UPDATE 6/30/2015. As reported by Ars Technica and confirmed by Apple, today’s OS X 10.10.4 update “has added a command line utility that can be used to enable TRIM on third-party SSDs without having to download and install anything. Called trimforce, the utility can be executed from the OS X terminal, and it requires a reboot to start working.”
“TRIM helps SSDs out by telling SSDs which pages can be marked as stale when an operating system deletes files (something the SSD ordinarily would have no way of knowing). It’s by no means a requirement, but it’s helpful and could potentially help the performance of an SSD as it ages.
“The scary warnings about trimforce are likely in place because not every disk implements TRIM in the same way, and older SSDs might behave oddly or in ways that OS X doesn’t expect when told to TRIM pages. If you have a relatively recent SSD, though, there shouldn’t be any problem enabling TRIM via trimforce—especially considering that same SSD in Windows or most current Linux distributions would already be using TRIM.”
BIG NOTE
If you own a 3rd-party SSD (Solid State Drive) unit and are running a version of OS X 10.10.3 or earlier (Yosemite) – you NEED to read this.
If you own an Apple SSD or Fusion drive, this article does NOT apply to you.
THE PROBLEM
Last week, on the Digital Production Buzz, OWC CEO Larry O’Connor discussed a critical problem where computers containing a 3rd-party SSD drive are unable to work properly under Yosemite. And, in some cases, the system won’t boot at all; resulting in a gray startup screen.
The issue revolves around Trim utility software used by the SSD drive.
NOTE: Listen to his complete interview here.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
In order for an SSD system to work properly, the operating system needs to “clean” the unused contents of an SSD drive whenever you add or delete media. Further, the OS needs to know what parts of the SSD are available to store new data.
This process is handled by Trim software. The difficulty is that Apple only supports Trim on its own SSD drives. If you use a 3rd-party drive, you have to use 3rd-party software to get the performance you need from the SSD.
THE DETAILS
“…Support for Trim is based on the operating system and the SSD manufacturer. Microsoft Windows began to natively support the Trim command for SSDs in Windows 7. Apple added Trim support in 10.6.8, however Apple does not natively support Trim on non-Apple SSDs.
“Trim is an operating system-based command for SSDs that is activated when you delete a file on the SSD. When you delete a file from your computer, Trim notifies the SSD that the location of the deleted file no longer contains valid data. Trim then works in conjunction with the SSD’s garbage collection process to move both valid and invalid data from the old block to the new block. Having Trim enabled prevents the invalid data being moved. This in turn frees up space on the SSD and reduces write amplification. Now the “moving company” only needs to focus on moving the current tenants and ignore the vacant homes.”
NOTE: Read OWC’s entire blog here: blog.macsales.com/21641-with-an-owc-ssd-theres-no-need-for-Trim
One of the most popular Trim tools is “Trim Enabler” from Cindori Software. Cindori continues the discussion:
“Every time you delete a file on your computer, the data still stays on the drive in segments called blocks. These blocks are not deleted until you need to use them again to write new data. Due to technical limitations in the NAND Flash design, only whole blocks can be deleted. This means that when you need to write new data, the SSD must perform time-consuming cleaning and maintenance of these blocks before your data is written. With Trim, your blocks can be cleaned instantly when you delete the data, leading to much less operations during the writing process which gives you better speeds and minimizes the wear on the drive.”
Cindori continues:
“In OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), Apple has introduced a new security requirement called kext signing. (A kext is a kernel extension, or a driver, in Mac OS X.)
“Kext signing basically works by checking if all the drivers in the system are unaltered by a third party, or approved by Apple. If they have been modified, Yosemite will no longer load the driver. This is a means of enforcing security, but also a way for Apple to control what hardware that third party developers can release OS X support for.
“Since Trim Enabler works by unlocking the Trim driver for 3rd party SSD’s, this security setting prevents Trim Enabler to enable Trim on Yosemite. To continue to use Trim Enabler and continue to get Trim for your third party SSD, you first need to disable the kext signing security setting.
“It is important to note that the kext-signing setting is global, if you disable it you should be careful to only install system drivers from sources that you trust.”
NOTE: Read their entire FAQ here: www.cindori.org/Trim-enabler-and-yosemite/
THE BAD NEWS
The only workaround is to turn off kext-signing, which, as Cindori describes is similar to “taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” because this affects every driver on your system, not just the SSD.
WHAT TO DO
If you have a 3rd-party SSD drive, check with the manufacturer to see if it works on Yosemite. (Assume that it does not.) At this point, you have two options:
Also, let Apple know – via Send Feedback to Apple inside Final Cut Pro, or other Apple applications – that they need to reconsider their policy. Speed is essential to all media creators. Apple needs to find a way to support Trim functions on all SSD drives, not just Apple systems.
