Error -36 on a brand new samsung 850 ssd drive

disk-utilityhard drivessd

I after some advnature (as described here) I have successfully booted osx installation from a brand new SSD by Samsung (EVO 850). I am running osx 10.11.6 (trim is not enabled). My Mac is mid 2009 macbook pro.

When installing, I have restored a Time Machine state. Now, whenever I try to access large files on the disk, they fail to be copied with an error message -36: saying that source file "cannot be read or written". I am able to successfully copy files from the backup disk or from internet to the SSD, but once there, they cannon be copied further (they can be moved, but this is just bookkeeping operation, no data is read then). So it seems the problem occurs when the OS tries to actually read something besides FS entries.

The error persists both in Finder and Terminal.

The SSD is brand-new. It has uptime of 7 hrs, and 41 power cycles. It comes clean with "disk utility" – no problems detected, but I guess this tool does not perform disk read/write integrity test, just checks FS entries. Am I right?

So what options do I have here?

Best Answer

Judging from the symptoms, I would test the following:

  1. Check macOS. For instance, boot from the Recovery partition or create a second partition with a virgin system and try to copy the files causing issues.

  2. Check the SSD.

    1. Check SMART info of the SSD.

    2. Best remove the SSD and place it either in an external (USB) enclosure or into a different machine. Then test your drive from there. You can also boot from an external drive by pressing alt during boot.

    3. Also try to get hold of a Windows PC or boot from Bootcamp and use the Samsung your SSD with the Samsung Magician. However, keep in mind your SATA cable may be the culprit (see next step).

  3. Check SATA cable: The SATA cables of the unibody MacBook Pros are known to cause all kinds of issues. In case your SSD proves to be ok, consider replacing the cable.

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