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MCE Optibay Alternative CHEAP
- Thread starter MacModMachine
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Hello Everyone,
I said i'd follow up my install and here it is. I installed an intel x25-v 40gb into my 2010 13" MBP.
As im from the UK and had seen nowhere that would provide any sort of optibay-like caddy, I checked on ebay for stuff from china. Someone from the US posted a link to an ebay listing that they said would fit, and i got the equivalent shipped to the UK.
Anyway, it turned up yesterday and as I'm just re-starting my time machine back-ups, (which are taking forever) i thought id make a post letting anyone in the UK know that this mod is perfectly viable.
Heres the link to the optibay i bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....168657&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2623wt_941
As it was meant to fit a thinkpad, there was a plastic lip on the edge of the caddy obviously put there so that it will fit a think pad. This wasn't a face-plate or fascia that you can just remove, i had to take a hacksaw to it and take off about 7mm-1cm of plastic so that it would fit. Also, this optibay had a little blue LED installed. I left that in and now i get a faint blue light emitted from my optical drive loading slot when the ssd is in use!
Also, i used the ifixit guide to take my macbook pro apart. I did however avoid a few things.
Heres a link to the guide
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/...Inch-Unibody-Optical-Drive-Replacement/1368/1
-I did not unplug the battery as its optional, but i can see why you would want to...
-And i only unplugged the hard drive and optical bay connectors from the mobo. Someone said in the comments section about having to snap some plastic under the camera connector. I really didn't fancy snapping any plastic whatsoever so left that step.
As leaving these cables in left less maneuverability to get the optical drive out, Apart from locating screws, the ifixit guide wasn't much help after this point as they recommend disconnecting these parts.
After all of that, i taped the ssd into the optibay to avoid any wriggle and connected everything back up. Optical drive is in a plastic wallet awating a case to put it in and my macbook now detects my following set-up:
SSD in optibay used as boot drive with apps and OS X installed to it.
Hitachi 5400rpm 500gb hard drisk drive in the hard drive bay. This drive was originally partitioned with win7 and OSX on it, now ive kept the partition, win7 is still fine. This drive is used as a data drive to hold itunes library, lightroom catalogues, etc...
Boot and shutdown times have reduced by at least 2 fold, and large app (CS4, lightroom, logic 9) loading times have reduced to 4-5seconds at most.
If anyone has any questions or would like to see pictures give me a shout.
Cheers,
Austin
I said i'd follow up my install and here it is. I installed an intel x25-v 40gb into my 2010 13" MBP.
As im from the UK and had seen nowhere that would provide any sort of optibay-like caddy, I checked on ebay for stuff from china. Someone from the US posted a link to an ebay listing that they said would fit, and i got the equivalent shipped to the UK.
Anyway, it turned up yesterday and as I'm just re-starting my time machine back-ups, (which are taking forever) i thought id make a post letting anyone in the UK know that this mod is perfectly viable.
Heres the link to the optibay i bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....168657&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2623wt_941
As it was meant to fit a thinkpad, there was a plastic lip on the edge of the caddy obviously put there so that it will fit a think pad. This wasn't a face-plate or fascia that you can just remove, i had to take a hacksaw to it and take off about 7mm-1cm of plastic so that it would fit. Also, this optibay had a little blue LED installed. I left that in and now i get a faint blue light emitted from my optical drive loading slot when the ssd is in use!
Also, i used the ifixit guide to take my macbook pro apart. I did however avoid a few things.
Heres a link to the guide
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/...Inch-Unibody-Optical-Drive-Replacement/1368/1
-I did not unplug the battery as its optional, but i can see why you would want to...
-And i only unplugged the hard drive and optical bay connectors from the mobo. Someone said in the comments section about having to snap some plastic under the camera connector. I really didn't fancy snapping any plastic whatsoever so left that step.
As leaving these cables in left less maneuverability to get the optical drive out, Apart from locating screws, the ifixit guide wasn't much help after this point as they recommend disconnecting these parts.
After all of that, i taped the ssd into the optibay to avoid any wriggle and connected everything back up. Optical drive is in a plastic wallet awating a case to put it in and my macbook now detects my following set-up:
SSD in optibay used as boot drive with apps and OS X installed to it.
Hitachi 5400rpm 500gb hard drisk drive in the hard drive bay. This drive was originally partitioned with win7 and OSX on it, now ive kept the partition, win7 is still fine. This drive is used as a data drive to hold itunes library, lightroom catalogues, etc...
Boot and shutdown times have reduced by at least 2 fold, and large app (CS4, lightroom, logic 9) loading times have reduced to 4-5seconds at most.
If anyone has any questions or would like to see pictures give me a shout.
Cheers,
Austin
Glad to hear all went ok. I have ordered the above mentioned caddy as its so cheap ! Was any modification required apart from the hack saw ?
Also have you got an external case for the Superdrive ( with slot style cover ) ? I am sure this info is somewhere else in the thread but yet to find it ! It seems all the cases are made for tray based cd drives.
Also have you got an external case for the Superdrive ( with slot style cover ) ? I am sure this info is somewhere else in the thread but yet to find it ! It seems all the cases are made for tray based cd drives.
I did also have to take off the metal shielding (the bit that has SERIAL ATA written all over it), but you can just hack saw that away, leaving it attached if you like.
Also, i did use a little superglue to glue the base-plate of the metal to the plastic frame as it was a little loose from taking the entireplastic lip off. but like the metal sheilding, this is also optional. Its just that I didn't want my MBP rattling at all.
And i have ordered a case for my slot-drive. It was only £6 delivered from china, but its still yet to turn up. If it leaves the front exposed, then i think i might just buy a cheap DVD-rw drive, use that, and keep my optical drive tucked away should i ever need to send my MBP in to apple.
I just can't find a case with the slot loading style cover. I am a bit out of touch and thought getting a new dirve would be expensive however a quick ebay says £30 delivered is current going rate. Good idea !
If you find a slot-loading case or face plate for a slot-loading drive, do let me know...
You need a PATA connector optibay, so the enclosure would need to be PATA-to-SATA
Am thinking about replacing the optical drive in my mid 2009 MBP 13" with a SSD.
Just need confirmation that an external enclosure like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Slim-SATA-DVD-R...ge_Internal&hash=item2a06b38a20#ht_3085wt_941
will work with the removed super drive?
Just need confirmation that an external enclosure like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Slim-SATA-DVD-R...ge_Internal&hash=item2a06b38a20#ht_3085wt_941
will work with the removed super drive?
It should work but there will be no faceplate for the drive.
I got this one from newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817801052
Works fine plugged in with dual usb port power, but for some reason windows would not install in bootcamp. I had to put the drive back in its original spot to get it working.
same problem...can't get windows to boot via the external superdrive using both bootcamp and refit. oh well no windows partition for me.
That's interesting. So I assume Mac OS would boot from the external drive but not Windows? Wonder if it is the same with all external optical drives, or just the super drive?
I guess you can replace the original hdd with the ssd, install Mac OS and Windows from internal super drive and then replace the super drive with the old hdd (or move the ssd to the optical bay to get the sms working with the hdd).
Not pretty though if you want to reinstall windows or something...
I guess you can replace the original hdd with the ssd, install Mac OS and Windows from internal super drive and then replace the super drive with the old hdd (or move the ssd to the optical bay to get the sms working with the hdd).
Not pretty though if you want to reinstall windows or something...
I've never actually done anything like this before, but I've wanted to do this for a while since I really never use my DVD drive on my Macbook. I'm getting my new MBP 15inch in a few days and I plan to gut the Optical Drive from there and Install an SSD. So I have a few questions?
1. I'm planning to get the Optical Bay from Newmodeus, I should get the SATA to SATA drive, right? (Reason I ask is, a Youtube video I saw used PATA, but it was an older MBP - so for the new mid 2010 revision is SATA to SATA the way to go?)
2. How does this SSD hold up: Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB 2.5" SATA2 Solid State Drive (Link)
3. What tools are required to open up the MBP and to open the screws for the optical drive? Basically what kind of a screw diver do I need?
4. I keep reading conflicting reports. Can I Boot OSX from the SSD in the Opti-bay?
5. If you can boot from the Opti-bay, how do I do it, Do I install SnowLeopard onto the SSD and then just choose to boot from that drive under System Prefs? Is it really just that simple?
Sorry for the long posts. Its an expensive endeavour and I'd just like to know everything before I start (a bit of ocd you could say)
Thanks!!
1. I'm planning to get the Optical Bay from Newmodeus, I should get the SATA to SATA drive, right? (Reason I ask is, a Youtube video I saw used PATA, but it was an older MBP - so for the new mid 2010 revision is SATA to SATA the way to go?)
2. How does this SSD hold up: Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB 2.5" SATA2 Solid State Drive (Link)
3. What tools are required to open up the MBP and to open the screws for the optical drive? Basically what kind of a screw diver do I need?
4. I keep reading conflicting reports. Can I Boot OSX from the SSD in the Opti-bay?
5. If you can boot from the Opti-bay, how do I do it, Do I install SnowLeopard onto the SSD and then just choose to boot from that drive under System Prefs? Is it really just that simple?
Sorry for the long posts. Its an expensive endeavour and I'd just like to know everything before I start (a bit of ocd you could say)
Thanks!!
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There seems to be some sleep/wake issues with my setup (SSD in OptiBay, HDD in normal bay). It takes a long time for the computer to go to sleep and wake again, longer than it should. According to the logs it's going into hibernation, but it shouldn't do that as it's just put to sleep.
