Have decided to buy the XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB. Can those who have it installed in their mac let me know if everything's running smoothly without problems?
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Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
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@otosan, @Cmd+Q and others do we have any reports of the bootrom only upgrade bricking MBP mid-2014 13" (11,1) devices?
I'm referring to the following two procedures in this thread (which I assume are similar)
#7,639 - Cmd+Q post
#7,760 - otosan post
I guess bootrom upgrades can never be 100% safe, but I wanted to check if there are any known issues before I do the upgrade.
I will be passing on this machine to a non tech savvy family member who lives in a different country, so I can't really be troubleshooting or fixing issues later. Just hoping to fix hibernation and leaving the machine on Catalina.
OS version: 10.15.7
Bootrom version: 162.0.0.0.0
Thanks!
I'm referring to the following two procedures in this thread (which I assume are similar)
#7,639 - Cmd+Q post
#7,760 - otosan post
I guess bootrom upgrades can never be 100% safe, but I wanted to check if there are any known issues before I do the upgrade.
I will be passing on this machine to a non tech savvy family member who lives in a different country, so I can't really be troubleshooting or fixing issues later. Just hoping to fix hibernation and leaving the machine on Catalina.
OS version: 10.15.7
Bootrom version: 162.0.0.0.0
Thanks!
Hi, sssd silicon power a80 with MacBook Pro 2015 13” works perfect ??
@danrooster
Just plug in the original drive back into the MBP. Install Big Sur (maybe from thumb drive) that the bootrom gets updated. Replace the original drive with the new one plus adapter, and install Big Sur again (like before). This I did with my MBP (15" mid 2014, 1TB Sabrent and short Sintech) and everything runs like butter.
Just plug in the original drive back into the MBP. Install Big Sur (maybe from thumb drive) that the bootrom gets updated. Replace the original drive with the new one plus adapter, and install Big Sur again (like before). This I did with my MBP (15" mid 2014, 1TB Sabrent and short Sintech) and everything runs like butter.
Only for information:
Trancesnd comunicate me:
If buy a original Transcend 820 ( that is AHCI) there should be no hibernate & power issues with macs before 2015;
Audit13 denied this theory with a test he did.
" Hi Mr. ******, Thank you for contacting us. As you described, the JDM820 is AHCI and not NVMe, so the problem you described should not arise. However, it may be true with our JDM850 models, as described in the following FAQ: https://www.transcend-info.com/Support/FAQ-1196 If you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Best regards, "
Trancesnd comunicate me:
If buy a original Transcend 820 ( that is AHCI) there should be no hibernate & power issues with macs before 2015;
Audit13 denied this theory with a test he did.
Original email from transcend 820:
" Hi Mr. ******, Thank you for contacting us. As you described, the JDM820 is AHCI and not NVMe, so the problem you described should not arise. However, it may be true with our JDM850 models, as described in the following FAQ: https://www.transcend-info.com/Support/FAQ-1196 If you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Best regards, "@Huberer
The problem is the Big Sur update is blocked on 13" 2013-2014 MBP due to bricking issues, so it won't run the upgrade, even from USB (I've tried) - https://mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-11-0-1-20b50-released-to-block-install-for-2013-14-13-mbpros/
What I'm wondering is if the bricking issue (which I believe is due to the bootrom getting corrupted during update) is caused by a problem in the main installer or if it could it also happen by running the bootrom only update described in
#7,639 - Cmd+Q post
#7,760 - otosan post
If I was patient I would just wait until Apple fixes the update (if they do), but I'm not, so I'm looking for alternatives. I also don't want to bypass the Big Sur update block if there is a risk of bricking my device. So only updating the bootrom would be the best solution if the risk is minimal.
The problem is the Big Sur update is blocked on 13" 2013-2014 MBP due to bricking issues, so it won't run the upgrade, even from USB (I've tried) - https://mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-11-0-1-20b50-released-to-block-install-for-2013-14-13-mbpros/
What I'm wondering is if the bricking issue (which I believe is due to the bootrom getting corrupted during update) is caused by a problem in the main installer or if it could it also happen by running the bootrom only update described in
#7,639 - Cmd+Q post
#7,760 - otosan post
If I was patient I would just wait until Apple fixes the update (if they do), but I'm not, so I'm looking for alternatives. I also don't want to bypass the Big Sur update block if there is a risk of bricking my device. So only updating the bootrom would be the best solution if the risk is minimal.
Maybe that’s the solution, but I don’t want to have it permanently disabled :/ Anyway I’m selling my SX8200 pro and going for the Sabrent. I hope that will give me better battery life, even without nvmefix.
OWC also originally claimed that their SSDs would not have hibernation issues, but later he recognized that the OWC's SSDs also suffered from hibernation issues described in macs 2013-2014.
