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Converting the optical superdrive into an external cd drive..

K

kettlecorn

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 21, 2011
284
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I did a search but all te keywords related to optical drives and externals did not yield what I was looking for. Whats the best way to convert the superdrive in the mbp into a useable external cd drive? I already ordered a ssd anwill be putting the stock hdd into the optical drive slot because I would use a second hdd way more over an optical drive. I would however like to use the optical drive and not have to buy an external separately for the occasional boot cd and movies or dvd burning situations.

Can I buy a sata-to-usb adapter and just use that? Looks or enclosures aren't important, just that its functional.
 
kettlecorn said:
I did a search but all te keywords related to optical drives and externals did not yield what I was looking for. Whats the best way to convert the superdrive in the mbp into a useable external cd drive? I already ordered a ssd anwill be putting the stock hdd into the optical drive slot because I would use a second hdd way more over an optical drive. I would however like to use the optical drive and not have to buy an external separately for the occasional boot cd and movies or dvd burning situations.

Can I buy a sata-to-usb adapter and just use that? Looks or enclosures aren't important, just that its functional.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of USB enclosures for sata drives. The challenge is finding one that works with slot load or has a proper bezel. Check with macsales.com since they perform the drive upgrade perhaps they sell a kit.

Cheers,
 
I have also done some searching on this subject and didn't find much. I think it would be more beneficial to just sell the optical drive (people have drives that go out all the time) and buy a standard external dvd drive.

You may be able to come out ahead depending on how much you can get for your optical drive. External drives aren't very expensive. I bought a nice Rosewill one on newegg a while back that works perfectly and was cheap.
 
External USB SuperDrive Solution!

Hey guys, I did this about three months ago and I'll post how I did it!

First, I ordered a kit from Optibay, you can google their site. The base kit comes with the "frame" for the SSD to fit into your Macbook Pro, as well as a USB enclosure for a slot load SuperDrive. The cost of the kit is $99, a bit pricey, but it was well worth it and came with the enclosure.

Now, what I would advise is to leave the stock hard drive where it is. Reason: There is little to no shock-resistance in the Optibay itself. I'd suggest installing the SSD into the Optibay because there's no moving parts, thus no risk of shock. The whole install took about 30-45minutes for me, but i'm technically enclined. Still though, it's a very simple and easy install. What I did was a fresh install of OS X on my SSD, then I googled how to put my home folder onto another drive (the HDD). This way you can boot with the SSD and have all your apps in there, and all your data is on the HDD (most likely more than an SSD capacity). I've been running this setup for about three months now, and i've had no issues so far!
 
fluffyroo said:
Hey guys, I did this about three months ago and I'll post how I did it!

First, I ordered a kit from Optibay, you can google their site. The base kit comes with the "frame" for the SSD to fit into your Macbook Pro, as well as a USB enclosure for a slot load SuperDrive. The cost of the kit is $99, a bit pricey, but it was well worth it and came with the enclosure.

Now, what I would advise is to leave the stock hard drive where it is. Reason: There is little to no shock-resistance in the Optibay itself. I'd suggest installing the SSD into the Optibay because there's no moving parts, thus no risk of shock. The whole install took about 30-45minutes for me, but i'm technically enclined. Still though, it's a very simple and easy install. What I did was a fresh install of OS X on my SSD, then I googled how to put my home folder onto another drive (the HDD). This way you can boot with the SSD and have all your apps in there, and all your data is on the HDD (most likely more than an SSD capacity). I've been running this setup for about three months now, and i've had no issues so far!
Click to expand...

Interesting about the ssd gping into the optibay. From what I read, most ppl do it the other way. I read one thread where a guy had trouble with lagging and stuttering with the ssd in the optibay but who knows. I'm getting my corsair performance 128gb in a few days!


I don't need an enclosure necessarily but just for it to work. I sae a youtube video that used a esata to usb and no enclosure or additional power supply. Ill try it myself and post a guide.. Maybe it'll get stickied

This is the adapter :

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-305...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1295856556&sr=1-1
 
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