Mini owner report on problems w/Crucial M225 Firmware v2030 (from 7/5/2012 news page)
I realize the M225's an old model and the update was released over a year ago, but if any other mac owner has updated a M225 w/2030 firware, let me know your results. Good or bad.

(added 7/5/2012)
"I have a 64GB Crucial M225 SSD - firmware update to v2030 made the drive freeze then soon after became inoperable - can't even initialize it on Mac or Windows 7.
I had been using it in Mac mini that I use as a tv tuner using eyetv so lots of writing to this internal ssd. I was getting audio dropouts more and more frequently in eyetv (and hoped later firmware would help). The firmware that had been on this ssd was 1513 (don't quote me on the last two digits but it was 15xx). (I think it was v1571 based on info from 2009 here.) That is why I updated and in the end bricked the drive.
(Apparently not bricked from backflash comment below, which also mentioned Trim. I don't think Trim is supported in OS X with this drive even with firmware that supports it (in Windows, etc) unless something has changed, although there are 3rd party OS X 'universal' Trim enablers that may or may not work with this drive. IIRC it has GC though.)

I also later downgraded the firmware back to 1916 which also enables trim, but the drive can no longer be formatted reliably - sometimes disk utility is successful and other times it is not...
-Doug"

I asked if it's still under warranty - the M225 originally had a 5yr warranty (w/decreasing value terms IIRC) unless that changed from when I bought mine. Regardless, I'd contact Crucial support to see if they can help. If nothing else ask about going back to 1571 again. Crucial's firmware updates page downloads only go back as far as v1819. (He later replied it was still under warranty and he'd submitted an RMA request.)
   I didn't read it all but there's an 11 page Crucial forum thread on the M225 v2030 firmware update (forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/M225-2030-firmware-update/td-p/31300/page/11) started in Jan 2011 with (as usual) some problem reports - one of the last posts noting he recd a M4 replacement after his M225 had problems. (Perhaps due to no stock of M225s?)

I had a M225 (256GB) several years ago (when it was first released) but my last update was v1819. Removed it for good after another freeze in MBP with it (froze during itunes software update) but never tried v19xx or later firmware. Back then I had to reformat it/used a PC w/bootable DOS flash drive to update the firmware (3 times in the first year IIRC), although there were posts here back then on ISO cd updaters they didn't always work with Macs due to missing driver/not finding the SSD to update, etc.
(Update (Oct. 12, 2012): I finally found my M225 SSD and updated to v2030 firmware (latest version as of Oct 2012) via a Boot CD burned from the Crucial download. Had to erase the SSD and use an old homebrew PC. Tried booting 2009 Mac Pro from the CD w/SSD in Bay 1 but the updater would not recognize the SSD. (Tried bay 1 and 2, w/o any other HDs installed - still didn't see the SSD.) I've not tested the SSD with v2030 firmware yet. I'll post here if I see any problems in use but not sure what I'll use it for right now. Still a bit leery of using it as a boot drive based on past experiences but maybe v2030 firmware will be more reliable.)

Crucial M225 Firmware Update 2030 released (Jan 10, 2011)

v2030 change log:
• Added support for LBA to NAND bank mapping
• Additional improvements made to update process.
• Additional improvements made to firmware bad block management.
• Corrected several ATA Security bug fixes.
• Corrected how some SMART commands were displayed
• Added support for additional NAND manufacturers, capacities, and configurations.
• Made further improvements to TRIM and wear leveling algorithm

Download available at Crucial's firmware updates page (www.crucial.com/support/firmware.aspx).

Crucial M225 Firmware Update 1916 released (Jan 13, 2010) I have a (1819 firmware) M225 256GB to update and have been checking their firmware updates page a couple times a day in the last week.

" Hello everyone, This link will let you download firmware 1916. There are release notes below.
Firmware 1916 iso, for updating from a CD - www.crucial.com/firmware/1916/fwupt_c_1916_gc.zip

Files needed to update from USB, www.crucial.com/firmware/1916/fwupt.zip

This link has an updated document for how to update from USB -- we had to make a couple of changes to that process to make it work with the new firmware. If you're updating from CD, just follow the same procedure as last time.

