I have an iMac from 2011, Mac OS X 10.6.8, and an SDD in a FW800/USB3 case. Which interface can let me enable TRIM: USB2, USB3, FW800 or Thunderbolt ?
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1The interface you use to connect the external drive to your computer has no bearing on TRIM support and other ATA commands. Furthermore, your computer has neither USB 3 nor Thunderbolt. Hence, I've removed that segment of your question so your question is better-focused.– CajunlukeMar 29, 2012 at 19:07
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@CajunLuke, the mid-2011 iMac should have Thunderbolt - it was part of the refresh, wasn't it? (see support.apple.com/kb/HT4619.) However, you're right - TRIM support doesn't depend on the interface.– JW8Mar 29, 2012 at 20:35
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@JW8 Facepalm. For some reason I thought they'd been released this year, so I thought the 2011 models were too old. You're correct: the 2010 models wouldn't have TB, the 2011 models do.– CajunlukeMar 29, 2012 at 21:05
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1It's my question, I know better what I want to know so you don't edit it especially if you don't know what you're talking about.– WaterBearerMar 29, 2012 at 22:21
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4 Answers
I realize this question is over 4 years old, but I'm adding a comment because this page was the first hit for a Google search on the subject and some of the comments are outdated whereas others were plain wrong.
Apple added native TRIM support in OS X 10.6.8 but only for Apple OEM SSDs. To get around that restriction, software such as Cindori's TRIM Enabler allowed TRIM to be used on 3rd party SSDs. Later, OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) introduced a security requirement called kext signing which prevented TRIM Enabler from working without completely turning off kext signing. Then in OS X 10.10.4, Apple introduced a “trimforce” command which enabled TRIM on 3rd party SSDs without turning off kext signing. (I have sources but Stack Exchange won't let me post more than 2 links)
Contrary to many of the comments here, the interface DOES matter. The vast majority of USB enclosures do not support TRIM, but allegedly there are some that support it such as the JMS 578 USB bridge controller (source: http://bbs.pceva.com.cn/thread-125643-1-1.html). All five of the USB 3 enclosures / docks I have support it. Firewire supposedly supports TRIM, but I haven't tested it. Most Thunderbolt enclosures should support TRIM, and I currently have TRIM enabled on a SanDisk Extreme SSD in an Akitio Thunderbolt 2 enclosure. I used the trimforce command in terminal to enable it.
In order to check if your enclosure supports TRIM, you’ll want to go to Apple > About This Mac > System Report > Hardware > SATA/SATA Express > and look for “TRIM Support” under the enclosure specs. If TRIM Support is not listed, your enclosure most likely does not support TRIM. If it is listed but says “No”, you can try turning TRIM on by using the trimforce command in terminal. Just open Terminal and type “sudo trimforce enable”. Once your computer restarts, check System Report again to see if TRIM Support changed to Yes.
Finally, TRIM does matter, even for modern SSDs with sophisticated garbage collection. I experienced this firsthand when my SanDisk SSD started slowing down as it got older before enabling TRIM on it. There’s a good, but somewhat outdated article about it here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/ask-ars-my-ssd-does-garbage-collection-so-i-dont-need-trim-right/
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1All good information, but I notice that the TRIM Support indicator is only listed for SATA devices - meaning only SATA and Thunderbolt. Do you know if macOS will run Trim over USB or FireWire at all, even with a compatible enclosure?– David C.Oct 2, 2017 at 21:15
According to OS X Daily, TRIM is enabled for all Apple SSDs, but not for third party drives. The article claims that a third party utility, Trim Enabler, turns on TRIM for third party drives as well. More details can be found on the developer's page. Note that this utility isn't officially supported by Apple, so you should back up before installing the utility.
The interface of the external drive shouldn't matter for TRIM support (USB 2, FW800, or Thunderbolt). However, please note that Macs did not begin to natively support USB 3 until June 2012- with your 2011 iMac you'd be using USB 2 with one of those drives.
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@CajunLuke, indeed you are right. I meant to say that the USB 3 drive would be treated as a USB 2 drive - the drive can't take advantage of the benefits of USB 3.– JW8Mar 29, 2012 at 20:33
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2TRIM on OS X should not be enabled haphazardly. It has known issues with SandForce-based drives and may not be of any benefit with others. Apple does not enable it for a reason and it's not to sell more of their SSDs.– user10355Mar 29, 2012 at 20:36
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The author of Trim enabler says that he doesn't think it could be enabled on an external SSD, that it depends on Apple - meaning that the interface DOES matter. Mar 29, 2012 at 22:25
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Yes, you can enable TRIM on an external SSD. I own a Lacie Rugged USB/Thunderbolt 128 GB drive and I enabled it with TRIM Enabler. I am using it as a boot drive.
I do not know if it is smart to enable TRIM but I could not find any posts where it would stand that TRIM can harm your external SSD.
But for any case, I have multiple backups of my SSD drive.
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Indeed you can, but it doesn't mean that the TRIM feature is used. May 11, 2013 at 12:52
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Thanks, never thought about that. How can you find out if TRIM is used?– cahukMay 11, 2013 at 19:30
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I don't know, maybe by looking at how the data is stored, the sectors and blocks (I'm not familiar) May 12, 2013 at 8:15
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I think that would do it, too. But did not find any appropriate scripts yet.– cahukMay 12, 2013 at 11:04
I have a Crucial 960gb m500 ssd that I put into a G drive thunderbolt/usb chassis a couple of years ago for time machine and random manual file backup. It seems to have started slowing down recently with "preparing backup" msg that last for a couple of hours before doing the backup. I ran trim force with the drive attached via thunderbolt, My osx system report now says that trim is enabled for this device. I'm waiting and seeing if it makes a difference!
