SanDisk Extreme SSD Firmware R211m download for for MacBook and MacBook Pros based on NVidia MCP79 chipset

Internal SSD All Other Internal SSD
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Disclaimer: This firmware will configure the SSD drive to operate at SATA II/3.0Gbps and will no longer function at SATA III/6.0Gbps. The fix is only recommended for MacBook and MacBook Pros dated in 2008-2009 based on NVidia MCP79 chipset. To reverse the SATA 3Gb lock please see the r211R firmware download links below. This will set the SSD back to default FW. 

 

WARNING: Applying the wrong firmware ISO to your SSD product will render the drive unusable! Please confirm the capacity of your SSD product before proceeding with the firmware download and update.

Step 1:

Verify the capacity of your SanDisk Extreme SSD and download the corresponding firmware ISO

 

SanDisk Extreme 60GB SSD

60GB R211m Firmware ISO

 

SanDisk Extreme 120GB SSD
120GB R211m Firmware ISO

SanDisk Extreme 240GB SSD
240GB R211m Firmware ISO

SanDisk Extreme 480GB SSD
480GB R211m Firmware ISO

Step 2:

Burn the saved image file to a CD/DVD with another software application then boot from the CD and perform the firmware update.

a.     Restart your computer.
b      With the firmware disk inserted   Press and hold the “C” key while the computer restarts. 
c.      After restart, your system will boot to the SanDisk Firmware Updater
d.     Select the drive you want to update from the list displayed.
e.      Press ENTER to start the update.
f.      When the update is completed, Press ENTER to shutdown computer.
g.     Remove the boot CD/DVD from the drive and restart computer.
h.     That’s it…finished!

The following Firmware downloads are used to reverse the 3Gb Lock. 

 

WARNING: Applying the wrong firmware ISO to your SSD product will render the drive unusable! Please confirm the capacity of your SSD product before proceeding with the firmware download and update.

 

Step 1:

Verify the capacity of your SanDisk Extreme SSD and download the corresponding firmware ISO

 

SanDisk Extreme 60GB SSD

60GB R211R Firmware ISO

 

SanDisk Extreme 120GB SSD
120GB R211R Firmware ISO

SanDisk Extreme 240GB SSD
240GB R211R Firmware ISO

SanDisk Extreme 480GB SSD
480GB R211R Firmware ISO

Step 2:

Burn the saved image file to a CD/DVD with another software application then boot from the CD and perform the firmware update.

a.     Restart your computer.
b      With the firmware disk inserted   Press and hold the “C” key while the computer restarts. 
c.      After restart, your system will boot to the SanDisk Firmware Updater
d.     Select the drive you want to update from the list displayed.
e.      Press ENTER to start the update.
f.      When the update is completed, Press ENTER to shutdown computer.
g.     Remove the boot CD/DVD from the drive and restart computer.
h.     That’s it…finished!

 

2

Hi,

Shouldn’t we get a .dmg file? My optical drive is dead and I’m trying to restore the image to a USB key so I can boot from there but no checksum is available to verify the file.

Thx!

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no you will need the ISO to create a bootable disk and boot into the fimrware updater. this drive does not support live update (updating from within the OS)

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That’s not what I was asking. I do have a USB key with the ISO installed on it, done on my PC with PowerISO but this seems not to work on the MAC. Another solution was to restore the image to the USB key using DiskUtility on the mac but the image needs to be verified to proceed which it cannot do because of no checksum available.

5

Is it possible to install this firmware to a SSD by using a non-Mac computer, or must the update process itself be done on a Mac?

Using the SSD Toolkit I made a bootable USB on a PC with this firmware for the 120GB SSD. After rebooting from the USB, the firmware update software started the update process, but immediately stated “The update process failed.”

(Fortunately it did not brick the SSD in the process).

The same procedure with the “regular” (non-Mac) firmware suceeded.

6

try burning a CD instead of using a bootable USB. please note that while the firmware can be updated on any machine you should only use it on a computer that has an Nvidia MCP79 SATA chipset. 

7

My MBP optical drive is dead. No surprise here. So I can I pull the SSD and put it on my PC and do the upgrade there?

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yes you can

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@drlucky wrote:

try burning a CD instead of using a bootable USB. please note that while the firmware can be updated on any machine you should only use it on a computer that has an Nvidia MCP79 SATA chipset. 

Thanks, this worked!

I’m trying to use this 211m firmware on an Asus laptop (K50-ID) with Nvidia MCP79/7A chipset. When using the standard firmware (201 or 211) the SSD is not recognized by Windows installer at all, and system logs when booting from Ubuntu Linux CD indicate many errors.

With 211m I can see the drive in both Windows installer and when booting from Ubuntu Linux CD, and I can create and format partitions. However, Windows refuses to install to any of the partitions with the following error:

“Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk’s controller is enabled in the computer’s BIOS menu.”

Does anyone know how to fix this?

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Should I use the R211m or R211 firmware for my MacBook Pro, 13-inch, Mid 2010 with chipset  NVidia MCP89 AHCI?

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use the regular firmware R211

12

I have an early 2008 Macbook Pro with an Intel ICH8-M AHCI SATA controller. It shows link speed as  1.5 Gb. Would I need to install this firmware?

Thanks.

13

you can try it. the firmware will pin the ssd as a SATA II device. Once this is done it will only work at SATA II no matter what computer you put it in. You can always reflash the firmware with the regular version to set it back to normal. 

14

I guess there would be no harm in trying. Thanks for confirming. I’ll report back if there are any undesired results.

15

Thank you. This is great and works perfectyly for me on my MacBook Pro 17" medio 2009.

The FW was quite hard to find though - I have looked at many forums - and on SanDiss homepage - but found it my 1001st forum I looked at.

That doesn’t matter now - it works! 

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I have the same Macbook, a 13’, Mid 2010, the R211 doesn’t work for me, so I use this one, the R211m version and now it works!, take a look: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s44/sh/31605464-ac3d-42c5-99e4-d615bc24b773/f1ca751ec228ace70ef224a0c492577e

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Hi,

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   

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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. 

19

wonderful.

20

@zincsulfate wrote:

I am zincsulfate from Rech Chemical Co.Ltd.

The herbicide or the dietary supplement?

:confounded: