Late 2008 Mac Pro SSD questions

[digiegg]

Alright, it's time to give my baby a boost of speed with a SSD drive.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...7PC256B_WW_256GB_SSD_830_SERIES_INTERNAL.html

What do I need to buy and know to get something like that harddrive installed?
I read some places that I should get a 3.5".

Thanks guys!

 

[ColdCase]

Depends where you want to physically install the SSD. You can put it into one of the drive slots, where you need a drive slot adapter, or in the optical bay, where you can just lay it in there (no moving parts) or get a 2.5 to 3.5 to 5.25 adapter. If you put it into the optical bay you will need to run a SATA cable to the motherboard and use a power adapter.

OWC and others have the adapters and instructions. I've seen several on line guides.

Later model MacPros use SATA optical drives, which makes it much easier.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

I used this Icy Dock when I had an SSD installed in one of the 4 HDD Bays (in an early 2008 MP)

http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=80

When I had 2 SSDs installed in the 2nd Optical Bay, I used the following:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MM352A52MP/

Lastly, in my current configuration, I use a Transintl DX4

http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2799

I'd recommend any of the above options. So far I have not had an issue with any of the products above and any Intel (Intel X25-E, X25-M, 330, or 520) or Samsung 830 SSD that I have used with them.

 

[foodog]

Alright, it's time to give my baby a boost of speed with a SSD drive.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...7PC256B_WW_256GB_SSD_830_SERIES_INTERNAL.html

What do I need to buy and know to get something like that harddrive installed?
I read some places that I should get a 3.5".

Thanks guys!

Put it in the second optical drive space

 

[treehorn]

Is there a good, trusted weblink for instructions on how to install a SSD drive into a 2008 Mac Pro's optical drive, as well as a "what you will need" list? I come up with so many links that are relatively old and may be out of date in regards to available tech, or have so many contradictory instruction elements that I'm not sure what is the most reliable (and trustworthy) way to go

 

[rhett7660]

If you are going to install in optical:

Power
Sata Cable

If you are going to install using one of the hard drive bays

Icy dock or something similar.

Do you want to boot off the new SSD? If so, you will have an issue using the extra sata port on the motherboard because you cannot boot off of it. At least on mine you could not and I have a 2008 MP.

I basically moved one of my hard drives and the second SSD to the optical bay and used the icy dock for the primary SSD that I use to boot from and house applications.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

Is there a good, trusted weblink for instructions on how to install a SSD drive into a 2008 Mac Pro's optical drive, as well as a "what you will need" list? I come up with so many links that are relatively old and may be out of date in regards to available tech, or have so many contradictory instruction elements that I'm not sure what is the most reliable (and trustworthy) way to go

Installing in the optical drive takes more work because you need to run a SATA cable from the optical drive to the ODD SATA ports on the motherboard. The parts you need are as follows:

1. 2.5" to 5.25" adapter (to house the SSD in Optical Bay #2)




2. You need a SATA 15-pin Female to Molex 4-pin Male Power Adapter (6" will do)



3. You need a SATA cable (18" to 24" with right-angle preferably)



4. You also need a set of computer screw drivers.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

How to Install SSD in Optical Drive

Step #1: Remove Optical Drive, Install 2.5" to 5.25" adapter bracket with SSD, connect SATA power to molex adapter.
Step #2: Remove the HDD from Bay #1
Step #3: Remove Piece Label #3 (see below, I think it's the heat sink cover?)
Step #4A: Remove screw #1 that attaches front fan to motherboard
Step #4B: Remove screw #2 that attaches front fan to motherboard
Step #5: Remove front fan from mother board



FYI: For the next step, you may need to unscrew the Bay #1 SATA connector.
Step #6: Run the SATA cable from your SSD in the optical bay, through the opening available under to the left of HDD Bay one and connect the right-angle part of the SATA cable to either ODD_SATA port.



Step #7: Reassemble everything.

Please Note: You cannot boot windows from the ODD SATA port without enabling AHCI which is a complete pain in the ass.

 

[rhett7660]

How to Install SSD in Optical Drive

Step #1: Remove Optical Drive, Install 2.5" to 5.25" adapter bracket with SSD, connect SATA power to molex adapter.
Step #2: Remove the HDD from Bay #1
Step #3: Remove Piece Label #3 (see below, I think it's the heat sink cover?)
Step #4A: Remove screw #1 that attaches front fan to motherboard
Step #4B: Remove screw #2 that attaches front fan to motherboard
Step #5: Remove front fan from mother board

View attachment 358611

FYI: For the next step, you may need to unscrew the Bay #1 SATA connector.
Step #6: Run the SATA cable from your SSD in the optical bay, through the opening available under to the left of HDD Bay one and connect the right-angle part of the SATA cable to either ODD_SATA port.

