Concerns regarding hard drive in optical bay

[happle]

alright so ill be buying a new top of the line 15" macbook pro in two weeks as i am selling my white macbook while i still can. im already planning to add an ssd and buy the data double optical bay from OWC. but i have a few concerns...

1. which drive should go where? i was thinking putting the SSD in the normal HD slot, will this allow for 6gb/sec?

2. how do i find out how much space my OS and applications are taking up? im trying to figure out what size SSD to get.

3. does running these dual drives cause a loss in battery life?

4. i produce music and such, would it be smarter to keep the 5400rpm stock hard drive for cooler temps and more battery or get a 7200 rpm like i planned on? will it make a difference for speed? also should i get a HD with the g shock sensor in it since it will now be in the optical bay? or does apples sensor still work for this?

5. is there any concern with putting the hard drive in the optical bay regarding heat? since the optical bay is so close to the heat sink?

6. what is a good usb external optical drive enclosure for a MBP?

thanks for any input!

 

[cosmicjoke]

alright so ill be buying a new top of the line 15" macbook pro in two weeks as i am selling my white macbook while i still can. im already planning to add an ssd and buy the data double optical bay from OWC. but i have a few concerns...

1. which drive should go where? i was thinking putting the SSD in the normal HD slot, will this allow for 6gb/sec?

2. how do i find out how much space my OS and applications are taking up? im trying to figure out what size SSD to get.

3. does running these dual drives cause a loss in battery life?

4. i produce music and such, would it be smarter to keep the 5400rpm stock hard drive for cooler temps and more battery or get a 7200 rpm like i planned on? will it make a difference for speed? also should i get a HD with the g shock sensor in it since it will now be in the optical bay? or does apples sensor still work for this?

5. is there any concern with putting the hard drive in the optical bay regarding heat? since the optical bay is so close to the heat sink?

6. what is a good usb external optical drive enclosure for a MBP?

thanks for any input!

1.) I can verify from system profiler on my late '11 that both hdd bay and dvd bay have 6gbps connectors. If you're buying a new MBP, scratch that one off your list. There only caveat i'm aware of in regards to putting your boot drive (in your case an SSD) in the optical drive bay is it breaks hibernation, as osx only looks for your boot drive in the HDD bay w/ hibernation...

2.) go to the root folder of your hdd and control-click on applications folder in finder and get info, it will tell you how much space your applications are taking.... how much space you'll need is a big boy decision, we can't answer it for you.

3.) it depends on how much you use used your optical drive on battery lol... if never, then yes, certainly it's going to impact your battery life, these things don't run themselves.

4.) endless debate, generally speaking a 5400rpm should be quieter, take less of a hit on the battery etc... i personally can't perceive any difference in speed between 5400rpm and 7200rpm, others say they can... it's never impacted my audio production negatively.

5.) man, crossing over threads you've been awfully worried about this macbook pro you don't even own yet... i see a complete self fulfilling prophecy here... i hear you should keep them under a sneeze guard so that they don't get a fever and burn up.

6.) There are some on ebay that look quite comparable to a superdrive

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Exter...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item2a14aec4d2

 

[happle]

@ cosmicjoke:

alright thanks man. much appreciated. and yes i know im anal about my computers lol.

so that means that the optical bay hard drive will never hibernate? is there any way around this? or can the boot drive be switched to the one in the optical bay, this way i can keep the SMS on my HDD in the HDD bay and also utilize the rubber mounts meant for the HDD. now that i think about it id like to use the SSD in the optical bay.

also any comment on the g sensor for the hard drive in the optical bay? i should probably buy a g sensor hd and use the stock hard drive as an external eh?

also i found an optical drive enclosure but now i need to find a good optical bay frame for the hd. i dont like the cheap ebay ones, and i dont like how the OWC one only has screws on one side of it.

 

[cosmicjoke]

@ cosmicjoke:

alright thanks man. much appreciated. and yes i know im anal about my computers lol.

so that means that the optical bay hard drive will never hibernate? is there any way around this? or can the boot drive be switched to the one in the optical bay?

also any comment on the g sensor for the hard drive in the optical bay? i should probably buy a g sensor hd and use the stock hard drive as an external eh?

also i found an optical drive enclosure but now i need to find a good optical bay frame for the hd. i dont like the cheap ebay ones, and i dont like how the OWC one only has screws on one side of it.