SUMMARY
This is a big deal. If you have a 3rd-party SSD, you have the potential to be dead in the water on upgrade. For this reason, please contact the manufacturer of your SSD system – and read the supporting articles – before upgrading to Yosemite. Make sure you KNOW that your drive will work before you have problems.
Remember, Apple-supplied SSDs work fine. The issue is only with 3rd-party SSD drives.
OTHER IMPORTANT LINKS
OWC reports that their SSD drives don’t need Trim. You can read their entire article here:
blog.macsales.com/21641-with-an-owc-ssd-theres-no-need-for-Trim
Read the entire Cindori Software FAQ here: www.cindori.org/Trim-enabler-and-yosemite/
92 Responses to CAUTION! SSD Drives and Yosemite [u]
← Older Comments Newer Comments →-
Rod says:
November 7, 2014 at 2:05 am
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LarryJ says:
November 7, 2014 at 8:56 am
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Martin says:
November 7, 2014 at 2:40 am
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LarryJ says:
November 7, 2014 at 8:57 am
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Rod says:
November 7, 2014 at 12:40 pm
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Ray says:
November 7, 2014 at 8:03 pm
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Alex says:
November 9, 2014 at 7:45 pm
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Bruno Seixas says:
December 16, 2014 at 8:31 pm
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JMM says:
January 19, 2015 at 7:56 am
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Mark says:
November 13, 2014 at 2:33 am
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Dave James says:
March 9, 2016 at 5:43 am
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Isa Aydin says:
November 13, 2014 at 7:31 am
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Larry Jordan says:
November 13, 2014 at 11:59 am
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Isa Aydin says:
November 13, 2014 at 9:24 pm
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Apple OS X Yosemite i dyski SSD « TechnoBlog says:
November 13, 2014 at 11:42 am
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Harvey says:
November 14, 2014 at 12:51 am
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Bob Cole says:
November 14, 2014 at 4:54 am
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Animacs says:
December 14, 2014 at 3:55 am
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Harvey says:
December 16, 2014 at 4:45 pm
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LarryJ says:
December 16, 2014 at 6:05 pm
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Animacs says:
February 28, 2015 at 2:03 am
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stouch says:
November 14, 2014 at 10:12 am
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Woody says:
November 24, 2014 at 1:45 pm
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Apple's OS X Yosemite Breaks Third Party SSD Support says:
November 14, 2014 at 12:59 pm
← Older Comments Newer Comments →There is one exception to this caution about third party SSD’s and TRIM, and that is the SSD Wrk for Mac line of SSD’s by Angelbird. These drives support TRIM natively.
Rod:
Thanks for letting us know.
Larry
I had the exact same problem with plextor m5 pro. Couldn’t boot. When connected to a window PC, SSD could be recognized by the system but could not be accessed.
Good thing was, my SSD was under warranty and plextor replaced with a new one.
I am going back to Mavericks.
Martin:
Thanks for the update.
Larry
If you are one of the many with Trim Enabler installed and can’t boot after upgrading to OSX Yosemite, then there is a fix to disable KEXT so that you can boot again. No need to return your drive, and you can re-enable KEXT and disable Trim Enabler later if you wish.
Just scroll down to the section titled ‘Recovering from stop sign on boot screen’ on the Cindori site below:
http://www.cindori.org/trim-enabler-and-yosemite/
While there’s no doubt TRIM will not hurt an ssd, the bulk of the market serving non-Apple ssd’s have their own garbage collection routines. Which are quite effective as long as the machine has some idle time. For the bulk of the users, this is a non-issue.
Turning off-signing versus running without either TRIM or garbage collection — go buy another drive.
Hi All,
Picked up a white 13″ 2009 Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook 5,2 4GB RAM. Running Snow Leopard on a 1TB WD HDD.
1. Removed and replaced HDD. 2. Installed new Toshiba 256GB SSD.
Holding option, Using a USB drive w Yosemite, I selected the Yosemite installation.
Greeted with a grey screen and prohibitory stop sign.
Using a USB drive set up to install Mavericks (successful w 5 computers previously, one model identical to my issue today), greeted with the stop sign.
With the SSD installed, I cannot access the Mac Recovery app to format my drive w Disk utility and install Mac OS X.
SOOO, I Reinstalled the original HDD. selected the Mavericks USB after restarting and option–stop sign.
If anybody can explain what might be happening, hit me. Jesus. What is going on?
