2012 Mac Mini and SSD poor performance

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weelzSA

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I have recently installed an SSD to my 2012 mac mini. I used Super Duper to copy the original drive to the SSD, installed the SSD and booted up and all worked fine. My only concern is that it doesnt seem to have made that much of a difference when launching programmes or booting up ect - there still seems to be a lag/wait.

The SSD is a Kingston Hyper X 120gig. I have installed the Trim Enabler app and it is veririfed that it is on. The SSD has "SandForce controller technology" - Is that a problem at all, even maybe with Trim Enabler? Is there something else I need to do/change?

Any help will be great.

Thanks.
 
Try using BlackMagic Disk Speed Test to check the read/write speeds of your drive:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/id425264550?mt=12

I have a Vertex 4 128GB in my MacBook Pro and this is what I got now:
DiskSpeedTest_zps7b183007.png


I clicked the start button, let it run for a few seconds until it showed the read speed, clicked the start button again to stop and then I took a screenshot. To run the complete test takes too long...
 
I did it now. My write speeds are only 153.8mb/s and read speeds are 421.3mb/s - something doesn't seem right???

Could it have something to do with the sandforce technology or not really? Anything else that could cause the problem? Would it help if I maybe did a fresh install of OS X and then restored apps and docs from backup or would that not really help? Really not sure what to do.
 
I did a fresh install on mine and did not enable TRIM. I'm not sure what the long term consequences are of not enabling TRIM but i'll take my chances.

Maybe you could image the drive to an external drive using Time Machine or whatever you find convenient, perform a clean install of Mountain Lion and then run the test. Don't enable TRIM or do any other tricks. If it's better, then enable TRIM and compare. This process could be done in half an hour or so depending on how much stuff you have to backup. Installing Mountain Lion is really quick on an SSD.

Another option would be to partition the SSD using Disk Utility, use the Mountain Lion app to install it to the new partition, boot to the new partition using the Option key and test the drive. When you are done, go back to the original installation and delete the new partition. Option 1 is safer if you are unsure about messing around with partitions.
 
Reboot and hold down CMD + ALT + P + R as soon as you hear the 'bootup chime'. This will clear your pram and significantly speed up the boot process.
 
Im running 2 750GB Seagate hybrid drives on RAID in my 17-inch macbook Pro and this is the speed I get.

speedtest.jpg

I hear some SSD drives are slow.
 
vinodh said:
I did a fresh install on mine and did not enable TRIM. I'm not sure what the long term consequences are of not enabling TRIM but i'll take my chances.

Maybe you could image the drive to an external drive using Time Machine or whatever you find convenient, perform a clean install of Mountain Lion and then run the test. Don't enable TRIM or do any other tricks. If it's better, then enable TRIM and compare. This process could be done in half an hour or so depending on how much stuff you have to backup. Installing Mountain Lion is really quick on an SSD.

Another option would be to partition the SSD using Disk Utility, use the Mountain Lion app to install it to the new partition, boot to the new partition using the Option key and test the drive. When you are done, go back to the original installation and delete the new partition. Option 1 is safer if you are unsure about messing around with partitions.
Click to expand...

Cool I am going to try this now. Only have like 20gigs of apps ect to backup so busy doing that now. Then going to re-install Lion OS X from a clean install to the SSD and not enable TRIM ect and see how that goes.
 
Shardie said:
Im running 2 750GB Seagate hybrid drives on RAID in my 17-inch macbook Pro and this is the speed I get.

View attachment 44925

I hear some SSD drives are slow.
Click to expand...

I know some are but this one I am using is definitely not slow so I am sure there is something else going on. Going to try a clean install and see how thats goes.
 
Yep I always do a clean install with a brand new drive. Especially the fact that it gives me a good excuse to clean out junk. Let us know how your speed test goes please.
 
So I am having problems trying to install Lion fresh to my SSD. Where do I go to re-download the Lion OS X? This is a brand new Mac Mini which obviously did not come with any restore discs ect. I have tried downloading from the mac app store but they want me to Purchase it. If I look under my purchases tab, I can't see it there. Is there some place I need to register first? Or any other place I can download the image from? I have downloaded three different versions but none of them seem to work when creating the bootable flash (I think they are ll configured for Hackintoshes).
 
So it appears Super Duper did not copy the Recovery Partition when it copied the orignal drive so i no longer have it (as I formatted the original drive already). Is there any other way I can download the OS? I can try the Internet Recovery way but that will take a long time and need to do some work today :D.

So please any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Shardie said:
I used Carbon Copy Cloner - that DOES copy the recovery partition
Click to expand...

Is there some way I can see wether it did copy it? I don't think it did but just to check... Any where I can get the OS X from so I can create a bootable usb and restore that way, running out of ideas here!
 
weelzSA said:
Is there some way I can see wether it did copy it? I don't think it did but just to check... Any where I can get the OS X from so I can create a bootable usb and restore that way, running out of ideas here!
Click to expand...

Just try to restart it in recovery mode. (CMD+R)

If it works you've got it.
 
bwana said:
Just try to restart it in recovery mode. (CMD+R)

If it works you've got it.
Click to expand...

When I restarted using (CMD+R) it went straight to a spinning world and a progress bar (which I am sure is Internet Recovery). I don't mind downloading the file but I hear it takes very long doing it that way which is why I want to download the file, make a bootable flash and install that way so that I can get back to work. So it is a little frustrating.
 
Plug the original drive into a USB enclosure. Restart holding down OPTION key - the recovery partition on that drive should be available.

Just a note though: That Mini shipped with Mountain Lion - not lion. This means all versions of lion will not have system enablers for your Mini. If you grabbed a Hackintosh lion, it won't work - you need Mountain Lion.

Good luck
 
GreGorGy said:
Plug the original drive into a USB enclosure. Restart holding down OPTION key - the recovery partition on that drive should be available.

Just a note though: That Mini shipped with Mountain Lion - not lion. This means all versions of lion will not have system enablers for your Mini. If you grabbed a Hackintosh lion, it won't work - you need Mountain Lion.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Thanks am going to try this now. Hopefully it is there :sick: !
 
GreGorGy said:
Plug the original drive into a USB enclosure. Restart holding down OPTION key - the recovery partition on that drive should be available.

Just a note though: That Mini shipped with Mountain Lion - not lion. This means all versions of lion will not have system enablers for your Mini. If you grabbed a Hackintosh lion, it won't work - you need Mountain Lion.

Good luck
Click to expand...

So I connected the original HDD via USB and rebooted holding down OPTION key but the drive did not appear, only the installed SSD. Would the recovery partition still be there even tho I erased the HDD using disk utility?

Really running out of ideas here. Is there no way I can insert my serial number somewhere or something to be able to download the Mountain Lion Installer to reinstall?
 
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