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MCE Optibay Alternative CHEAP

saxondale. said:
i thought this was meant to be easy! i opened up my macbook pro, took a look at what had to be taken off but i couldn't go through with it, it seemed too fragile! is there a dedicated guide to this?
Click to expand...

Ah cmon, don't be a wimp :p

Seriously though, it is actually quite easy. Just follow the optical drive replacement guide at http://ifixit.com for your model MacBook or MacBook Pro .

Before you start, do yourself a favor and order their screwdriver kit plus 2 or 3 spudgers. Their screwdriver bits are the only ones I've found that do not rust or fall apart with normal use. Plus they fit all the MacBook screws perfectly.

With the right tools and the ifixit guides, you can seriously have this done on a Unibody in about 30 minutes, but take it slow the first time so you do things right. Keep the screws organized by guide step and/or size. Read each step from beginning to end before starting the step.

The only way this is dangerous or hard is if you don't pay attention, don't keep yourself organized, or don't have the right tools. Otherwise, a 10 year old could do it.
 
Tortri said:
Wow, did not know that specific optibay wasn't perfect on the core i7 models. Glad you posted this, I'm waiting for mine to come in which is the same as yours. Thanks.
Click to expand...

No problem. Like I said in the post, it's really not a big deal if you wedge some electrical tape (duct tape or other would work just fine as well) in between the spaces. I didn't even attach the tape to anything, it's just sitting there wedged.

FYI, I also added a little tidbit about the screw attachment to my original post. Here's what I added:

(on edit: the screw hole that DOES exist on the caddy is actually not part of the caddy at all. You remove a little bracket from the superdrive and use the 2 screws it was secured with to attach it to the caddy in the same position).
 
I just put the newmodeus one in my 17" i7 and it's been great so far.

I did notice that my stock drive has the built in g-force protection from seagate and my 2nd one does not. I might have to swap the data on them so I can have a fall sensor on my 2nd drive.

Drake approved.
drakeapproved.png
 
Just in case anyone doesn't know, as I didn't

The current superdrive positioning on recent unibody MBPs:
GqN3KxB2rMQHLqCY.medium


Maxupgrades' current Optibay kit:
macbookPro2.jpg


Notice the positioning of the connector AND the HDD position compared to MCE's adapter:
obub_vsm.jpg


In order to fit HDD's in the optibay with the MCE style adapters you have to flip the hdd upside down (if you're orienting based from the MBP's bottom as it would be during installation). In the case of using a 12.5mm drive, the height of the drive would raise the connector too far away from the motherboard connector, thus making it impossible to fit.

You have to get an optibay adapter that allows the bottom of the HDD to sit flush in the optibay compartment.

This is the important distinction between previous and recent MBP models. Keep this in mind when looking for an optibay adapter to use with a 12.5mm drive. The only kit I've found so far that seems like it will work is the Maxupgrades kit. Their website even says that two 1TB drives (12.5mm) will fit in any current MBP using their kit.

I have my kit on the way, so I haven't done the install yet, but it seems pretty obvious now that I've looked at enough of the different adapters and various MBP installs.
 
Tmacfan4321 said:
Is there any enclosure that has a better success rate?
Click to expand...

I just picked up this one at Fry's in exchange for the sabrent one that didn't work on OS X. Works just fine with my removed superdrive on 10.6.4, even though the box says it's compatible with basically every version of windows but does not mention OS X.

The one caveat... it comes with a wall adapter for powering the driver rather than a second usb cable. However, I have a USB to male power cable. I plan to remove the power connector and swap it for the connector that is on the plug in adapter that came with the enclosure. The adapter just outputs 5V 2000mA, so I don't see any reason why a straight USB connection wouldn't work just fine.
 
rckstwrz said:
I'm thinking of going the Optibay route since they toss in a free enclosure for your SuperDrive. Instead of a HHD, I'm looking at this SSD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227529

Does anyone know much about OCZ? I've seen a couple folks mention they're super fast, which is what I want.

Do any of you have experience putting one of these in an Optibay? Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hi Rick, I have the OCZ Vertex Mac Edition (250 GB) in my primary drive bay, and a regular platter drive in the MCE optibay kit. The OCZ drive is unbelievably fast with no degradation so far after 8 months of heavy use.

