Thanks to a tip from the developer of SuperDuper, Dave Nanian, I found that a Samsung Portable SSD Driver kernel extension was preventing me from booting my MacBook Pro 2019 16-inch (macOS 12.2) from a clone of the MBP created on a T7 SSD.
Uninstalling the software removed the kext and allowed the boot, but now my question is, how can I tell when a firmware update is available for the T7?
What software are you referring to that was uninstalled?
Sorry for not being clearer – the software was Samsung Portable SSD, which came with the drive.
It’s also available here:
https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/tools/
I’m guessing the Samsung software that’s on the T7…but it won’t boot a 2013 mini even without installing the Samsung stuff…and it isn’t needed for anything as far as I can tell.
Thanks for the link. I don’t recall but I don’t think there was any software on my T7 but it works fine in any event.
My T7 with a Catalina installation boots fine with my 2012 Mac Mini but I can’t use anything newer except in a VM.
If I remember correctly, when I got my first T7, in April 2021, I used the software to install a firmware update and I think I must have done that for subsequent ones I bought too.
As far as I know there is no other way to install the updates.
If I remember correctly, when I got my first T7, in April 2021, I used the software to install a firmware update and I think I must have done that for subsequent ones I bought too.
As far as I know there is no other way to install the updates.
Correct. You need the app to install firmware updates of which there have been a few.
You can download the app any time from Samsung, don’t need the one that came on the drive.
It is a pretty clunky process on my M1 MBA, and I guess won’t work at all when kernel extensions stop in 12.3.
Whether firmware updates are worth doing is another subject, as Samsung must know only a small fraction of all devices ever get updated.
OTOH they don’t create firmware updates for fun.
Reading some of the comments regarding the Samsung firmware, it sounds like some of the updates created more problems for users. Also, it seems that it is more relevant to those who have the password fingerprint model. I have the basic T7 and have never done any firmware updates on that or the T5’s I have (assuming there are any updates). So unless there is a good reason why a Mac user needs to upgrade the firmware, I will wait.
Thanks for the comments. I have come to more or less the same conclusions.
Also, now thinking it over, I am not sure I actually did update the firmware in any of my T7s – I may have just run the software to see if an update was available.
I don’t have any of the Samsung enclosed SSD’s but I know several users who do and they tell me that some of the firmware updates are to tweak setting which result in extended life of the SSD, so if that’s a concern, it might be worth keeping up.
I’m the one with the T7 that won’t boot a 2013 mini…after seeing this thread I installed the Samsung software on it and there was a firmware update on the T7 to 1.74. Installed that and tried again to see if would boot the mini after the update.
Nope.
Still boots my M1 Pro MBP though.
I just realized when you mentioned your 2013 Mini, I though that there was only a late 2012 (which is what I have) and a 2014 model. So I’m wondering which one you have since my 2012 (i7 2.3 GHz Quad Core) works fine booting from a T7.
Late 2014…my bad. Still won’t boot from the T7 though, guess that’s just the way it is.
OK. That is strange since your computer is newer so you would think it would be more compatible unless it is an OS issue.
Yep…very strange. I’ve reformatted and installed Monterey on it at least twice while it was attached to the mini and the resulting install boots my M1 Pro MBP just fine. The T7 can be selected in either Sys Prefs or option boot on the mini but it wont’ actually boot from it. I messed around with it for 10 days or so before giving up and just let it boot from the internal drive and use the T7 for file shares to provide a TM network like equivalent backup since TM doesn’t work reliably to network destinations.
Can you connect the T7 to the mini using thunderbolt 2, and see if it can boot the mini that way? AFAICT you need a TB2 to TB3 adapter and a TB3 to USB-C kabel. Expensive to buy if you don’t have them laying around. On the plus side, you get the max read/write speed of the T7, as that is just half the speed of the TB2 port.
The Samsung T7 is a USB device, and while it will work plugged into a TB3 port (which are USB backward compatible) it won’t make use of the Thunderbolt protocol, and don’t think TB2 ports were backward compatible with USB. Also I don’t think TB2 ports supplied any power, so a T7 connected to a TB2 port with a TB3/TB2 adapter wouldn’t actually work. TB2 was only used with wall powered devices. (AFAIK)
That’s correct. The TB Samsung drive is the X5. That will work over TB2 TB3 ports. The USB-C based T series can be connected to TB3 or USB ports.
Would the X5 get any power from a TB2 port? I didn’t think it would but could be wrong.
EDIT this thread has some answers:
(getting a bit off topic!)