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I would love to hear success stories from MBA. Pls let me know if you run into any ssdpmEnabler issues.

I tested a Crucial P2 on my MacBookAir7,2 and am quite impressed. I like it better than the other two I have tried(XPG SX8200 Pro and Sabrent Rocket).

Setup:
Mojave 10.14.6 (18G8012)
MacBookAir7,2
Intel Core i7 2.2 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 426.0.0.0.0
Crucial P2 1TB + Sintech short adapter
AC Power Adapter connected

iStat indicated the following for idle power draw.
None - 0.10 A
NVMeFix - 0.10 A
SsdPmEnabler - 0.01~0.02 A
NVMeFix + SsdPmEnabler - 0.01~0.02 A

It's a very subtle difference on the graph but it seems to idle better without NVMeFix. I see 0.01 A indication much more often with SsdPmEnabler alone. I wish there was a way to force the mA scale on iStat.
 

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OK, I took the plunge and installed SsdPmEnabler (alone - no NVMefix) and SSD idle power draw dropped by about 61%:

Setup:
Big Sur 11.2.1
MacBookAir12,1
Intel Core i5 2.7 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 426.0.0.0.0
Sabrent Rocket 1TB + Sintec short adapter


iStat indicated the following for idle power draw (while charging).
None - 0.18 A
SsdPmEnabler - 0.07 A

No adverse issues have surfaced generally since installing the Sabrent Rocket, but I see that the power drain is about 4%/hour in suspend mode so I will adjust the PM setting to hibernate earlier (or just turn the dang thing off when I am not using it). Operational battery life does seem to be noticeably improved (e.g. currently at 77% battery - which charges to about 92% of original capacity - and iStat estimates about 7 hours of battery remain).
 
I think you should install ssdpmEnabler for her. An instant reduction of ~40% idle power consumption. While personally I think it's hard to quantify effect on read/write consumption, but from @porg's study a few pages back, if you reduce your idle power consumption, on average you're reducing your read/write power consumption to some extent as well.

Also disabling SIP with kext only on Big Sur doesn't cripple _any_ security measures, unlike some people had been spreading F.U.D. unintentionally or not.
@kvic - Thanks for the additional info, I will plan on installing ssdpmEnabler. Do you recommend also changing the hibernation settings through Terminal so her Mac goes into hibernation mode sooner? Or does ssdpmEnabler kind of do the same thing (I apologize, I am not very technical and not entirely sure on what ssdpmEnabler does to improve the idle power consumption)?
 
UPDATE: Crucial P2 2TB SSD on MacBook Pro 15" (Mid 2014) A1398 with SsdPmEnabler

My first report was about roughly one week of usage. Using it almost a month now:
  • Still same performance, circa: W 1300 / R 1375 MB/sec on currently unencrypted APFS.
  • Still very low wattage, while typical browsing/idle usage, ca. 70-100 mA
  • Temperature ok, on idle/normal use 32-36°C in a room environment of ca 23°C.
  • No crashes or sleep/wake problems so far.

For a short time I have been sh*tting my pants
Because I suddenly started experiencing dGPU rendering glitches, but meanwhile I think this was just a coincidence as I also did a lot of upgrades in the same days surrounding my SSD swap. Can rule out with 99% certainty that this has anything to do with the SSD swap as:
  • The old SSD had the very same temperature range.
  • I have never before opened this MBP. Was very careful. Only touched what was necessary (battery connector, SSD, nothing else). Heatpipe looked very ok. Removed loads of dust by blowing away. So on the contrary the ventilation must have improved a little by this.
  • I even put back the original SSD with the same OS version, just slighly older data state, and the same glitch was reproducible.
  • The issues very strongly seems not be thermal/aging GPU related at all, but very likely a software/driver issue.
Compiled an in depth bug report with graphics, stats and graphs which I filed to Apple. And published it in copy in a standalone thread which I will update with official reactions or other learnings. At the time you read it, it may already be updated with an official Apple reaction or other insights: Rendering glitches only in specific apps Photos and Safari on MBP 15'' (Mid 2014) when dGPU active in macOS 11 Big Sur
 
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No adverse issues have surfaced generally since installing the Sabrent Rocket, but I see that the power drain is about 4%/hour in suspend mode so I will adjust the PM setting to hibernate earlier (or just turn the dang thing off when I am not using it). Operational battery life does seem to be noticeably improved (e.g. currently at 77% battery - which charges to about 92% of original capacity - and iStat estimates about 7 hours of battery remain).