The MCE upgrade kit is great for a couple reasons, it comes with the external caddy, but even more important, it comes with software that will ensure your OS picks up when a dvd is inserted into the external drive. The downside to the MCE upgrade is the hard drive enclosure does not allow enough clearance for a 12.5mm hard drive (drives greater that 640GB)

Why would you put your SSD in the optibay BTW?
 
mac8867 said:
Why would you put your SSD in the optibay BTW?
Click to expand...

Initially, I wanted to put the SSD in the Optibay in case I needed to take the computer in for a repair: it would be easier to just pop the SuperDrive back in.

However, someone said on another thread that I should put the SSD in the main hard drive spot, and then put the original HDD into the Optibay so that it will hibernate properly.

By the way, I was concerned with warrantee issues since my MBP is just a month old and has the full 3 year AppleCare. However, my buddy who's a Genius with Apple said if I ever needed some work done on it, just return it to the original configuration and they'll then be able to honor the AppleCare.
 
The General said:
I have a 15" i7 uMBP and I want to go the SSD+HDD route with this harddrive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136545

I'm trying to figure out which newmodeus caddy to get. I know It needs to accept a 12.5" harddrive, but will the 12.7mm caddys that accept 12.5mm hard drives fit in the uMBP? And should I get one with no faceplate or with a faceplate?

This one?
http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=260
Click to expand...

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_27&products_id=220

i crammed a 12.5 into it...lol

or you can try this

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_27&products_id=197
 
Hi people i swapped out my caddy for the wifey and worked out perfect. I put a 500gb HD in the optibay slot and a 60gb Phoenix pro SSD /w sandforce controller like OCZ vertex.

I used this ebay caddy and got it for $26 shipped and got it in 3 days and worked like a charm no modding, cutting, shredding or any of that junk. Just a simple plug n play and saved money versus newmodeus caddy for $50


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...949&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313&_fvi=1&_rdc=1

She has the new plastic/polycarbonate White Macbook Unibody
 
I've had the newmodeus SATA-SATA caddy for a while now, works great in my 17" MBP.

The only problem with it is that in order to get the HD in our out, I need to take the entire assembly out of the machine. All I see when I look at it installed is the silver back. Does that come off somehow? Are there caddys that leave the SSD / HD accessible? I'd like to upgrade to a new SSD, or maybe swap HD and SSD without taking the thing out.
 
I'm thinking of getting the caddy from Ayagroup but I have a question for any owners of that specific caddy.

There are 3 screws that hold the superdrive in place. Does the caddy have the holes for those screws? If not, how do you secure it?

Thanks in advance.
 
I put my Home directory on the 1TB in my HDD bay and I have OS X on my SSD in the optibay. Disk Utility will only let you repair permissions on a drive with OS X installed.

How can I repair permissions on my home directory?
 
The General said:
I put my Home directory on the 1TB in my HDD bay and I have OS X on my SSD in the optibay. Disk Utility will only let you repair permissions on a drive with OS X installed.

How can I repair permissions on my home directory?
Click to expand...

Screenshot2010-10-24at50618PM.png


Think that sums it up.

To use your repair disk use either a disk image or a remote disk utility.

Details of how to do the latter are linked below...

how-to-really-enable-dvd-drive-sharing-on-a-non-air-macbook
 
-AG- said:
Screenshot2010-10-24at50618PM.png


Think that sums it up.

To use your repair disk use either a disk image or a remote disk utility.

Details of how to do the latter are linked below...

how-to-really-enable-dvd-drive-sharing-on-a-non-air-macbook
Click to expand...

The button for "repair disk permissions" is grayed out because OS X is not installed on my HDD. I have another user account set up that has its home directory on my SSD, so when i log into that one, i am able to "repair disk" on my hard drive because it can be unmounted, but i still can't repair disk permissions.
 
I am considering getting a MBP 13 and replacing the Superdrive with an OWC SSD drive. This would allow me to have two drives, but I'm wondering about the battery impact.

Assuming I keep the HDD in the original place is there a way to spin down the HDD to save battery power?
 
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