SSD in Optical Bay Woes...

[garstudios]

If the 2012 bottom panel is like the mid-2010, there are a couple of points in the middle where it latches on. As long as you know they are there (I think one of the OWC videos details this), it's easy and worry free to pop it loose. Also, when you put the bottom cover back on, you should press on it around the middle to secure it properly, although perhaps just turning the machine back over and setting it down will do this anyway.

thats nice to know now at least. i went and set on the couch with the macbook pro in my lap, a few seconds later.....POP. it popped back in place. scared the crap out of me again. every things still going good though.

----------

While I appreciate you trying to help, you are in fact spreading outdated information. With the 2012 models, there have been reports that the optical bay can, in fact, deliver SATA-III speeds. In the 15" model at least.

http://blog.macsales.com/14064-expand-the-2012-macbook-pros-with-an-owc-data-doubler




Now there are people in this thread saying that they are having problems, so we're trying to narrow down the possible reason. Drive cloning seems to be a possible culprit. However, I'm wondering if the problem steams from the OP initialing using the SSD in the HDD bay and then moving it to the optical bay? Maybe if you start with the SSD there won't be any errors? I'm not a tech wizard but I'm still going to try my new 830 in the optical bay. My caddy should arrive on Saturday...

yeah, at this point i would say the op needs to just leave everything where it is, and do a clean install on the sad (wherever it maybe) no point pulling crap apart again. I'm 99.9% sure it is the cloning that screwed everything up. Im on day 3 with my 830 installed in the optical bay...going strong.

 

[NMF]

Im on day 3 with my 830 installed in the optical bay...going strong.

Did you just do a fresh install?

 

[garstudios]

Did you just do a fresh install?

yes.

ssd in optical bay, oem hard drive 750gb in main bay. lion on ssd, user folder on hdd. i made sure both machines were completely up to date, then i put my old macbook pro in target disk mode and copied my folders over. seamless so far. its blazing fast, i dont think anything could be faster, since i handle all my actual data on HDDs still. unless it can predict what im about to do, and do it before i do. i think im going to enable trim though. i havent looked into that yet.

 

[magbarn]

Ever since the unibody's came out and optibays started to be used, there has always been issues running the fastest SATA speeds in the optical bay. It also can vary from machine to machine due to manufacturing tolerances. Apple only has engineered the connector and cable to handle Sata 1.5 gbps speeds as they only intend an optical drive to be ever put there. Both my friend and I have 2011 MBP, mine works fine with having a SATA 3 SSD in the optibay as my older machine has the optical bay connector hardwired to the SATA 2 ports on the Intel controller. My friend's later 2011 MBP 15 will not run a SATA 3 SSD in the optibay without beachballing. The later 2011 MBP tend to have the connector hardwired to the SATA 3 ports. This is usually a problem as the optibay and super thin connector aren't shielded well enough for consistent reliable SATA 3 speeds. Despite OWC's claim that the 2012 MBP 15 are reliable in the optibay with SATA 3 speeds, I doubt they had a large enough sample size. Also to the agressive poster: the MBP 13 has had the best reputation when it comes to SSD stability in the optibay. The MBP 15/17 not so much.

 

[DoNoHarm]

Hey guys, i was thinking of swapping out the optical drive with an SSD in my mid 2009 macbook pro (which already has an SSD as the main HD). My goal was to run Ubuntu on the optical drive's SSD.

Am I to understand from all these posts that this will cause problems? Can someone with more knowledge offer me some advice?

 

[Rajpdx]

Hey guys, i was thinking of swapping out the optical drive with an SSD in my mid 2009 macbook pro (which already has an SSD as the main HD). My goal was to run Ubuntu on the optical drive's SSD.

Am I to understand from all these posts that this will cause problems? Can someone with more knowledge offer me some advice?