Silicon Power A80 went under my radar when I was googling this gigantic thread (as I recall it was not mentioned in OP). In retrospect, A80 seems to be a better drive in most aspects over a few others except the price. For example, the past Black Friday, $90 for WD SN550 1TB vs $115 for SP A80 1TB. I would still have gone with SN550 for 2015 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The first post provides overwhelming info. The maintainer(s) are doing a terrific job in providing consistent test data. If you have to pick only one data to prioritise your purchase for MacBook's, look at the "av. Power" column. Any drives between 0.9W-1.1W should be among a good pick. Below 0.9W, good luck on sourcing the models.
Skimming through some of the discussions in this thread, I found the idle power issue is over exaggerated out of proportion. For example, the better drives in this aspect usually achieve ~0.18A idle current. The lesser drives in this aspect, e.g. WD SN550 idles at 0.26A. To put it in perspective, leave your MacBook actively idle or even sleeping, SN550 will cause at most only less than an extra 4% battery drain over a period of 10 hours.
For the 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro only, I'll probably go for A80. For any other MacBook's between 2013-2015, start from one between the 0.9W-1.1W range, value buyers will find sweet spots there and actually better fit for MacBook's than more expensive drives.
I heard that bigSur natively includes APTS management and active power state management; so you wouldn't even need the kext. Damn apple drivers
I, for my part, would advise you, if you have the possibility to try with the possibility of returning an AHCI pcie as indicated by transcend.
I'm still hesitating for that exact reason. I assumed that there was a problem with the firmware (rather than the OS), because people seemed to report that not only their machines wouldn't boot but also that the internet recovery failed. However, I'm not a developer, it's just a guess.
EDIT: Hm, what's interesting: According to some users in the comment section at mrmacintosh disconnecting the battery fixes the problem…
Fingers crossed that Apple is working on that matter, but I'm afraid they might as well decide to drop support for the MBP 11,1
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But it may possible that the PCIE AHCI SSDs work with the same protocol as the stocks
BigSur does not natively include APST/Active PM. Idle power consumption is improved (in my testing), but it's definitely not based on the NVMe standards for APST.
Just wanna quickly chime in here. I got the Crucial P1 500 GB CT500P1SSD8 with the JSER CY 12+16pin adapter (found here) on my early 2014 Macbook air. Up until today I was having issues with fast resume, where when I had the default settings:
my laptop would reboot twice upon trying to wake from sleep no matter what. My solution was to set both standby and hibernatemode to 0, but as a result have terrible battery life (aging battery + battery drain from the laptop not hibernating at all. Hibernatemode 25 didn't help either)
Today, I upgraded to bigsur and restored the default settings and left the laptop with the lid closed for 15 minutes. When I opened it back up, it fast resumed back to the lock screen without rebooting, without any battery drain (I need to test a bit more to see how much battery drain there is, if any, while the laptop sleeps).
Will post another comment in this thread later during the week.
| pmset -g | grep standby | 1 |
| pmset -g | grep hibernatemode | 3 |
my laptop would reboot twice upon trying to wake from sleep no matter what. My solution was to set both standby and hibernatemode to 0, but as a result have terrible battery life (aging battery + battery drain from the laptop not hibernating at all. Hibernatemode 25 didn't help either)
Today, I upgraded to bigsur and restored the default settings and left the laptop with the lid closed for 15 minutes. When I opened it back up, it fast resumed back to the lock screen without rebooting, without any battery drain (I need to test a bit more to see how much battery drain there is, if any, while the laptop sleeps).
Will post another comment in this thread later during the week.
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I've had it for a couple months now. NO issues.
For me it worked to just disable the kext signing of SIP (which is better than nothing I guess) by using:
csrutil enable --without kext
in recovery mode. NVMeFix has been running fine on this for a couple of days.
Main concern about transcend Jetdrive is that :
1. Its expensive
2. Performance is not great
if you dont mind spending a lot more for something that perform a lot less, then i guess there's no problem.
I just updated one of my customers MBP 11,1 to BigSur 427 BootRom, but i keep the OS stay on 10.15.7 and everything is fine. Sleep and hibernate works too.I'm still hesitating for that exact reason. I assumed that there was a problem with the firmware (rather than the OS), because people seemed to report that not only their machines wouldn't boot but also that the internet recovery failed. However, I'm not a developer, it's just a guess.
