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

[allenhuang]

Hi guys,

I tried to perform an upgrade from 10.13.5 to 10.13.6 and somehow it failed. My MacBook Air is a mid-2013 one without SPI ROM mod. I’m not sure if this is related to NVME SSD? The model is ADATA SX7000.

The problem was the installation process stopped, prompting “some files cannot be moved to...” blah blah (I can’t really remember lol), and there’s only a “restart” button. I hit the button and my MacBook Air fell into some sort of limbo.

I could make it to the safe mode but couldn’t fire up any apps except the activity monitor. ReportCrash was busy, hogging 100% CPU usage. I even try single user mode with fsck -fy failed to repair the file system. It only spit out “error 83”, “device error” that sort of messages.

I gave up and grab my Time Machine external disk. When I went into Recovery Mode, I found that there were actually local snapshots available on the corrupted disk, and magically it worked! Recovery to one of the previous snapshot only took 10 seconds and after the reboot, everything works!!


I got to say fsck tools for APFS still suck a lot but local snapshots are truly useful.

 

[cweirup]

I'm hoping someone can help me out with a problem that's happened with my upgrade.

I upgraded my MBP Early 2015 13" laptop with a Samsung EVO 960 and a Sintech adapter (ST-NGFF2013-C, long version). I did wrap the Sintech adapter with kapton tape. That seems to be a relatively standard approach. The upgrade went fine, although it took a little wrangling to get the drive to switch to AFPS. However I'm now experiencing random reboots. None of the reboots happen when I'm using the MBP, only after it has been sitting unused. It generally happens after about a week, although sometimes sooner, sometimes later (it just happened 2 days in a row). I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong. It doesn't seem like a kernel panic, as the machine is rebooted, but it is then somewhat unstable until I do a manual reboot (VPN client doesn't launch, Boxcryptor fails).

How can I determine what's going on, since it never seems to happen when I'm using the computer? I can't find anything in Console.app. What other log file should I be looking at?

Also, I had hibernatemode set to 25, and standby and autopoweroff set to both 1 and 0. None of these seem to have made a difference. I'm trying hibernatemode=3 right now.

Also, when I installed the Sintech adapter, before I inserted the drive and screwed it down, it stuck up at a ~25deg angle. Is that normal?

Apologies if there is an entry that covers this.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[darnel_cz]

That's a good question actually, but no, I tried for fun with a B+M-Key SSD for fun (random Chinese brand) and it wasn't detected in diskutil or anywhere, as expected. As others have noted the adapter is a passive one; no ICs or controllers, just direct pin to pin conversion. If you google around there are M.2 B+M SATA to desktop PCIe adapters such as StarTech's PEX2M2, but those rely on a chip that bridges PCIe to SATA e.g. Asmedia ASM1062, which would be quite hard to say the least to cram into an adapter of this size.

In the screenshot the interconnect is still PCI(e) and x2 width. It shows up in the SATA express section because the drive talks over PCIe but with the AHCI driver. AHCI is a legacy interconnect invented in hard drive times when SATA was the fastest available.

Just for clarification: I have B+M key SSD Lite-On CX1-GB512-D11, with text "PCIe Gen 2 2 lanes AHCI" (https://f.aukro.cz/images/6912486703/730x548/151000000) but despite of this it can never work in MBA 2013 or MBP 2014, because it's not "PCIe enough"?

Thanks

 

[alvindarkness]

I installed a 512GB Intel 760P in my early MacBook Pro 2015 13" yesterday. So far, it has woken from sleep properly, and I get much better performance than I was getting with my TarDisk Pear solution (which really was a huge hassle and a disappointment over several years). I was so pleased to find this thread, because I didn't realize I had the option to upgrade the SSD in my Mac with a new drive.

I used the same adapter as you (I ordered it from Amazon, and even though it said it would be delivered between July 10 and July 31, it showed up before the 10th). I did use the Kapton tape, but I don't know if that was really necessary.

