OptiBay Extreme?

[mbpjedi]

I'm trying to get a second SATA-III SSD into my 17" late 2011 MBP to play nice but no dice so far due to the sporadic SATA-III connectivity issue on the optical bay SATA port.

It looks like MCE may have solved this SATA-III 6 Gigabit issue with 2011 MBPs with something they're calling the OptiBay Extreme?

http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OBSXGB-XTRM

Anyone tried this thing yet? Any luck?

 

[Barney63]

I'm trying to get a second SATA-III SSD into my 17" late 2011 MBP to play nice but no dice so far due to the sporadic SATA-III connectivity issue on the optical bay SATA port.

It looks like MCE may have solved this SATA-III 6 Gigabit issue with 2011 MBPs with something they're calling the OptiBay Extreme?

http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OBSXGB-XTRM

Anyone tried this thing yet? Any luck?

You have made 10 posts in total and 8 of them you have just repeated this post in.
Is there any need for it?


Barney

 

[mbpjedi]

I was asking individual posters on threads related to this problem if they've tried this device but then I was asked to not do that, as threads were a little bit old, and to just create a new thread instead which is what I did.

 

[Macavoa]

Well, he probably would stop asking if someone helped him out!

 

[orestes1984]

Anyone tried this thing yet?

That page is full of marketing baloney. However, to summarize, the developers have created a dock where your super drive goes. It does nothing, it's a piece of metal. You can pick up data doublers from eBay and many other placers for a lower cost.

No, actually, it might do something, but that something is really superflous, it might make it slightly easier to install your drive, but at a cost as per usual with Mac specific accessories that is kinda ridiculous for what it does.


The issue you are having that is specific to the 2011 MacBook Pro is with the SATA cable, and it not being designed to run at SATA3 speeds, the other issue your having is a compatibility issue for which only certain drives work.

• I run a Crucial MX100 in my 2011 MacBook pro which resolves the issue of drive compatibility.
• Data cables are hit and miss. If it doesn't work in your optical drive bay you are ***** out of luck If it doesn't work in your hard drive bay, complain until you get a new data cable.
• You are messing with a non-user serviceable device, anything you break will be charged to you at out of warranty costs.

Apple is not even remotely interested addressing this issue, let alone solving it, so good luck. If it fails you will be charged an out of warranty repair fee for an Apple genius to fix whatever issues you have created and nobody will save you. Where I live the out of warranty service at my local authorised repairer is a flat fee of $70.

To repeat Apple does not care about this issue, if you are not confident in what you are doing, or do not have the necessary Phillips and Torx drivers, do not proceed and pay an Apple specialist to fit the drive for you.

It's really quite simple, take this on authority.

 

[nocturnum]

That page is full of marketing baloney. However, to summarize, the developers have created a dock where your super drive goes. It does nothing, it's a piece of metal. You can pick up data doublers from eBay and many other placers for a lower cost.

No, actually, it might do something, but that something is really superflous, it might make it slightly easier to install your drive, but at a cost as per usual with Mac specific accessories that is kinda ridiculous for what it does.


The issue you are having that is specific to the 2011 MacBook Pro is with the SATA cable, and it not being designed to run at SATA3 speeds, the other issue your having is a compatibility issue for which only certain drives work.

• I run a Crucial MX100 in my 2011 MacBook pro which resolves the issue of drive compatibility.
• Data cables are hit and miss. If it doesn't work in your optical drive bay you are ***** out of luck If it doesn't work in your hard drive bay, complain until you get a new data cable.
• You are messing with a non-user serviceable device, anything you break will be charged to you at out of warranty costs.

Apple is not even remotely interested addressing this issue, let alone solving it, so good luck. If it fails you will be charged an out of warranty repair fee for an Apple genius to fix whatever issues you have created and nobody will save you. Where I live the out of warranty service at my local authorised repairer is a flat fee of $70.

To repeat Apple does not care about this issue, if you are not confident in what you are doing, or do not have the necessary Phillips and Torx drivers, do not proceed and pay an Apple specialist to fit the drive for you.

It's really quite simple, take this on authority.

orestes1983: Wise words. Now be a good citizen and go pay your taxes.

mbpjedi: Have you already bought a HDD for your optibay? If so, which one have you got?

Personally, I wouldn't worry much about the right choice of the data doubler for your optibay. You can buy one at OWC or iFixit, both of them offering them in kit (all the tools included) versions as well. When buying the HDD make sure you buy a SATA2 (3Gbps) drive (although some drives like HGST TravelStar can be downgraded from SATA3 to SATA2 through a firmware update) and you will have no issues whatsoever.

I bought a SATA3 HGST + this kit and it works like magic.

Cheers!

 

[Macavoa]

How much of a difference in speed is there between SATA II and SATA III? If I wanted to run OSX on an SATA II in the optibay, would it be noticeably slower then running it on an SATA III in the main port?

 

[simonsi]

Apple is not even remotely interested addressing this issue, let alone solving it, so good luck.

Of course not, it isn't a manufacturer issue - they shipped these devices with an optical drive hung off that SATA interface that is fully functional and acceptably reliable for the lifetime of the product.

