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

[Martijn]

Hi Matt,

That will be super! Looking forward to use the SSD in my MBA...

[GillesB]

Any news?

[dclaessen]

Same problems here. USB seems to work with the 128GB Runcore ZIF 1.8", but not in the MacBook Air itself. No clue what to do!

Dennis

[Runcore Marketing]

Well guys I do not have an answer just yet but it is not looking like a quick fix as of today. Someone at our Shanghai office had a friend come in with his MBA Rev A and they had no success. We are now raising it to the next level to find out what the problem may be. We have also emailed all of the parts vendors to ask if they have any compatibility issues with the MacBook Air. Please be patent we will solve the problem. There will always be some issues that arrive from releasing the newest of technologies but nothing our Technicians cannot fix.

I will keep you guys posted when I hear something even if its over the weekend.

Matt

[santala]

I currently have a drive from RunCore (BM64GCZ108 RCP-I-Z1864-C) and a KingSpec (KSD-ZF18.1-064MJ) with neither of them working, despite both and the original HDD working in a USB case with original HDD also working in the MBA.

If either of these companies could fix their drive and get it working, I'd be eternally grateful. Thanks.

[csousa]

Received the following email that confirms the drive that is actually marketed and labeled as compatible for the MacBook Air does not work (although it works with other notebooks).

From: "MyDigitalDiscount.com"
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:49:14 -0400
To: ...
Subject: Your 1.8 inch Zif Order
Dear Valued Customer,

It has come to our attention that the Runcore 1.8 inch Zif SSD is having an issue were it is unable to be recognized by the following computers that we know of:

Macbook Air Revision A
Dell Mini 12, D420, and D430
Fujitsu 810

We have escalated this issue to Runcore and Runcore Support is now working to find a swift resolution.

If you have one of these computers please do not go through the trouble of installing the drive at this time and wait for further instructions. We will be in contact with you on Monday morning with more information.

We have found that these drives work great in the following computers:

HP Mini 1000
Fujitsu 820
Sony UX and Vaio P
HP 2710P
Kojinsha SX3

If you have one of these computers by all means install and enjoy if you haven’t done so already!

If you have a computer that these drives do or do not work with and you do not see it listed above, please take a moment to reply to this email and tell us the computer model information.

Thank you all for being so patient and understanding.

[GillesB]

Originally Posted by Runcore Marketing

Well guys I do not have an answer just yet but it is not looking like a quick fix as of today. Someone at our Shanghai office had a friend come in with his MBA Rev A and they had no success. We are now raising it to the next level to find out what the problem may be. We have also emailed all of the parts vendors to ask if they have any compatibility issues with the MacBook Air. Please be patent we will solve the problem. There will always be some issues that arrive from releasing the newest of technologies but nothing our Technicians cannot fix.

I will keep you guys posted when I hear something even if its over the weekend.

Matt

Matt,

Thanks for this, I would have preferred that Runcore actually tested the drive before badging it "For MacBookAir RevA".

I stopped installing / uninstalling the drive as it would most likely cause to a destruction of the Zif cable at least.
Please keep us posted ASAP.

Regards

[Runcore Marketing]

Guys the Runcore design team is working on this issue and believe it to be solvable in a very short time.

Also I have some side news while reviewing the issue that the MBA has we found a couple other computers do not work with the drive as you can see from the post with the letter from MDD. While tinkering with the MBA issue we played with the drive settings. The drive is set to cable select and if we make it master all of those PC's that were not working should now work unfortunately all except the MBA.

I'm guessing the notebook manufacturers must do something in the BIOS that only allows them to work on a Master setting.

Needless to say we are going to ship the drives set to master from now on.

I will update you guys in the morning.

Also MacWorld wants to do a review on both of our 1.8" MacBook Air products we have to get this thing working and fast.

Matt Dawson
Runcore CMO

[Tony Almeida]

I have successfully installed MAC OS on the MBA.

[dclaessen]

Originally Posted by Tony Almeida

I have successfully installed MAC OS on the MBA.

I guess the question is whether you had to do something special to make OS X recognize the drive... And this seems to be the 64gb version. Could be different with the 128 gb version. Anyway, could be providing a clue to solve the problems people have!

For RunCore: keep up the good work, let's hope we have a solution sometime soon!

Dennis