How are you finding the temperatures and battery life since putting the 760p in? Any noticable differences compared to the original Apple SSD?
[doublepost=1531904739][/doublepost]

After upgrading my 2013 MacBook Pro with a 1TB Samsung 960 Pro about three months ago, I switched to a 1TB Intel 760p this weekend. As I saw a couple of references to that SSD in this thread, I was wanting to let you know that the 760p works without issues on my MacBook Pro with macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 and a patched 146 boot rom.

Same question. I know you have compared the 760p to the 960 PRO, but just wondering how worse off are the temps and current draw compared to the original Apple SSD?

 

[lamunkya]

I am looking to buy a 15" 2015 before they get discontinued.

My shop only has two two in stock, the one with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD for $1900, the larger CTO one (completely maxed with 1TB SSD) is almost $3000. (prices converted from local currency)
Is power consumption still a concern? If not I'd prefer to buy the smaller one and put whatever 2TB aftermarket SSD works best in, it would still be cheaper than the CTO model and I would get double the storage.

 

[Cmd+Q]

I'm hoping someone can help me out with a problem that's happened with my upgrade.

I upgraded my MBP Early 2015 13" laptop with a Samsung EVO 960 and a Sintech adapter (ST-NGFF2013-C, long version). I did wrap the Sintech adapter with kapton tape. That seems to be a relatively standard approach. The upgrade went fine, although it took a little wrangling to get the drive to switch to AFPS. However I'm now experiencing random reboots. None of the reboots happen when I'm using the MBP, only after it has been sitting unused. It generally happens after about a week, although sometimes sooner, sometimes later (it just happened 2 days in a row). I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong. It doesn't seem like a kernel panic, as the machine is rebooted, but it is then somewhat unstable until I do a manual reboot (VPN client doesn't launch, Boxcryptor fails).

How can I determine what's going on, since it never seems to happen when I'm using the computer? I can't find anything in Console.app. What other log file should I be looking at?

This is tough without more detail. Should we assume that the latest macOS 10.13 High Sierra had been installed on the original Apple SSD before this upgrade? Does "sitting unused" mean awake or sleeping? I have been struggling with some of the syslog changes over the last few release of macOS as well; I recommend looking into

man log

and to some extent

man pmset

. You can inspect the system sleep, wake and deep sleep pattern with

log show --predicate '(process == "kernel") && (eventMessage contains "PMRD")'

and then filter around the time of the events with

log show --start X --end Y

. Alternatively, you can use

pmset -g log

for a similar history.

Also, when I installed the Sintech adapter, before I inserted the drive and screwed it down, it stuck up at a ~25deg angle. Is that normal?

Yes, that is normal. You will find this in pretty much every M.2 card installation on YouTube, even outside the MacBook upgrade or Sintech adapter context.

How are you finding the temperatures and battery life since putting the 760p in? Any noticable differences compared to the original Apple SSD? [...] Same question. I know you have compared the 760p to the 960 PRO, but just wondering how worse off are the temps and current draw compared to the original Apple SSD?

I find the Intel 760p to be comparable to the Samsung-based SSD that Apple originally put in my MacBook Pro. Without running a series of tests, there are presumably the following three methods:

1. @gilles_polysoft had been putting up some power draw comparison based on the power states advertised by the PCIe NVMe drives that he had on hand.
2. Personally, I had looked for the power rating of the four different drives I had access to (varying by capacity and controller, of course) and compared those
   • 512GB Samsung-based original Apple SSD in my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) with model number MZJPU512T/0A6 has a label that reads "Rated 3.3V ⎓ 2.5A"
   • 256GB Toshiba-based original Apple SSD in my partner's MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) with model number THNSN2256GSPS has no power rating label unfortunately.
   • 1TB Samsung 960 PRO with model number MZVKP1T0HMJP has a label that reads "Rated DC + 3.3V ⎓ 2.7A"
   • 1TB Intel 760p with model number SSDPEKKW010T8 has a label that reads "Rated 3.3V ⎓ 1.51A"
   • Other drives have similar labels (with eBay being a very good resource); for example, with the "newer" Samsung-based Apple SSD with model number MZJPV512S/0A4 (SSUBX controller, found in 2015 MacBooks?) with a power rating label "Rated 3.3V ⎓ 3.2A".
3. Then there is spec sheet comparisons which I found hard for these PCIe NVMe SSDs because of the differences in power saving modes and measured power consumption (active/idle/L1.2); also the power saving modes on the drives do not seem to be utilized by macOS anyway.

