A few weeks ago I switched from my trusty old HP nc8430 to a Macbook Pro (MC118LL/A) that was left spare when another employee left. I mostly enjoyed using Linux but I was tired of dealing with weird quirks like having X lock up, essentially forcing me to do a hard reboot.
To transition, I copied my documents from Linux to Mac, then turned off the Linux laptop. Surprisingly I found I didn’t need to turn Linux back on at all.
Last week, I decided to put the final nail in Linux’s coffin by taking the SSD (Corsair CMFSSD-128GBG2D)out of it and putting it in my Macbook. The Macbook was pretty fast (Core 2 Duo @ 2.5 GHz) but some things were noticeably slower on its 7200RPM disk than on Linux with an SSD, especially running Windows VMs.
I booted Linux to Knoppix and zeroed out the disk, then removed it. I backed my Mac up with Time Machine, shut it down, then undid the ~12 tiny screws, removed the bottom plate of the Macbook and popped the SSD in. I booted from the Mac DVD, restored from Time Machine and went home (it took ~4 hours to restore).
When I got in the next day, the restore was complete, though I had to click “Restart” to finish, which was annoying. Everything worked fine, and I was pretty impressed. The machine was kind of sluggish due to Spotlight indexing but once that was done I was pretty amazed at the transformation. Every app opened in under 1 second. Windows VMs were super snappy. Things were going well.
But then I started noticing periods of extended hanging. In the middle of some task, I’d get the beachball and the whole computer would become unresponsive (cursor would spin & move around but I couldn’t click anything). This would last about 30-60 seconds. I assumed it was some behind-the-scenes optimization, or some residual spotlight indexing.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone away. Earlier today I copied a 3 GB zip file from our file server to my laptop and it beachballed me on and off (about 60-70% of the time) for about 15 minutes as it copied. What’s odd is that the transfer speeds were pretty good, it appeared to be my computer itself that was bottlenecking it. After the download completed, I attempted to unzip it and was beachballed again. I checked Activity Monitor and it was peaking at 30 MB/s, but had extended periods of zeroes. I ran iostat and got basically the same information:
EvanMBP:~ root# iostat -Kw 3
disk0 disk1 cpu load average
KB/t tps MB/s KB/t tps MB/s us sy id 1m 5m 15m
9.33 3 0.03 0.00 0 0.00 9 4 87 0.25 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 13 5 82 0.23 0.27 0.32
20.00 0 0.01 0.00 0 0.00 15 5 80 0.23 0.27 0.32
36.00 1 0.02 0.00 0 0.00 16 6 77 0.21 0.27 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 12 5 83 0.21 0.27 0.32
20.02 60 1.18 0.00 0 0.00 17 10 74 0.19 0.26 0.32
24.60 363 8.72 0.00 0 0.00 18 13 69 0.17 0.26 0.31
25.40 307 7.60 0.00 0 0.00 14 11 75 0.17 0.26 0.31
21.95 426 9.14 0.00 0 0.00 15 12 73 0.32 0.29 0.32
82.50 352 28.35 0.00 0 0.00 17 11 73 0.32 0.29 0.32
809.70 84 66.41 0.00 0 0.00 22 9 69 0.29 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 9 5 86 0.27 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 8.89 11 0.09 9 5 86 0.27 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 9 5 87 0.33 0.29 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 12 7 81 0.33 0.29 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 14 8 78 0.38 0.30 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 6 83 0.35 0.29 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 6 84 0.35 0.29 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 84 0.32 0.29 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 6 84 0.32 0.29 0.32
disk0 disk1 cpu load average
KB/t tps MB/s KB/t tps MB/s us sy id 1m 5m 15m
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 84 0.30 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 6 84 0.27 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 5 84 0.27 0.28 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 9 5 85 0.25 0.27 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 85 0.25 0.27 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 85 0.31 0.29 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 85 0.45 0.31 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 85 0.45 0.31 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 85 0.41 0.31 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 85 0.41 0.31 0.33
384.49 10 3.85 10.00 0 0.00 12 6 82 0.32 0.29 0.32
291.73 126 35.78 0.00 0 0.00 23 13 64 0.38 0.31 0.33
236.65 338 78.20 0.00 0 0.00 30 17 53 0.34 0.30 0.33
397.61 21 8.02 0.00 0 0.00 15 8 77 0.34 0.30 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 6 83 0.32 0.30 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 12 7 81 0.32 0.30 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 12 6 82 0.29 0.29 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 6 83 0.35 0.30 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 13 6 80 0.35 0.30 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 6 83 0.32 0.30 0.32
disk0 disk1 cpu load average
KB/t tps MB/s KB/t tps MB/s us sy id 1m 5m 15m
