Im using a Macbook Unibody Late 2009 and recently this year I upgraded from an HDD to a Sandisk Extreme SSD240G. The speeds are extremely fast with the standard firmware on the drive.
Next, I decided to do a fimware update to get 3gb negociated link speeds using the R211m firmware. Originally, with the nVidia chipset before the new firmware, the link speed was only 1.5gb yet it was still fast and showed no lagg so I wanted to see if it would get faster with 3gb link speeds.
Since the update, BlackMagic benchmark apps shows that my read and write speeds have doubled.
However from use and my owm comparison, I feel like there is a little lagg when I open my applicatioons. The updated SSD actually seems slower than what it was with the old firmware.
Even though the negociated link speeds went from 1.5gb to 3gb, there is a bit of lag and delay with the new update.
Is there a reason for this? Will there be new updates? Thanks
see anwer in other thread. there is no need to double post. basically if your link speed is not 3Gb and the benchmark doubled there is no reason you should feel lag.
i’m running a mid-2009 17" MBP. have purchased my extreme SSD 240GB - ready for installation now.
first of all, i understand the firmware upgrade is best done before installing or cloning the OS - has anyone had issues doing it afterwards? (either way, i will of course have a backup.)
i also understand the firmware upgrade will not work if connected externally - as in, the SSD needs to be connected directly to the motherboard through the SATA in order to upgrade.
please correct me if i’m wrong on those points.
must the update be done with a CD/DVD of the saved image file or is there another safe way of doing this? perhaps a USB flash drive?
also, if the CD/DVD option is the only reliable one, what does it mean by ‘burn the saved image file to a CD/DVD’ - is the saved image file simply the enzo-r211m-240gb.iso file I downloaded? or do I need to extract something in particular from that file?
I’m running a mid-2009 17" MBP. Have purchased my extreme SSD 240GB - ready for installation now.
first of all, I understand the firmware upgrade is best done before installing or cloning the OS - has anyone had issues doing it afterwards? (either way, I will of course have a backup.)
It does not really matter when you do it. It can be before or after install of OS. If you clone make sure your cloning software supports 4k disk alignment. If you have not installed the OS yet it would be easiest to do the FW upgrade first.
I also understand the firmware upgrade will not work if connected externally - as in, the SSD needs to be connected directly to the motherboard through the SATA in order to upgrade.
Correct it will need to be connected internally.
please correct me if I’m wrong on those points.
must the update be done with a CD/DVD of the saved image file or is there another safe way of doing this? Perhaps a USB flash drive?
You can put it on a USB drive but since the SSD toolkit is not supported on MAC you will need a third party program like Power ISO (not sure if there is a MAC version of Power ISO either but that is the type of app you would need)
also, if the CD/DVD option is the only reliable one, what does it mean by ‘burn the saved image file to a CD/DVD’ - is the saved image file simply the enzo-r211m-240gb.iso file I downloaded? or do I need to extract something in particular from that file?
The ISO is all you need do not extract anything. Just burn the ISO as a disk image. Instructions can be found at the link below for MAC.
Make sure you have one of the MAC with Nvidia MCP79 Chipset before using this firmware. This firmware is only for computers running that SATA chipset. It will lock the SSD to SATA 2 speed and currently this can’t be reversed.
Check SATA chipset MAC (this is for checking firmware of SSD but SATA chipset info is at the top above SATA link speed)
If you do not have Nvidia MCP79 chipset use the regular manual firmware upgrade instructions and ISO posted at the top of this board.
Finally, I decided to order a new optical drive for 49$ to make the update of the firmware from my MBP…
The firmware update was easy, i just followed the instructions given on that forum…and my MBP works flawlessly now! No freezing anymore!!!
However be aware if you change your optical drive that you could experience a problem with the wireless afterwards…
Indeed, after 30 minutes of normal internet use, my wireless went off, and i recieved the message “No hardware installed”…
I solved the problem by unplugging and replugging the cable of the Camera/Wirless that goes on the top of the optical drive. It can be a bit tricky to reconnect to the motherboard (you can not really make sure that it’s plugged in correctly)…
My optical drive on my MBP is dead. I’ve tried to convert the iso to a dmg and mount it on a USB drive, but Mac Os can’t find when booting with Alt pressed. I’m not going to buy an optical drive and burn a CD just for a (much needed) firmware update. What can I do ?
My optical drive on my MBP is dead. I’ve tried to convert the iso to a dmg and mount it on a USB drive, but Mac Os can’t find when booting with Alt pressed. I’m not going to buy an optical drive and burn a CD just for a (much needed) firmware update. What can I do ?
move the ssd to a different computer and update from there.
I honestly dont see the point of not being able to update live through the system. And I dont see the point of updating through cd when the usb option is within the updater itself.
I’m using this firmware in a 60GB Sandisk Extreme SSD (macbook white late 2009).
I want to upgrade it to the SDSSDP-128G-G25. Will this firmware work in this model? I’m afraid to upgrade my SSD and stay locked to 1.5Gb/s on my macbook. I can’t seem to find sandisk extreme 120GB anymore, or I would buy it just to be sure that I could use it with my old macbook.
go to applications > utilities > system info > SATA, if the SATA chipset is Nvidia MCP79 the SATA link speed will not be negotiated correctly. This is an issue with the Nvidia SATA chipset. SanDisk has not released a FW that locks Extreme II SSD to SATA 3Gb so the link speed will only be 1.5Gb. If you can find the original Extreme SSD you can use the FW linked in this thread to lock the Extreme SSD to SATA 3Gb.