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gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Hello, how are you?
I was considering getting an iMac.
But today, I saw a 2009 2.26 unibody white MacBook for sale.
The MacBook was in great condition, but because it had the typical hairline crack at the hinge, the seller had a great price.
So, I couldn't resist and now have a Whity at home.

It is standard with the 2.26 C2D, 250 HDD and 2 gb of ram.

I just formatted it and installed mountain lion.

Now, I want to do some upgrades.
The first thing is memory.
I will order 2x4gb corsair ddr3 1066 kit and upgrade it to 8gb.

The next is HDD.
I was thinking about a western digital caviar black, 750 gb, 7200 rpm.

But then I saw that 128 gb SSD are cheaper now.
A crucial V4 is just 65.
So, I was thinking about getting an optibay and do a DIY fusion drive with the caviar black and the V4 SSD.
Is that possible?

I know the V4 is not the best SSD, but with the MacBook Bering just Sata 2, is the M4 or Samsung 840 basic worth it?

Please help me out so I can order the correct parts.

Thank you.

Best regards.
 

shoulin333

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2007
700
21
California
Sounds like a great plan to me. If you are someone who has never had an SSD then SSD on SATA II will still be realllly fast.

Follow this guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Unibody+Model+A1342+Optical+Drive+Replacement/1673/2

It will help you take out your optical drive, you can put your SSD there. Most people use double stick tape to hold the drives in place.

Then follow this guide to create your fusion drive:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2014011/how-to-make-your-own-fusion-drive.html
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Sounds like a great plan to me. If you are someone who has never had an SSD then SSD on SATA II will still be realllly fast.

Follow this guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Unibody+Model+A1342+Optical+Drive+Replacement/1673/2

It will help you take out your optical drive, you can put your SSD there. Most people use double stick tape to hold the drives in place.

Then follow this guide to create your fusion drive:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2014011/how-to-make-your-own-fusion-drive.html

Thank you for the links.
I was reading a bit around here, and saw that my macbook has the nVidia MCP79 Sata controller, which is know for some issues with some SSDs, namely about achieving SATA II negociated speed...

What is the SSD with most compatibility with my controller?
Any experience out there?

Also, I read some issues with the Western Digital Caviar Black...
Better go for a Seagate Momentus 750gb 7200 RPM?

Cheers and thanks!
 

chibiterasu

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2012
337
24
London, The United Kingdom
Thank you for the links.
I was reading a bit around here, and saw that my macbook has the nVidia MCP79 Sata controller, which is know for some issues with some SSDs, namely about achieving SATA II negociated speed...

What is the SSD with most compatibility with my controller?
Any experience out there?

Also, I read some issues with the Western Digital Caviar Black...
Better go for a Seagate Momentus 750gb 7200 RPM?

Cheers and thanks!

Ah yer the hairline cracks I have thoes to thank for apple exchanging my 2010 macbook to a 2012 mbp.

I think most ssd have a bit of a problem with that nvidia controller, from sandisk to corsair. But on the flip side even with issues the ssd will still be faster than a normal hdd even though its not running at its full potential. The seagate sounds a good drive and I've never had any problems with them.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Ah yer the hairline cracks I have thoes to thank for apple exchanging my 2010 macbook to a 2012 mbp.

I think most ssd have a bit of a problem with that nvidia controller, from sandisk to corsair. But on the flip side even with issues the ssd will still be faster than a normal hdd even though its not running at its full potential. The seagate sounds a good drive and I've never had any problems with them.

How did that exchange happen?
That got me pretty curious...

Cheers
 

chibiterasu

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2012
337
24
London, The United Kingdom
How did that exchange happen?
That got me pretty curious...

