They don't support SATA. Maybe Apple disabled it in firmware, os, or both?
It is up to you if you want to try using a SATA drive.
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Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
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It is up to you if you want to try using a SATA drive.
Someone said that their Macbook accepts bootrom updates? My Early 2015 doesn’t. I just installed the new security update and my bootrom is still 188.0.0.0.0. The lastest version for my machine is 189.0.0.0.0.
How come some macbooks update the bootrom with a third party nvme?
How come some macbooks update the bootrom with a third party nvme?
Oh interesting, I've not considered that. For some (unclear) reason I assumed that a security update would just update the boot ROM.
(Sorry, I don't have anything of substance to say in response to your question.)
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My understanding is that it will update the bootrom ONLY IF you are using the OEM Apple drive. Not being able to update the bootrom is one downside to using third party NVME drives.
When the latest Aura drives from OWC were released last year, it was advertised they could update the bootrom but ppl said they couldn’t when they tried. Was there ever a fix for that or is this still not possible on anything but the OEM Apple drives?
Thanks for clarifying this. What are the implications of not being able to update the boot ROM while installing a security update or a new OSX version? Is anything likely to break? (I am thinking of a hypothetical scenario where some new kernel feature would have a dependency on a new boot ROM feature and wouldn't be able to function without — is that possible? likely?)
Last time there was a bootrom update, I had to 1. Open up the machine, 2. Take out the Adata nvme, 3. install the original Apple SSD 4. Put all screws back and close it, 5. Do the update, 6. Open machine up again, 7. install the Adata nvme again, and 8. put in all the screws and close the bottom plate.
I guess I have to do it again now...
It’s just so time consuming
but then again... do I really need that bootrom update? I don’t even know what it fixes. I guess it’s just my OCD that wants the latest bootromI've not even considered that I might need the original SSD, and have sold mine long time ago... terrible mistake?
I’m not entirely sure of the implications but I would think the fact that the NVME upgrade can only be done on older machines is to our advantage. As in they’re not gonna be doing anything major with firmware on older machines. At worst I would imagine it would get to where it wouldn’t let you update macOS past a certain point if you’re lacking the necessary bootrom update.
No problem but keep in mind I’m no expert on this.
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Last time there was a bootrom update, I had to 1. Open up the machine, 2. Take out the Adata nvme, 3. install the original Apple SSD 4. Put all screws back and close it, 5. Do the update, 6. Open machine up again, 7. install the Adata nvme again, and 8. put in all the screws and close the bottom plate.
I guess I have to do it again now...
It’s just so time consuming
This brings me to a question I have. If you have your old drive in OWC’s Envoy Pro SSD Enclosure can you update the bootrom by booting from that and updating your system or will it only work with the OEM drive installed internally?
And on a related note, does Sintech or any other company make a an adapter that’s the reverse of the ones discussed in this thread? So it would allow you to install an Apple OEM SSD to a normal M.2 connector. Just curious if there’s a cheaper way than the Envoy Pro enclosure to make an external drive out of your OEM SSD.
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I used exactly such an adapter (made by Sintech) when I was upgrading to an NVMe SSD. At one stage of the upgrade process I had the new drive installed in the MBP and the original drive installed in an external USB enclosure.
edit: Sintech part number for my laptop was PA-2013-USB3380C:
2013-2014 Macbook A1465 1466 A1398 A1502 SSD USB 3.0 External Ca [PA-2013-USB3380C] - $79.99 : Sintech Eshop!, The World of PC Adapter Card
Sintech Eshop! 2013-2014 Macbook A1465 1466 A1398 A1502 SSD USB 3.0 External Ca [PA-2013-USB3380C] -
eshop.sintech.cn
However, looking at the pricing I now realise that it isn't that much cheaper than Envoy Pro (which I've not come across until just now).
P.S. I don't know what happens to boot ROM updates with OEM SSD in an external enclosure.
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My early 2015 Air accepts bootrom updates using an HP ex900. This started happening with Mojave iirc. It is now running 192.0.0.0.0.
Lucky
I wonder why though? I’m also on Mojave but no bootrom updates for me[automerge]1580417186[/automerge]
What is your preferred method? I followed the guide on tonymac, which explains how to do it with kextbeast and hackintool. None of them work. I get an error message “untrusted kexts are not allowed”
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I guess the real question for me is: has anyone experience brokenness while updating OSX and had reasons to think the brokenness was due to having a third-party NVMe drive in the system?