New USB process (PDF) - www.crucial.com/firmware/1916/USB_UPDATE_PROCESS_1916.pdf

The new firmware is not on the SSD downloads page yet, and it may be a while before it is. Apparently there is a large number of corporate procedures that need to happen before we can officially publish new firmware versions... who knew? However, since the firmware itself actually is ready (the lab has completed successful final testing), we decided to post it in the forum right away, because we know how important this is to everyone here, and we appreciate how understanding you have been about how long the testing process has taken.

Enjoy!

EDIT: To make it easier for us to monitor things, I have created a feedback thread for the update, so we can keep all reports and questions in one place. So if you do run into issues, please report them - www.forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/Firmware-1916-feedback-thread/td-p/8919. Thanks!

EDIT 2: Yes, the links changed. After further review, it was decided to offer only the firmware with active Garbage Collection for now. The links may need to change again, since we are still working towards the official release of the firmware. If they do, I will update this post again.
Katana, Crucial Moderator, US "

BTW: The USB (flash drive update) ZIF file unpacked shows an existing "Updater.bat" file - that's a mistake IMHO since from the info in the USB PDF guide SSDCheck is run first to ID the model (capacity I assume) before running Updater.bat. (And my check of the bat file before/after a 256GB update shows the same 80102.exe call in the Updater.bat file.) I didn't check the ISO but I wish they'd included info on which EXE file is for each specific SSD size (64, 128, 256GB).
A later post has their 1819 release notes:

"Release Notes for Firmware 1916
• Fixed issue that sometimes causes firmware download problem
• Fixed issue that could cause 256GB to be corrupted
• Eliminated performance degradation over time with Wiper with 1819 FW
• Fixed issue where the power cycle count was incorrectly being reported with 1819 FW
• Fixed issue where some SATA 1 hosts weren't correctly identifying the hardware
• Fixed issue found in simulation (not in the field) where the free block count was incorrectly being reported
• Fixed issue with remaining life not being properly displayed on SMART information
• Added support for additional NAND manufactures and capacities
• Made further improvements to wear leveling algorithm

I'm punting on M225 SSD (1819 firmware) in MacBook Pro (for now) (Oct. 30th, 2009) Although I'd had no problems in -light use- of my Crucial M225 SSD in the (Early 2009) 17in MacBook Pro (OS X 10.6.1 cloned on it after 1819 firmware update the night of Oct. 16th - it collected dust since Aug 28th waiting for a backflash/fix for 1711 problems) - tonight I decided to use Software Update to install iTunes 9.0.2 on it (over 9.0.1) rather than the download updater I'd normally use. And it's been beachballing for about an hour now - first at the end of the download progress bar (dialog reported "moving items into place", bar filled to 99.9% mark). After about 15 minutes (long after even a dog slow HD would have finished) - it finally progressed to "Installing 1 item" (subtext still "moving items into place") - but after 30+ more minutes it's still at that stage (w/beachball cursor - can't do anything else).
After about an hour with no progress/still Beachballing (this MBP had never done that before) - I finally held the power button to force a shutdown. It rebooted OK and a quick verify in Disk Utility showed no errors but I decided to switch back to a standard hard drive in the MBP. Granted this could be an OS X bug, SU issue, etc. but never saw this before with any other drive. (I know BBOD has been common for some later MBP's and all about the EFI 1.7 firmware update issues, the performance update from apple that I'd already applied on this MBP despite never seeing the problem before.)
I wanted the bug fixes in 1819 firmware, but now I wish I'd left it at firmware 1571 (had no problems with that firmware). But after the problems with firmware 1711 (downloaded in late August 2009 - after other vendors had pulled 1711) then finding problems with it in OS X sleep/wake (1711 was pulled due to Windows/Trim problems) then the v1819 firmware updates mess (noted here previously in detail the night of the 16th when first released) - I'm giving up on using it at least in a Mac at this point. (I know _some_ readers are still happy with 1819 or 1571 but I'm personally too tied up with more important matters to spend more time on it for now. Going back to 1571 firmware means wiping the drive again. I'd have more hope if I had an OCZ vertex, at least their support seems to have a pulse...)