View attachment 358624

Step #7: Reassemble everything.

Please Note: You cannot boot windows from the ODD SATA port without enabling AHCI which is a complete pain in the ass.

I don't think you can boot the Mac off those two Sata ports either.

**Update** I stand corrected it looks like you can boot off these ports!!!

 

[thehimay]

I don't think you can boot the Mac off those two Sata ports either.

Unless I am mistaken, you should be able to boot off of both HDDs and ODDs over those ports on the Mac OS X side of things. If you're trying to do anything Windows-related on those ports, however, that's when there's some hackery necessary.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

I don't think you can boot the Mac off those two Sata ports either.

My early 2008 Mac Pro has two Samsung 830 SSD's in RAID 0 as a boot drive and both are connected to the two ODD_SATA ports. I can confirm that you can boot Mac OS X off of the ODD_SATA ports. Windows takes AHCI hacking (don't attempt unless glutton for punishment).

 

[rhett7660]

Unless I am mistaken, you should be able to boot off of both HDDs and ODDs over those ports on the Mac OS X side of things. If you're trying to do anything Windows-related on those ports, however, that's when there's some hackery necessary.

My early 2008 Mac Pro has two Samsung 830 SSD's in RAID 0 as a boot drive and both are connected to the two ODD_SATA ports. I can confirm that you can boot Mac OS X off of the ODD_SATA ports. Windows takes AHCI hacking (don't attempt unless glutton for punishment).

Well crap, I could not get mine to boot off of them. Hmmmmm. Wonder what was going on with it. I had to change it to the first bay in order to get my system to boot off of the SSD. I even took all the drives out. I am wondering if I missed a step. Well thank you both for confirming this. I could of swore this wasn't the case and after trying for hours. Glad to see you two were able to get it going and I stand corrected.

Thank you.

 

[karsten]

easiest way if you have one of the 4 drive slots open is to get one of these sleds: http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=249&ParentCat=403

i'd recommend a crucial M4 as the SSD. i've had good luck with mine in a 2008 MP. get a 128GB or larger if you can afford it, 64GB is a little tight with both OS X and bootcamp.

 

[treehorn]

Thanks for all the tips....I defiantly would want to do it on optical if possible and use it as a boot drive

 

[hfg]

I can also confirm booting OS X off of the motherboard SATA ports on a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 computer.

I have a pair of OWC 240GB SSD drives mounted in the optical bay running in RAID-0 with my OS X boot, applications, and user data. I ran the 2 SATA data cables from the motherboard SATA ports (under the fan housing) up into the back of the optical bay. Power is obtained from the second optical molex power port with a molex-to-SATA power Y-adapter cable. I use the OWC dual SSD mounting rails in the space where the 2nd optical could be mounted.

Bay #1 contains a OWC 120GB SSD to dual boot Windows in a IcyDock mounting adapter.

Bay #2 & 3 have a pair of 1TB disk drives in RAID-0 for large photo, music, video, etc. libraries.

Bay #4 is available for expansion at the moment.



-howard

 

[fridgeymonster3]

Well crap, I could not get mine to boot off of them. Hmmmmm. Wonder what was going on with it. I had to change it to the first bay in order to get my system to boot off of the SSD. I even took all the drives out. I am wondering if I missed a step. Well thank you both for confirming this. I could of swore this wasn't the case and after trying for hours. Glad to see you two were able to get it going and I stand corrected.

Thank you.

Could you see the SSD in Mac OS X when connected to the ODD_SATA port but just not boot from it after installing Mac OS X?

 

[ColdCase]

Just to add, I have two OCZ Vertex drives in the optical bay using OWC hardware and connected to the motherboard connectors. Both are bootable with OS X. I don't do no stinkin window crap At one time I had an external drive connected (short cable) and was able to boot from it.

 

[rhett7660]

Could you see the SSD in Mac OS X when connected to the ODD_SATA port but just not boot from it after installing Mac OS X?

Yes, only after I was able to boot up with another drive. I had the OS on the ssd drive, because it would boot off the ssd if I had it in the drive bay, but it wouldn't if I had it connected to one of the ports on the MB.

Hmm. Oh well, I have everything working now, but now I want to go back and see if I did anything wrong.

 

[digiegg]

Always an amazing response from you guys!