You can do it. You just need to be careful which SSD you use. In theory the 2009 Optical Bay slot is SATA 2 - so a SATA 3 drive will just drop down to SATA 2 speed. In practise, when I tried it on a 2009 17" The SATA 3 drive wouldn't work, but a SATA 2 drive worked fine.

So I'd suggest making sure the SSD you put in the optical bay is a SATA 2 SSD - from my direct experience.

Good luck.

 

[WillFisher]

Im considering putting an SSD into my 13" MBP 2010 model, what kind of things do I need to take into account? I was just going to put the SSD into the Optical Drive, but having read this thread I feel like thats a bad idea now?

 

[Rajpdx]

Im considering putting an SSD into my 13" MBP 2010 model, what kind of things do I need to take into account? I was just going to put the SSD into the Optical Drive, but having read this thread I feel like thats a bad idea now?

The same answer I gave just above your post applies to you too. You can put a SATA 3 SSD IN your main bay though, but possibly not in the optical bay - in which case a SATA 2 will work.

 

[jbzcar]

Hey guys, i was thinking of swapping out the optical drive with an SSD in my mid 2009 macbook pro (which already has an SSD as the main HD). My goal was to run Ubuntu on the optical drive's SSD.

Am I to understand from all these posts that this will cause problems? Can someone with more knowledge offer me some advice?

Avoid a Sandforce-based SSD and you will have no problems with one in your optical bay.

 

[WillFisher]

The same answer I gave just above your post applies to you too. You can put a SATA 3 SSD IN your main bay though, but possibly not in the optical bay - in which case a SATA 2 will work.

But if I was to put my HDD in the optical drive and the SSD in the current HDD drive, I could use a SATA 3? Is this right?

 

[Rajpdx]

But if I was to put my HDD in the optical drive and the SSD in the current HDD drive, I could use a SATA 3? Is this right?

Yes, but as your machine won't support SATA 3 speeds anywhere, the SATA 3 drive will drop down to SATA 2 speed - but will work perfectly (it will seem really fast - vast majority of work happens at <SATA2 speeds anyway). SATA 3 drive in the optical bay may lead to hanging. HDD will be fine in optical bay.

You will be futureproofed if you want to use the SSD in a later machine though and there isn't any discount for SATA 2 drives.

 

[iMacFarlane]

But if I was to put my HDD in the optical drive and the SSD in the current HDD drive, I could use a SATA 3? Is this right?

Absolutely, yes. The HDD connections are already rated for SATA 3, so a SATA 3 SSD in the HD location will work wonderfully. The only issues seem to be with the optical bay, since that is serviced by a SATA 2 connection. In the 2012 models, this supposedly got upgraded to a SATA 3 connection, but the wiring connecting the bay to the bus is not shielded properly and most people are seeing degraded performance as the filesystem re-attempts bad data transfers due to signal loss (results in frequent beach balling).

 

[Rajpdx]

Absolutely, yes. The HDD connections are already rated for SATA 3, so a SATA 3 SSD in the HD location will work wonderfully. The only issues seem to be with the optical bay, since that is serviced by a SATA 2 connection. In the 2012 models, this supposedly got upgraded to a SATA 3 connection, but the wiring connecting the bay to the bus is not shielded properly and most people are seeing degraded performance as the filesystem re-attempts bad data transfers due to signal loss (results in frequent beach balling).

In a 2010 13" MBP? I thought they were still SATA 2.

 

[WillFisher]

Yes, but as your machine won't support SATA 3 speeds anywhere, the SATA 3 drive will drop down to SATA 2 speed - but will work perfectly (it will seem really fast - vast majority of work happens at <SATA2 speeds anyway). SATA 3 drive in the optical bay may lead to hanging. HDD will be fine in optical bay.

You will be futureproofed if you want to use the SSD in a later machine though and there isn't any discount for SATA 2 drives.

So my best option would be getting a SATA 2 SSD in the optical/standard drive? Obviously this isn't fully future proofed but I'm a uni student, so I'm using this laptop for the next 2 1/2 years then hopefully upgrading.
Also, does the optical drive have the motion sensor like in the hard drive bay?

