Trim

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
Messages
68
Reaction score
3
A while back I installed a 500 gig SSD in my Mac mini and was delighted at the increase in speed. Many suggested I enable trim on this drive so I tried a third party app without success.
I know Apple computers with SSD's trim is enabled what is the risk with me enabling trim on my SSD?
I write this after already having enabled trim via terminal and all seems well, what say you?
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
This site contains a very good explanation of TRIM, along with whether or not your Mac (with an SSD as the startup drive) has TRIM enabled:

https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-check-and-enable-trim-on-a-mac-ssd--mac-60738

For my late 2012 Mac Mini (I am making this post on it), I replaced the (slow) internal 5400 rpm 1 TB drive with a (fast) Samsung 840 Pro 256 gig SSD, and thus TRIM was not enabled on that SSD. I subsequently launched Terminal, and entered the command:

sudo trimforce enable

It worked fine (I am using OS 10.13.6). So, according to that site containing the explanation about TRIM, it is definitely advantageous to enable TRIM on an SSD.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
123
Reaction score
0
I clicked on the SATA in the menu and got this message:

This computer doesn't contain any ATA devices. If you installed ATA devices, make sure they're connected and powered on.


There is no reference to TRIM.
 
Joined
Jan 25, 2017
Messages
1,264
Reaction score
99
I clicked on the SATA in the menu and got this message:

This computer doesn't contain any ATA devices. If you installed ATA devices, make sure they're connected and powered on.


There is no reference to TRIM.

Did you click on ATA or SATA/SATA express?
 
Joined
Jan 25, 2017
Messages
1,264
Reaction score
99
I get the same message as you for ATA but get the correct information for SATA.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
I get the same message as you for ATA but get the correct information for SATA.

Yes, the information is there if you click on "SATA/SATA Express". Here is what that screen says (after clicking on SATA/SATA Express" on my late 2012 Mac Mini:
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2018-10-08 at 10.36.06 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2018-10-08 at 10.36.06 AM.png
    95.5 KB · Views: 223
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
Lufbrarunner,

Did you try that Terminal Command? It worked for me on the Mac Mini. For my mid 2017 13" MacBook Air, being that it already came with an SSD, TRIM was/is enabled.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
Hmm, here is one of the links about TRIM, High Sierra (especially APFS), and SSDs:

https://cindori.org/apple-file-system-slow-boot-high-sierra/

I wonder if this issue is being addressed in Mojave?

Since I executed that Terminal Command yesterday, my Mac Mini is taking a little longer to boot up. I think I'll go ahead and disable it. I hope I can find out how to do that on my Mac Book Air, as it already had an SSD inside it, and TRIM was (and still is) enabled.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
OK, I "turned" off TRIM on my Mac Mini, via the Terminal Command:

sudo trimforce disable

It worked, and now the Mac Mini boots faster. However, when I tried the command on my Mac Book Air, it has no effect, ie, TRIM is still enabled.

Oh well, as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
201
Reaction score
9
Certainly some interesting information here. I couldn't swear to it, but I believe I read (from an OWC source) that enabling TRIM was not only beneficial, it would potentially lengthen the lifespan of an SSD. Indeed, it was implied that without TRIM enabled that one could expect an SSD to experience a shortened lifespan. I'll dig around my archive when time permits.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
I did not see anything "special" about TRIM and Samsung 840 Pro and 850 Pro SSDs (I have such models). In my research, most of the articles state that TRIM is beneficial for prolonging the life of SSDs. Yet, I did see where enabling TRIM does cause some slowness with High Sierra (would be fantastic if Mojave makes any improvement on that). In my case, my processing needs are not that intensive, especially on my MacBook Air. I do have TRIM turned off on my Mac Mini (with a Samsung 840 Pro 256 gig SSD), along with having plenty of free space on that SSD (and of course my efforts in keeping my Macs "lean, mean, and clean").
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
201
Reaction score
9
I did not see anything "special" about TRIM and Samsung 840 Pro and 850 Pro SSDs (I have such models). In my research, most of the articles state that TRIM is beneficial for prolonging the life of SSDs. Yet, I did see where enabling TRIM does cause some slowness with High Sierra (would be fantastic if Mojave makes any improvement on that). In my case, my processing needs are not that intensive, especially on my MacBook Air. I do have TRIM turned off on my Mac Mini (with a Samsung 840 Pro 256 gig SSD), along with having plenty of free space on that SSD (and of course my efforts in keeping my Macs "lean, mean, and clean").
I can't specifically address the speed increase issue as far as High Sierra v. Mojave are concerned. I think my feelings about HS have been made pretty clear before. I think it's a cat turd rolled in cracker crumbs.