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 13 8 78 0.32 0.30 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 7 82 0.29 0.29 0.32
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 5 86 0.35 0.30 0.33
148.94 124 18.03 0.00 0 0.00 18 8 73 0.35 0.30 0.33
267.73 121 31.72 0.00 0 0.00 17 8 76 0.32 0.30 0.32
355.54 162 56.35 0.00 0 0.00 22 8 69 0.32 0.30 0.32
738.07 38 27.38 0.00 0 0.00 16 6 78 0.30 0.29 0.32
512.42 67 33.52 0.00 0 0.00 20 7 73 0.27 0.29 0.32
835.74 61 50.05 0.00 0 0.00 19 7 73 0.27 0.29 0.32
536.83 69 36.17 0.00 0 0.00 17 6 76 0.49 0.33 0.34
543.89 83 43.90 0.00 0 0.00 20 8 72 0.49 0.33 0.34
720.70 59 41.74 0.00 0 0.00 18 7 76 0.45 0.33 0.33
541.23 124 65.70 0.00 0 0.00 22 9 70 0.41 0.32 0.33
260.54 210 53.37 0.00 0 0.00 22 9 70 0.41 0.32 0.33
806.93 73 57.78 0.00 0 0.00 20 8 72 0.46 0.33 0.34
874.98 43 37.02 0.00 0 0.00 13 7 80 0.46 0.33 0.34
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 4 85 0.42 0.33 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.39 0.32 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 9 4 87 0.39 0.32 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.44 0.33 0.33
disk0 disk1 cpu load average
KB/t tps MB/s KB/t tps MB/s us sy id 1m 5m 15m
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 11 5 84 0.44 0.33 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 13 6 81 0.48 0.34 0.34
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 10 4 86 0.44 0.34 0.34
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.44 0.34 0.34
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.41 0.33 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.41 0.33 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 87 0.38 0.32 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 7 4 89 0.35 0.32 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 87 0.35 0.32 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 7 3 89 0.32 0.31 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.32 0.31 0.33
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 7 3 90 0.29 0.31 0.33
347.11 92 31.29 0.00 0 0.00 20 8 72 0.43 0.34 0.33
49.98 656 32.03 0.00 0 0.00 32 10 59 0.43 0.34 0.33
113.45 351 38.90 0.00 0 0.00 40 15 45 0.47 0.35 0.34
819.41 34 27.20 0.00 0 0.00 26 12 63 0.47 0.35 0.34
686.99 50 33.76 0.00 0 0.00 18 7 76 0.52 0.36 0.34
878.17 23 20.01 0.00 0 0.00 20 8 72 0.47 0.35 0.34
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 87 0.47 0.35 0.34
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 8 4 88 0.44 0.34 0.34
You can see in the MB/s column, lots of “0.00” followed by some bursts of ~30 MB/s. The zeros didn’t actually print at the time, but flooded the screen in bursts when the bottleneck cleared up. It seems to me like it might be some problem with queueing or caching, or maybe the SATA controller on this Mac just isn’t up to the task of SSDs. I’m not sure, but at this point I’m afraid I might have to go back to the 7200 RPM Seagate that came with the Mac. 30-second hangups are far more annoying than having lots of things be slower. Kind of a strange amortization, if you think about it. Anyway, I’ll keep looking into it, now that I know how to reproduce the problem (unzip a huge file).
Updated: A quick Google search for “beach ball mac SSD” turned up this thread which seems to be about this same problem, with a different model SSD. Also referenced in this thread on Apple.com. It feels like the problem may be due to an “old” SSD.
Updated again: Here’s someone having the problem with a Corsair 128 GB SSD: http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=91061.
Updated again: According to this post, this appears to be a problem with the SATA controller in the 2009 Macbooks. Bah.
Evan Hoffman's Blog 
I’m getting major beachballing on my MBP after installing an OWC SSD. How can I fix this?
Wish I had a solution for you. I read a bunch of reviews on a bunch of different models/brands of SSDs and there was not a single one that had 100% Macbook compatibility. Even ones Crucial said were guaranteed compatible, the reviews indicated otherwise. I went back to the 7200 rpm 320gb stock disk in my MBP. Pretty disappointing, but I guess that’s the price you pay for going with Mac.
Hi similar issue with my 250gb crucial m4 the issue seems to be an apple problem or not exactly a problem more an issue of apple wanting you to use their SSDs that are approved. I trailed the net for solutions and it would appear you have to fool apple os into thinking the drive you install is approved modle.
solution as follows worked for me so far. Copy the code and past in to terminal hitting return after each of the 4 inputs.
1
sudo cp /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage /IOAHCIBlockStorage.original
2
sudo perl -pi -e ‘s|(x52x6Fx74x61x74x69x6Fx6Ex61x6Cx00).{9}(x00x51)|$1x00x00x00x00x00x00x00x00x00$2|sg’ /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage
3
sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
4
sudo kextcache -system-caches
I have no idea how this works boffins will know.
Having the same issue with OWC ssd in a 2009 MBP. Glad to know much smarter people than me are having the same issue. Does anyone know if the solution from sam works?