Mac Pro SSD Installation - Problems

[Avro]

I have installed an SSD using a Caddy in my Mac Pro. Unfortunately it doesn't show up in disk utility. Everything looks right physically, but no drive.


Any ideas what could be wrong?

 

[hfg]

Defective caddy? Which one are you using?

Do you know that the SSD works? Can you put in a USB enclosure to test?

Verify that the SSD is firmly seated in the caddy connector, and that the sled-mounted caddy is lined up properly and fully seated in the bay connector.

You could also carefully test without the caddy by plugging the SSD directly into the bay connector. Be gentle so as not to break off the connector.


good luck...

-howard

 

[pastrychef]

I had an Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" adaptor that was faulty and the drive simply didn't show up at all. I had to return it.

I now have an OWC bracket that allows the drive to connect directly to the Mac Pro's connector.

 

[haravikk]

I had an Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" adaptor that was faulty and the drive simply didn't show up at all. I had to return it.

I now have an OWC bracket that allows the drive to connect directly to the Mac Pro's connector.

I just wrapped thermal tape around my SSD and the standard Mac Pro caddy, been using it for a couple of years now without any issues. Sounds silly, but the SSD is so light I could probably have ignored the caddy and just connected plugged the SSD straight into the connector, but I figured the thermal tape will stop it from wobbling free with fan movement 😀


But yeah, I think we need to know what caddy the OP is using; I tried screwing my SSD onto the regular Mac caddy but although it lines up nicely and connects the drive without issue, the caddy is left jutting out very slightly; enough to prevent the case from closing, so I'm assuming it's some third party one?

Definitely should be tested in another machine or externally if possible to make sure the drive itself isn't defective.

 

[pastrychef]

haravikk, when time permits, would you mind posting a picture? It can come in handy for me if/when I need to connect another 2.5" drive.

Thanks in advance.

 

[hfg]

If you want something that looks cool and probably helps cool the SSD as well ...

I picked up some eBay new heatsink/mounts for "WD VelociRaptor" 10K hard drives (drive not included). These high speed drives are actually standard 2.5" SATA form-factor in a standard 3.5" SATA adapter with big heat sinks. They work great with SSDs mounted to the Mac Pro drive sleds and probably provide some heat dissipation as well. I think they were like $8 when I got mine, brand new (no disk drive included of course).

Here is what the original drives look like ... just mentally picture your SSD for the disk drive as shown:

-howard

 

[Gav Mack]

I bought two icy docks for my 3,1 but construction of both were rubbish. I had to glue the grommets back in on one to get it working but it didn't fit exactly right and started to bend the SATA connector bracket backwards a bit. The other wouldn't work full stop.

I retired the icy box used a pair of long handled pliers to straighten the bracket back and used a pair of NewerTech NWT AdaptaDrive's. A perfect fit for the Mac Pro 2008 sleds.

 

[pastrychef]

I considered the Raptor mounts but the few that I found were expensive and SSDs run so cool that I figured I didn't need it.

 

[hfg]

I considered the Raptor mounts but the few that I found were expensive and SSDs run so cool that I figured I didn't need it.

Yeah ... probably not needed for heat ... but I think they look so cool in there. 😎

At the time, I bought 2 for $8 each ... but they may have gone up in price if they were good sellers.

 

[pastrychef]

Wow. $8 each is an amazing price. Cheaper than any other adaptors I've come across.

 

[hfg]

Wow. $8 each is an amazing price. Cheaper than any other adaptors I've come across.

Yeah, these were even cheaper than the IcyDocks which I had been using. I think the VelociRaptor adapters had just appeared on eBay, and were the subject of much forum talk here, so they sold out the first batch pretty quickly. I think last time I looked for them they had gone up in price but were still under $20 or so. They are working well for me, and are ... umm ... quite rugged and do run cool. 🙂 😎


-howard