Later Friday night I swapped out the SSD for a 640GB Toshiba hard drive (pulled from their USB ext drive as I mentioned a few weeks back). No more worries on corruption, GC, firmware updates, etc and now I have plenty of space for a bootcamp/Win7 partition without having to swap out the optical drive for a 2nd HD. Granted the SSD was a LOT faster (performance far beyond what any standard HD could deliver). At $599 back in early August (2009) the M225 (5yr warranty, with limitations) seemed a great deal and again it is very very fast - I'm just tired of the SSD game for now. I'll play again after it's a bit more mature.
And as I've mentioned before - to put it politely (as many M225 owners will agree - fanboys be damned) - so far my feeling is that Crucial should stick to more "mature" products. I don't think with the state of barefoot SSD's currently at least, this is a good product 'fit' for them. (I've felt that way for a long time. Not trying to be mean spirited - just my honest opinion. Objectively I think that's accurate, all things considered to date. I know a lot of other M225 owners would agree and many have said so already - some far less politely.)

I bought the 256GB M225 back in August when the price was $599, before the repeated price increases (now $799.99 list). At $799.xx however, that's about the same price as an OCZ Vertex (which now has GC firmware and more proactive support IMHO) and the 250GB Samsung controller based SSDs (which may never have a firmware update some say but then may have less need for one as well). I'll wipe the M225 and maybe use it in a PC (or put it on Craigslist, maybe could get $500 now that they're $799.99 list). It's easy to swap out using the IcyDock case for towers and at least in a PC I have a Bios, GC/Trim utilities and can flash it without standing on my head. (And hopefully I live long enough to see the promised OS X GC utility and updaters. Update - See Dec. 2009 post regarding new firmware status update.)

FYI on M225's with (Program/Normal) Switch: (Oct. 23rd, 2009) Apparently some recent M225s have a sliding Switch on the SSD that must be changed before flashing to the "Program" position (and slid back to "Normal" afterwards). Here's a pix with info on the M225 Sliding Switch from a doc Crucial support sent an owner of a switch model. (BTW - despite some saying they updated w/o moving the switch, wondering if it's really active.)
FYI/Update: I saw a later owner post that the M225 reported a -different name- with the switch in the program position and saying the Crucial firmware updater refused to update it in that position. This makes me wonder if Crucial needs to revise their updater to work with the new drives that have the switch. Another example of how their updates have been frustrating for so many owners - not just Mac users.

(Nov. 3rd post)
"While the firmware switch is flipped, the drive reports itself under a different name.
When the switch is toggled, the drive goes from reporting itself as CRUCIAL_CT128M225 to INDILINX BAREFOOT somethingsomething.

From my experience, while this switch is set, all data is inaccessible and the drive is more or less unusable. In order to flash my drive to 1819, I had to not flip the switch, as the Crucial firmware updater tool could not locate the drive while the switch was set. The firmware updater tools look for a CRUCIAL_CT###M225 drive, and when the drive reports itself as something different, the (current/Oct 09 release) firmware updater can't find the drive.

My guess is that this switch exists to make it easier for someone, somewhere to flash to Indilinx-provided images. I'm pretty sure we're not the intended target audience."

I don't know if the switch will be on all models going forward (from Oct 2009) or not but since the owner of the switch model apparently didn't see any info on the switch in the box, I wanted to post this as a reminder for anyone to check before flashing the drive. (Notebook owners especially are not going to like having to open it up to change the switch before and after updating firmware.)
I don't know if the switch was added to prevent some cases where something wrote to the firmware area inadvertently (corrupting the firmware) but they warn on those models to not leave it in the "Program" position after flashing. (Some other brands of SSDs in the past had a jumper for this purpose.)