Has anyone else had any issues with this?
Has anyone else had any issues with this?
People have been talking about how the Newmodeus one works fine: Link, I bought it and it arrived the next day, I'm just waiting on my MBP, which should be here at some point in 2 days. I've been itching for it.
I just installed an intel x25-m ssd in my pre-unibody 15" mbp
I bought an optibay clone from ebay, it's the PATA->SATA version
At the moment, I am booting from the SSD in the HDD bay, and the original 120gb HDD is in the "optibay"
However, now I'm getting a problem, sleep related, but not hibernation related
The old hdd is recognised fine in OS X. I have kept my home folder on the SSD, but moved the documents, downloads, media folders to the HDD
My problem is that after I wake from sleep, I can't access the HDD in the optibay. I can browse the internet fine (as the apps folder is on the SSD), but any attempt to access the HDD causes the whole system to freeze, and I need to hold the power button down for a hard reset
I have tried putting the SSD in the optibay, and booting it from there, but the problem persists. The system freezes at the login screen
I have also tried unmounting the HDD, and remounting after waking up from sleep. The same thing happens, the disk utility app freezes when trying to mount
Has anyone experienced this problem or found a way around it?
I bought an optibay clone from ebay, it's the PATA->SATA version
At the moment, I am booting from the SSD in the HDD bay, and the original 120gb HDD is in the "optibay"
However, now I'm getting a problem, sleep related, but not hibernation related
The old hdd is recognised fine in OS X. I have kept my home folder on the SSD, but moved the documents, downloads, media folders to the HDD
My problem is that after I wake from sleep, I can't access the HDD in the optibay. I can browse the internet fine (as the apps folder is on the SSD), but any attempt to access the HDD causes the whole system to freeze, and I need to hold the power button down for a hard reset
I have tried putting the SSD in the optibay, and booting it from there, but the problem persists. The system freezes at the login screen
I have also tried unmounting the HDD, and remounting after waking up from sleep. The same thing happens, the disk utility app freezes when trying to mount
Has anyone experienced this problem or found a way around it?
I also ordered the newmodeus adapter and a 500GB 7200RPM drive for my 15".
cheers
JohnG
i'm looking at buying one of the dirt cheap optibays from ebay. I have some questions though. I don't mind modding it somewhat. Is it going to cause problems that it does not have the mounting screws on it?
I have an old mbp - 2,1 into which I just installed an Intel x25-m SSD and moved the 500GB Seagate HD to a Newmodeus bay.
Sleep works fine if I boot off the SSD which is in the original hard drive location, but if I boot off the HD in the Newmodeus bay I don't seem to be able to wake from sleep.
Sleep works fine if I boot off the SSD which is in the original hard drive location, but if I boot off the HD in the Newmodeus bay I don't seem to be able to wake from sleep.
Even though this has all been answered before, I'll do it again - in return, please post an update once you have done the mod on the new MBP - I'd like to know if it works or if there are any pitfalls.
1 - Yes, SATA-SATA
2 - It's awesome. I have the 80GB but wish I'd gotten the 160. FAST!!
3 - See the iFixit guide. Have a Torx-6 handy. The very lastest MBPs also have some sort of new unusual screw but not sure you need it for this mod - see iFixit tear apart.
4 - Yes but if you do that you lose the ability to enter hibernate mode. Hibernate is broken as the computer doesn't start from the saved hibernate file on the opti bay drive. For that reason I recommend putting the SSD in the HD spot. Other than hibernate it works fine though, I've been running the SSD in the optibay as boot drive for 6 months.
5 - Yes it's that simple
Please update on caveats and pitfalls with the newest 2010 MBP...
Even though this has all been answered before, I'll do it again - in return, please post an update once you have done the mod on the new MBP - I'd like to know if it works or if there are any pitfalls.
1 - Yes, SATA-SATA
2 - It's awesome. I have the 80GB but wish I'd gotten the 160. FAST!!
3 - See the iFixit guide. Have a Torx-6 handy. The very lastest MBPs also have some sort of new unusual screw but not sure you need it for this mod - see iFixit tear apart.
4 - Yes but if you do that you lose the ability to enter hibernate mode. Hibernate is broken as the computer doesn't start from the saved hibernate file on the opti bay drive. For that reason I recommend putting the SSD in the HD spot. Other than hibernate it works fine though, I've been running the SSD in the optibay as boot drive for 6 months.
5 - Yes it's that simple
Please update on caveats and pitfalls with the newest 2010 MBP...
