo on my brother's MBP 13 Late 2013 and I got it working. At the moment the only downside is the reboot issue. The machine is working very fast and the tape (plain electrical tape, at the moment) resolved a lot of issues.

I bought an original Sintech adapter from their website, but the reboot issue still persists. Any idea?
Thanks.

Tomorrow I'll try to put the same SSD in a client's MBA 2014 and see if it works.

[apologize for my poor english]

I tried different tape layers/thickness on my mba 2017, and all issues are resolved.
[doublepost=1514552302][/doublepost]

View attachment 743990 Just installed Samsung 960 Pro 500, Macbook Pro 13" early 2015 I7 3.1 with Sintech latest. So far so good. Crossing fingers. Used CCC to copy latest OS to USB drive and then back to SSD. Only scary thing is it takes longer to boot.

have you clear smc?