MCE Optibay Alternative CHEAP

*** work in progress ***

This is the future home of the optibay thorough guide.

First of, your here to add a second SSD/HDD to your notebook computer.

This article will cover your many issues / install problems / choices to me made.

1.1 - What laptop have
1.2 - What options do i have
1.3 - Installation and Setup
1.4 - RAID Arrays & Possible Issues
1.5 - Bootcamp !






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** 1.1 - What type of optical bay connector do i have ? **
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There are 2 types of optical bay connectors you can have in the macbook/macbook pro.

NON Unibody Macbook pro's have OBHD connectors
Unibody MacBooks , Macbook Pro's ALL have mini SATA or optical SATA connectors.
Non unibody MacBooks , Most have OBHD connectors , but 2009 models all seem to have Mini SATA / Optical SATA

These are your 2 connectors.

OBHD



Mini SATA or Optical SATA



The Unibody users can purchase there adapter from this company
http://www.ayagroup.com/product.php?productid=17773&cat=0&page=1 (Ayagroup) <----- Requires modification
http://"http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?...roducts_id=220" (Newmodeus) (Thanks BugOut!!) <---- Highly recommended
The old Optical Drive can be fitted into this (without using a bezel)
http://www.ayagroup.com/product.php?productid=17499&cat=0&page=1 (Ayagroup) (Thanks BugOut!!) <------- These no longer work.
Non-Unibody Users can purchase this adapter
""

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** 1.1 - What options do i have ? **
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The optibay in the macbook and macbook Pro opens doors for lots of customization such as

SSD + SSD
HDD + HDD
SSD + HDD

RAID 0 (Stripe for speed)
RAID 1 (Mirror for redundancy)

Can my notebook support 12.5MM Drives?

NON Unibody Macbook : 9.5MM Only
NON Unibody Macbook pro 15" : 9.5MM Only
NON Unibody Macbook pro 17" : 9.5MM + 12.5MM
Unibody Macbook : NO DATA (Believe only 9.5MM)
Unibody Macbook pro 13" : 9.5MM + 12.MM
Unibody Macbook pro 15" : 9.5MM + 12.MM
Unibody Macbook pro 17" : 9.5MM + 12.MM


hey, here is some pictures on a optibay alternative,

PART # : SLSATAM20 From Startech.com $9.99 CAD

pictures pretty much describe the process.

rest of pics

more of the pictures

even more

last pic post promise

so here it goes...

take a sata to molex connector, cut it off, using startech part slsatam20 cut the molex off it, match colors , black doesent matter. match black to black.

simply plug it into the hdd or ssd you want to add into the optical bay.

wedge in the wires

and voila...optibay...less than 15$

it actually takes little work to do...no work to keep it going.

its all sandwiched in there.

heat is also not an issue. i have a 500gb and a 120gb ssd, ssd moved to original hd spot and 500gb now in optical bay

works amazing.

RKpro said:

Just a suggestion... With your configuration, wouldn't it be better it to have 500GB worth of spinning platters in the hard drive bay? and the SSD in the optical drive bay? Because HDs are very sensitive to vibration, the the hard drive bay would protect it much better than being taped into the optical bay.

Click to expand...

hey,

the 500gb you would normally want in the hdd bay...but it is not my boot drive thus must be in the optibay,

the mac wont boot from the optibay "automatically"...unless there is somthing i am doing wrong.

maybe someone can help me with this solution

koobcamuk said:

I don't suppose you would make me one of those cables for a fee?

Thanks

Click to expand...

$25 cad, just to cover costs, and whatever shipping is wherever you are.

mrrippey said:

very slick +1, you still taking offers to build for people

Click to expand...

there very very simple to build, but i can build you one.

they rock, so much better than the optibay in my opinion, i can modify they to be small with less cable or with longer cable, you can have better placement in the notebook for ventilation control.

i am now working on using the old optical bay slot for removing hot air with the second drive still installed....you know...like a controllable blower for it for those hot days

bugout said:

meh..

I just bought this instead:
http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=220

just pop the black plastic off and it fit perfectly in my 17" UMPB with a 500GB HD.

I got this external case for the superdrive:
http://www.ayagroup.com/product.php?productid=17499&cat=0&page=1

and this bezel for the front of it:
http://mac.macrecycling.com/slot-loading-optical-drive-bezel-panasonicmatshita-p-100903.html

Total cost: $68
Total cost from MCE optibay people: $192.25

Click to expand...

extra weight and money for nothing

bugout said:

For nothing? I'm not so sure about that..

For $10 you can have your hard drive held in with loose wires and electrical tape like this:

or for $30 more and no extra weight it can be held in like this:

Call me crazy, but on my nearly $4k laptop I'll take option 2.

Click to expand...

well i have lots of money....so i dont really care, i care about out of the box solutions and doing stuff myself.