Enable TRIM in OS X 10.7.5 to 10.9.5

os-x-enable-trim.md

Enable TRIM on non-Apple SSDs in OS X

NOTE: This is tested on the versions mentioned in the title, and NOT earlier or later versions. YMMV.

Run the following commands in Terminal…

Backup the original driver:

sudo cp /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage-backup

Modify the driver (choose only one of the following lines, based on the version):

# 10.9.4 & 10.9.5
sudo perl -pi -e 's|(^\x00{1,20})[^\x00]{9}(\x00{1,20}\x54)|$1\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00$2|sg' /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage

# 10.8.3 to 10.9.3
sudo perl -pi -e 's|(\x52\x6F\x74\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E\x61\x6C\x00{1,20})[^\x00]{9}(\x00{1,20}\x54)|$1\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00$2|sg' /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage

# 10.7.5, 10.8.1, 10.8.2
sudo perl -pi -e 's|(\x52\x6F\x74\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E\x61\x6C\x00{1,20})[^\x00]{9}(\x00{1,20}\x4D)|$1\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00$2|sg' /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage

Run these commands in succession to clear the system caches to enable OS X to pick up the modified driver:

sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
sudo kextcache -system-caches
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/

Restart the Mac.

Thank you. This help me with a MacBook late 2007 model running OS X Lion on Patriot Pyro SSD.

Carlos.

Thank you it works like a charm on a 10.9.5 But if System Information says Trimm is on. Is it really on? How can I see that this is on. And by the way what does it? Randomly change the Memory Location of every bit?

Exactly where am I supposed to see the trim enabled indicator on OS X 10.9.5?

I think I've applied the correct patch from the list above but I cannot seem to find the indicator for my external Kingston SUV500MS120G (SSDNow family).

> md5sum /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/*
79f51aaf114f3dd8be5e409f6e3c13df  /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage
ef72c0c2bfb1074bf400d3405efdae10  /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage-backup

> kextstat | fgrep -i IOAHCIBlockStorage
   61    0 0xffffff7f813bb000 0x18000    0x18000    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage (2.6.0) <43 16 6 5 4 3 1>

contents comparison, does this look correct?

> od -x IOAHCIBlockStorage-backup > /tmp/kk1
> od -x IOAHCIBlockStorage > /tmp/kk2
> diff tmp/kk[12]
3975c3975
< 0201720      0a79    4100    5050    454c    5320    4453    5400    6d69
---
> 0201720      0a79    0000    0000    0000    0000    0000    5400    6d69

EDIT: I just realised this patch replaces the string "APPLE SSD" with as many null bytes. I see a second occurrence of a very similar pattern a bit further in the file: "APPLE SSD TS". I guess I have nothing to lose to replace that one too (would I have an older version of the framework on my system?!)

@RJVB You should be able to see it in System Information.app → Hardware → SATA → Trim Support: Yes

@RJVB You should be able to see it in System Information.app → Hardware → SATA → Trim Support: Yes

So does this only work for SATA disks, i.e. not via the SATSMART driver that provides SMART support for drives connected in other ways? Or, does the info just not show up there because of a limitation in the SysInfo app? Is there any other way to check if support is enabled, or if TRIM commands have actually been sent?

@RJVB I've only tested this on SATA SSDs, as this was the only way to get TRIM back in the day. (Later versions of OS X supported the trimforce command.) Sorry, I don't know of a way to check if TRIM is actually working at a lower level.

Do you know if it's supposed to work with external drives?

Thanks man. Worked on my evo860 SSD on my mid-2012 i5 on OSX 10.9.5 after the initial software update following reinstallation of OS X.