Oh boy did it ever go worse than I could have hoped. I stripped one of the screws and it took a lot of patience and force to unscrew it. Eventually got the Optibay in, but there were no ability for me to screw it in 2 places :s, the one screw held it down, but it would still shift around a bit, So I sort of just took the OP approach and threw in an insulated wire to prevent it from moving around, while its screwed in the other location, so it doesn't have the ability to move around at all.
Got it in, and its been fine since. Boot from the SSD, which is just OMFG fast!! I can boot as fast as my friend comes back from sleep (including the login process for his Win laptop). And I can launch a bunch of apps and not worry as my 8Gb of Ram is more than capable of multitasking and they launch uber fast off the SSD. I love being able to launch Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Illustrator in 1 bounce all at the same time, takes about 2 seconds to have each of them open and ready to go. I sometimes just open them for no reason, its tooo fast, lol.
Honestly I've just been amazed in (almost) all respects. Unfortunately my ridiculous upgraded specs do cause me to lose battery life. It's been really hard to tell just how much battery life I'm getting, b/c sometimes w/ just browsing and adium I can hit ~6 hours, where as other times while browsing and adium-ing I get ~4. So I really don't know what websites are causing this. But the battery is definitely not a long as advertised. And no my 330M hasn't been activated in these scenario's (using Cody's GfxCardStatus - which is A MUST if you own a MBP with multiple gfx cards.)
Although I've noticed the screen sucks A LOT of power out of the laptop, which I forgot to mention looks sooooo gorgeous, I expected the 1680x1050 to be a bit of a hindrance in terms of reading ability. Thankfully I honestly couldn't notice too much of a difference, but the extra real-estate is so awesome. Although it makes my 720p videos look a lot smaller now from my ole' 900 screen, haha. I really liked the black bezel'd look of the new MBPs (although I had the pre-unibody MBP, with matte screen, which had the aluminum outline). But I think this Aluminum Outline on my Matte Screen looks wonderful (hadn't ever seen it at the Apple Store - so glad I stuck with matte).
The only decision of Apple thats made me go WTF?! is the new MagSafe, which they've essentially made unidirectional, even though you can technically still flip it over, the wire is no longer perpendicular to the base, but parallel, so I could flip it over, but the wire connecting to the MagSafe would block all my ports. Although the texture of the wire is new and feels ... stronger for the lack of a better word.
I know the unibody is old. But I had the pre-unibody and even though my friends have the unibody, I never got a real feel for it; but wow this thing is a tank! I mean my old MBP is solid, but when I have my new uMBP sitting beside it, it makes my old one look and feel like jello
Also a fan of the Chiclet keys =)
... I could keep going with random tid-bits, but I think I'll stop there.
Guys, Question that I thought MAYBE someone may have the answer too.
I had a new hitachi HD in my MBP for about a year. I just sold the MBP and kept the HD. It was formatted to Fat32. I threw it in a OWC external case and now can not get it to open on a pc. Unfortunatly I wont have another mac for a few months. I have tried it on 3 XP machines and 1 vista machine. Every time I plug it in it loads the drivers and says it is installed correctly and ready to use but I can not get into the HD. Any Ideas?
Pleas save the "get a Mac" comments, I already know...
I had a new hitachi HD in my MBP for about a year. I just sold the MBP and kept the HD. It was formatted to Fat32. I threw it in a OWC external case and now can not get it to open on a pc. Unfortunatly I wont have another mac for a few months. I have tried it on 3 XP machines and 1 vista machine. Every time I plug it in it loads the drivers and says it is installed correctly and ready to use but I can not get into the HD. Any Ideas?
Pleas save the "get a Mac" comments, I already know...
you have to go into the disc permissions and take ownership of the drive.
Atm the permissions are all set to the Sxxx-xxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxx number that was allocated to your mac.
Right click on the disc and go to sharing properties and then advanced and change ownership and permissions on there.
should fix it.
Atm the permissions are all set to the Sxxx-xxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxx number that was allocated to your mac.
Right click on the disc and go to sharing properties and then advanced and change ownership and permissions on there.
should fix it.
Guys, Question that I thought MAYBE someone may have the answer too.
I had a new hitachi HD in my MBP for about a year. I just sold the MBP and kept the HD. It was formatted to Fat32. I threw it in a OWC external case and now can not get it to open on a pc. Unfortunatly I wont have another mac for a few months. I have tried it on 3 XP machines and 1 vista machine. Every time I plug it in it loads the drivers and says it is installed correctly and ready to use but I can not get into the HD. Any Ideas?
Pleas save the "get a Mac" comments, I already know...
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/
macdrive they have a free trial. It works fine. I'm sure theres another way to do it. but i know mac drive works fine.
Also, can someone please tell me if using one of the ebay optibays will cause problems since you can't screw it down
Thanks for the quick reply AG. The only place I can see the disk is in device manager. when I right click it and go to property there are no sharing properties. any other ideas on how to get to the sharing properties? thanks again.