Cheers

Well it was just at its end of it 1 year warranty so about sept 2011 and it had not only the cracks but the rubber base had bubbled (http://www.apple.com/support/macbook-bottomcase/) so I had to get that replaced and while I was there I asked about the cracks and the genius said we can do those as well I thought fantastic. For some reason at apple the replace the whole top case so screen, plastic and webcam. This is a £250 (still under warranty so free thank goodness) odd repair (including labour and vat) but it kept cracking not much but enough to see it and because apple give a 90 day warranty on repairs they ended up replacing my screen 4 times and when I took it for the 5 time (just after the re fresh in 2012) I said this is getting a bit pointless is there anything you can do, She went off spoke to the manager, he came looked at the ipad that the geniuses use with all the repair history and said we will exchange the machine. The macbook in 2010 cost me £779 instead of £849 form amazon.co.uk
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Well it was just at its end of it 1 year warranty so about sept 2011 and it had not only the cracks but the rubber base had bubbled (http://www.apple.com/support/macbook-bottomcase/) so I had to get that replaced and while I was there I asked about the cracks and the genius said we can do those as well I thought fantastic. For some reason at apple the replace the whole top case so screen, plastic and webcam. This is a £250 (still under warranty so free thank goodness) odd repair (including labour and vat) but it kept cracking not much but enough to see it and because apple give a 90 day warranty on repairs they ended up replacing my screen 4 times and when I took it for the 5 time (just after the re fresh in 2012) I said this is getting a bit pointless is there anything you can do, She went off spoke to the manager, he came looked at the ipad that the geniuses use with all the repair history and said we will exchange the machine. The macbook in 2010 cost me £779 instead of £849 form amazon.co.uk

Thanks for sharing!
You deserved that 2012 mbp. :)

In regard to my macbook, I am happy with it. For my needs and the price I payed, it is perfect...

In regard to the upgrades, the memory is a given and it is decided, I will go for a Corsair 2x4gb DDR3 - 1066 PC8500 CL7 SO-DIMM kit.

In regard to the hard-drive, I just don't know.
I don't really understand the fusion drive and I am thinking I should just go for a 7200 rpm 750 HDD like the Western Digital Scorpio Black or Samsung Momentus 7200.

Other option is the Samsung Momentus XT 750gb + 8gb SSD Hybrid drive.
But I have read some problems with this drive. And the Macbook nVidia MCP79 controller is not the best out there...

Any advice? Is the Momentus XT a good bet?

Cheers!
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
Just a heads up - if it's cracked by the hinges or ethernet port, or the bottom case is bubbling, it's a free repair.

Take it to an Apple store and they'll put a new display on it free of charge, even if it's out of warranty.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Just a heads up - if it's cracked by the hinges or ethernet port, or the bottom case is bubbling, it's a free repair.

Take it to an Apple store and they'll put a new display on it free of charge, even if it's out of warranty.

It has two hairline cracks at the hinge. One on each side. That's it.
I guess I can take it to the apple shop, but how long would they keep my laptop?

Cheers
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
It has two hairline cracks at the hinge. One on each side. That's it.
I guess I can take it to the apple shop, but how long would they keep my laptop?

Cheers

Depends how busy they are. It's a 30 minute repair, but they might have loads in a queue.

And those are the ones, usually slightly diagonal inwards.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Depends how busy they are. It's a 30 minute repair, but they might have loads in a queue.

I'll look into that. Tomorrow I will go there and ask about it.

In regard to the hdd, any issues with the momentus XT 750 hybrid and the MacBook?

Cheers
 

Adam-

macrumors member
Mar 28, 2011
95
10
Ram

Hi, I have a 2010 MacBook white, with 2GB ram, and also a MBP 09 with an upgraded 8GB ram, can I put the old 4 into my MacBook, as far as I can tell they are the same, 204 pin, 1066 etc etc?
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Someone post a pic of this hairline crack so I can see if mine has it.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1357496067.893564.jpg

This is it.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Nope - should work absolutely fine.

But I have been at the seagate forums and there seems to be lots of users with issues.
Hangs, freezes, beach balls.
Just google momentus XT MacBook 2009.

That got me scared.

Cheers
 

chibiterasu

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2012
337
24
London, The United Kingdom

Yes thats it but its not a out of warranty repair they charge for that because its such a expensive repair, my friend has a 2009 that he brought from ebay, we went in when his was out of warranty and they said if that was in warranty we could do that. From an apple side although its common it's not a major problem, hardly effecting the use of the macbook.

It seems a bit hit and miss as always with these problems with harddrives some ssd also give beach balling so its always doing a google search before you buy.
 

mwhities

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2011
899
0
Mississippi
I'll look into that. Tomorrow I will go there and ask about it.

