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Macbook Pro SSD installation.

A

axiomission

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 7, 2007
42
0
Hey guys,

Have a few things. First, I just ordered my new Macbook Pro 15". I don't need the retina display, so I got the hi-res Macbook Pro anti-glare. However, I don't use the DVD drive and I was told I could take it out and swap it with a another drive. So I was looking into some options and I'm pretty sold on the OWC SSDs. However, suggestions are welcome if someone knows a drive w/ better performance with a better price and also very reliable.

Now, onto the more difficult part. I want to essentially swap the use of the drive my macbook pro comes with with the SSD. More clearly, I want Mac OS Lion/Mountain Lion installed on the SSD with all the programs and I want to use the HDD as storage. What's the best way to go about clean wiping my hard drive and installing the Lion from scratch? (I kind of prefer not to deal with trying to uninstall iPhoto, iMovie, and Garageband)

So I'm wondering what is the solution for that and what would be the best housing to store the drive in so it fits snugly?

thanks!
 
Either the Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 would serve you well. The 830 is a touch faster but the Crucial is cheaper. Both are very reliable. The speed difference in not something the vast majority of users are going to notice but it's there in the benchmarks.
 
Yea, I noticed after reading more that I can get the m4 with more memory for a cheaper price, so I'll probably get that as opposed to the OWC. However, I am wondering how one would be able to clean wipe the HDD and install Lion on the SDD. At the very least, transfer the information so the start up disk is the SSD.

Any suggestions?
 
You can use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the the old drive to the new drive in one easy step.

You can then use Disk Utility, already on your Mac, to wipe and format the old drive.
 
If you want to swap your optical drive out, you need to by an optibay addon. Ebay has some similar enclosers that cost a lot less and do the same thing.
 
FastEddieBags,

would you say that the optibay is better than the OWC data doubler module? thanks!
 
Last edited:
user418 said:
You can use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the the old drive to the new drive in one easy step.

You can then use Disk Utility, already on your Mac, to wipe and format the old drive.
Click to expand...

Great. Now, would when I use disk utility to wipe out the HDD, will the machine automatically boot from the SSD? Or will I need to set it so that way it will always boot from that drive?
 
axiomission said:
FastEddieBags,

would you say that the optibay is better than the OWC data doubler module? thanks!
Click to expand...

I bought two optibays from ebay, none of them fitted right, so i ended up with the data doubler.

Your best combo is the samsung 830 and data doubler.

----------
axiomission said:
Great. Now, would when I use disk utility to wipe out the HDD, will the machine automatically boot from the SSD? Or will I need to set it so that way it will always boot from that drive?
Click to expand...

I put my SSD where the HDD was, and the HDD in the data doubler, and did a clean install (always the best when installing a SSD)

Works perfectly. 15sec boot
 
Like everyone has suggested... the Samsung 830 or the crucial m4 are your best bets...however like someone has mentioned crucial has been having a few QC issues with their newest batches. Having said that a quick warranty claim will take care of you. It you'll be without a drive for that time
 
Glockron said:
How about the OCZ Vertex 4 SSDs? How do they compare?
Click to expand...

I read this review today. I know It's norwegian, but i guess you understand the charts on page 2 and 3. And as you see, they are pretty similar, and evens each other out. I would put my money on the samsung, beause It's well tested and proven that it works good with OSX(apple uses the 830 controller in their new flash drives). And It's cheaper..
 
Skjetne said:
I bought two optibays from ebay, none of them fitted right, so i ended up with the data doubler.

Your best combo is the samsung 830 and data doubler.

----------



I put my SSD where the HDD was, and the HDD in the data doubler, and did a clean install (always the best when installing a SSD)

Works perfectly. 15sec boot
Click to expand...

Thanks Skjetne, I'm just wondering what the process is in terms of doing a clean install. I'm not very tech savvy and the only thing I'd know how to do is to use the disk utility to wipe out another hdd with an existing OS install, but I'm not sure how I'd clean install an SSD, other than simply cloning the information, which is something I'd rather not do.
 
axiomission said:
Thanks Skjetne, I'm just wondering what the process is in terms of doing a clean install. I'm not very tech savvy and the only thing I'd know how to do is to use the disk utility to wipe out another hdd with an existing OS install, but I'm not sure how I'd clean install an SSD, other than simply cloning the information, which is something I'd rather not do.
Click to expand...

The method I used work flawlessly.
1. you make a bootable lion dvd.
2. Remove the HDD and install the SSD.
3. Insert the Lion dvd and boot whilst holding "C"

Then you will start Mac OS X utilities
1. Select "disk utility"
2. Select your SSD
3. Format it with HFS Extended naming it "Macintosh HD" (not necessary)
4. Go back, and choose "reinstall OS X"

Simple as that
 
Skjetne said:
The method I used work flawlessly.
1. you make a bootable lion dvd.
2. Remove the HDD and install the SSD.
3. Insert the Lion dvd and boot whilst holding "C"

Then you will start Mac OS X utilities
1. Select "disk utility"
2. Select your SSD
3. Format it with HFS Extended naming it "Macintosh HD" (not necessary)
4. Go back, and choose "reinstall OS X"

Simple as that
Click to expand...

Did you purchase Lion separate to make a bootable lion dvd?
 
Skjetne said:
It came as a free download with my mbp when i bought it. So I just downloaded it again via App store and followed this guide.
Click to expand...

What did you have to do to get it to download for free? It's showing as $30 for me. I just got my refurbed 2011 so it came with Lion.
 
boomhower said:
What did you have to do to get it to download for free? It's showing as $30 for me. I just got my refurbed 2011 so it came with Lion.
Click to expand...

This is the exact position I am in. I think maybe if I install the new drive and boot into the Recovery partition, I can just do a restore to the new drive. I will try tonight and report back.
 
boomhower said:
What did you have to do to get it to download for free? It's showing as $30 for me. I just got my refurbed 2011 so it came with Lion.
Click to expand...

If you buy macs after a certain time when a new OS launch is imminent, there is a redemption code emailed to you when you apply for it after you purchase the computer.

If you bought a new computer between June 11 and the time OS X 10.8 comes out, you can get that redemption code. there's usually a link given to you so you can apply for the code.
 
axiomission said:
If you buy macs after a certain time when a new OS launch is imminent, there is a redemption code emailed to you when you apply for it after you purchase the computer.

If you bought a new computer between June 11 and the time OS X 10.8 comes out, you can get that redemption code. there's usually a link given to you so you can apply for the code.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean for an upgrade, I meant for what it came with. I can't get it to let me download Lion without paying and it's what mine came with.
 
Background - I bought a refurb 15" MBP with Lion pre-installed. I never had to download Lion from the App Store. I purchased a new SSD and I am waiting on my Optibay to get here so I can install my original HDD as well.

Here's what I did:

1) Replaced my original HDD with my new SSD
2) Booted up the computer and held Option
3) Connected to my wireless network
4) Ran Disk Utility and formatted my new drive
5) Ran the Recovery option
6) Selected my new SSD as the disk - it went and verified my computer was legit with Apple and then downloaded and installed Lion on my new disk
 
boomhower said:
What did you have to do to get it to download for free? It's showing as $30 for me. I just got my refurbed 2011 so it came with Lion.
Click to expand...

You won't be able to get Lion through the App store since you never bought it from there. You will need to use this process to snag a DMG copy of Lion if your computer came preinstalled with Lion.
 
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