MacBook Air Rev A with RunCore 1.8" Pro IV PATA ZIF Drive *ZIF PROBLEMS*

[rmjanzen]

Searching on google for indilinx 1819 firmware does get you a lot of hits... It is said that crucial usese the standard indilinx fw and they have 1819 on their site since last month... If it is the exact same fw i don't know.

in the changelog it says :

2. Bug Fix: After STANDBY_IMMEDIATE, most host controllers wait for OOB reply for 100ms. Sometimes Indilinx Barefoot firmware couldn’t answer to COMRESET because FTL initialization took longer time. This bug caused Windows Sleep/Hibernate test failure.
3. Bug Fix: Various read fail scenario were found with FTL simulation

regards,

René

[riyadc]

Originally Posted by Runcore Marketing

I have some potentially very good news guys.

We found a MBA Rev A SSD that gave us the same error as you guys got and just tried a new FW from Indilinx and bam no problem for 25 cycles of Sleep and Hibernate. I actually have a drive on its way to MyDigitalDiscount.com allready upgraded. I would like to send to one of you guys ASAP for further confirmation. Who is closest to NY and bought your drive from MyDigitalDiscount.com so we can get some answers fast? Please call MDD to be the 1st to change to the new drive and FW.
I would tell you all to upgrade to the New FW now but we just want to make sure as Indilinx is not even releasing the FW for another 2 weeks.

Also even more good news - for others that are having this problem in other computers it seems to fix them as well.

I will keep you all posted but it seems like this drive is going to be perfected within a week or less. Thanks for the help and great feedback guys. Now we will start tackling some of the other threads here. We are developing a solid support structure for you guys at this time so in the future things are much more organized.

Matt

So once the new Indilinx firmware is officially out, will we be able to upgrade the firmware using OSX? Or will I need to plug in the drive to a windows machine?

[rkv]

Originally Posted by Martijn

*** EDITED ON 6-10-2009 ***:

For 'first-time-readers' of this thread: RunCore has solved the problem with an newly designed drive... Check from page 14 and futher for details on that...

*** END EDIT****

Just a few days ago I recieved the long awaited RunCore 1.8" SSD.

So I instantly, I had to put the new drive in my Macbook Air (Rev. A)!

I Did, but the result is that it isn't working at all sofar.

<...DELETED...>

Yesterday I received a RunCore 128GB SSD for MacBook Air. It has part number RCP-IV-ZA1828-C and is directly from one of RunCore's distributors.

However, it is not visible in my MacBook Air. Similar to problem reported by Martijn in the original post in this thread. Given the reports of success I am suspecting that I may be dealing with an unscrupulous dealer. They knew that I was putting it in an MBA and not some other computer in which it might work.

In any event, I would be interested in whether a RunCore representative (Matt ???) could provide the serial numbers of drives that have the fix. I suspect mine is an older one? I've contacted Runcore support to see about getting the drive replaced. However, if it is the original problem then I am disappointed by the distributor.

Also, it would be helpful if RunCore's part numbers included a revision code of some form to reflect these fixes.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I am disappointed and it seems like the buyer might need to beware for a bit longer.

Lastly, I note in one of Matt's posts that the drive would be "...perfect within a week or less...". What of the imperfect drives which still may be out there?

I'll post back an update once I get some resolution.

[rkv]

A quick update. Both RunCore and the Distributor have been extremely responsive regarding the problem. I heard from the distributor at their start of day and within hours of China coming online on Monday, the distributor had heard back from RunCore with some suggested tests. They also confirmed that given the serial number it should work in my MacBook Air Rev A and was not one of the drives with which there had been problems.

For the moment it's looking like it may just be a faulty drive. I'm hoping to get it back to the distributor today.

I have noticed one item where at least for my particular SSD, the drive cable retaining flap on the RunCore SSD does not appear to lock down the drive cable as securely as the original Samsung drive. This is both with the internal Apple cable as well with the ribbon cable in the RunCore supplied USB housing. I don't think this is the cause of my problem. However, it is a mechanical difference between the Apple supplied drive and at least my particular variant of the RunCore SSD.

[vipnyc]

Matt - can we get an update on this.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Runcore Marketing

I have some potentially very good news guys.

We found a MBA Rev A SSD that gave us the same error as you guys got and just tried a new FW from Indilinx and bam no problem for 25 cycles of Sleep and Hibernate. I actually have a drive on its way to MyDigitalDiscount.com allready upgraded. I would like to send to one of you guys ASAP for further confirmation. Who is closest to NY and bought your drive from MyDigitalDiscount.com so we can get some answers fast? Please call MDD to be the 1st to change to the new drive and FW.
I would tell you all to upgrade to the New FW now but we just want to make sure as Indilinx is not even releasing the FW for another 2 weeks.

Also even more good news - for others that are having this problem in other computers it seems to fix them as well.

I will keep you all posted but it seems like this drive is going to be perfected within a week or less. Thanks for the help and great feedback guys. Now we will start tackling some of the other threads here. We are developing a solid support structure for you guys at this time so in the future things are much more organized.

Matt

[Runcore Marketing]

One of our engineers is still working on the instructions. I have told him we have a deadline of the end of this week.

Matt

[kleykenb]

Darn, I ordered this drive just now , I guess I could still cancel the order ...
bit in limbo now wondering what I got myself into this time ...

So, can all people that now have the "64GB RunCore Pro IV 1.8" PATA ZIF SSD Solid" let me know how they are doing with the drive ?
is the issue fixed or not ?

greets,
Benny

[Runcore Marketing]

FYI everyone I got the FW instructions but they are in Chinese English if ya know what I mean and I am going to have to redo them and also experiment and do the upgrade myself. I hope to have them up for Monday night.

Benny any drives that we ship now are going to have the upgraded FW on them so don't worry you are all set.

Matt

[vipnyc]

Aside from this issue - the drive is great. New life into my favorite laptop.

Originally Posted by kleykenb

Darn, I ordered this drive just now , I guess I could still cancel the order ...
bit in limbo now wondering what I got myself into this time ...

So, can all people that now have the "64GB RunCore Pro IV 1.8" PATA ZIF SSD Solid" let me know how they are doing with the drive ?
is the issue fixed or not ?

greets,
Benny

[gman_nyc]

If I follow these responses, all of the Runcore SSDs will now work (because of new firmware already installed) in a MacBook Air Rev A (they are recognized and I'll be able to clone before installing). Also, does anyone know when the 128 GBs (Part#: RCP-IV-ZA1828-C) will return to stock? Thanks!