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Macbook Pro with 2 SSDs

K

kingping14

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2010
80
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so I'm thinking of getting 2 Crucial M4s (128GB and 256GB), replacing the original HDD with the bigger one and putting the smaller one in the optibay.

I'm planning to have Lion on the 256GB drive and Windows 7 on the 128GB drive, my question is are there any complications from doing this?

One of my original problems was how do I install Windows 7 now that the optical drive is gone? Are there anything else that I may need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance

(btw I have a 15" late 2011)
 
The easiest ways i could think of, would be:

1. Make a windows 7 bootable USB.
2. This option is a little more expensive, but it's what im going to do. When SuperDrive is removed, place it in an exclosure that'll give you the ability to run the drive through usb. So even though you remove your drive, you can still use it = win-win

Hope that helped, have a nice day
 
Once you remove the DVD drive from the system you won't be able to boot from the Windows DVD. Apple has limited the installation of Windows from only a internally installed DVD drive. It won't boot the Win DVD from an optical drive connected by USB.
 
shootist said:
Once you remove the DVD drive from the system you won't be able to boot from the Windows DVD. Apple has limited the installation of Windows from only a internally installed DVD drive. It won't boot the Win DVD from an optical drive connected by USB.
Click to expand...

Source?

I can't imagine it's not possible to boot off an external Win7 DVD by holding down the alt-key at boot.
Boot Camp is not necessary since the OP has separate drives for OSX and Win, so there's no partitioning to be done.
 
shootist said:
Once you remove the DVD drive from the system you won't be able to boot from the Windows DVD. Apple has limited the installation of Windows from only a internally installed DVD drive. It won't boot the Win DVD from an optical drive connected by USB.
Click to expand...

You could always perform the OS installs by swapping each SDD in to the MBP, then rip out the ODD and replace with the second SSD when you're done.
 
AdrianK said:
You could always perform the OS installs by swapping each SDD in to the MBP, then rip out the ODD and replace with the second SSD when you're done.
Click to expand...
+1
That is what I always do. You can make bootable USB drive but that takes more time than just doing the hardware switch. If you already have the Win DVD lying around I would just put the ODD back in for the install.
If you'd have to download or burn the WinDVD anyway, it is better to go straight for a bootable flash drive.
 
thanks for the suggest guys, so if I'm inserting an empty SSD into the machine without any forms of OSX present then how do I go about installing windows? also what about the drivers?
 
kingping14 said:
thanks for the suggest guys, so if I'm inserting an empty SSD into the machine without any forms of OSX present then how do I go about installing windows?
Click to expand...
Hold down C when you boot the computer, it doesn't matter than OS X isn't available.
 
thanks!! so all the drivers and etc I still grab from Bootcamp and save it onto a USB?
 
Once Windows is installed just put in the OSX DVD and install the bootcamp drivers. There is no need to extract them.
Windows brings enough drivers for booting up all by itself. It would even download the bootcamp drivers from the web automatically if Apple would be kind enough to just store them in the driver database. I think it is annoying that one even needs the OSX DVD. There is no point to it. If you own a Mac you own a OSX DVD with those drivers. Zero reason to make those not publicly available.
 
flatfoot said:
Source?

I can't imagine it's not possible to boot off an external Win7 DVD by holding down the alt-key at boot.
Boot Camp is not necessary since the OP has separate drives for OSX and Win, so there's no partitioning to be done.
Click to expand...

Can't be done. It is indeed not possible via USB.
 
It is possible but you will need a second Mac.
At first download "win-clone" install it on both Macs.
Then on your MacBook Pro with Lion make the Boot Camp Partition with the Partition-Assistent (Boot-Camp-Assistent). Cause of your lack of an internal drive you aren't able to install Windows.
Make a Partiton on the second Mac with the same size or smaller, this Mac needs an optical-drive. Install Windows 7 on this Mac.
Then start cloning Windows 7 from the second Mac to your MacBook Pro (you will need a external hard drive).
This although should work when you have 2 HD's in your MacBook Pro and you would like to replace the one with your Boot Camp Partition.

(I never tested this, I just have found this procedure in a german Apple-Community)
 
dusk007 said:
Once Windows is installed just put in the OSX DVD and install the bootcamp drivers. There is no need to extract them.
Windows brings enough drivers for booting up all by itself. It would even download the bootcamp drivers from the web automatically if Apple would be kind enough to just store them in the driver database. I think it is annoying that one even needs the OSX DVD. There is no point to it. If you own a Mac you own a OSX DVD with those drivers. Zero reason to make those not publicly available.
Click to expand...

I never inserted my OSX disc to install Win7. I just booted from a USB drive and installed straight to a partition.
 
kingping14 said:
so I'm thinking of getting 2 Crucial M4s (128GB and 256GB), replacing the original HDD with the bigger one and putting the smaller one in the optibay.

I'm planning to have Lion on the 256GB drive and Windows 7 on the 128GB drive, my question is are there any complications from doing this?

One of my original problems was how do I install Windows 7 now that the optical drive is gone? Are there anything else that I may need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance

(btw I have a 15" late 2011)
Click to expand...

Why not get a 512 Gb SSD and keep the optical drive. This is my set up.

It is true you can't boot Macs from a Windows CD/DVD from an external writer, or a thumb drive.

The method of updating the firmware in SSDs in Macs is usually to make a bootable Windows CD which needs the internal superdrive. Firmware updates on SSDs are a fact of life nowadays.