No-where in the spec-sheets for the time did it say that there was a second interface that would run at SATA3 speed, or any indication that there was upgradeability built-in....the ability to use that second interface for drives is entirely down to the user base, put bluntly, you didn't buy a second SATA3 interface so can't really complain if it isn't there....if it is there and useable then that is a bonus but the whole issue is outside Apple's world TBH....

 

[orestes1984]

Of course not.

Next up from Simonsi, completely missing a point I went over twice

 

[simonsi]

Next up from Simonsi, completely missing a point I went over twice

Your post reads that the upgrade is potentially costly, risky and you won't get support so arguing Apple have responsibility....if thats wrong then cool, but that is how your post read to me.

 

[orestes1984]

Your post reads that the upgrade is potentially costly, risky and you won't get support so arguing Apple have responsibility....if thats wrong then cool, but that is how your post read to me.

It's amazing how misguided some of the responses are on MacRumors My post highlights all of the issues involved in this having been through all of the above myself. If you want to walk around and be uninformed, with your head in the sand, do it in your own time please. Some of us just want to talk about what the issues are.

Some of us also want to know what Apples response is to a well known issue that is swept under the rug. I'm sorry I'm not part of the Apple fandom and an apologist like yourself.

 

[simonsi]

It's amazing how misguided some of the responses are on MacRumors My post highlights all of the issues involved in this having been through all of the above myself. If you want to walk around and be uninformed, with your head in the sand, do it in your own time please. Some of us just want to talk about what the issues are.

Some of us also want to know what Apples response is to a well known issue that is swept under the rug. I'm sorry I'm not part of the Apple fandom and an apologist like yourself.

Ah - I see I did read your post correctly, I just disagree with you. Thats fine, no need to get aggressive - unless you are just trying to shut down dissent with your view?

 

[orestes1984]

Ah - I see I did read your post correctly, I just disagree with you. Thats fine, no need to get aggressive - unless you are just trying to shut down dissent with your view?

There's not much to disagree with, I'm just highlighting the process involved, particularly with tampering with non-user serviceable parts and the problems you may run into if you make a mistake. If your disagreeing with that part I don't know where you're coming from.

If you're disagreeing with me about the SATA port compatibility, again I disagree with you. It's called a computer running standard grey box computer hardware. There's nothing special about it, and yes it should just work. There's nothing to be an apologist for in that regard either. there's no such thing as a Mac anymore and there hasn't been since around 2005, so things should just work like they do for any other x86 PC

 

[Zaphodd]

I've ordered one.. I'll post results in a week or so.

I've just spent an entire evening trying (a second time) to get a SATA3 (6GB/s) drive to work, with little success.

The drive is a 2TB Samsung Momentus-D ST2000LM003 REV.A
PN:HN-M201RAD/AVN. Taken from inside a Seagate 2TB Slim Backup Plus portable drive.

This time I tried foil taping holes in the generic Optibay enclosure. I also foil taped the tiny flexible connector. I only half taped the flat wireless (?) connector - and that may have been the problem

The results started well, and failed. The system was able to write to the drive. (previously, the system was able to read the drive, but unable to write - I cloned an older drive to it via USB).

Next, I successfully re-partitioned the drive, and began copying files but then, the drive just disappeared from the SATA bus. System information reported 'unknown device'.

I tried again with the same results. So I just ordered the MCE Optibay Extreme, and I'll let you know how it works.

Zaphod

 

[betovzky]

MCE Optibay Extreme

Please Zaphodd,

Let us know if the the extreme bay works nice.

 

[Zaphodd]

Optibay Working

Took a few days to get here. But its installed with a Seagate 2TB drive from inside a seagate backup slim external.

Installed the drive. Set up as one 2TB partition, Then used rsync to clone the old drive over.

Its been a week and everything has worked great no glitches.

Ran black magic disk speed test gives about 62 MB/s write and 60 MB/s read.

The images show the standard converter, and the MCE Optibay. You'll notice the old converter shows my quick attempt at foil shielding on the original converter.

FYI, before I ordered the MCE device, I foil taped the cable, and the converter. , Interestingly I was able to format the drive (which I couldn't do before), and begin copying files, but it froze after about 30 seconds of copying.

 

[betovzky]

Optibay with SSD

Thank you for sharing Zaphodd!

In my case, the SSD in the Optibay (regular one) works ok to read and write, but eventually during some transfers freezes and corrupts some files. I'm going to order a Optibay Extreme, let me know if you have any further problems please.

One more question, there is a big difference in the circuit of the Optibay Extreme?

Thanks

 

[willchilton]

orestes1984,

You say you run a MX100 in your 2011 Macbook optibay? And it works? Have you tested it with other drives and they do not work.

Very curious as to your experience.