I think if the boot drive is in the optical bay caddy, then no, it won't hibernate... Incidentally, I know as a fact that on my custom built i7-2600k desktop w/ multiple OS's on multiple HDDs, windows will not hibernate unless the HDD containing windows is set as the 1st in the boot order in BIOS. I imagine it's a similar issue w/ os x, except there is no BIOS to change the order to resolve the issue.

As for the G sensor deal, I guess now if you're thinking about the SSD in HDD bay for the hibernation (which I think you'll probably never use in the first place) and are worried about motion ruining the rotational HDD in your optical bay, get the G sensor one - you may have to disable apple's sudden motion sensors (it's done in terminal) as I've read that people have gotten kernel panics (regardless of what bay the hdd is placed) when using a 3rd rotational HDD w/ built in sensors... I'd just wait and see if that was the case though, and try not to panic irl when it happens

You're on your own w/ the HDD caddy, I ordered a OWC which is arriving tomorrow w/ a 1tb 5400rpm HDD. I'm wagering 2 screws is totally sufficient, if not and it wrecks my $3k mbp (even though there's virtually no wiggle room w/ once the back is snapped into place) I guess somehow my macbook proless life will go on. :shrug: Anyways, I've had enough first world problems for the night, I'm sure it will all work out regardless of what you do... G'luck

 

[happle]

I think if the boot drive is in the optical bay caddy, then no, it won't hibernate... Incidentally, I know as a fact that on my custom built i7-2600k desktop w/ multiple OS's on multiple HDDs, windows will not hibernate unless the HDD containing windows is set as the 1st in the boot order in BIOS. I imagine it's a similar issue w/ os x, except there is no BIOS to change the order to resolve the issue.

As for the G sensor deal, I guess now if you're thinking about the SSD in HDD bay for the hibernation (which I think you'll probably never use in the first place) and are worried about motion ruining the rotational HDD in your optical bay, get the G sensor one - you may have to disable apple's sudden motion sensors (it's done in terminal) as I've read that people have gotten kernel panics (regardless of what bay the hdd is placed) when using a 3rd rotational HDD w/ built in sensors... I'd just wait and see if that was the case though, and try not to panic irl when it happens

You're on your own w/ the HDD caddy, I ordered a OWC which is arriving tomorrow w/ a 1tb 5400rpm HDD. I'm wagering 2 screws is totally sufficient, if not and it wrecks my $3k mbp (even though there's virtually no wiggle room w/ once the back is snapped into place) I guess somehow my macbook proless life will go on. :shrug: Anyways, I've had enough first world problems for the night, I'm sure it will all work out regardless of what you do... G'luck

hmm idk im going to do some research. i think that i can manage to get the SSD working in the opti bay and the HDD in the HDD bay. also i found a nice caddy for cheaper than OWC and it looks more secure in the fashion in which it is mounted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCELqnopNm8

also id rather not buy another HD with the g sensor if i dont have to, yanno?

but this is why i posted a thread like this even before i get my macbook because i like to have all my research done before i make any purchases and such.

 

[cosmicjoke]

hmm idk im going to do some research. i think that i can manage to get the SSD working in the opti bay and the HDD in the HDD bay. also i found a nice caddy for cheaper than OWC and it looks more secure in the fashion in which it is mounted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCELqnopNm8

also id rather not buy another HD with the g sensor if i dont have to, yanno?

but this is why i posted a thread like this even before i get my macbook because i like to have all my research done before i make any purchases and such.

well, i think you can manage to get the SSD working in the optical bay as well... i don't think you can get it to hibernate though if that ssd also happens to be your boot drive (which it is obviously going to) - it will still work in all other regards... (hibernation, incidentally, is the thing that happens when you run entirely out of battery - not to be confused w/ sleep/standby)

it's possible i'm wrong about this factor, i dunno, there are other hibernation issues w/ sandforce controllers and SSDs on os x, so what i've read thus far may be conjecture.... but i'll tell you what, i have an apple SSD and i'll stick the thing in my data doubler tomorrow and find out.

 

[happle]

well, i think you can manage to get the SSD working in the optical bay as well... i don't think you can get it to hibernate though if that ssd also happens to be your boot drive (which it is obviously going to) - it will still work in all other regards... (hibernation, incidentally, is the thing that happens when you run entirely out of battery - not to be confused w/ sleep/standby)

oh i was thinking hybrinate as when i shut my macbook. will the optical drive bay still sleep when the macbook is shut?

 

[cosmicjoke]

oh i was thinking hybrinate as when i shut my macbook. will the optical drive bay still sleep when the macbook is shut?

yes, definitely...

 

[happle]

yes, definitely...

thanks for the PM dude! good info there.