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MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

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31–40 of 107 posts

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#31
post #8

Can someone tell me how I can determine if my machine is affected if I don't have an OS X install? I've only got Debian available.

Maybe try: lspci -v

OK, so I've got a "TS064C".

Now where do I find a useful list of which models are actually broken?

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#32
post #23

We also recommend backing up your data on a regular basis until you receive a replacement drive. Why stop there? With tools and services like Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner and Crashplan, there's no excuse not to maintain a backup. As evidenced by this page, shit happens .

Do not rely completely on Time Machine backups. I learnt the lesson in a painful way. My MBP crashed a few years back, and Apple decided to replace the motherboard. Unfortunately, Time Machine detected this as a new laptop, and won't let me restore from the backups. These days, i backup only user data and i don't worry about the base OS. In fact, i prefer this over TimeMachine style backups. Photos go to Google Drive…

Sorry, you did something wrong. One of Time Machine's core functions is to migrate old laptops to newer laptops. It absolutely does not refuse to let you restore across new hardware.

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#33
post #28

SSD's are not there yet, if you ask me. I've been running on a custom SSD on my Mac mini, with restarts required once daily after crashing (mostly due to chrome). A dozen friends of mine also had a buggy experience with SSDs. They are super fast, I mean. But not so reliable at this point in time. Will I go back to a HDD? Probably not. HDD is really good for backing up stuff, but for speed, SSD's are unmatched. There'…

I wouldn't say that. I've been using SSDs since 2009, and I've never had an issue with them. Every MacBook I've owned since then has had a hybrid of SSD + HDD for speed and capacity, and it seriously works a treat. The only issue I have ever encountered with them was an issue between a very specific combination of drives, once that was nutted out it's been solid as a rock. I would never go back.

I run an SSD for the system and a HDD (in the optical drive bay) for storage in my (aged) MBP. Any advice to get the HDD to wind down when not in use? This setup is fantastic when plugged in, but battery life suffers with the HDD in the aftermarket location unable to go to sleep...

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#34
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say that. I've been using SSDs since 2009, and I've never had an issue with them. Every MacBook I've owned since then has had a hybrid of SSD + HDD for speed and capacity, and it seriously works a treat. The only issue I have ever encountered with them was an issue between a very specific combination of drives, once that was nutted out it's been solid as a rock. I would never go back.

I run an SSD for the system and a HDD (in the optical drive bay) for storage in my (aged) MBP. Any advice to get the HDD to wind down when not in use? This setup is fantastic when plugged in, but battery life suffers with the HDD in the aftermarket location unable to go to sleep...

Yes... swap the two drives. The optical bay cannot properly put the HDD to sleep. I am running a similar setup, but with the HDD in the original bay, and the SSD in the optical bay and have no issues.

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#35
post #23

We also recommend backing up your data on a regular basis until you receive a replacement drive. Why stop there? With tools and services like Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner and Crashplan, there's no excuse not to maintain a backup. As evidenced by this page, shit happens .

Do not rely completely on Time Machine backups. I learnt the lesson in a painful way. My MBP crashed a few years back, and Apple decided to replace the motherboard. Unfortunately, Time Machine detected this as a new laptop, and won't let me restore from the backups. These days, i backup only user data and i don't worry about the base OS. In fact, i prefer this over TimeMachine style backups. Photos go to Google Drive…

You can exclude the OS and applications from your Time Machine backups if you want. It's a great way to save space, since you can probably reinstall those from other sources.

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#37

SSD's are not there yet, if you ask me. I've been running on a custom SSD on my Mac mini, with restarts required once daily after crashing (mostly due to chrome). A dozen friends of mine also had a buggy experience with SSDs. They are super fast, I mean. But not so reliable at this point in time. Will I go back to a HDD? Probably not. HDD is really good for backing up stuff, but for speed, SSD's are unmatched. There'…

"restarts required once daily"? Do you mean restarting the crashed application (Chrome), or an actual daily reboot of the OS?

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run an SSD for the system and a HDD (in the optical drive bay) for storage in my (aged) MBP. Any advice to get the HDD to wind down when not in use? This setup is fantastic when plugged in, but battery life suffers with the HDD in the aftermarket location unable to go to sleep...

Yes... swap the two drives. The optical bay cannot properly put the HDD to sleep. I am running a similar setup, but with the HDD in the original bay, and the SSD in the optical bay and have no issues.

Ah, yes. I think with my machine being a very old model (MBP 4,1) there was some issue for why I didn't do this. Perhaps the maximum speed of the optical bay? I'll have to look up the specs again to see if it wouldn't be worth the trade off, as it would be great to make the old goat more portable. Thanks for the tip!

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#39

We also recommend backing up your data on a regular basis until you receive a replacement drive. Why stop there? With tools and services like Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner and Crashplan, there's no excuse not to maintain a backup. As evidenced by this page, shit happens .

Just as heads up:

- Time machine: is not reliable for network backups (yes, really)

- CCC: needs a USB connected drive for a MBA

- Crashplan: recurring payment service based in the US

All of the above solution are useful, but none are reasonable and no brainer backup solutions for everyone, especially for MBA owners.

As for now, bittorent sync with a mirror on the same network feels like the best solution IMO.

Re: MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program

#40
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say that. I've been using SSDs since 2009, and I've never had an issue with them. Every MacBook I've owned since then has had a hybrid of SSD + HDD for speed and capacity, and it seriously works a treat. The only issue I have ever encountered with them was an issue between a very specific combination of drives, once that was nutted out it's been solid as a rock. I would never go back.

I run an SSD for the system and a HDD (in the optical drive bay) for storage in my (aged) MBP. Any advice to get the HDD to wind down when not in use? This setup is fantastic when plugged in, but battery life suffers with the HDD in the aftermarket location unable to go to sleep...

If I'm going portable and need every last minute of battery life I'll transfer files I need over to my SSH (or to a 64GB SD card if they're very large files) and unmount the platter drive in my MBP
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