Is there a kernel permissions problem on the motherboard? I’ve reset PRAM 50 times, and tried the SMC reset twice. Unsuccessful in resolving my issue in booting an OS X recovery via USB. With the original HDD re-installed, I downloaded NoSleep 1.3.3 via Safari. Upon finishing installing (again, this is Snow Leopard on HDD) an error message: “Oops!, NoSleep Kernel Extension is not loaded.”
I successfully installed Mavericks to the 256GB Toshiba SSD via external USB housing via my MacBook Pro. Installed it to the 13″ white MacBook 5,2 —— stop sign. &^%$#@# lol, dang..
What’s happening? Thank you,
Alex
I have the same problem. Have been gifted by the stop sign after upgrade to Yosemite and installed Trim Enabler, but I’ve tried to reinstall the system via USB stick, without sucess. Later that, I’ve been able to do a recovery by time machine backup. The system turn on once and folder question-mark showed up his face.
After that I’ve tried to install Mavericks, Yosemite again and nothing. Disk utility says “could not verify disk”. So, I got another Macbook and the disk was fine, could install the mavericks on it. Put again in my mac and NOTHING. Same errors.
I’ve bought another Samsung 840 EVO and THE SAME ERROR.
Now, I’m using my old HDD and everything is ok, but this thing is driving me crazy. I don’t know if the issue is on flat cable ou whatever. I know that my SDDs are ok and don’t know what’s wrong with my mac. (Tried to reset pram, nvram, xxxram).
Actually, this is a common problem as with time the cable for the HDD can wear through and break. I am afraid the cable might need to be replaced.
I’m surprised and disappointed by OWC saying their drives don’t need TRIM. In their blog, they say their drives use Sandforce controllers. Well Sandforce say (and surely they should know) that yes, you do need TRIM. They say that their DuraWrite technology is best augmented by TRIM.
TRIM is an essential part of proper SSD housekeeping. Without it, the drive has no idea what data is live and what is deleted and therefore it has to perform all its background garbage collection on both live and deleted data.
Think about the implications of that for one moment. If you imagine editing a 10MB PowerPoint document over the course of an 8 hour day, PowerPoint will autosave 48 x 10MB files = 480MB of data. 470MB of this is deleted (only the last autosave is “live”), but the drive cannot know this without Trim. So your 1 file has generated half a gigabyte of data that the drive now needs to manage, reading and writing to create free blocks. 48 times the necessary amount of reading and writing to the SSD is cause by not having TRIM.
This is not a sustainable way to run an SSD.
My 3 month old OWC mercury Electra 6G SSD with Yosemite installed completely corrupted. Do not think for one minute that installing an SSD makes your system more reliable. It clearly does not. I deleted the current backup to do a fresh backup when the system would no longer boot. Thankfully on this occasion a disk utility (Not Apple) allowed me to find around 70% of the data but it took three days. I now have a very different view of SSD, especially OWC’s.
Hello All,
Guys I have strange Problem, I bought new MacPro (late 2013) and I am using Yosemite. I have 2 external Sandisk Extreme II SSDs connected over USB3 to SATA connector. And both of them are not working. When I connect them to MacPro, it freezes the system and reboots system in a minute. Systems works for about 2-3 minutes maximum after plugging SSDs. If I try to drag and drop files on them, it copies about 200mb in a second and then freezes the system. The most strange thing is that both of this SSDs are working properly on my MacbookPro also using Yosemite. I want to return MacPro on this weekend to store, I think that there is a problem with USB connectors of Mac. Otherwise why both SSDs would work properly on my MacBookPro. But on the other hand all three external HDDs work properly on all USB ports of new MacPro. I am confused totally. Don’t know what to do.
Isa:
I would first contact Apple Support to see if they can resolve this.
Larry
All what Apple Care service said was please reboot your computer and after that asked me to bring brand new computer (which was bought 4 days ago) to service. Very bad service at Apple Care. I paid 174$ for nothing. Will refund money tomorrow. Quality of Apple Mac Pro does not worth that money.
[…] Apple OS X Yosemite i dyski SSD Jeśli korzystasz z ogryzka z systemem Mavericks i używasz dysków SSD innej firmy niż Apple, to nie aktualizuj systemu do Yosemite. Apple w systemie Yosemite wprowadza obowiązek podpisywania sterowników (kext signing), a zatem dyski SSD firm trzecich nie będą działać – nie da się z nich nawet podnieść systemu jeśli zainstalowałeś narzędzia do obsługi opcji Trim (usprawnia ona pracę dysków SSD przy zapisie). Niestety nie da się zaimplementować obsługi Trim inaczej, niż przez kext, gdyż sterownik AHCI SATA napisany przez Apple jest zamknięty i nieudokumentowany. Żaden z producentów nie może zatem dostarczyć dobrze napisanych i podpisanych sterowników do dysków SSD, gdyż Apple na to nie pozwala. Problem obsługi dysków SSD szczególnie mocno dotyczy profesjonalistów zajmujących się edycją …. […]
Hello, I have a mid 2009 macbook pro with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 as the OSX still.
