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MCE Optibay Alternative CHEAP

Apple didn't do anything to MBA's USB port.
It's standard 500mA 5V.
period.

They did hardware lock MBA's SuperDrive though.
(At least all succeeded "jailbreaks";) been on hardware)

Yet I can understand confusion:
Some [mostly older I might add] drives (HDDs) do require more power.
Mostly due to generic 'unsophisticated' components.

E.g. my 500Gb WD passport used one head USB [2.0] cable.
When I lost this cable, generic one (for printer or camera IIRC) couldn't power it.
(Though cable was OK with other gear)

Let's get back to topic:rolleyes:

(on the last digression: Installed SL, WOW! Loving it!)
 
mrrippey said:
fits really snug but I didnt have to do any modification to the case or anything.
Click to expand...

I bought the same thing a few weeks back. Didn't you have to remove the plastic cover in the front where the DVD inserts to get it to fit? I couldn't get mine in without things being a little too tight (yeah, that's what she said) and not removing it.

I also added a leftover rubber bumper I had from another disk drive mount between the bottom case and the HDD to give it a little more cushion, keep the drive taut and make up for the lack of screws in the front of the enclosure.

My next thought is to install the removed optical into my MBA SD enclosure so it can be used by all or on a hub.
 
didnr remove anything....

but it was pretty snug in there. I moved the wires for the sub alittle but everything fit pretty well overall. I am about to install snow leopard on the SSD after I run some pre and post tests.
 
mrrippey said:
but it was pretty snug in there. I moved the wires for the sub alittle but everything fit pretty well overall. I am about to install snow leopard on the SSD after I run some pre and post tests.
Click to expand...

If you get to pull it out again, there's a black plastic vanity panel on the front held on by two screws from the inside. Remove those screws and panel and it'll fit proper so you can route everything original. If you want..
 
Did anyone successfully install a NewModeUS caddy in a new 17-inch aluminium Pro unibody MacBook?

I opened my MacBook a saw that you had to remove three screws, one orange flatcable (dvd-rw) and also two other black cables.

Could you please let me know what you did with these two black cables after the swap with the NewModeUS bay? I have highlighted these cables in the added picture.

Thanks for your help!
 

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AJ.1973 said:
Did anyone successfully install a NewModeUS caddy in a new 17-inch aluminium Pro unibody MacBook?

I opened my MacBook a saw that you had to remove three screws, one orange flatcable (dvd-rw) and also two other black cables.

Could you please let me know what you did with these two black cables after the swap with the NewModeUS bay? I have highlighted these cables in the added picture.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

I installed the NewModeUS caddy in my uMBP 17" a couple weeks ago. It only has the one screw, near the connectors, holding it in. I just screwed the other two back in where they belong so I don't lose them (they aren't doing anything, but there's no reason they can't be screwed back in).

The caddy seems fairly secure even with one screw. I've got my boot SSD in there, I'm not sure if I would be crazy about keeping a regular hard drive in the caddy all the time.
 
bpokosh said:
I installed the NewModeUS caddy in my uMBP 17" a couple weeks ago. It only has the one screw, near the connectors, holding it in. I just screwed the other two back in where they belong so I don't lose them (they aren't doing anything, but there's no reason they can't be screwed back in).

The caddy seems fairly secure even with one screw. I've got my boot SSD in there, I'm not sure if I would be crazy about keeping a regular hard drive in the caddy all the time.
Click to expand...

I don't have the caddy yet. Could you please explain why you wouldn't go for a HDD solution in this module? Is it because of the extra 'heat dissipation' you will have with a HDD compared to a SSD drive?

Is anyone having heat problems with a hdd/caddy combination installed in this bay?

Could you please share your experience, I am hesitating to go for a 2x 500GB mirrored solution (already have both drive) instead of going for a HDD/SSD combination?

Thanks for your help!
 
AJ.1973 said:
I don't have the caddy yet. Could you please explain why you wouldn't go for a HDD solution in this module? Is it because of the extra 'heat dissipation' you will have with a HDD compared to a SSD drive?

Is anyone having heat problems with a hdd/caddy combination installed in this bay?

Could you please share your experience, I am hesitating to go for a 2x 500GB mirrored solution (already have both drive) instead of going for a HDD/SSD combination?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

I really don't know, it might be fine there. I had my 7200 RPM stock hard drive in the caddy for a week or two and I didn't have any problems. I wish I could tell you drive temps but I don't have that info. I just don't know about long term heat issues, given the space wasn't really designed for a hard drive.

I have an 80GB X25-M in the caddy, and I plan to put a 1tb western digital in the stock location once they start shipping (any day now, I'm hoping). Once I get the 1tb drive I'd like to partition 80 gigs of it to act as a bootable backup of the SSD, using SuperDuper to clone it in known working states.
 
AJ.1973 said:
I don't have the caddy yet. Could you please explain why you wouldn't go for a HDD solution in this module? Is it because of the extra 'heat dissipation' you will have with a HDD compared to a SSD drive?
Click to expand...

