Samsung 860 Evo For Mac
I got one of these Samsung 840 Evo Basic 500GB on an iMac (used externally in a TB case - standalone, not Fusion). I know there's a firmware update out which is already available for Mac users too but they only offer an iso image that only seems to work when used on a self burned CD. As i don't have an external CD for my iMac and not planning to have one i wonder what other way would be possible to update the firmware and probably use thise Performance restauration tool from Samsung that they offer for Windows.
From the new Samsung EVO 860 I can start and shutdown, but I can NOT restart. It freezes with a black screen. If I remove and replace power, it will restart. Or I have to hold the power button till it shuts. The watchdog timer does NOT force a restart (I let machine sit in that state for over an hour, nada). Jun 23, 2018 - MPG reviewed the predecessor Samsung 850 EVO 2TB SSD 18 months prior to this. In OWC Thunderbolt 2 Drive Dock, 2015 MacBook Pro.
I've already tried booting into Bootcamp where this tool runs fine and also recognizes the SSD on the Thunderbolt port but it won't work as it only recognizes NTFS partitions and mine has HFS+ ofcourse. Any idea how to get that running? I'm on Yosemite with all machines, so rEFInd doesn't seem to be so easy to and i'm not sure if it would be a good idea to use it to get something like freedos running or whatever that Samsung tools need to get running. P.S: I've got problems with the SSD getting slow and have serious problems with a freezing finder where i hope the firmware update and the performance restauration help to get it running again. Just to give you a reason why i want to update the firmware.
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Adding to my answer as info trickles through on the interweb Update June 2015 - 1 It appears that no Mac made before 2012 can use this method, but I discovered yet another method using UNetbootin & a USB key - linked I appreciate this is 'link only' but this answer is turning into a novel;-) Update June 2015 - 2 However, I today discovered that you can update the Firmware, though not reperform, by using a Windows PC & the latest utility [as of today v4.6] without losing any data. It will update on a GUID/Mac Extended drive. The drive must be attached internal SATA, it doesn't work in an external USB enclosure. Make sure you always fetch the latest Magician first, otherwise older versions claim the firmware is up to date, even if it is blatantly older than any other SSD in that machine!
As my old 2008 Mac Pro will have nothing to do with any of the CD/USB stick update methods, I thought that might be sufficient. Training for quickbooks enterprise. As it turned out, I still needed to actually clone my boot partition, format to NTFS, reperform on Windows, then clone back - before I got back the drive's speed to as it was when new.
A comment from Cindori [makers of TRIM Enabler] on why there is no 'easy way' on Mac 'The reason for Samsung not producing a OSX version of this tool is because they can't. Apple does not expose the necessary driver stack for such disk interaction. It's the same thing stopping them from making Trim drivers or firmware upgrade utilities for OS X, and is why you have to use Boot CDs.' To run the Firmware updater, the SSD must be attached directly to an SATA port. It will not work over USB or PCIe, or on RAID or FileVault volumes. It appears you may have to also remove all attached PCIe cards/devices except graphics cards before the SSD will be recognised by the tool. I hope it goes without saying that you need a full backup before attempting this.
I really doubt that the will help much. I don't think the necessary driver for the thunderbolt interface is included in the isolinux provided, at least i couldn't find any traces in the iso. Additionally Samsung advices to backup all your data on the SSD before updating the firmware or executing the performance restoration software. Please first check before updating the firmware and particularly General Limitations: 4) 13) 17) So the easier way is to copy all data to another device, restarting into Windows7/8, reformatting the drive to NTFS and starting the Samsung Performance Restoration Software 1.1 there. Afterwards start Yosemite, reformat the drive to JHFS+ and refill the SSD with the previously copied data. Personal comment: Samsung support is really an info desert at least for Mac users.