 

[Rajpdx]

So my best option would be getting a SATA 2 SSD in the optical/standard drive? Obviously this isn't fully future proofed but I'm a uni student, so I'm using this laptop for the next 2 1/2 years then hopefully upgrading.
Also, does the optical drive have the motion sensor like in the hard drive bay?

Best options

1) SATA 3 SSD only in HDD Drive bay - might be short of space unless you get a big one.

2) 1) and put a SATA 2 SSD in the optical bay

3) 1) and put your HDD in the optical bay

There's really not all that much in it between 2 and 3. You'll have to decide between the cost/capacity benefits - but if the OS and Apps are on the SSD in the main drive your system will fly regardless.

Motion sensor only applies to HDDs. The motion sensor tells the HDD to park its heads in the event of sudden movement - despite what some people say in my experience it works fine on a HDD in the optical bay.

 

[WillFisher]

Best options

1) SATA 3 SSD only in HDD Drive bay - might be short of space unless you get a big one.

2) 1) and put a SATA 2 SSD in the optical bay

3) 1) and put your HDD in the optical bay

There's really not all that much in it between 2 and 3. You'll have to decide between the cost/capacity benefits - but if the OS and Apps are on the SSD in the main drive your system will fly regardless.

Motion sensor only applies to HDDs. The motion sensor tells the HDD to park its heads in the event of sudden movement - despite what some people say in my experience it works fine on a HDD in the optical bay.

Wonderful, thanks a lot man, I'm going to go with 3) I think, I'd love to put in 2 SSD's, but I can't afford that right now. I'm gonna go with files on HDD and Software and OS on SSD, is there any special formatting I have to do? Any link you could send me to help me out? Thank you though.

 

[Rajpdx]

Wonderful, thanks a lot man, I'm going to go with 3) I think, I'd love to put in 2 SSD's, but I can't afford that right now. I'm gonna go with files on HDD and Software and OS on SSD, is there any special formatting I have to do? Any link you could send me to help me out? Thank you though.

It's really pretty easy. Take a look at macsales.com support pages for the data doubler to work out how to replace the optical drive with your hard drive.

At the same time put the SSD in the main HDD bay.

When you put the machine back together you can restart your computer from the HDD - it will anyway, and then decide how to format your SSD, either as a new install of the OS or as a migration or even as a clone using carbon copy cloner or superduper. If you're using lion you can restore a new install of Lion from the recovery partition to the SSD

Once you have the OS on the SSD you can delete it from the HDD (or leave it if you want) and run from the SSD. It's up to you how much of your stuff you move to the SSD.

PS - One easy way is to use system preferences/users/ if you right click on the user id you get advanced settings and you can actually move your home folder to the HDD.

 

[WillFisher]

It's really pretty easy. Take a look at macsales.com support pages for the data doubler to work out how to replace the optical drive with your hard drive.

At the same time put the SSD in the main HDD bay.

When you put the machine back together you can restart your computer from the HDD - it will anyway, and then decide how to format your SSD, either as a new install of the OS or as a migration or even as a clone using carbon copy cloner or superduper. If you're using lion you can restore a new install of Lion from the recovery partition to the SSD

Once you have the OS on the SSD you can delete it from the HDD (or leave it if you want) and run from the SSD. It's up to you how much of your stuff you move to the SSD.

PS - One easy way is to use system preferences/users/ if you right click on the user id you get advanced settings and you can actually move your home folder to the HDD.

You're an utter saint, thanks a lot man. I'm gonna go and do this all asap!

 

[DoNoHarm]

You can do it. You just need to be careful which SSD you use. In theory the 2009 Optical Bay slot is SATA 2 - so a SATA 3 drive will just drop down to SATA 2 speed. In practise, when I tried it on a 2009 17" The SATA 3 drive wouldn't work, but a SATA 2 drive worked fine.