(Let's exclude boot ROM not updating but not breaking anything either.)
(Let's exclude boot ROM not updating but not breaking anything either.)
Are you talking about the NVMEFIX kext? I'm not sure that the bootrom updating necessarily has to do with that. It appears to update for certain people without any "extra" help.
Hi All,
It's nice to found this thread, helped me through SSD Upgrade process.
I am using rMBP 13" (MBP11,1), and pair it with Long Sintech (it came with black tape on the pins) and Adata SX8200 Pro 512GB. I am using the original screw attached to the long adapter, and tape the Adata SSD to it surrounding (with heat dissipation in mind, only placing tapes on the pad, not on any chip) because using the screw that come with the Sintech will make the NVME drive bend. I will try to avoid bend, even a slight one.
Installed High Sierra and performed Security Update 2020-001 for High Sierra. The EFI upgraded from MBP111.88Z.0138.B14.1501071216 into MBP111.88Z.0146.B00.1804111138 (after installing High Sierra) and finally 158.0.0.0.0 after the security update.
During inital boot, I was having 10-15 second delay, and just recently did PRAM reset [Pressing (Cmd + Alt + P + R) while starting the Mac until you hear chime sound] and the delay seems to be reduced into somewhere 5 second. The icon shown in boot menu are orange color instead of the nice-looking grey hard-disk. Not quite sure if EFI still recognize it as external drive and if it was, I'm still wondering on how to get it changed - probably can reduce the boot delay further.
Hibernation is not my concern at the moment, as I am running 2 different system (3 partition, with exFAT as a partition to hold DATA for both MacOS and Windows) and trying to avoid any file being locked by application while in hibernation.
Beside High Sierra, I also installed Windows, and the BootCamp control panel is not accessible as it should be when I am using the original SSD from Apple. There's a workaround to run below from elevated Command Prompt:
C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /trustlevel:0x20000 AppleControlPanel.exe
Apple Bootcamp in Windows unable to perform "Restart on OS X" from the control panel. It will only prompt "Could not locate the OS X boot volume". It is booting to Windows by default. It's not a big deal, as I am using Windows as my main system, and switching to High Sierra is as easy as pressing Option key while booting.
It's nice to found this thread, helped me through SSD Upgrade process.
I am using rMBP 13" (MBP11,1), and pair it with Long Sintech (it came with black tape on the pins) and Adata SX8200 Pro 512GB. I am using the original screw attached to the long adapter, and tape the Adata SSD to it surrounding (with heat dissipation in mind, only placing tapes on the pad, not on any chip) because using the screw that come with the Sintech will make the NVME drive bend. I will try to avoid bend, even a slight one.
Installed High Sierra and performed Security Update 2020-001 for High Sierra. The EFI upgraded from MBP111.88Z.0138.B14.1501071216 into MBP111.88Z.0146.B00.1804111138 (after installing High Sierra) and finally 158.0.0.0.0 after the security update.
During inital boot, I was having 10-15 second delay, and just recently did PRAM reset [Pressing (Cmd + Alt + P + R) while starting the Mac until you hear chime sound] and the delay seems to be reduced into somewhere 5 second. The icon shown in boot menu are orange color instead of the nice-looking grey hard-disk. Not quite sure if EFI still recognize it as external drive and if it was, I'm still wondering on how to get it changed - probably can reduce the boot delay further.
Hibernation is not my concern at the moment, as I am running 2 different system (3 partition, with exFAT as a partition to hold DATA for both MacOS and Windows) and trying to avoid any file being locked by application while in hibernation.
Beside High Sierra, I also installed Windows, and the BootCamp control panel is not accessible as it should be when I am using the original SSD from Apple. There's a workaround to run below from elevated Command Prompt:
C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /trustlevel:0x20000 AppleControlPanel.exe
Apple Bootcamp in Windows unable to perform "Restart on OS X" from the control panel. It will only prompt "Could not locate the OS X boot volume". It is booting to Windows by default. It's not a big deal, as I am using Windows as my main system, and switching to High Sierra is as easy as pressing Option key while booting.
