OS X Driver for NVMe M.2 Solid State Drives Released

[Azimuth1]

Any update with this. Were you able to make a bootable drive? my comp is very similar. (asus x99 deluxe, 5930k, 2x980ti)

yes, I was.

But please be aware that the kext does NOT support the sleep/wake up ... but it tends to crash during shutdown/restart. O strongly advice you NOT to use it. It's much better to use an SSD for the time being.

that said, follow this procedure:

1. verify that your mb can boot from an m.2 nvme disk. For that install windows and see if it boots from windows.
2. put the kext in clover, do NOT install it in S/L/E or in L/E.
3. install El Cap on it with a normal procedure and then move your data from a TM.
4. Alternatively to 3. : boot the system from the actual disk, create the EFI partition of nvme drive, then format the future boot partition as you should install OSX and finally move everything from your past boot drive with a carbon copy.

it should work. Let me know if it helps.

 

[austrianhack]

Just wanted to point out that the Samsung 950 PRO M.2 NVME SSD (256 GB Version) is working perfectly with my skylake i7 configuration (see signature!).

Here's what I did:

• Placed nvme-driver1.kext into my os x install drive under clover/kexts/other (equals /kexts/10.11)
• booted to 10.11.4 installer without problems -> disk utility sees m.2 SSD as MinnowStor Samsung SSD -> just a normal formatting procedure
• installed in no time (really fast even compared to a traditional sata SSD)
• that's it (don't forget post-install procedures)

Also sleep is working perfectly and shutdown doesn't cause kernel panics as some people have reported before!

I couldn't be happier!

PS.: I updated my Bios from F2 to F6, but it is not a necessity for it to work..

 

[Hans88]

Just wanted to point out that the Samsung 950 PRO M.2 NVME SSD (256 GB Version) is working perfectly with my skylake i7 configuration (see signature!).

Here's what I did:

• Placed nvme-driver1.kext into my os x install drive under clover/kexts/other (equals /kexts/10.11)
• booted to 10.11.4 installer without problems -> disk utility sees m.2 SSD as MinnowStor Samsung SSD -> just a normal formatting procedure
• installed in no time (really fast even compared to a traditional sata SSD)
• that's it (don't forget post-install procedures)

Also sleep is working perfectly and shutdown doesn't cause kernel panics as some people have reported before!

I couldn't be happier!

PS.: I updated my Bios from F2 to F6, but it is not a necessity for it to work..

May be the NVME sleep issue differs from board to board. What do you mean by nvme-driver1.kext and where did you got this from? Do you mind sharing your config.plist and your DSDT? And also if possible to share under where does the nvme reports to in the IORegistryExplorer.app? I would like to have a look why with some boards it is natively suppported and not with some others. Thanks.

 

[Azimuth1]

• Placed nvme-driver1.kext

is it not nvmegeneric.kext?

 

[IAmSpectre]

View attachment 167615​

Great news for those who want to use the same types of super fast solid state drives that Apple uses. NVM Express (NVMe) M.2 solid state drives are now working in OS X with a new driver by JimJ at macvidcards. Because of Apple's EFI, these off the shelf SSDs cannot be used as boot drives in a standard Mac. However, any CustoMac with M.2 slot running Clover can use them as boot drive.

Download the NVMe driver for OS X:
http://www.macvidcards.com/nvme-driver1.html

M.2 is really a small PCI-Express (PCIe) connector on a motherboard which provides bus interfaces for PCIe, SATA, and USB 3.0. The M.2 standard and replaces the old mSATA standard. These slots were first available on the 9 Series chipset (16/32 Gbps, PCIe x2/x4) and are now double the speed (32Gbps, PCIe x4) on 100 Series chipset. Adapters are also available for any standard PCIe slot.

Here's an example of a three native M.2 slots on the Gigabyte Z170X SOC FORCE (between the normal PCIe slots):

View attachment 167621
There are three different types of standard M.2 drives. The first two use Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI); legacy SATA using AHCI and PCIe using AHCI. Fully functional drives such as the Samsung EVO M.2 (SATA using AHCI) and the Samsung SM951 M.2 (PCIe using AHCI) are already in the CustoMac Buyer's Guide. The third type is the new NVMe technology, only available over the M.2 PCIe slot. An example of this drive is the Samsung 950 Pro.