Crucial M225 SSD Firmware Update v1819 (and 1571 Backflash for 1711 firmware drives) (released Oct. 16, 2009). Here's links from the Oct. 16th news page (including my notes on backflashing my 256GB that had 1711 firmware, initial tests of it after 1819 update in MBP, etc. and FreeDos ISO images, etc.)

• FreeDOS ISO images w/Crucial SSD v1819 updater (for those unable to update w/Crucial ISOs) (some Mac Pro owners still had problems updating)
• My First Notes/Benchmarks on Crucial M225 SSD (Firmware v1819) w/OS X 10.6.1 in MacBook Pro
• Backflashing a Crucial M225 SSD (to 1571) in Mac Pro, Flashing to v1819, Cloning MBP 10.6.1
• Crucial M225 SSD Firmware Updates page has v1819 firmware (and v1571 backflash)

Apple's "Performance Update 1.0" for Leopard/Snow Leopard: (Oct. 14, 2009) was to address intermittent hangs/pauses/beachballing seen with some mac mini, imac and macbook/pro models typically nvidia chipset based.) A Mac/M225 SSD user posted "I've installed this update and everything works fine with my Crucial M225 128Gb. Not faster, not slower. Tested three days.".
I also applied the update (in 10.6.1 snow leopard) and after cloning that OEM 320GB HD to a M225 (256GB) it seems fine so far. (Early 2009 MacBook Pro 17in.)

(added 9/4/2009, from Aug 30th mail)
"Crucial 128GB SSD in MacBook2,1 (late 2006) 1.83GHz, 4GB ram
(Same MacBook that had been upgraded with a Seagate 200GB Momentus 7200.2 (ST9200420ASG) back in 2008 - drive db report from 5/16/2008.)

Purchased the Crucial 128GB SSD through your web site from OWC at a cost of $315.00 plus 2 day shipping. (NOTE: that was before the Crucial price increases (twice as of early Oct.). The 256GB model is now $100 higher than original Aug. 2009 list.) The SSD did not have the latest firmware update which I believe is v1711. (1711 firmware was pulled shortly after posting as mentioned in the main site news page/earlier FYI below here. I updated a 256GB SSD w/1711 and like another owner that did, saw sleep/wake issues (in my case hangs after wake from sleep). No problems like that with original 1571 firmware.) I had done a significant amount of Yahooing, Goolging, e-mailing OWC, viewing your HD data base, and chatting with Crucial to see if anyone had tired putting a SSD in a late 2006 MacBook with success but there appears to be no information available. Bottom line is that the SSD in a late 2006 MacBook works GREAT!

From past experience I was careful to ensure that rubber shock absorbers were not dislodged during installation and I wetted the sides of the SSD to ensure an easy installation. The drive is only about 2 oz. lighter than the HHD so not much weight savings.

Of course there is no noise from the SSD during operation. No clicks from the heads parking etc. (BTW - if you've not already done so, there's a previous post here with some Tips for OS X SSD Users on Disabling Hibernate mode/deleting sleepimage file - saving SSD space (i.e. 4GB sleepimage file for 4GB ram systems), plus reduces writes to SSD (of hibernate file) which is a plus for MLCs. (There's also a "SmartSleep" (freeware) utility for that for those that don't feel comfortable using the terminal commands.) Includes a note on disabling SMS also (as SSDs don't have heads to park when sudden motion sensor in the mac is triggered.))

The computer runs a lot cooler (than with the 7200rpm 200GB HD) and iStat Pro temperatures are "0" for the SSD (no reading) and 62 degrees C and lower for all other components and the fans run slower. Overall much less noisy and cooler.

A full install of Snow Leopard was made from the upgrade CD. The SSD was partitioned using Boot Camp into two volumes with 20 gigs allocated for Windows.

