For whatever reason, Apple hasn't allowed you to enable TRIM (one of the best ways to maximize the life of your solid state drive) on third-part SSD drives. Now, you finally can, no third-party. Trim Enabler is now $9.99 from Cindori. Why Is TRIM So Important? When the OS, (Mac, Windows or Linux) uses TRIM with a solid-state drive, it sends a signal to the SSD every time you delete a file. The SSD then knows that the file is deleted and it can erase the file's data from its flash storage.
Trim Ssd Mac App
| Click here to return to the 'Easy way to 'trim' an SSD' hint |
You can also install Cindori's Trim Enabler, available here.
You'll recognize his name if you've used his utility for flashing non-Apple video card upgrades for Mac Pro towers. Anyway, it simply enables the (obviously) already built-in trim support for almost all SSDs, not just those that are Apple-provided.
You can do the same thing by booting to single user mode (reboot while holding command-s) and entering 'fsck -fy' (without the quotes). If you have the TRIM hack installed, this will TRIM free space on the drive. If the TRIM hack is not installed this will not work.
Of course a ssd from, say OWC, has no need for this. Most of the new SSDs have functions to do garbage collection built into the controller on the drive.
Go look it up on OWCs site.
Mac Os Trim
Built-in garbage collection is guessing at what needs to be reclaimed. TRIM lets the OS tell the SSD directly 'yes, you can free this now'.
No amount of clever GC algorithms can compare to a simple instruction that says 'do this'.
I bought a Vertex2 SSD drive over 7 months ago. I don't use TRIM.
I ran a speed test on the drive right after the purchase.
I ran the same test on the drive just recently. The results were the same.
No loss of speed. The built-in SandForce controller does a good job iIMHO.
After reading things on the OWC site and on ancillary blogs maintained by their top personnel, I have lost respect for them. One has to be able to differentiate between technical competence and cleverness in self-promotion. I for one am not going to pay someone premium prices for their ability to BS.
You can also install Cindori's Trim Enabler, available here.
You'll recognize his name if you've used his utility for flashing non-Apple video card upgrades for Mac Pro towers. Anyway, it simply enables the (obviously) already built-in trim support for almost all SSDs, not just those that are Apple-provided.
You can do the same thing by booting to single user mode (reboot while holding command-s) and entering 'fsck -fy' (without the quotes). If you have the TRIM hack installed, this will TRIM free space on the drive. If the TRIM hack is not installed this will not work.
Of course a ssd from, say OWC, has no need for this. Most of the new SSDs have functions to do garbage collection built into the controller on the drive.
Go look it up on OWCs site.
Mac Os Trim
Built-in garbage collection is guessing at what needs to be reclaimed. TRIM lets the OS tell the SSD directly 'yes, you can free this now'.
No amount of clever GC algorithms can compare to a simple instruction that says 'do this'.
I bought a Vertex2 SSD drive over 7 months ago. I don't use TRIM.
I ran a speed test on the drive right after the purchase.
I ran the same test on the drive just recently. The results were the same.
No loss of speed. The built-in SandForce controller does a good job iIMHO.
After reading things on the OWC site and on ancillary blogs maintained by their top personnel, I have lost respect for them. One has to be able to differentiate between technical competence and cleverness in self-promotion. I for one am not going to pay someone premium prices for their ability to BS.
I have no second SSD to test. Really curious whether third-party add-on does this, or OS X itself.
My guess is it's a result of the 3rd party TRIM enabler - just did Disk Utility --> Repair on my machine (MacBook 2008 w/ Lion + Crucial SSD) and it didn't say it did a TRIM.
Yeah, don't trim OWC SSDs. Decreases performance. http://blog.macsales.com/11051-to-trim-or-not-to-trim-owc-has-the-answer
Isn't it supposed to happen on the fly ?
Why do you have 'Trim Enabler tool/hack installed'?
Lion supports TRIM.
See: System Information->Serial ATA:
TRIM Support: Yes
Lion only enables TRIM for apple-shipping SSDs. Third-party drives will not get it without a hack.
'Cus I'm running 10.6.8. I'm an old fart set in his ways.
This 'trim' ability is built into Lion's Disk Utility and 'fsck', and works on supported (Apple) SSD drives.
Trim Enabler is not needed.
I installed an SSD into my MacBook Pro over 6 months ago. It is a Vertex2 (with SandForce). I ran some tests on the SSD right after installing it.
Then I ran the same exact test just recently, over six months after the purchase. The performance still the same.
And this is without TRIM.
I think these new SSD drives are doing a great job with doing 'housecleaning' on their own.
Yes, newer drives don't need this. OWC SSDs are the best there is imho. I'm using their 480 GB 3G model. I'm somewhat glad that my older MBP only does SATA2, otherwise I might not have been able to hold myself back ordering the 6G… :-)
Ever since the release of OS X 10.6.8, Apple has been selectively enabling the TRIM command for SSDs in OS X. This support continues on in OS X Mavericks, but as many have noted, it only seems to work for Apple SSDs by default. We'll show you how you can enable TRIM across the board.
What is TRIM?
The TRIM command is an important disk command for SSDs that keeps your flash memory appropriately cycled so that you can achieve faster read and write speeds, as well as a longer lifespan for your SSD. As such, TRIM support is not the trivial matter that some make it out to be (although certain manufacturers, such as Other World Computing, include firmware that eliminates the need for OS-level TRIM support).
How to Enable TRIM Via the OS X Terminal (Recommended)
In you have an SSD that supports TRIM, follow the below instructions to enable it in OS X Mavericks. Note: This involves the use of terminal commands, so proceed at your own risk.
First, enter the command found in this document in the Terminal app on your Mac (found in Applications/Utilities).
After entering this command, you'll need to enter a second command:
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/
Trim Ssd For Mac
The above-linked document also contains some troubleshooting instructions, as well as details on how to disable TRIM support if necessary.
Using a Third Party Tool
Enable Trim Ssd Mac
If you don't find success using the Terminal command to enable TRIM for your SSD, there are two third-party apps that can help you enable TRIM support. I recommend trying Chameleon SSD Optimizer first. If that doesn't do the trick, you can try TRIM Enabler 3.0 or later for Mac. I don't like to recommend third-party tools, as they often make system-level changes above and beyond those performed by the terminal command – and that may not be in your best interest long-term.
Verifying TRIM Support
To ensure that the command was successful, and that TRIM really is enabled on your SSD, click the Finder menu in the Menu bar, then navigate to About This Mac > More Info > System Report. Then, scroll to the SATA/SATA Express section, and select your SSD. You should see a section called TRIM
Note: In some cases, a restart may be required before TRIM shows as Enabled in the System Profiler. With Mavericks, not all SSDs will report TRIM support, but doing a benchmark both before and after the change should confirm that TRIM is functional.
Added Bonus: Thunderbolt TRIM Support!
As an added bonus in OS X Mountain Lion or later, including OS X Mavericks (I have not tested this in previous versions of OS X), raid can now also be enabled for SSDs hooked to your Mac through a Thunderbolt PCIe controller, such as the excellent Magma ExpressBox 3T! For more info on these devices, check out our complete review roundup of Thunderbolt PCIe controllers – perfect for Apple's 2013 Mac Pro!
If you're looking for an SSD to use in your Mac, I recommend checking out the OCZ Vector or the Sandisk Extreme. Also, make sure to check out the full range of affordable SSDs available on Amazon!
For more helpful tips, check out our full collection of tutorials by visiting our How-To category!
