Samsung EVO SSD in 2008 MacBook

[jimshaw]

My MacBook: Early 2008 (A1181, Mac identifier 4.1), 2.4 Ghz, 4 Gb memory, OSX 10.7.5. Lion
My problem: I bought a Samsung EVO 850 250 Gb SSD, hoping to get a little more bang out of my old MacB, but in my initial attempts neither the MacB nor my Mac Mini is able to “see” it. I have not installed it in the MacB, just connected it using a USB dock that takes both 3.5 and 2.5-inch drives, but Mac’s Disk Utility doesn’t see it and the SSD doesn’t appear on the desktop (although an old 3.5 SATA drive does).

So at present the Samsung drive is “loose,” not installed anywhere. Can anyone offer a suggestion about how I should proceed?

 

[chscag]

Are you sure the USB dock is compatible with the Samsung SSD? Connectors OK? Seems strange that a 3.5" SATA drive is seen but not the Samsung. You might want to try another method of hooking up the SSD. Why not just open the MacBook and swap out the HHD for the SSD and see if it works? I used to own that exact same 2008 MacBook and swapping out hard drives is real easy.

 

[harryb2448]

There are other threrads about pre-2010 MB and MBP not working with that Samsung SSD. The problem is it is SATAII 6Gb/ps and is not compatible with slower SATA connections.

 

[dtravis7]

That issue with older Macbooks and newer SATA drives is not that the drive does not show up, but is slow because of the older SATA interface. I ran into that on my 2007 Macbook and a new WD SATA 3 drive. It worked but was just very slow and jerky.

The drive should show up.

 

[jimshaw]

Thanks for the suggestions. I also wondered if the USB dock might be the problem, so I ordered a simple USB 2.0 connector cable from Amazon, which I should get tomorrow. I'll report back with the results.

 

[jimshaw]

MY EXPERIENCE PUTTING A SAMSUNG EVO 850 INTO AN EARLY 2008 MACBOOK

I bought a Samsung EVO 850 250Gb SSD hoping to put it into my early 2008 MacBook, but some of the reports I read on the Web made me nervous. I wondered, Did I make a mistake in buying it?

The first hiccup came when I put the SSD into a USB hub and connected that to the MacBook. The new drive didn’t show up on the desktop and Disk Utility couldn’t locate it. I thought, well, maybe the USB dock or its cable is faulty. But I didn’t want to just put the SSD into the MacBook and maybe still have the problem of not being able to access it. So I ordered a very simple little USB 2.0 to 2.5 Sata Converter Adapter Cable (Amazon, $6.50). I used that to connect the SSD to the MacB—and there it was, the SSD on the desktop! From that point on, it was a piece of cake. Using SuperDuper! (greatest of all rescue tools for Macs! *****) I cloned the old drive to the new one, then removed the old drive, put the new SSD into the Mac, and booted up. Now, I’m happy to say, it flies like a new machine.

The biggest problem I had was dealing with the tiny screws that hold the hard drive to the mounting plate. I managed to strip one of them, and just left it off. Also, I didn’t bother with a 7mm/9mm adapter plate. The Samsung drive fit pretty snugly without one.

MacBook 4.1, Intel Core 2 Duo, Early 2008, 2.4 Ghz, 4 Gb memory.

 

[chscag]

Thanks for posting back and letting us know. Glad you got everything working OK.

 

[ferrarr]

Just an FYI, when you use SuperDuper! to make your clone, you no longer have your Recovery partition, please create a bootable USB for troubleshooting purposes, if you don't already have one.

 

[jimshaw]

Thanks. I've seen references to a recovery partition, but I don't know what that is. I also don't know how to make a bootable USB stick/drive. But I'd like to know these things. FYI I'm running 10.7.5 on my MacBook. I'm fanatic about backing up my Mac Mini, but less so about the MacBook.