 

[dobow]

I've got a rMBP Late 2013 currently with a 250GB SSD in. I'm hoping to ugprade to a Samsung 970 EVO.

1. What's the difference between http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1139.html and http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1229.html basically the ST-NGFF2013 and the one with a C after it. The description sounds identical but the non-C option seems to not have the extra body for it to rest on? I ordered the non-C version but am now wondering if I made a mistake.

2. Any suggestions for a UK based vendor? https://www.amazon.co.uk/KALEA-INFORMATIQUE-adapter-replace-original-Macbook/dp/B07889YRFT/ the image at least looks almost identical. The only thing I can see as different is that it says 1718 on that one. I'd rather get it faster than waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive from Sintech.

3. There was discussion in earlier pages about flashing the Macbook with a Pi rather than a separate piece of hardware. That then seemed to vanish? Did it not work? I've got a Pi sat around and would much prefer to be able to use it than have to buy something else.

 

[violino]

Hi, I am planning on upgrading my Macbook Air 13 early 2105 with an PCIe NVMe ssd drive. I am debating between Toshiba XG5 512 and Kingston KC1000 480.

Did any of you encounter any issues with using upgraded SSDs for boot camp? Would any of my options (Toshiba vs Kingston) work better for boot camp?

I have some other questions too: Do I need to reformat those drives using 4k blocks or do they come preformated with 4k? If I have to reformat - can I do it after booting with HighSierra bootable drive?

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[ohnggni]

I've got a rMBP Late 2013 currently with a 250GB SSD in. I'm hoping to ugprade to a Samsung 970 EVO.

1. What's the difference between http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1139.html and http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1229.html basically the ST-NGFF2013 and the one with a C after it. The description sounds identical but the non-C option seems to not have the extra body for it to rest on? I ordered the non-C version but am now wondering if I made a mistake.

2. Any suggestions for a UK based vendor? https://www.amazon.co.uk/KALEA-INFORMATIQUE-adapter-replace-original-Macbook/dp/B07889YRFT/ the image at least looks almost identical. The only thing I can see as different is that it says 1718 on that one. I'd rather get it faster than waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive from Sintech.

3. There was discussion in earlier pages about flashing the Macbook with a Pi rather than a separate piece of hardware. That then seemed to vanish? Did it not work? I've got a Pi sat around and would much prefer to be able to use it than have to buy something else.

Regarding Sintech adapter,
If you have 2013 MBP, short black version might not be good because you won't reboot your 2013-macbook flawlessly with it. Therefore I recommend you purchase "-C" type(long black) instead of non-C version.

Regarding an adapter in Amazon UK,
It's really similar with Sintech long black version. But I'm not sure. So you should ask the seller and make sure of it.

Regarding flashing with Pi,
I know it's so complicated that we flash modified rom with it. Whereas the way using SPI programmer & J6100 converting board is not so expensive as well as quite easy. That's why some guys including me in this thread did that way instead of RPi.

 

[Cmd+Q]

Just for clarification: I have B+M key SSD Lite-On CX1-GB512-D11, with text "PCIe Gen 2 2 lanes AHCI" (https://f.aukro.cz/images/6912486703/730x548/151000000) but despite of this it can never work in MBA 2013 or MBP 2014, because it's not "PCIe enough"?