Snow Leopard works extremely well and the speed of the SSD is fantastic! For a light user who mainly surfs, uses Quicken, writes a few letters, keeps track of equities on a spreadsheet and listens to a few tunes, everything is instant on. The computer is now what a computer should be! No more lags for most applications like Safari or Fire Fox to load or the Finder to come up on "Command N". NeoOffice loads in about 10 seconds and cache load in about 8 seconds and iTunes loads in about 4 seconds uncached and half that cached.
(I mentioned last month, with a 256GB SSD in a Mac Pro (running OS X 10.5.x), iTunes opens to my Movies window (w/50+ medium size movie thumbnails) in about 1.4 seconds - 3x faster than from the 3.5in 7200rpm drive in that system. iPhoto launch (to photo lib view) is almost 5 times faster.)

Startup takes about 18 seconds including added applications, from the sound of the chime to desktop as opposed to the previous (Seagate 7200rpm HD) reported 23 seconds on 5/15/2008. Snow Leopard takes about 36 seconds to start on the 7200 HD with all of the added applications including Sheep Shaver, Office X and some others which have not been installed on the SSD. This is about 10 seconds faster than Leopard. Snow Leopard did report a reclaimed 10 gigs of HD space on the Seagate HD. There is one small delay with Bluetooth taking a couple of seconds to recognize the Targus bluetooth mouse.

File copy is very fast with about 10 seconds to duplicate a 580MB file as opposed to the previously reported (w/7200rpm HD) 21 seconds for a 687MB file or about 1.77 times faster!

I could not get Vista to install on the SSD Boot Camp partition on the first try and did not attempt a 2nd time. Windows 7 RC installed but was jerky and slow. I would attribute that to the RC nature of Windows 7 as I have noted that a good number people are using SSD's with Windows. Windows XP SP2 works very well but I do not have any test data to report. It did install in less than about 1/2 the time as compared to a HD.
(he later wrote)
Just implemented Smart Sleep, Thanks for the tip. Incidently forgot to mention xBench on this as a stock MacBook has a score of about 80. With the added ram and SSD it is 160! As you said (echoing some previous SSD owner comments also), just like a new machine.
Regards, Wil"

(FYI - see Aug 21st, 2009 news page for info on a Version 1711 Firmware update for M225 Crucial SSDs which on Aug. 25, 2009 was pulled by Crucial due to Windows 7/Trim problems but 2 of us also saw sleep/wake problems w/1711 firmware running OS X. And a Snow Leopard (10.6.0) user said his 1711 updated SSD had sleep/wake problems in his MacBook Pro also. Although at first the story was no M225 SSDs were being shipped with 1711 firmware, I saw a later post that said his just recd (Sept 1st) SSD 256GB had 1711 firmware.)

(added 8/19/2009)
"I tried drives from OCZ (Vertex Turbo) and ST Masterdrive (Samsung controller). [what firmware versions were in those SSDs?] Both had issues in my mid 2009 17in MacBook Pro 2.8GHz. Every time I'd try to sleep, the mac would not wake and I'd have to hard boot.
There were also random freezes, failures to recognize the drives and frequent pausing. I thought I would try Crucial as they guarantee compatibility, have an excellent return and warranty policies. I have been thrilled with the performance and stability. The drive has been excellent and tests with Quickbench show 265 read and 205 write. It is a very significant improvement over the Seagate 500GB 7200.4 I was using. Tremendous speed and overall feels much snappier. Photoshop and Illustrator are much improved.
So much better that I bought the 128GB version for my Mac Pro. It has also been working flawlessly."

(added 8/19/2009)
"Fast SSD without studdering issues at a reasonable cost and from a company with a decent return policy.
Used in '08 Mac Book Pro 17". Can run chat, mail, safari, itunes, adobe development tools, vmware / windows xp, ms visual studio all at same time with great speed and no jerky performance."