4% per hour indicates something other than SSD not alseep e.g. Bluetooth devices.

I won't be serious about those remaining time estimates. You can try @vince22's method, stream the same youtube video (or playback from local storage) until the battery almost dies. Compare the time difference before and after.

@kvic - Thanks for the additional info, I will plan on installing ssdpmEnabler. Do you recommend also changing the hibernation settings through Terminal so her Mac goes into hibernation mode sooner? Or does ssdpmEnabler kind of do the same thing (I apologize, I am not very technical and not entirely sure on what ssdpmEnabler does to improve the idle power consumption)?

For folks here with Nvme SSDs now almost idle at 0A, I would encourage them to try reverting back pmset settings to factory default. And report back if they achieve around a few % drop overnight just like original Apple SSDs.

For SN550 owners, I would still recommend hibernate early. Otherwise, you'll at best see 2% drop per hour during sleep. You can google my values from my previous posts and my justification of those values. Or you can simply copy others like you suggested. It should just work.

---

To everyone, I'm afraid I won't be responding here as often as in the past week as I have projects to work on. From time to time, I'll drop by for sure~
 
Hello, I just got a crucial P2 and did the CarbonCopyCloner, do the specs look ok? should I have an untitled data volume?
 
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For folks here with Nvme SSDs now almost idle at 0A, I would encourage them to try reverting back pmset settings to factory default. And report back if they achieve around a few % drop overnight just like original Apple SSDs.

In my case, no improvement on default pmset settings.

Typically 7 to 9% loss overnight, with bluetooth on or off, and all applications closed.

I have noticed kexts such as NVMeFix do disable themselves in sleep mode (thus SSD power consumption increases - the controller chip is always warm), so perhaps there is a way to send a proper power-off signal though with another custom kext.
 
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Hi everyone just an update now I am up and running.
MacBook Pro Retina 15" Late 2013 (MacBookPro11,3)
Crucial P2 1TB SSD
Sintech Short Adapter
Mac OSX Mojave
200GB Windows 10 partition (runs natively and with VM Ware Fusion)

Steps:
  • Backed up existing Apple 512GB SSD with Time Machine and Superduper. Used Winclone to backup my 120GB Bootcamp Windows 10 partition. Never used Superduper backup though.
  • Initially running High Sierra with Apple 512GB SSD and extracted BigSur MBP112.scap firmware file as per @Cmd+Q instructions and updated firmware to version 429.0.0.0.0
  • Installed new Crucial P2 1TB SSD, booted up on a Mojave USB drive and formatted the Crucial using APFS file system with Disk Utility
  • Ran a fresh install of Mojave OSX on the Crucial SSD
  • Used Time Machine to copy over my applications and data back to the Crucial 1TB SSD
  • Created a 200GB NTFS partition for Windows 10 with Disk Utility
  • Used Winclone to copy back my Windows 10 installation, apps and data
  • Everything worked well except Windows 10 would not boot up. I could run it using VM Ware Fusion but I was not satisfied with that. I found a good Winclone support article that had some suggestions on fixing this. In the end it was dead simple: boot up from a Windows 10 USB drive. Check the SSD partition is viewable. Reboot into Windows 10 native and it came up! Windows 10 did some minor reconfiguration at boot up
Overall it went quite smoothly, took some time of course but now I’m really happy with everything. Mojave is running fine, SSD is 2x as fast as the old Apple SSD and power/battery consumption seems good.

Happy to share more details if anyone is interested.