You should go ahead and try it, perhaps with the same adapter recommended in this thread; mixed keys have been typically used for SATA SSDs, but they still carry the two PCIe 2.0 lanes (also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2, sources 18 and 16).

Regarding Sintech adapter,
If you have 2013 MBP, short black version might not be good because you won't reboot your 2013-macbook flawlessly with it. Therefore I recommend you purchase "-C" type(long black) instead of non-C version. [...] [The adapter on Amazon UK is] really similar with Sintech long black version. But I'm not sure. So you should ask the seller and make sure of it.

Yes, for a flavor of the issues, there is a few bad experiences on page 36.

 

[cweirup]

This is tough without more detail. Should we assume that the latest macOS 10.13 High Sierra had been installed on the original Apple SSD before this upgrade? Does "sitting unused" mean awake or sleeping? I have been struggling with some of the syslog changes over the last few release of macOS as well; I recommend looking into

man log

and to some extent

man pmset

. You can inspect the system sleep, wake and deep sleep pattern with

log show --predicate '(process == "kernel") && (eventMessage contains "PMRD")'

and then filter around the time of the events with

log show --start X --end Y

. Alternatively, you can use

pmset -g log

for a similar history.


Yes, that is normal. You will find this in pretty much every M.2 card installation on YouTube, even outside the MacBook upgrade or Sintech adapter context.

Thanks for the note! Yes, I did upgrade the original Apple SSD before this upgrade. "Sitting unused" means I leave it awake during the day plugged in. The only thing set to power down is the display (after 3 hours). I'm not sure if there is some other sleep or hibernate setting that is kicking in at some point. I'm starting to wonder if it's not related to sleep/hibernation but something else.

Here are my current power settings according to pmset:

standbydelay 10800
standby 1
womp 1
halfdim 1
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
powernap 0
gpuswitch 2
networkoversleep 0
disksleep 0
sleep 0
autopoweroffdelay 28800
hibernatemode 3
autopoweroff 1
ttyskeepawake 1
displaysleep 15
tcpkeepalive 1
acwake 0
lidwake 1

I've started to take a look at the logs based on the info you sent me. Without knowing when this is happening, it's a little difficult to find something in the log. Hopefully I'll find something soon, as the crashes/reboots are starting to happen with more frequency.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[AJBadenhorst]

Hi guys can someone comment on the overall speed of their machines after the upgrade did it feel faster navigating the os , opening apps and booting up? Does someone have some times for us?

Thanks guys. Still waiting for my adapter...

 

[scorpi09on]

Hi guys, my ssd intel 760p works successfully in my rmbp13 2014-mid with mac os high serria without any problem. But i had install win10 with a big problem. That is my laptop will be bsod (critical process died) without power supply. I found someone said the macbook it caused by "balance mode" of the power mode. So, did somebody know how to solve it?
Thanks.

 

[ohnggni]

Hi guys, my ssd intel 760p works successfully in my rmbp13 2014-mid with mac os high serria without any promble. But i had install win10 with a big promble. That is my laptop will be bsod (critical process died) without power supply. I found someone said the macbook it caused by "balance mode" of the power mode. So, did somebody know how to solve it?
Thanks.

Please see the following link.
You need to select “High Performance”.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2843-change-power-plan-settings-windows-10-a.html

 

[Just_iWorld]

As I understood Intel SSDs are much more preferable in terms of heat and power consumption than powerful Samsung SSDs. In general, would you say it's correct? There is not much price difference for 1 Tb SSD, and I'm thinking maybe I should buy Intel 760p, not Samsung 970 Evo. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[scorpi09on]

Please see the following link.
You need to select “High Performance”.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2843-change-power-plan-settings-windows-10-a.html

Thanks, i followed this article to set the machine and now it is alright. But could you tell the reason why macbook goes bsod with "balanced"? i'm curiously to know why.