(CORRECTED 8/14 - he actually has a CORSAIR SSD, not Crucial)
"I've got the Crucial (He later wrote it's actually a Corsair, performance series/Samsung controller.) 256GB SSD Drive in my Mac Pro 8 core 2.8Ghz (2008), and it is recognized just fine by both Mac OS X, and BootCamp with Windows 7.
I have chosen to use this entire 256GB drive formatted as NTFS for Windows 7 RC use within Bootcamp...
My only concern, is that I have sold the Mac Pro 2.8 and in the next two weeks will receive my brand NEW Quad Core 2.93Ghz Mac Pro with 16GB RAM (OWC RAM 4 x 4GB) and will try the SSD then and see if there are any problems ;-)
Kind Regards, Nickolas
PowerHouse Technology Pty Ltd
PC & Mac Services & Support Specialists "

After getting it recognized (I used Voyager Q dock for initial format), so far the Crucial 256GB (original firmware 1571) has been OK in an '09 Mac Pro... (about a dozen boots, with some iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, etc use). And of course apps load much faster from the SSD - iTunes opens to my 55 thumbnail movies view in 1.3 seconds (vs 3.8 w/7200rpm HD), iPhoto in 1.4 sec (vs 5.6 sec w/7200rpm HD). I'll post here if I see any problems in longer term use. (I cloned an appx 200GB OS X boot drive with apps, iTunes lib, etc. to the SSD)
This M225 256GB appears to be firmware 1571 per ASP. (That's the same firmware version as Super Talent's UltraDrive ME which I think uses the same Indilinx Barefoot controller (and one review said they were literally identical internally - probably same OEM/mfr) - so I wonder if the ST "performance refresh tool" for their 1571 firmware would work on it. As usual the utility is for windows. (OCZ's wiper utility for their vertex drives is also said to work.)
FYI (Aug. 13th): I saw a post from a Crucial M225 (firmware 1571) PC/windows user that said OCZ's vertex performance refresh tool worked with it, but not confirmed that. (And of course it's for windows and I don't have windows on the SSD...)

Here's a report from a new 13in MacBook Pro owner. (Which brings up another question so I included a recap on the mid-2009 MacBook Pro EFI 1.7 firmware update for readers that missed all the past posts on that...)

(added 8/4/2009)
" I just tried a Crucial 256GB SSD with a new MacBook Pro 13" 2.53GHz.
(I asked if he'd applied the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7, which as mentioned the day it was released here, says "addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro. While this update allows drives to use transfer rates greater than 1.5Gbps, Apple has not qualified or offered these drives for Mac notebooks and their use is unsupported.")
For those that missed the past posts/warnings, here's the original Apple forum thread (started June 23rd, the day after the firmware update release) where a lot of users have reported problems after the firmware update with upgraded Hard drives (not just SSDs) - although the June 29, 2009 and July 2, 2009 news pages had posts from a new MBP owners that had no problems WD 500GB "Scorpio blue" drives. But like every update literally, nothing seems a sure thing anymore.)
I had applied the EFI Firmware update and my SATA interface is 3Gigabit. After the Firmware update I had swapped out the 250GB 5400 OEM drive for the WD 320GB 7200rpm Scorpio and had no problems at all, including cloning my first system build up from the 250GB to the new 320. It had worked without a glitch until I tried the Crucial SSD. It is now back in place and runs without issue.

(earlier notes follow)
My first attempt to load a working system was tried by placing it in an OWC On-the-go Pro enclosure and cloning the system and files from the Western Digital Scorpio Black 320gb 7200rpm drive using SuperDuper. Prior to starting I checked the SSD with the Disk Utility and ran an erase just to make sure it was properly formatted. I had no problems.

The first attempt to clone the WD failed as the copy hung up about 4/5th done. So I checked the drive with DFA and there were some file system problems which were fixed and the disk was proclaimed to be OK. The second clone attempt seemed successful so I installed it in the laptop. All seemed well for about three hours of use, mostly on the internet. Then I ran VMWare's Fusion and Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3. I was just testing so I just created a quick model in XenoDream and some text effects in Xara 3D 6 and prepared to shut down Windows. Upon shutting down Windows it tried to install an automatic update prior to complete shut down. About 15 seconds into the update I got a blue screen of death followed by a typical DOS prompt black screen with an inscrutable flow of computer gibberish and a hard crash. I ended up with a total black screen and nothing else.

