Catalina (and Mojave): Random Freezes on SSD (non-SSD: no freezes)

[greenfrog5]

One of several remaining issues on my hackintosh to fix is getting my main system going on my Samsung 850 Pro SSD. I am currently running Catalina on a partition on a larger non-SSD drive, and it is generally working. However, no matter what I do, any installation on my SSD experience random freezes. It is unrelated to what I'm doing, sometimes just typing, browsing web, or when left on (i.e. doing nothing). Sometimes within a few minutes of logging in, other times after many minutes or hours (generally within 6 hours). The UI completely freezes, the cursor freezes, the time stops, nothing works. My hard-reboot button doesn't work, instead hard-powering-off the system a few seconds after pressing it.

Checking the system log, there doesn't appear to be anything "at" the time of freeze, the prior entry is typically a few minutes prior. I have included two screen shots of system logs after freezes.

I updated the firmware on the SSD, but no change.

I installed:
- Erase SSD as HFS+
- Boot Unibeast Catalina USB
- Disk Utility: format SSD to APFS
- Install Catalina on SSD
- Install latest Clover, Legacy
- Add: DSDT, apfs.efi, AppleALC, FakeSMC_sensors..., FakeSMC, Lilu, RTL8111, Whatevergreen
- Clover: iMac 13,2, Inject audio: 1

I have a Clover USB that works fine to boot my current working (non-SSD) drive, and I get no freezes. Using this same USB to boot the SSD, the system will randomly freeze.

Everything I have found online suggests the firmware of these drives can be an issue; but that the 850 Pro should be compatible, so I really don't know what to look into next. Please help!

 

[greenfrog5]

Christmas bump. I should add that this SSD has worked fine for a number of years with Yosemite, and prior macOS. What troubleshooting steps can I try?

 

[greenfrog5]

Does anybody have any ideas with this? It seems to be an issue starting with Mojave (which I tried installing before moving up to Catalina). I have all sleep settings disabled and screen lock disabled. I can boot, login, and just let it run, and within 4-6 hours, it will freeze. Sometimes it freezes within a few minutes. I am almost never doing anything (more than a web browser).

My next step will be a fresh install of Yosemite onto the SSD to confirm that does not freeze. Or, maybe that will also freeze (since now I have Clover, and not Chimera, so it is not exactly as I had it previously). I guess I should also move the drive to a different SATA port, and try a different cable, but hard to believe those are issues all of a sudden.

Do you think this is rooted in my Clover setup? The OS installation itself? Hardware incompatibility/failure? Are there any Clover settings I should play around with? I need something to go on here, and there isn't anything else online...

What would be different about this SSD, while using the same Clover, and same everything else?

 

[greenfrog5]

Really looking for some troubleshooting advice on this issue. Can someone please confirm that my 128 GB Samsung 850 PRO should be compatible with Catalina (using the latest firmware)? I see (larger versions of) this drive are listed in the buyers guide, so I presume my 128 GB version is also?

I did experience one (similar seeming) freeze on my non-SSD system (log attached), after several hours our use. My non-SSD system typically runs for 12-24 hours without issue, and I typically need to restart due to a different HD issue (with some partitions become inaccessible).

 

[greenfrog5]

I have continued to experience (similar seeming) random freezes on my non-SSD system. The system typically runs for 8-12h or longer before experiencing a freeze (the SSD typically between 10m and 4h). Any idea what might cause this, with the cause taking significantly longer to develop on the non-SSD drive? It seems that the system performance starts to degrade, with lags and slower response over time, then eventually randomly freezes.

As the freezes on the non-SSD drive appear to have begun more recently (maybe), I'm going to start rolling back my Clover and kexts to what I was using earlier in my process, and reducing clover to the bare minimum needed to boot to help troubleshoot.

Any other thoughts or things I should check or test?

 

[greenfrog5]

So, I've done a lot of troubleshooting and would like to report my findings in hopes someone can guide me to the best next steps.

I have:
- Booted my non-SSD boot drive with no other HDDs or peripherals attached -> ran for several days without freezes a few times. Seems that freezes do not occur once the SSD is disconnected.
- Run Drive Genius (free) drive check - > SSD is reported as fine, without errors
- Booted the SSD (plugged into 1st SATA port) with no other HDDs or peripherals attached -> freeze reoccurs
- Changed the SATA cable for SSD -> freeze reoccurs
- Changed the SATA port for SSD to 2nd SATA port -> freeze reoccurs
- Cloned the non-SSD (working) boot drive onto SSD -> freeze reoccurs
- Booted the non-SSD drive (with cloned SSD connected -> freeze reoccurs

It appears that just having the SSD connected will cause a freeze. It occurs within 4-6 hours (usually faster) when the SSD is booted. It can take a day when the non-SSD is booted. It appears that disconnecting the SSD fixes the freezes on the non-SSD drive, but I have to test this more to be sure.

My Next Steps:
- I have an external SATA->USB dock and I plan to boot from that and let it run overnight and see if it freezes.
- I was also going to try to reinstall Yosemite (which worked for several years) and see if that freezes.

While I am willing to replace the drive, I believe it should be compatible, and I would really prefer to get it working if possible. I'd also like to learn, and understand why/how.

Please help with additional troubleshooting steps I can try! Thanks

 

[greenfrog5]

So, I took the problematic SSD and plugged it into an external USB 3.0 hard drive dock that I have. I booted from this and it ran without freezing for over 48 hours. Reinstalling it back into the computer, it froze after about 6 hours. It usually freezes after 2-4 hours, and typically after 6 at the max.

I am testing it (again) with a different SATA cable(s), and port(s) on the MB. Is it possible that a SATA cable works with other HDDs, but is (now) incompatible with this one specifically? Or, is "bad cable" = "bad" regardless of the drive?

Aside from trying all the cables/ports that I have, then buying a new cable (or SSD) to try; what else could be going on here? All of my other drives have been functioning fine with all of the cables/ports, as I have been reconfiguring things.

I'm also going to try to connect it to a different branch on my power supply (separate from the other HDDs), maybe it is power related? After that, I guess a new SSD? I'm out of ideas.