 

[ohnggni]

Thanks, i followed this article to set the machine and now it is alright. But could you tell the reason why macbook goes bsod with "balanced"? i'm curiously to know why.

I'm sorry but I don't know why. What's certain is this BSOD happens regardless of bootrom modification. I assumed the BSOD connects with what windows installer can't find the SSD without external power. That's why I gave it a try as changing the power setting.

 

[dobow]

Thank you for your advice. I've got the long black (C adapter).

2 questions so far.
1. Is it normal that when the SSD is pushed into the adapter it doesn't sit flat by itself?
2. Is there any guide on what exactly needs taping? I've put tape on the part that the SSD plugs into, and the adapters pins that are closest to where it plugs into the motherboard are covered. Anywhere else? The underside of the adapter?

3. My plan today is just to leave it and disable hibernation. In the longer term I'll be hoping to flash it. Finding a CH341A Mini Programmer is easy, such as https://www.banggood.com/USB-Progra...M-BIOS-LCD-Writer-25-SPI-Flash-p-1008191.html but my Google-fu is failing looking for the SPI to J6100 adapter. Any cheap links?

 

[Cmd+Q]

I'm sorry but I don't know why. What's certain is this BSOD happens regardless of bootrom modification. I assumed the BSOD connects with what windows installer can't find the SSD without external power. That's why I gave it a try as changing the power setting.

@scorpi09on, a quick Google search revealed the following, with explanation and fix: https://www.edandersen.com/2015/07/06/windows-10-on-mac-bootcamp-fixes/. While I cannot personally vouch for this in a MacBook/Bootcamp configuration, storage power saving modes have given me some grief in a Windows installation on an Intel NUC a few years ago.

1. Is it normal that when the SSD is pushed into the adapter it doesn't sit flat by itself?

@cweirup had the exact same question on this very page. M.2 connectors are just build this way for easy installation. I recommended a quick look around YouTube:

Yes, that is normal. You will find this in pretty much every M.2 card installation on YouTube, even outside the MacBook upgrade or Sintech adapter context.

2. Is there any guide on what exactly needs taping? I've put tape on the part that the SSD plugs into, and the adapters pins that are closest to where it plugs into the motherboard are covered. Anywhere else? The underside of the adapter?

No, you should be good. I recommend having a look at the write-up in my signature again, and to use the in-thread search for verification.

3. My plan today is just to leave it and disable hibernation. In the longer term I'll be hoping to flash it. Finding a CH341A Mini Programmer is easy, such as https://www.banggood.com/USB-Progra...M-BIOS-LCD-Writer-25-SPI-Flash-p-1008191.html but my Google-fu is failing looking for the SPI to J6100 adapter. Any cheap links?

It depends on what you mean by cheap. You can get the J6100 to SPI adapter for about £45 on ebay.co.uk. That's the least money/time consuming way to read/write the SPI without removing the logic board; and presumably you want do this periodically to keep up with firmware updates. Another cheap solution is to pursue Raspberry Pi (I understand you got one of those already) plus SOIC8 Test Clip route; including the leg work to prepare this setup, disassembly of the MacBook, connecting battery/power to the removed logic board.

PS: I wonder how many and how much folks have invested in special hardware as a result of this thread.

 

[dobow]

It depends on what you mean by cheap. You can get the J6100 to SPI adapter for about £45 on ebay.co.uk. That's the least money/time consuming way to read/write the SPI without removing the logic board; and presumably you want do this periodically to keep up with firmware updates. Another cheap solution is to pursue Raspberry Pi (I understand you got one of those already) plus SOIC8 Test Clip route; including the leg work to prepare this setup, disassembly of the MacBook, connecting battery/power to the removed logic board.

Thank you so much. My Evo 970 is installed and seems to be working just fine in terms of speed. 1300 read, 1230 write for Blackmagic as opposed to about 580/300 with my original. The one thing that seems a bit slow is it takes about 10 seconds from pressing the power-on button to the Apple originally displaying. That seems slower than I remember it before, but maybe that's because I set it up as APFS encrypted which it wasn't last time.