Thanks to you all for sharing all the information you have, it made this upgrade simple and very worthwhile.
 
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For folks here with Nvme SSDs now almost idle at 0A, I would encourage them to try reverting back pmset settings to factory default. And report back if they achieve around a few % drop overnight just like original Apple SSDs.
I was actually going to test this, but it appears that since I've been on 11.3 beta, there is some regression (probably in NVMeFix) as I am no longer seeing the near 0A idle anymore, but the 0.1A idle as if just SsdPmEnabler is installed, however both are still installed on my system (11,3 with SX8200 Pro 2TB). I'll continue to investigate.
 
I was actually going to test this, but it appears that since I've been on 11.3 beta, there is some regression (probably in NVMeFix) as I am no longer seeing the near 0A idle anymore, but the 0.1A idle as if just SsdPmEnabler is installed, however both are still installed on my system (11,3 with SX8200 Pro 2TB). I'll continue to investigate.
How long have you had the ADATA and how's it working for you? I was wondering if installing these other kexts would help my Air at all with my ADATA..
 
"NVMe drives with 4K sector size (ex. : Sabrent Rocket) do work natively with macOS 10.12, of course you need to have your BootRom up to date before installation"

Can someone please elaborate on this? I have a Mid 2014 MBP using 10.12.6 (Sierra) and I do not wish to upgrade to High Sierra 10.13 because it gets rid of support for 32bit Applications like Final Cut Pro 7 which I still use to edit old projects on. What NVMe drive is best for me and how do I make sure my BootRom is updated?

Thank you.
 
Hi, I buy a WD Blue SN550 1TB to my MacBook Air 13" Early 2015, I haven't installed it yet, how do I update the firmware?
 
"NVMe drives with 4K sector size (ex. : Sabrent Rocket) do work natively with macOS 10.12, of course you need to have your BootRom up to date before installation"

Can someone please elaborate on this? I have a Mid 2014 MBP using 10.12.6 (Sierra) and I do not wish to upgrade to High Sierra 10.13 because it gets rid of support for 32bit Applications like Final Cut Pro 7 which I still use to edit old projects on. What NVMe drive is best for me and how do I make sure my BootRom is updated?

Thank you.
There is 32 bit support up through Mojave, so no reason for you to stay back on Sierra. 32 bit support is lost beginning with Catalina. I suggest you update to High Sierra, then Mojave, save a clone of your Mojave OS on a good external drive via Carbon Copy Cloner. (download and install on your Mojave OS) Then update your OS to Catalina, then Big Sur to get all the firmware updates. Install your new NMVe (Crucial P2 is looking the best right now), connect your external drive, format the new NMVe, use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy your Mojave OS and all your data to the new NMVe. For added safety you can save a clone of your original Sierra OS on another external drive with Carbon Copy Cloner. I use CCC all the time I think it is a bargain for all it does and how well it is supported. Since you can install multiple OS on the laptop I have Big Sur as my main OS but I also have another volume with Mojave just to be able to run 32 bit programs like Adobe CS5.5, which still works great. With a large capacity NMVe there is plenty of space to do this and still have room for plenty for data. Make sure you format your new drive for APFS and create volumes for each OS instead of partitions. With APFS the volumes expand as needed also the entire drive space is used efficiently. Drive storage is so cheap these days there is no reason not to have external backups, as many as you want.
 
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Hello everyone,

I've been using a samsung 960 pro 500gb for 2 years in my 13" MacBook pro from mid 2014. I've always just had the hibernation and sleep disabled. However I read that there is some sort of patch in big sur that allows the drives to work now.

Alas, there is not a difference and you still get sleep/wake issues. However I was intrigued by the SSDPmEnabler mentioned above. I installed it and was not able to get past halfway on the boot up. Is there a step I'm missing?
 
Hello everyone,

I've been using a samsung 960 pro 500gb for 2 years in my 13" MacBook pro from mid 2014. I've always just had the hibernation and sleep disabled. However I read that there is some sort of patch in big sur that allows the drives to work now.