EDIT: Hm, what's interesting: According to some users in the comment section at mrmacintosh disconnecting the battery fixes the problem…
Fingers crossed that Apple is working on that matter, but I'm afraid they might as well decide to drop support for the MBP 11,1
So i dont think the bricking issue is actually coming from the BootRom update process (might be due to the whole BigSur installation process itself). But again, dont hold me responsible for anything that might happen if you decide to try it on your MBP. lol
Hi, could you please explain in detail how you attached the SOIC Clip to the EFI chip and maybe how the chip exactly looks like. Any other advices to avoid risks and screwing up my motherboard are very welcome. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 13" Late 2013. I find it ridiculous to pay more than 50 bucks for the J6100 adapter so I hope to get the update done only with a SOIC Clip.
I found this SOIC8 SOP8 Clip on Amazon Germany:
KeeYees S018 SOP8 Test Clip for EEPR0M 25CXX / 24CXX + CH341A 24 25 Series EEPR0M Flash BIOS USB Programmer
Tips: Some chips are affected by peripherals, they cannot be cut off directly. Please check the position of the chip on the motherboard before purchasing. Note on test clip 1. Some motherboards can connect the chip directly, but some chips will be affected by the peripheral circuits and cannot be...
www.amazon.de
Do you think this will do it with my MacBook? One of the reviewer says that he made it work but he didn't say if he used this clip only or in combination with a J6100 adapter.
Honestly, I am little afraid to screw things up on my motherboard when playing around with the clip and clamping it on a chip.
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Thanks for the reply, of course I won't hold anyone else responsible if something goes wrong, after all I'm doing the modification myself to my own device so I'm the only one accountable 😁
Will probably try this in a few days and report back with the results.
Why don't you apply the "patch" for the BootRom as described by @otosan in post 7760 instead?Hi, could you please explain in detail how you attached the SOIC Clip to the EFI chip and maybe how the chip exactly looks like. Any other advices to avoid risks and screwing up my motherboard are very welcome. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 13" Late 2013. I find it ridiculous to pay more than 50 bucks for the J6100 adapter so I hope to get the update done only with a SOIC Clip.
I found this SOIC8 SOP8 Clip on Amazon Germany:
KeeYees S018 SOP8 Test Clip for EEPR0M 25CXX / 24CXX + CH341A 24 25 Series EEPR0M Flash BIOS USB Programmer
Tips: Some chips are affected by peripherals, they cannot be cut off directly. Please check the position of the chip on the motherboard before purchasing. Note on test clip 1. Some motherboards can connect the chip directly, but some chips will be affected by the peripheral circuits and cannot be...www.amazon.de
Do you think this will do it with my MacBook? One of the reviewer says that he made it work but he didn't say if he used this clip only or in combination with a J6100 adapter.
Honestly, I am little afraid to screw things up on my motherboard when playing around with the clip and clamping it on a chip.
The EEPROM flashing process is obsolete (and more dangerous) now that you can use Big Sur's BootRom.
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I know from personal experience that the SOIC-8 clip won’t work on a 13” Pro. The issue is that the EEPROM chip has a different package that does not expose the leads very easily. If you desolder the chip, it can go in an SOIC-8 clip since the pin spacing is the same, but I don’t recommend that.Hi, could you please explain in detail how you attached the SOIC Clip to the EFI chip and maybe how the chip exactly looks like. Any other advices to avoid risks and screwing up my motherboard are very welcome. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 13" Late 2013. I find it ridiculous to pay more than 50 bucks for the J6100 adapter so I hope to get the update done only with a SOIC Clip.
I found this SOIC8 SOP8 Clip on Amazon Germany:
KeeYees S018 SOP8 Test Clip for EEPR0M 25CXX / 24CXX + CH341A 24 25 Series EEPR0M Flash BIOS USB Programmer
Tips: Some chips are affected by peripherals, they cannot be cut off directly. Please check the position of the chip on the motherboard before purchasing. Note on test clip 1. Some motherboards can connect the chip directly, but some chips will be affected by the peripheral circuits and cannot be...www.amazon.de
Do you think this will do it with my MacBook? One of the reviewer says that he made it work but he didn't say if he used this clip only or in combination with a J6100 adapter.
Honestly, I am little afraid to screw things up on my motherboard when playing around with the clip and clamping it on a chip.
Here is my post from when I patched my bootrom; I wound up soldering wires directly to the chip on the board.
Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
Hello all, I've been working on upgrading my mid-2014 13" MacBook Pro (MacBookPro11,1) and thought I should share my success. I'm using a 500GB HP EX900 drive with the short Sintech adapter, which came with tape pre-applied to the NVMe connector. Installing the pair went very simply, with the...
forums.macrumors.com
However, I agree that the best route forward is just applying the Big Sur firmware update. No soldering required!
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Did you do that with the modified installer you posted in this thread or via terminal?
I wonder if apple will release possible future updates for Catalina with the new Bootrom… Does anybody know if that was the case for Mojave after Catalina had been released?