So I'd suggest making sure the SSD you put in the optical bay is a SATA 2 SSD - from my direct experience.

Good luck.

Thanks for this awesome reply. Kind of a second question, but I'm posting here instead of making a new thread: If I did this installation correctly, is there some sort of limitation as to which files I keep on each drive? Like can I have my itunes library on the 2nd drive even though itunes itself is installed on the first drive? And if I decide to partition the 2nd drive and install another OS, can I boot off that drive without any drama?

 

[Rajpdx]

Thanks for this awesome reply. Kind of a second question, but I'm posting here instead of making a new thread: If I did this installation correctly, is there some sort of limitation as to which files I keep on each drive? Like can I have my itunes library on the 2nd drive even though itunes itself is installed on the first drive? And if I decide to partition the 2nd drive and install another OS, can I boot off that drive without any drama?

Yes
All of those - no limitations.

The iTunes library can be kept wherever you like. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

As for second OS - yes. On my last mac I had bootcamp Windows 7 and a second OSX Install on the HDD and a main OSX on the SSD. The only issue is that it's easier to do the bootcamping etc before you move the drive and take out the optical drive.

 

[TheRdungeon]

Now that the newer Macbooks have the 6gb/s in the optical, I've heard people doing it either way. By putting the HDD in the HDD Bay, you retain the motion sensor feature in case you drop it. I would be willing to swap them to see if it solves it, but the optical bay screws stripped (very very easily). Any tips for getting these smalls screws out?!

This is a massive misconception, the sensor is in the HDD itself. I've dropped my computer on my bed hard enough while playing back Logic files in the optibay HDD for the sensor to kick in and shut down the hard drive

 

[Digitalclips]

yes.

ssd in optical bay, oem hard drive 750gb in main bay. lion on ssd, user folder on hdd. i made sure both machines were completely up to date, then i put my old macbook pro in target disk mode and copied my folders over. seamless so far. its blazing fast, i dont think anything could be faster, since i handle all my actual data on HDDs still. unless it can predict what im about to do, and do it before i do. i think im going to enable trim though. i havent looked into that yet.

I amazed that TRIM hasn't been discussed here! I have just come across TRIM Enabler for OS X and wondered if anyone had tried it. I am about to put a 256 GIG Samsung 830 in the HD bay and the 1 TB HD in the optical Bay. I have a mid 2010 MBP i7. I have already set iTunes up to work with all its data on the HD. I will be installing a fresh Mountain Lion GM (I am a dev) on the SSD and using Migration Assistant to move the already trimmed down User account. Fingers crossed all goes well.

p.s. I am not using CCC for this as preliminary tests using the new CCC for Mountain Lion produced a lot of issues. I have used CCC for years with out incident but I'm not willing to risk anything so doing it the Apple way this time.

 

[njean777]

Seems to me you should just move the SSD to the regular HDD location. If you never had a problem with it that way before, why would you move it? Also try a rubber band while unscrewing the screws, sometimes that will work.

 

[Prime85]

I just purchased a M4 SSD for my optical bay. I am planning on using it completely as a bootcamp drive. I will be running OSX completely from my 830 in the normal HD Location.

My late 2011 Mac is rated for 6g in the optical bay

Has anyone checked to see if this problem is also while running windows or does it just occur when trying to boot osx from the optibay?

 

[Rajpdx]

I just purchased a M4 SSD for my optical bay. I am planning on using it completely as a bootcamp drive. I will be running OSX completely from my 830 in the normal HD Location.

My late 2011 Mac is rated for 6g in the optical bay

Has anyone checked to see if this problem is also while running windows or does it just occur when trying to boot osx from the optibay?

That won't work. A 6g SSD will not work in a 2011 MBP's optical bay. The bay supports it, the wiring doesn't - unless it's an Oct 2011 13".

There are a load of posts here about this and discussion on the owc (macsales blog). If you start at the top of this thread and work your way down you'll get an idea of the issue.

It's a hardware issue - not Windows or OSX