Major problem I believe is not heat, but that "OptiBay" lacks SMS you natively have for your stock HDD.
Presumably it's tied to HDD bay (and stock HDD ?)
 
EspressoLove said:
Major problem I believe is not heat, but that "OptiBay" lacks SMS you natively have for your stock HDD.
Presumably it's tied to HDD bay (and stock HDD ?)
Click to expand...

Alternative solution would be for you to source out HDD with SMS-aliked technology built in.
 
Does anybody know if the simple DIY version first posted would work on a 15" MBP aluminum 4.1 (4th gen)?

Thinking of running 2 7200.4 Segate 500 GB drives in Raid 0 all internally.
 
n3rd said:
Does anybody know if the simple DIY version first posted would work on a 15" MBP aluminum 4.1 (4th gen)?

Thinking of running 2 7200.4 Segate 500 GB drives in Raid 0 all internally.
Click to expand...

unibody? 09?
yea. it works.
 
p3ncil said:
Alternative solution would be for you to source out HDD with SMS-aliked technology built in.
Click to expand...

the Seagate models that have SMS had some conflicts with OS X though. These might be resolved by now (firmware updates).

On the other hand, my PowerBook never had SMS, and never had a HD failure. Unlike my last MacBook Pro which had multiple HD failures despite SMS. SMS is good to have but by no means a critical requirement.

PS: I have the Intel X-25 G2 80GB and a 500 GB HD ready for the big mod but an acute lack of time has so far prevented me from putting it all together...
 
I have got all the pieces now: The newmodeus caddy, the X-25 SSD and a 500GB hard drive. I opened the case and... whoa. Looks like there's a lot of stuff in the way.

Has anyone installed this in a 17" MacBook Pro unibody? Can you let me know what you did? I scanned the iFixit teardown for this machine, but it's not detailed enough for me to go and take my perfectly working warrantied MBP apart.

In particular:
- There's a Bluetooth logic board attached to the original caddy. I have to take that off - how do the cables come off of this? I need to take them off without breaking, is that easy?
- There's a black cable (display cable?) passing over the caddy. Do I need to disconnect this from the logic board? It seems like I'd have to to get to the screws that keeps the caddy in place on the rear.
- There's at least one screw in the upper left corner near the display cable that seems to hold the caddy down - the newmodeus doesn't have a screw hole there
- There's a piece of foam glued next to the black cable near the display - what do I use to re-attach this to the new caddy? It seems like we need this to keep the caddy snug in place as the only compatible screws I can see are on the back. I don't feel good about this being held in place only at the back. It will flop around - I want to screw it down in other places, is that possible?
 
p3ncil said:
Good news for me.
Saves shipping costs :D

Question question!
Does ayagroup's USB optical drive works with the mbp's?
Click to expand...

I recently started using an Intel X25 G2 drive and I've been contemplating about putting the original 500GB drive in the optical bay. This thread has valuable information.

I was going to order the newmodeus caddy and the ayagroup enclosure, but today's post from ayagroup rep shows that we can save on the caddy and the shipping by getting both from them.

In both caddies, there is a plastic part that needs to be removed to put into MBPs. The newmodeus model is held by two screws, whereas the ayagroup one -as far as I can tell- seems to be glued there. If so, is it easy to remove this plastic part?

The second question is regarding the enclosure: Is there a faceplate for slot-loading drives like ours (here's one: http://mac.macrecycling.com/slot-loading-optical-drive-bezel-panasonicmatshita-p-100903.html). I wish ayagroup carried this, so that all three items could be ordered from one source for the convenience and savings. I dont really mind not having a bezel on the enclosure, but it would look better for sure :)

Lastly, we should be able to boot from the external enclosure if needed (e.g., OS restoration, etc), right? My colleague has the MBA external drive; will I be able to use this with my MBP if needed? I've read every single post in this thread and seen it mentioned few times that it was locked to MBA.

Thanks!
 
orthorim said:
Has anyone installed this in a 17" MacBook Pro unibody? Can you let me know what you did? I scanned the iFixit teardown for this machine, but it's not detailed enough for me to go and take my perfectly working warrantied MBP apart.

In particular: [...]
Click to expand...

I'd say if you're worried about losing your warranty than you should't even start this modification. Imo it's strictly for those who know what they're doing and hence won't lose warranty or for those that aren't afraid of possibly losing warranty.

Whatever is the case with you, I performed this modification on my early 2009 MBP 17" and I'd say it's dead easy and not worth a separate tutorial. Only three screws need to removed and the orange sata cable needs to be detached, and then you can basically remove the dvd drive already. This mod is really easy and self explanatory, nothing like say re-applying thermal paste on the cpu and gpu with the risk of breaking of a piece of the processor's core!
 
can anyone setup a couple links, so I can buy the parts
1. Newmodeus Caddy
2. The optical drive enclosure, USB bus powered for outside laptop
3. The slot loading bezel for it

Thanks everyone
 
purchased a caddy from ayagroup yesterday.
will post pictures.

cheapest of the lot. I suppose.
 
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