In regard to the hdd, any issues with the momentus XT 750 hybrid and the MacBook?

Cheers

Please post when you can with an update. I have the mid 2010 Macbook and both sides are cracked. I'm covered with AC until October or so of this year. (I purchased the extended AC two days before the first year ran out.) I have upgraded the ram and hard drive but, kept the originals.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Please post when you can with an update. I have the mid 2010 Macbook and both sides are cracked. I'm covered with AC until October or so of this year. (I purchased the extended AC two days before the first year ran out.) I have upgraded the ram and hard drive but, kept the originals.

This is how the cracks look like on my macbook:

0fwej.jpg


miTs1.jpg


I just emailed 3 apple technical centres near me with this case and I am currently waiting for replies.

I will update with news as I get them.

Cheers!
 

mwhities

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2011
899
0
Mississippi
This is how the cracks look like on my macbook:

Image

Image

I just emailed 3 apple technical centres near me with this case and I am currently waiting for replies.

I will update with news as I get them.

Cheers!

Mine is about the same. Cracks on both sides and "turns" in.

I appreciate it. I'd like to get it replaced if I could.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Just ordered the parts...
Because there I didn't quite get the whole fusion DIY and the different disk utility builds (430 vs 444) and just ordered this:

- Seagate Momentus XT ST750LX003 - 750GB 7200rpm 32MB 8GB SLC
- 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair ValueSelect DDR3-1066 CL7 (7-7-7-20) RAM SO-DIMM - Kit

Hope both the memory and the HDD will work good on my Macbook and boost the performance a bit.

the parts should arrive on wednesday or thursday.

I'll report later...

As for the HDD, I have the system all configured and running on the stock 250gb. I did a clean install of mountain lion and set everything up...
Just missing my pictures and music. That is why I want the larger hdd.

I also have carbon copy cloner.
Can I just clone my current HDD to the Momentus XT with CCC and then just swap drives?
Or is it better to do a clean 10.8.2 install on the Momentus and then use Migration Assistant?

Cheers!
 

mwhities

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2011
899
0
Mississippi
I'd say use CCC, that's what I use.

I have an external USB drive (1T) that I partitioned 100/900. I installed ML on the 100G partition and installed CCC on that (and I update ML as they come in). Then I use the rest to CCC my systems (I do this once a week.).

I would boot off the external drive, CCC the current installed drive to another drive (external/whatever). Once the new drive comes in, restore the clone from the earlier drive (external/whatever) to the new drive. (Just be sure to format the new drive to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system first.) Reboot to the new drive and you should be good. Then you can move your data over that wasn't on it before.
 

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
I'd say use CCC, that's what I use.

I have an external USB drive (1T) that I partitioned 100/900. I installed ML on the 100G partition and installed CCC on that (and I update ML as they come in). Then I use the rest to CCC my systems (I do this once a week.).

I would boot off the external drive, CCC the current installed drive to another drive (external/whatever). Once the new drive comes in, restore the clone from the earlier drive (external/whatever) to the new drive. (Just be sure to format the new drive to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system first.) Reboot to the new drive and you should be good. Then you can move your data over that wasn't on it before.

By doing a full clone, can there be issues with mountain lions recovery partition? I think I read somewhere that a clean install was recommended because of that issue.

If I do a clean install, will migration assist copy all my program's and settings to the new drive afterwards?
I never used migration assistant before.

Cheers
 

mwhities

macrumors 6502a
Jul 13, 2011
899
0
Mississippi
By doing a full clone, can there be issues with mountain lions recovery partition? I think I read somewhere that a clean install was recommended because of that issue.

If I do a clean install, will migration assist copy all my program's and settings to the new drive afterwards?
I never used migration assistant before.

Cheers

I do a weekly CCC backup of all my systems and CCC shows it's cloning the recovery partition as well. I had never thought about it but, I just restarted my Macbook and hit Command + R and it booted into Recovery. (I have since then, re-cloned my Macbook so, I know it still works.)

I believe the migration tool will only pull over your setting of the user. You would need to do a restore from TimeMachine backups to pull Apps in as well.
 
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