 

[betovzky]

Dual SSD + MCE OptiBay Extreme

Hi Guys, just to try to give some clarification:

I have a Macbook Pro Late 2011 with a dual 6Gb link (or Sata III). If you are in the same situation and wish to have a solid performance using 2 SSDs, i do recommend you guys buy this Optibay:

http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OBSXGB-XTRM

I used to have a genetic (eBay) before with the same setup, and the SSD on the Optibay corrupted most of my big files, like movies and large TIFFs. Using this expensive, but problem solver OptiBay Extreme, i'm able to have this mini monster working flawlessly, with 2 SSDs with 6Gb (Sata III) speed.

Just for curiosity purposes, the SSDs models:

Samsung SSD 840 Pro (main drive)
Samsung SSD 840 Evo (optical bay)

 

[willchilton]

Got my OptiBay Extreme. It works.

Optibay Extreme came. I got a deal on it — $80 through some CyberMonday sale. Once it showed up, I immediately noticed how flimsy the build quality it — laughably so especially given that I spent $80 on it.

That being said, it worked, just plugged it in, and it booted from the optical drive bay immediately. Got a Sata III SSD running in the optical drive bay of my early 2011 17" MBP which previously could not take any Sata III drive at all. For years I had the SSD in the main drive bay, and a HDD in the optical drive bay, but I just upgraded to the 2tb Seagate HDD which is Sata III, and I wanted badly to find some solution to allow me to use two Sata III drives in what is otherwise still a top of the line laptop, even after three years.


Note: I would not trust putting a hard drive in this thing, it is really flimsy and doesn't even have mounting screws. But for an SSD with no moving parts I am entirely unconcerned about its flimsiness.

Mostly I am grateful for MCE making an effort to create a solution for an increasingly obscure problem for a piece of hardware that is 3 years old. That alone is worth $80, as I can't imagine they are going to be selling very many of these.

So for anyone who is interested, it works. Sata III SSD at full speed in the optical drivebay of a 2011 17" MBP.

Thanks!

 

[niwrik]

So far so good... ESD bag for shielding

Thanks for the info about the MCE Extreme... Just ordered one.

In the interim, I got impatient, and decided to try something simple. I put the generic optibay in an ESD bag and installed it to the system.

I have a 17" 2011 MBP with Samsung 840 EVO in primary bay, and Westernd Digital Black2 (SSD/HDD) combo in optibay. With the ESD bag in place, I was able to configure the WD drive as a Fusion drive. I'm getting consistent write of about 100MB/s and reads around 400MB/s. I am in the process of transferring 650GB to the drive from an external USB HDD. So far, 65GB has transferred without any glitches. If this works reliably, I'll do some testing, and then compare it to the MCE Extreme when that arrives.

UPDATE - FAILURE:

I am sad to report that some time later, the connection to the HDD was broken after copying only 120GB. The connection is definitely better with the ESD bag in place, but not good enough.

 

[niwrik]

Optibay Extreme Feedback

I gave up on homebrew EMI shielding with Aluminum foil and ordered some copper tape. In the interim, my Optibay Extreme arrived. I'm using it in conjunction with a Crucial M500 series SSD. Initial testing is good. I am very pleased with this purchase. I'm not sure how it would be for a boot drive, as very large file copies still lag slightly, but nowhere near what they did before. I did a test copy of 130GB iTunes library from 840EVO in main bay and overall results were roughly 140MB/s transfer. Smaller file copies were almost instantaneous. A 2GB test file copies in just under 5 seconds.

I may look into supplementing the shielding with the copper tape if I see more issue with lag in the future, but for now the performance exceeds my requirement.

After ordering, I was slightly apprehensive about my purchase based on bad reviews of MCE Technologies online. I ordered my optibay on December 16th, and received tracking information the following day. After a few days of no progress on the tracking, I e-mailed them for an order status. I did not get a response. I called and the person I spoke with said that the unit was still in testing and that I would be contacted when it shipped. A few days later, I was notified by e-mail as promised, and the optibay arrived on January 2nd. Given the nature of the product, and the niche market, I am completely satisfied with my purchase. I would recommend this to anyone with a 2011 MBP.

 

[b0fh666]

How much of a difference in speed is there between SATA II and SATA III? If I wanted to run OSX on an SATA II in the optibay, would it be noticeably slower then running it on an SATA III in the main port?

makes zero difference for notebook drives, even SSDs

cheers

 

[thewap]

interesting post on the MCE optibay. Coincidentally just exchanged an OWC 500GB SSD 6G electra for an OWC 1T SSD 3G, due to the 6G not writing in the datadoubler. The 3G works flawlessly on my MBP 17" 2.5ghz.

Still skeptical as to the longevity of the MCE after reading many negative posts about the quality of their optibay and marketing claims. I did deal with them once asking some questions which were not answered after asking for some specific details, so I dropped the interest in them.

Would be nice to see OWC offer such a data doubler as I prefer their service and wares.

 

[eyraud]

Optibay extreme

I recently installed the optibay extreme into my 17" MBP late 2011 and have had mixed results.

Most of the time it's fine but every so often it will unmount the drive in the optibay and I have to restart to get it back. There may be some files lost as well.

Currently I'm thinking to restore the MBP to its original configuration and forget the optibay.

...tho now it doesn't want to start up (the OS is not in the optibay :/