I Just purchased a crucial m550 256GB SSD.
I haven’t installed it yet because I am not quite sure whether to upgrade to Yosemite from Snow Leopard first or Install the new SSD drive?
Is the conversations in this thread saying I should not upgrade to Yosemite if I want to install my new SSD? I am not so technologically advanced. P What would be the best option if I just wanted to install Yosemite on a clean SSD slate.
Any help would be appreciated! Thank you.
Unless you love hassles, I’d just avoid this whole SSD-Trim-Yosemite situation.
Harvey, if I were you, I’d return the drive and get an Apple-certified SSD. That way you’ll be “in the family” with Apple, and safe to upgrade to Yosemite, and Yosemite’s successors.
Or stick with Snow Leopard.
Or… I don’t know whether this is an option: Can you upgrade to some OSX that is short of Yosemite, and won’t complicate your life the way Yosemite would?
@Bob Cole: That’s not good advice at all.
The best solution is to go to Mavericks, not Yosemite, or buy a Crucial drive. I’ve been using Crucial drives recently with no issues with Yosemite. The only reason I haven’t upgraded to Yosemite on my working MBP is because it’s a 250gb Samsung 840 that needs TRIM, so until this gets resolved properly this Mac will remain on Mavericks.
The other thing to bear in mind is that SSDs needing TRIM will degrade *over time*… well, over time this may well get resolved anyway so no need to panic either way right now!
So, just to clarify.
I have a Crucial Drive.
I want to upgrade my snow leopard macbook pro 2009 to Yosemite and install my Crucial SSD. This will work and I won’t encounter problems?
Should I upgrade to Mavericks before Yosemite to be safe? Does it matter? Also should I upgrade my hard drive first or update my OS first?
Thank you.
Harvey:
I am very uncomfortable saying this will work properly. A better answer is to go to Crucial and have THEM tell you it will work OK, and that they’ll support you if it doesn’t.
You don’t need to upgrade to Mavericks before upgrading to Yosemite. Generally, you upgrade the OS, then upgrade everything else.
Larry
As I said, I’ve been using Crucial SSDs with ALL operating systems, including Yosemite. Crucial state that their drives don’t need trim and that’s the main reason I ONLY buy Crucial at the moment,
It doesn’t make the slightest difference whether you upgrade to Yosemite, or Mavericks before or after you install the SSD, do it the way that involves the least work. If you are keeping the old HD as a backup then upgrade that before you clone it to the SSD.
I don’t know if it’s related, but I haven’t having issues with my hard drive as well, after the yosemite upgrade.
My system: Macbook Pro mid 2012, 500 GB HD (stock)
I did however the ‘optical drive removal’ hack (maybe I shouldn’t have but that’s a different story), and installed a Samsung SSD 250GB. The OS is installed on the SSD, and I’m using the 500 GB HD as a separate drive, for things like pictures, downloads, etc…
Everything worked well on Maverick, but I started having issues withe HD (not SSD, SSD works fine) after I upgraded to Yosemite. The HD came with the system, I have it plugged where the optical drive was. The HD shows up fine, but I can’t write, also TimeMachine is having trouble accessing it. I did some repairs, fixed permission issues, etc…it will work for a bit and stop working again. So I’m not sure what’s wrong…I’m pretty new with MAC, just converted from Windows, so some of the MAC concepts are still new to me.
Same issue here with an iMac 24″ 2009 model. I had OWC 240 SSD with Mavericks 10.9.3 running as boot disk and upgraded the original 1 TB internal from 10.9.3 to Yosemite and locked up turning on File Vault. Disk Utility showed “Incompatible Disk” on both drives! After 4 days of reading and trying everything possible I had to wipe both drives and I reinstalled Mavericks on both.
Then restored them from Time Machine BU’s and now disk permissions are corrupted on the 1 tb internal and the OWC SSD 240
will not mount. Disk Utility shows ” 33 KB Sandforce 200026BB Media” where SSD240 used to be!
Called OWC and they are sending an advance replacement drive (means have my CreditCard till the return arrives back) and have to tear apart my iMac again to install new drive when it arrives……. Not camping with a smile anymore!
If anyone has a work around for this Unmountable SSD drive I would much rather send the new one back
All comments appreciated
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