Wait so I'm reading that Windows can't be booted off this?
This sounds retarded but I don't have OSX installed in any of my drives. I just wiped it and put windows on it. Reason why I got this was because it was the first 8 core out there for rendering purpose.
I don't speak Mac so I wouldn't know where to begin hacking the AHCI.
I want just Windows 7 installed, not OSX, and boot it from this drive.

 

[karsten]

Always an amazing response from you guys!

Wait so I'm reading that Windows can't be booted off this?
This sounds retarded but I don't have OSX installed in any of my drives. I just wiped it and put windows on it. Reason why I got this was because it was the first 8 core out there for rendering purpose.
I don't speak Mac so I wouldn't know where to begin hacking the AHCI.
I want just Windows 7 installed, not OSX, and boot it from this drive.

you can boot windows as long as it's on a drive that's in bay 1-4 (not the two odd ports on the motherboard)

 

[fridgeymonster3]

Always an amazing response from you guys!

Wait so I'm reading that Windows can't be booted off this?
This sounds retarded but I don't have OSX installed in any of my drives. I just wiped it and put windows on it. Reason why I got this was because it was the first 8 core out there for rendering purpose.
I don't speak Mac so I wouldn't know where to begin hacking the AHCI.
I want just Windows 7 installed, not OSX, and boot it from this drive.

For Windows just stick to bays 1-4 as the poster above said. In terms of AHCI, you actually don't need Mac OS X I believe. I think I used a Ubuntu Live CD a few years ago when I did it.

 

[mrtimholmes]

which icy dock did u get for your early 2008 mac pro,thank you

which icy dock did u get for your early 2008 mac pro,thank you

I used this Icy Dock when I had an SSD installed in one of the 4 HDD Bays (in an early 2008 MP)

http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=80

When I had 2 SSDs installed in the 2nd Optical Bay, I used the following:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MM352A52MP/

Lastly, in my current configuration, I use a Transintl DX4

http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2799

I'd recommend any of the above options. So far I have not had an issue with any of the products above and any Intel (Intel X25-E, X25-M, 330, or 520) or Samsung 830 SSD that I have used with them.

 

[ryan42]

I have two Samsung 830 256GB SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration stuck underneath the IDE hard disk I use for Boot Camp in the lower CD drive bay. I mounted the hard drive long ago to the upper optical drive with metal tape and did the same to mount the SSDs to the bottom of the drive cage. They're connected to the two ODD SATA ports.

I get around 480 MB/sec read and write according to Blackmagic's test.

 

[Phrygian]

How to Install SSD in Optical Drive

Step #1: Remove Optical Drive, Install 2.5" to 5.25" adapter bracket with SSD, connect SATA power to molex adapter.
Step #2: Remove the HDD from Bay #1
Step #3: Remove Piece Label #3 (see below, I think it's the heat sink cover?)
Step #4A: Remove screw #1 that attaches front fan to motherboard
Step #4B: Remove screw #2 that attaches front fan to motherboard
Step #5: Remove front fan from mother board

View attachment 358611

FYI: For the next step, you may need to unscrew the Bay #1 SATA connector.
Step #6: Run the SATA cable from your SSD in the optical bay, through the opening available under to the left of HDD Bay one and connect the right-angle part of the SATA cable to either ODD_SATA port.

View attachment 358624

Step #7: Reassemble everything.

Please Note: You cannot boot windows from the ODD SATA port without enabling AHCI which is a complete pain in the ass.

what is the thing labeled as DX4 in your MP? Haven't seen anything like that before, and it looks like it was designed for a mac pro given its position in the 3 sled.. I'm guessing its a raid controller

@OP: why are you purchasing from B&H. Unless you live in NYC and can pick up purchases yourself from the their brooklyn navy yards depot... its hardly ever worth it. Only time its good to buy from B&H is when they are the only people still carrying an older model of a product.. At least thats true of their computer equipment. An example would be getting 5-800 bucks off a mac pro because they have had it for 2 years already.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

which icy dock did u get for your early 2008 mac pro,thank you

I bought the Icy Dock MB882SP. See amazon link below.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002Z2QDNE/ref=mp_s_a_1?pi=SL75&qid=1349574911&sr=8-1

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[/COLOR]

what is the thing labeled as DX4 in your MP? Haven't seen anything like that before, and it looks like it was designed for a mac pro given its position in the 3 sled.. I'm guessing its a raid controller.

It is a transintl dx4 which holds 4 2.5" hard drives. I have two ssd drives running off my odd_sata and 2 1TB 2.5" hdd running of a PCIe card.