After holding down the power button to turn the computer off and trying to boot up, I got as far as the grey screen with the Apple and then saw a screen with a universal NO glyph (the circle with a slash through it. Nothing I could do would allow me to boot up the computer. I had read that beginning with a fresh install might be the answer so I got out the install DVD which came with the MBP and attempted to do a totally fresh install of OS 10.5.7. I first checked the disk with DFA from the install disk utilities which claimed to repair file structure problems and then I erased the disk. The first two attempts to install OS X ended up with a hung computer one time claiming there were 28 minutes to go and the second a mere 13 minutes left. The third attempt seemed to work but at the very end there was a warning that some files couldn't be written to the disk and I should contact the software manufacturer (Apple - I don't think so!) The fourth attempt failed with a hung installation.

Number five was a charm it seemed. The install seemed to work completely. The system rebooted and I started building up a system, installing software etc. About four hours into the project after the fifth or sixth restart to complete sofware installations, my computer booted to the Apple logo and then went to the universal NO symbol. Just then I gave up. I'd invested a couple of days into failed one failed installation after another. During the time I was booted from the drive it was amazingly fast but after all my trouble I just don't trust it to work. It is going back to OWC, I'm afraid. Thank goodness they are a great company. For my money, SSD's aren't quite ready for prime time. Sigh, too bad. When it did work it was fabulous.
-Welles G."

FYI: On Aug 12th, 2009 I saw a follow-up post in Crucial's SSD forums from a new 13in MacBook Pro owner (w/EFI firmware 1.7 update) that previously had problems with the M225 256GB SSD being recognized:

"Re: MBP 13" doesn't recognize the SSD 256G (CRTCT256M225)
08-12-2009 10:27 AM
Just wanted to give you guys an update - after spending couple of days with apple authorized reseller - they had (were?) convinced that they need to replace the logic board and as soon as they replaced the logic board with new one - my one week of hassle came to end !!! Now everything works like a charm - I have rebooted system more than 20-25 times to ascertain that drive would be recognized and MBP boots from the disk OK - so far so good !!!
I have started to suspect the first batch of logic boards that apple shipped with EFI 1.6 (software downgraded to SATA I (1.5Gbps ) then upgraded with EFI 1.7 to support SATA II is the culprit - if anybody out there is having the same issues, just bring your MBP to an apple service center and ask them to replace logic board.
-otezel"

However I wonder how many others would be able to get Apple to replace the logic board due to a problem with a 3rd party addon/drive. (Unless they've had so many problem reports that they know there's some common issue. Many but not all owners w/EFI 1.7 update have reported problems of some sort with some (not all) drives. (And some reported problems with the same drive model that another owner of the same system/firmware didn't.)
And there was also a reply to the post above from another user that said a M225 worked in a white Macbook. (I assume he means "2nd generation")

"I have just mounted the same SSD drive in an 2. generation White Macbook. Booted perfectly - and rebooted. So it seems Crucial are not alone in this mess."

(earlier comments/posts follow)

99% of mails (and web posts typically) are on problems, but of the dozen or reader reports on SSDs here (drive reports database) in the last several months (from 2009 iMac, Mac Pro, pre-2009 MacBook/Pro owners) most were very positive. (Many were on OCZ vertex models, but also some Intel and other brands.) [But just got a mail today from a 2008 MBP owner on problems with his SuperTalent 256GB SSD - periodic freezing, etc. Adding his report to the Drive DB Wednesday morning.] But SSDs are still relatively new and there have been some problems (common ones) in the past with some models. And still no OS X Trim tools/SSD erase utils. I saw a post in Crucial's forums from a moderator that said they were working on a Firmware update w/TRIM support (in windows 7), saying they were trying to make it available within the next 30 days, but that remains to be seen..