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Yes, that was a separate question from the bootrom thing. I can’t get the NVMEfix kext to work. The kexts don’t load. Do you know how to fix it?
So I thought I'd start by installing the latest Mojave security update. However, it looks like OSX no longer supports HFS:
This is turning into a bit more of a project than I originally anticipated.
Any pitfalls in converting HFS to APFS using Disk Utility (in recovery mode), especially around the use of NVMe drives and custom boot ROMs?
This is turning into a bit more of a project than I originally anticipated.
Any pitfalls in converting HFS to APFS using Disk Utility (in recovery mode), especially around the use of NVMe drives and custom boot ROMs?
I have two 13" early 2015 MacBook Airs and both of them take bootrom updates since Mojave with a nvme drive (ex900, Intel 600p). Others have reported the same thing.Lucky
for users who flash the bios and have issues on win 10, for example, blue screen when disconnecting power, please try change the PCI settings in power optionsSo i haven't found anything particulary useful about my situation regarding Windows 10 on a 2014 rmbp w upgraded ssd from a 2015 rmbp (SSUBX). If you are having problems installing/running Windows 7/8/10 (any build) then know that you are not alone.
To be a little more exact:
I have a 2014 13" retina macbook pro - it came with SDNEP (Marvell controller, 2x pciex) 128GB drive.
I dont want to mess with firmware (i use the sleep feature constatly) so i've chosen to upgrade to a genuine Apple ssd - Samsung SSUBX 512GB. Everything went well, macos cloned just fine, speeds were as i'we expected...
...Until one day i've decided to install Windows 10 via BootCamp Assistant - little did i know what a sh*tstorm i've released upon to myself.
First Try: Create USB Windows installer via Bootcamp assistant, boot from created usb drive -> Windows installer fails to start. (tried all builds from 150X - 1909, earlier builds tend to go further in the install process)
Second attempt: Same "bootcamping" as before but i've removed the ssd (the upgraded one) - whoilá the Windows installer starts perfectly but 'course there's nowhere to be installed - i think i got this "" idea from an apple support thread.
Third attempt: ok i realized that this problem has to do something w windows drivers, so i downloaded bootcamp drivers for 2015 rmbp - this gave some progress - i can install windows but after the installer reboots for the first time it stuck on "Setting up services/devices or Please wait w circle animation"
Fourth attempt: Try install windows2go on a pc box - it ran fine on my rmbp w installed ssubx until it didn't. - "Please wait" on windows start screen.
Fifth attempt: Installed windows on an external usb ssd w a neat trick involving using virtualbox for starting the windows install but cut it before the first reboot on install. - This also works - for some time, same as before.
So beware that if you try to install an ssd from a 2015 machine in a 2013-2014 macbook pro it could "cripple" your machine somewhat. (running windows natively)
I’m using intel 760p 512G perfectly after change that
Given that I have a third party drive in MacBook Pro Retina 2015 and MacBook Air 2015, is it desirable for the boot rom to update? What are the effects of updating it vs not updating it as I install the latest MacOS update and security patches (for Mojave, Catalina, and High Sierra)?
Apple doesn't document what it puts in BootROM updates, but people have speculated that they contain microcode updates for the Intel CPUs to patch them against the Meltdown / Spectre exploits.
BTW, I regularly update my machines (2013-2015 rMBPs) by using an old 256 GB Samsung SM951 AHCI SSD hooked into a standard Sintech adapter. It's functionally closest to the original OEM Apple SSDs which also were AHCI and made by Samsung. I just either run the latest combo update on an installed Mojave system or run the Security Update 2020-001.
If you can find them for cheap (My Digital Discount -used- to sell them, RAMCity in Australia had but ran out of stock, have seen used on eBay from $59 to 160..)
BTW, I regularly update my machines (2013-2015 rMBPs) by using an old 256 GB Samsung SM951 AHCI SSD hooked into a standard Sintech adapter. It's functionally closest to the original OEM Apple SSDs which also were AHCI and made by Samsung. I just either run the latest combo update on an installed Mojave system or run the Security Update 2020-001.
If you can find them for cheap (My Digital Discount -used- to sell them, RAMCity in Australia had but ran out of stock, have seen used on eBay from $59 to 160..)