Then again, I kept my experience with HS quite limited. I installed it only on an external drive on a USB 3 bus and later put it in a Thunderbolt enclosure to see if that helped speed it up. It didn't. At least by any appreciable measure from my perspective.

Aside from the early security issues, which I was never personally satisfied about being really resolved, HS simply never demonstrated itself as being as stable as either of its last two OS predecessors. That said, I think Sierra was absolutely outstanding from a stability perspective. And it was/is plenty fast.

HS was like the geriatric customer in front of you at Krogers who insists on paying exact change, can't find their change purse, counts out one bill and coin at a time, has to restart counting a couple of times, then says, "hell with it, I'll write a check," then has to fish around for what seems like an eternity to find the checkbook, can't find a pen, then can't find a pen that works... You get my point. Of course this was performing tasks with Premiere that are often time consuming in the first place.

All the rocks I've thrown at High Sierra are cast based purely on my own personal experience with it. Everyone's systems are unique unto themselves, and as the old saying goes, "your mileage may vary."

With Mojave on my MBP, I have seen a nice little performance boost going directly there from Sierra 10.12.6. Other than having to do a little dance with Terminal to get Adobe CS stuff installed and working properly, I've had nary a hiccup. But I had to deal with Terminal with Sierra to get the Adobe stuff to work as well, so I suppose that doesn't count.

As a matter of fact, I can boot from either of the two clones I keep of my MBP's system, and they perform quite nicely, even though both are 7,200 rpm HDDs and are connected via USB 3. They take perhaps 10-15 seconds longer to boot, but I don't think that's shaggy at all.

Don't quote me, but I believe I read somewhere on OWC's site that the Fusion drive issue with Mojave has been ironed out. It didn't stick too tightly in my brain because I don't have any fusion drives.

This entire Mojave business has me looking at myself a bit more closely in the mirror lately. I keep asking, "who the hell are you and where are you holding Allen captive, no doubt bound and gagged?"

I'm NOT an early adopter. At least I never had been before, going back to the days of System 7. I made an exception the day iOS 12 was released because iOS 11.4 was another cracker crumb-encrusted cat turd and I couldn't wait to get rid of that turkey. After seeing how great iOS 12 was, I downloaded Mojave, but mulled it over a few days before I installed in on an external drive. When I saw how well it seemed to work, I took the plunge and installed it on my MBP, which is my workhorse machine. And so far, I've not regretted it for a second.

On the TRIM thing, I'm persuaded it's a good thing to turn on. I've often scratched my head as to why Apple would not automatically enable TRIM when installing a third-party SSD. I didn't see any slowdown on any of my SSDs.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
Another excellent post! Your "geriatric customer" comments are priceless. I used to feel the exact same way whenever a customer in the Cash Only line would write a check! Same with the person in the "10 items or less" line who would have WAY more than 10 items. And these days such crap still exits, with folks getting to the cashier without preparing the funds to pay for the items. Grocery shopping is not a pleasant task for me, as I just want to get in and out. I know what I want when I go to Safeway, and I always pay in cash. And I already am prepared with my funds WAY before I get to the cashier (or these days I use the Self Checkout line). Sorry about my rant, but your accurate post about such crap gets me going!

If you do see a speed increase with Mojave over Sierra, then I would think I will see one when I upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave. But again, given the stickler I am for having my emergency "kit" functional, I am going to wait until Tech Tool Pro is compatible with Mojave.