Alas, there is not a difference and you still get sleep/wake issues. However I was intrigued by the SSDPmEnabler mentioned above. I installed it and was not able to get past halfway on the boot up. Is there a step I'm missing?
The SsdPmEnabler kext doesn't work on 13" MacBook Pro mid 2014.
 
There is 32 bit support up through Mojave, so no reason for you to stay back on Sierra. 32 bit support is lost beginning with Catalina. I suggest you update to High Sierra, then Mojave, save a clone of your Mojave OS on a good external drive via Carbon Copy Cloner. (download and install on your Mojave OS) Then update your OS to Catalina, then Big Sur to get all the firmware updates. Install your new NMVe (Crucial P2 is looking the best right now), connect your external drive, format the new NMVe, use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy your Mojave OS and all your data to the new NMVe. For added safety you can save a clone of your original Sierra OS on another external drive with Carbon Copy Cloner. I use CCC all the time I think it is a bargain for all it does and how well it is supported. Since you can install multiple OS on the laptop I have Big Sur as my main OS but I also have another volume with Mojave just to be able to run 32 bit programs like Adobe CS5.5, which still works great. With a large capacity NMVe there is plenty of space to do this and still have room for plenty for data. Make sure you format your new drive for APFS and create volumes for each OS instead of partitions. With APFS the volumes expand as needed also the entire drive space is used efficiently. Drive storage is so cheap these days there is no reason not to have external backups, as many as you want.
Wow that's a lot, but it seems that you have broken it down for me quite well. I could have sworn that High Sierra was where I had issues. I guess not! I've never used Carbon Copy Cloner so I guess I will have to use that... Am I saving the OS as an application file or am I making the external a bootable drive?

And multiple OS on a laptop? Whaaaaaat? So I can have Mojave on 1 volume and Big Sur on another volume without the need to partition when I format the drive? I would need to learn how to do that as well. Thank you!
 
A quick couple of questions:

1) What is the preferred back-up/restore method for a MBA 13" 2015 model running Mojave? CCC or Time Machine? It has the Sintech (short)/WD SN550 1TB combination.

2) As my second machine, I have an (almost) antique 2010 White polycarbonate running Mojave via Dosdude's Mpjave Patcher. What is the preferred back-up/restore method for that old box? (It's quite lovely running with 16 GB RAM and a 500 GB Crucial MX500 SSD).

I like to keep the two Lappies synchronised ... the 2010 is a back-up machine to the MBA and I use it (in non-Corona times) for trips.

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi, I buy a WD Blue SN550 1TB to my MacBook Air 13" Early 2015, I haven't installed it yet, how do I update the firmware?
I'm using the the same SSD. I bought it approx. 4-6 weeks ago, FW is 211070WD. It works fine, with the "old" FW. Upgrade is currently only possible under Windows, no SW available from WD for upgrade under MacOS. Hence best is to first upgrade the SSD FW under a windows system and then install it in your MAC and afterwards install MacOS. As far as I remember also one user could upgrade the FW with running bootcamp / Windows 10 on a MacBook.

 
Wow that's a lot, but it seems that you have broken it down for me quite well. I could have sworn that High Sierra was where I had issues. I guess not! I've never used Carbon Copy Cloner so I guess I will have to use that... Am I saving the OS as an application file or am I making the external a bootable drive?

And multiple OS on a laptop? Whaaaaaat? So I can have Mojave on 1 volume and Big Sur on another volume without the need to partition when I format the drive? I would need to learn how to do that as well. Thank you!
Here is one writeup on adding and deleting volumes on APFS. I use the volume + and minus at the top of Disk Utility but as usual there are multiple ways to accomplish things: https://www.imore.com/how-add-volume-apfs-container-and-why-you-would-want

You can format an external drive as APFS as well, even spinner drives. Then add volumes for each CC cloner backup you want to save. That way you have multiple bootable backups on the same external drive. Once you have the backup you can hold down the option key while you boot to boot from any of the external drives. Handy for restoring to your laptop volumes or formatting your laptop drive. Being able to boot from multiple OS is a long standing feature of Macs. I got used to using it on my classic Mac Pros where there are multiple HD bays. Nowadays with such large capacity drives available for laptops it is easy to do the same on a laptop, especially with APFS allowing the flexible use of space. Always have backups that are kept physically disconnected except when you are using them. That way you have nothing to fear from ransomware or simple hardware/software malfunctions.
 