1. SATA/AHCI drives are completely equivalent to normal SATA drives except with a different size/connector. Max bandwidth 600 MB/s. Example: 850 Evo M.2 (SATA)
2. PCIe/AHCI drives use a faster connection than SATA/AHCI above, but still have the overhead of the AHCI protocol. Max Bandwidth 985 MB/s per lane (up to 4 lanes), but in practice limited by the protocol. Examples: Kingston HyperX Predator, SM941, SM951 AHCI
3. NVMe drives have a streamlined protocol better optimized for solid state drive. Max Bandwidth 985 MB/s per lane (up to 4 lanes). Examples: Intel 750, SM951 NVMe, Samsung 950 Pro

Please note, some M.2 slots are keyed only for SATA and PCIe devices, and cannot accept NVMe devices. The most common SSD slot types are Type B or M for SATA drives; type M for PCIe or NVMe drives.

We've tested using the M.2 Samsung 950 Pro and the SM951 NVMe drives with success in OS X. To run the new drivers, install the NVMeGeneric.kext in Clover's EFI/CLOVER/kexts/10.11 folder and boot. The results show NVMe drives are some of the fastest SSDs available.

If you have tested using the new drivers, please let us know by sharing your results here!

Related:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2
View attachment 167616

Device	Size	Amazon	Newegg
Samsung 950 PRO	512GB	Amazon	Newegg
Samsung 950 PRO	256GB	Amazon	Newegg

How is the temp of the drive? Mine seems to run very hot and then the speeds slow way down.

 

[austrianhack]

@Azimuth1:
Yes, it is indeed nvmegeneric.kext (sorry was too lazy to look up the right name)

@Hans88:
Anyone who's got a Ga-z170x-UD3 follow this excellent guide (I'm using the almost exact same config.plist):

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-desktop-guides/180618-guide-el-capitan-ga-z170x-ud3.html

 

[jaymonkey]

This driver is working for me in a new build ...

Motherboard is ASRock Z97 Extreme 6/3.1 which has two on-board m.2 slots (one being an ultra m.2 4x4)

I'm using two Samsung 950 Pro 256GB SSD... the primary m.2 port (4x4) is running Windows 7 64Bit ...using the latest samsung windows 7 64 drivers .. no issues at all.

The other 950 is running OSX 10.11.4 and is installed in the normal (2x4) M.2 slot
I have the NVMEGENERIC kext installed in Clover/Kexts/10.11, i also found that setting clovers caches=no (system parameters in clover configurator) got things working well for me, with out this OSX would sometimes stall at Waiting for Root PCI) during boot

It seems to work quite well and has been stable for about two weeks now ... but i do suffer from the KP at reboot/shutdown that most people are seeing, I don't use sleep so cant comment on that but suspect that it would not work.

Does anybody know if this driver/kext is still being worked on ? ... it seem so close would be great if the few issues it has could be sorted out.

Cheers
Jay

 

[Stork]

...
Does anybody know if this driver/kext is still being worked on ? ... it seem so close would be great if the few issues it has could be sorted out.

Cheers
Jay

There's a thread in the Mac Pro forum section at MacRumors.com that discusses this kext. ammulder has attempted to pass info to jimj740, but he's not working on it, it seems, which is too bad. It's goal was to allow Mac Pro's to use the NVME SSD as a data disk, and the kext meets that goal. So,...

 

[vlad1966]

I wonder with the new Skylake-based MacBooks that were intro'd this past week, if Apple didn't bundle a new build of 10.11 with that supports NVME booting, since these new MacBooks use "PCIe-based onboard flash storage".

 

[joncas]

I wonder with the new Skylake-based MacBooks that were intro'd this past week, if Apple didn't bundle a new build of 10.11 with that supports NVME booting, since these new MacBooks use "PCIe-based onboard flash storage".

I believe the problem is rather the lack of support for non-Apple nvme drives - their own brand have been bootable on MacPro's since quite a while, no?