As for TRIM, I did mention in that discussion that I definitely notice the "slight" hit with speed booting up my Mac Mini when I have TRIM enabled for the Samsung 840 Pro 256 gig SSD inside the machine. But again, High Sierra is a somewhat of a resource hog. Maybe with (hopefully) the speed increase with Mojave will make a difference regarding TRIM.
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
201
Reaction score
9
Another excellent post! Your "geriatric customer" comments are priceless. I used to feel the exact same way whenever a customer in the Cash Only line would write a check! Same with the person in the "10 items or less" line who would have WAY more than 10 items. And these days such crap still exits, with folks getting to the cashier without preparing the funds to pay for the items. Grocery shopping is not a pleasant task for me, as I just want to get in and out. I know what I want when I go to Safeway, and I always pay in cash. And I already am prepared with my funds WAY before I get to the cashier (or these days I use the Self Checkout line). Sorry about my rant, but your accurate post about such crap gets me going!

If you do see a speed increase with Mojave over Sierra, then I would think I will see one when I upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave. But again, given the stickler I am for having my emergency "kit" functional, I am going to wait until Tech Tool Pro is compatible with Mojave.

As for TRIM, I did mention in that discussion that I definitely notice the "slight" hit with speed booting up my Mac Mini when I have TRIM enabled for the Samsung 840 Pro 256 gig SSD inside the machine. But again, High Sierra is a somewhat of a resource hog. Maybe with (hopefully) the speed increase with Mojave will make a difference regarding TRIM.
I rather enjoy grocery shopping and look forward to the weekly trip with my wife. But she's the one who endures the checkout line as I usually excuse myself and go sit in the car. heheheheh.

I'm confident you'll see a noticeable speed increase with Mojave.

I'd like to suggest perhaps setting up an external drive exactly as you have your current system now, only with Mojave installed, and take it for a spin. If you run into any problems, you can always backstep more easily. You wouldn't have to worry any about TTP incompatibilities. That's never been a problem for me since I'm blessed with an abundance of excess 2.5" HDDs (all but one are 7,200 rpm) and a hot-swappable dock.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,854
Reaction score
241
Actually when we go to Costco together, it is, most of the time, fast. It's when I stop by myself at Safeway that I have/had those frustrations!

I know you have an abundance of external drives, but my two external SSDs are just about full. Each of them contain 3 partitions, with 2 of them dedicated for SuperDuper! backups for each of my Macs, and the third for storing miscellaneous "stuff". I still have the (slow) 5400 rpm 1 TB drive to took out of my Mac Mini a while back in an external case (still trying to sell it), but it is slow. I'll wait until TTPro is upgraded. And besides, most likely, V10.14.2 of Mojave will be out by then, resolving some more bugs.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
Messages
68
Reaction score
3
The link I posted references OWC SSD's only I never meant to imply this was for everyone.
But seeing as how the manufacturer/seller of my particular SSD advises not enabling Trim I'm good with that.
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
201
Reaction score
9
The link I posted references OWC SSD's only I never meant to imply this was for everyone.
But seeing as how the manufacturer/seller of my particular SSD advises not enabling Trim I'm good with that.
I bought my first SSD from OWC about 2-1/2 years ago, and I was advised that enabling TRIM was a good thing. Perhaps I'll poke around on their website and see if they've changed their minds.

The whole issue came up with me about six months after I bought that SSD and was thinking I needed to return it for replacement. Turns out the drive was okay, I was just getting a faulty report from DiskWarrior (which I no longer use nor recommend). That's when I was advised to enable TRIM.
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
201
Reaction score
9
Actually when we go to Costco together, it is, most of the time, fast. It's when I stop by myself at Safeway that I have/had those frustrations!

I know you have an abundance of external drives, but my two external SSDs are just about full. Each of them contain 3 partitions, with 2 of them dedicated for SuperDuper! backups for each of my Macs, and the third for storing miscellaneous "stuff". I still have the (slow) 5400 rpm 1 TB drive to took out of my Mac Mini a while back in an external case (still trying to sell it), but it is slow. I'll wait until TTPro is upgraded. And besides, most likely, V10.14.2 of Mojave will be out by then, resolving some more bugs.
My son could use a drive like that as a CCC backup.

I gave him my old 2012 iMac in which I'd installed a 1 TB HDD. He doesn't use the machine for much more than a glorified jukebox and video player in his man cave. I set up his 250 GB HDD from his old Mac as an external backup, and it's almost full.

Since he could use a bigger backup disk, what are you asking for it? Since it's just for a backup, speed isn't an issue.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top