On our MBP12,1 + SN550 + latest Catalina, cold boot is about 35s. Resume from hibernation is _instant_.

I never thought 35s cold boot time is long as I didn't know what's the original with Apple SSD. And I actually always recommend people to hibernate instead of cold boot.

Interesting to hear the issue on FileVault. I'm afraid I've no first hand experience.



Original AppleSSD in these older Mac's aren't as good as latest NVMe SSDs. 2017 MBA might be slightly better than older variants (or maybe not). While Apple did a good job with idle power consumption, read/write power consumption is mostly dictated by underlying NAND technology. So I won't be surprised if SN500 actually perform better if when she works she is really working i.e. with virtually non-stop disk activities.

I think you should install ssdpmEnabler for her. An instant reduction of ~40% idle power consumption. While personally I think it's hard to quantify effect on read/write consumption, but from @porg's study a few pages back, if you reduce your idle power consumption, on average you're reducing your read/write power consumption to some extent as well.

Also disabling SIP with kext only on Big Sur doesn't cripple _any_ security measures, unlike some people had been spreading F.U.D. unintentionally or not.



I'm afraid I don't have first hand experience on P2. What I read the recovery time for SLC cache is about 60s on P2. Its worst write speed and endurance are not as good as SN550. But practically I won't worry much as the power consumption matters much more to most people on laptops.

I think you missed the 'sudo' like below:

Bash:
sudo nvram boot-args="keepsyms=1"
What pmset parameters are you using for SN550? Also have the 1TB model in a 2015 13" MBP and ssdpmEnabler and NVMEFix are installed which decreased power draw significantly and improved responsiveness in general but I still see bad drain when lid is closed.
 
I'm using the the same SSD. I bought it approx. 4-6 weeks ago, FW is 211070WD. It works fine, with the "old" FW. Upgrade is currently only possible under Windows, no SW available from WD for upgrade under MacOS. Hence best is to first upgrade the SSD FW under a windows system and then install it in your MAC and afterwards install MacOS. As far as I remember also one user could upgrade the FW with running bootcamp / Windows 10 on a MacBook.
Thanks, I will mount it on the MacBook air and install mac os, then I will bootcamp and update the ssd, I don't have another computer to do it before installing Mac os.
 
What pmset parameters are you using for SN550? Also have the 1TB model in a 2015 13" MBP and ssdpmEnabler and NVMEFix are installed which decreased power draw significantly and improved responsiveness in general but I still see bad drain when lid is closed.
My pmset parameters (WD SN550, 1TB) are as follows:
standbydelayhigh 3600
standbydelaylow 3600
hibernatemode 25
highstandbythreshold 50
But this is my individual preference, others might have different settings / preferences. Battery drain is approx. 2% over night.
 
Hi all. I've registered an account here to thank everyone for all their work and ask a question or two.

I've got a late 2013 13 inch MBP Retina, 11,1 and I have purchased:

Sabrent 512GB ROCKET NVMe PCIe M.2 2280

Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter (short as linked in the first post)

I am aware of the overall process - update to latest big sur (which should get me on latest boot rom), create macos installer stick, change out drive, boot from USB, format, install.

I wanted to ask if, with this combination, I should add any kexts afterwards? Or will this combination be reasonably power efficient and hibernate without issue?

Also, should I wish to bootcamp with Windows 10, will I hit any other problems in Windows with this drive other than the potential crash on install as detailed in the first post, which I am comfortable using the workaround for?

Many thanks for any advice in advance.
 
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