I don't now, but have had Bootcamp on a partition of my 512 SDD, and used Paragon bootable rescue disk to image the whole hard drive, which is the only reliable method of backing up and restoring Bootcamp I ever found. This also needed the internal superdrive.

Another thought.....I don't know about in the late 2011 MBP, but certainly in the early 2011 MBP, it is well known that putting a 6G device in the optical bay is prone to problems, even though it is nominally a 6G connection.

BTW I switched from Bootcamp to Parallels 7 with no regrets. Maybe you know you need Bootcamp, but Parallels 7 is very fast and so much less hassle and less restrictive than Bootcamp.
 
Last edited:
flatfoot said:
Source?

I can't imagine it's not possible to boot off an external Win7 DVD by holding down the alt-key at boot.
Boot Camp is not necessary since the OP has separate drives for OSX and Win, so there's no partitioning to be done.
Click to expand...

It's not a Mac issue, it's more of a windows issue. During boot of Windows XP/Vista/7, the OS resets the USB drivers. If you're booting through USB and the OS suddenly resets, what happens? a BSOD.
 
Dangerous Theory said:
I never inserted my OSX disc to install Win7. I just booted from a USB drive and installed straight to a partition.
Click to expand...
I don't know about your Mac but mine doesn't boot from the Windows Disc if it is in the optical bay attached via USB.
A bootable USB flash drive works but creating one when you have never done it before or no working image available often takes longer than just doing the hardware switch, as I explained.

Mike Boreham said:
The Bootcamp ver 4 drivers are only available from Bootcamp Assistant in Lion. They don't come via Software Update in Windows from ver 3.
Click to expand...
What is your point? That is what I complained about. You need the disc or extract them from the Install, instead of just letting Windows download them automatically from the web, which would be so much more convenient.

ayeying said:
It's not a Mac issue, it's more of a windows issue. During boot of Windows XP/Vista/7, the OS resets the USB drivers. If you're booting through USB and the OS suddenly resets, what happens? a BSOD.
Click to expand...
In my experience (2010 MBP) it is a Mac issue because, it simply won't recognize the bootable disc in the external drive. It doesn't even try to boot up.
 
dusk007 said:
What is your point? That is what I complained about. You need the disc or extract them from the Install, instead of just letting Windows download them automatically from the web, which would be so much more convenient.
Click to expand...

I agree with your point that Windows should just be able to download them. My point was simply that the correct way to get them now is no longer by putting the OSX install DVD in the drive as it used to be....you have to download them from BCA in Lion.

You can still install version 3 from the install disk but you won't get version 4 by Apple Software Update in Windows
 
Last edited:
kingping14 said:
so I'm thinking of getting 2 Crucial M4s (128GB and 256GB), replacing the original HDD with the bigger one and putting the smaller one in the optibay.

I'm planning to have Lion on the 256GB drive and Windows 7 on the 128GB drive, my question is are there any complications from doing this?

One of my original problems was how do I install Windows 7 now that the optical drive is gone? Are there anything else that I may need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance

(btw I have a 15" late 2011)
Click to expand...

Kingpin -

How did it go with the SSD drives? I have a late 2010 MBP and I am considering doing the same thing with two Crucial M4s, OSx on 1 and W7 on the other.

I am very interested to hear if you were successful and how it's been working for you.

Thanks
 
kingping14 said:
so I'm thinking of getting 2 Crucial M4s (128GB and 256GB), replacing the original HDD with the bigger one and putting the smaller one in the optibay.

I'm planning to have Lion on the 256GB drive and Windows 7 on the 128GB drive, my question is are there any complications from doing this?

One of my original problems was how do I install Windows 7 now that the optical drive is gone? Are there anything else that I may need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance

(btw I have a 15" late 2011)
Click to expand...

I don't think your late 2011 MBP will reliably support a SATA III drive in the optical bay.
 
Rajpdx said:
I don't think your late 2011 MBP will reliably support a SATA III drive in the optical bay.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? His MBP has a SATA 3 connection in the optical bay; of course it will support a SATA 3 SSD in there.
 
flatfoot said:
What are you talking about? His MBP has a SATA 3 connection in the optical bay; of course it will support a SATA 3 SSD in there.
Click to expand...

Google it. You may be lucky , or not. Certainly the early 2011 has problems. Here are a few links to start you off

http://blog.macsales.com/10433-macbook-pro-2011-models-and-sata-3-0-6-0gbs-update-5272011

http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2011/20110607_2_MBP-ssd-howto.html

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-S...ptical-bay-READ-BEFORE-ATTEMPTING/td-p/102620
 
Last edited:
Has anyone found a way to create the BootCamp partition without actually starting the Windows install from a DVD disk?

The BootCamp Assistant used to provide 3 menu options when it started:
1 -- Download the Windows drivers to a USB drive
2 -- Create the windows partition on the OS X disk
3 -- Install Windows from a disk or (I think a .iso file)

The current Mountain Lion BootCamp Assistant only has 2 menu options:
1 -- Download the Windows drivers to a USB drive
2 -- Install or remove Windows 7

It will no longer create the partition until a Windows installation disk is inserted, and I don't believe it will allow a .iso file or a USB Thumb Drive to serve as the installation source.


I believe the SATA III issue with the optical bay was due to noise in the cable and may not be a problem with some specific computers or possibly noise immune SSD drives. YMMV :)


-howard
 
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