I guess I thought that the flash was a one-off. Are you saying that each point upgrade of the OS is going to be followed by me having to flash or lose the ability to hibernate? Removing my logic board each time seems a lot of hassle so the £45 is probably worth it.

Is there an established way to stress test the machine to make sure it's working as expected?

 

[Jilly Bowman]

Thank you so much. My Evo 970 is installed and seems to be working just fine in terms of speed. 1300 read, 1230 write for Blackmagic as opposed to about 580/300 with my original. The one thing that seems a bit slow is it takes about 10 seconds from pressing the power-on button to the Apple originally displaying. That seems slower than I remember it before, but maybe that's because I set it up as APFS encrypted which it wasn't last time.

I guess I thought that the flash was a one-off. Are you saying that each point upgrade of the OS is going to be followed by me having to flash or lose the ability to hibernate? Removing my logic board each time seems a lot of hassle so the £45 is probably worth it.

Is there an established way to stress test the machine to make sure it's working as expected?

regarding the 10 seconds to see the apple. assuming you have flashed the rom, did you do an SMC and PRAM reset.
This often solves that issue.

 

[vk2fro]

Or simply hold option until the boot chooser comes up, select the correct drive, and control click it. Alternativly, once in the os, go to settings and then startup disk, click the lock, password, then choose the boot volume, and click restart. You can trick the EFI into booting from an external drive in a similar fashion (for example when the internal has failed, but the rest of the computer is functioning normally).

 

[dobow]

regarding the 10 seconds to see the apple. assuming you have flashed the rom, did you do an SMC and PRAM reset.
This often solves that issue.

I've not flashed it yet. I'm seeing how it goes without being able to hibernate just now. Still worth a go?

 

[vk2fro]

Yes that will work just fine - just tell it to pick the correct startup disk to eliminate the delay at startup as suggested in my previous post, and disable hibernation.

 

[Cmd+Q]

I guess I thought that the flash was a one-off. Are you saying that each point upgrade of the OS is going to be followed by me having to flash or lose the ability to hibernate? Removing my logic board each time seems a lot of hassle so the £45 is probably worth it.

This thread has established that firmware updates are only applied when performed from an "internal drive" (at least as it stands today). In the 2013-2014 MacBooks, the PCIe NVMe drives show up as "external" at boot time. You can verify this in your configuration by holding down the option key when starting your updated MacBook: your new PCIe NVMe boot drive will very likely show up in an orange colour (internal drives show up in silver/grey). To apply EFI firmware updates, you will need to keep the original SSD around.

If you want to (or must) keep up with EFI firmware updates, you will likely need to perform the procedure for each new firmware update: Reinstall the original drive, update firmware (as part of a macOS update, or manual), modify the firmware, reinstall your NVMe drive, and update macOS. There is a possibility that Apple will allow updates to new macOS versions on systems with current EFI firmware (just like they could block updates on systems with modified EFI firmware, but that's a different story).

So, yes, the modifying your EFI firmware/system ROM can be a one-off, if you are ok to stay on this one modified version. I just want to point out there are some unknowns about these upgraded MacBooks.

Alternativly, once in the os, go to settings and then startup disk, click the lock, password, then choose the boot volume, and click restart.

That was the solution for me - perhaps thats a good clarification in the upgrade guide.

Is there an established way to stress test the machine to make sure it's working as expected?

Not that I have seen. The test series would not be comparable in a lot of cases (different MacBooks, different drives, different firmwares; when it comes to battery life, different load cycles). The spot checks you did with BlackMagic are in the expected range with your new SSD; if you do not have any kernel panic, your configuration is probably good for now, with this release of macOS. FIO is a great tool to baseline performance - but then we still need to agree on test that are not only comparative but also make sense for day to day work.