(added 8/4/2009)
" I have a 13" late 2007 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo Black Macbook.
FYI - drive works externally but not internally.
I bought a Crucial 128 GB drive plugged it into an external SATA-USB converter formatted it Mac OS Extended (journaled) (GUID). Used Disk Utility to copy the internal drive (restore image). Rebooted - held Option Key and booted off the external SSD fine.

installed SSD internally and it does not see it at all. Used SATA-USB cable to boot off original internal drive and it does not see the internal SSD (tried Disk Utility too, nothing)
-Bryan B."

I know the first thing that comes to mind is the SATA II drive on an SATA I interface, although I've used several SATA II 3.5in HDs in 1.5Gbps interface macs (like my G5 tower) in the past w/o a problem. (Most are designed to be backward compatible.) Some (non-SSD) drives have a force SATA 1.5Gbps mode jumper, but I don't think any that I owned did, and I never jumpered them if they did. (But not installed this SSD in a 1.5Gbps Mac - don't have any currently to try.)

Here's my original post from the yesterday's (Aug. 3rd) news page:

A sample Crucial 256GB SSD in an Icydock 2.5in to 3.5in case was initally not recognized in a 2009 Mac Pro [HD bay 3] in either OS X Disk Utility or Bootcamp/Vista 64 Ultimate (disk mgr). In hindsight I should have removed/re-inserted it in the HD bay (although it was fully seated/locked), but after seeing a report from a mid-2009 13in MacBook Pro owner that his Crucial 256GB SSD was also not recognized (in DU booted from OS X install disc - didn't note if EFI firmware 1.7 applied), I wondered if it was either a bad sample, problem with the drive, the Icydock case/adapter or an issue with the onboard SATA controller.
So I installed the SSD drive (still in Icydock case) in a PC here w/Nvidia chipset motherboard (Nforce 780i SLI motherboard) and it was recognized. I did not format the SSD in the PC, but after seeing it was recognized there I put the drive in a Voyager Q (Quad Interface) HD Dock (connected via FW800) and booted to OS X (10.5.7) on the Mac Pro - Disk Utility saw the SSD drive and I formatted it as Mac OS Extended (but not journaled as most do - I'll take the tradeoff for less writes to the SSD).
I then shut down, removed the SSD from the Voyager Dock and installed it back in the Mac Pro (same HD bay) and booted to OS X 10.5.7. I used Disk Utility's 'Restore' feature to clone the 10.5.7 Boot HD to the Crucial SSD. The clone/restore completed OK and and I've booted from the SSD w/10.5.7 OK. Definitely faster to boot, load apps, etc. than the (standard) hard drive. BTW: Someone asked if I verified it's listed as 3Gbps in Apple System Profiler - it is.
Before cloning the original OS X boot HD I disabled spotlight indexing, cleared archived logs, verified that hibernate mode wasn't enabled (it is on notebooks - see post on disabling it and deleting sleepimage file, etc. to both reduce the space used as well as unnecessary writes to the SSD, for reasons mentioned previously.)

I wish I'd tried removing/reseating the SSD before doing all this in case that was an issue.

And a reply from a regular reader on the 'not recognized' (new/unformatted) issue:

"I've had this happen with higher capacity non-SSDs as well. I've also had it happen where it would not show up inside an external case, but would show up using a USB-SATA cable or the Voyager Quad dock, you have, sometimes after plugging and unplugging (and power cycling) a couple of times. I always eventually get them to show up. Once it's formatted as GUID/HFS with the "bare" adapters, everything is fine no matter where it's installed.

This is either a bug in the Leopard OS, or a bug in the way some drives are prepared leaving the factory. Possibly they are tested using MBR/NTSF then erased, but that act makes them hard for the Mac to see, where older/lower capacity drives would have been tested as FAT32.
-Mike K."

I had not seen this problem previously (with standard hard drives) - I've formatted several 3.5in HDs in the same mac pro (two Seagate 1.5TB and WD 1TBs (caviar black and 2nd gen GP) but admittedly that's a limited sample of drives.