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SSD installation iMac 2011 (Urgent help needed)

H

Hecro

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 8, 2011
36
0
Denmark
So I am installing my OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 120GB in my new iMac 27" 2011.

The hardware installation went as planned, but I have a few question to the actually OSX installation.

I have taken out the stock 3,5" HD that the iMac came with and placed the SSD in the bay.

When I boot the iMac now - it hangs a long time though still reading on the optical drive (OSX installation DVD is in the drive). It does eventually get to a blue screen after 5-10min and then nothing happens - still occasionally it still reads on the optical drive now and then.

Should I just wait for it to continue or is something wrong?
 
You can try pressing C while it boots to make sure it starts from DVD. If that does not happen - either your DVD is defect or you have bothed something while installing the SSD
 
Sounds like something is barely amiss inside. Why would you want an iMac with only 120GB of storage? There is a hole in your machine where one can fit, I suggest that you install it there and put your HDD back inside when you take it apart again to fix the problem!
 
I'm just saying here...

I had dilemma with SSD too .. I dont want overkill (not overpriced though) SSD :apple: offered with new iMac, but I'd love to see SSD on my iMac too.

Well now I'm thinking, rather than plugging SSD inside my iMac (DIY or have someone qualified to do it), I'd prefer going into external SSD, of course with Thunderbolt.

I dont need SSD soon, I can live with the speed of HDD .. but for extra bits and speed, a smaller capacity and cheaper SSD wont hurt :p

Yeah you might say it ruin the nuance of all-in-one by having SSD chassis outside your Mac, but really, think about this:

1. How else would you use Thunderbolt port for? Unless you need multi-monitors, or you need hi-speed video capture .. big chance you won't use Thunderbolt for anything.

You better not thinking about external HDD with TB, it's possible but you wont feel amazed by TB potential. HDD is still slow, maybe you can get around 100MB/s using TB .. but it's just .. meh

2. Just look for gorgeous TB chassis and you're good to go. LaCie's thunderbolt quite sexy, and it's aluminum too, it would look nice put on table beside your iMac. Or even better if they would make chassis for something hybrid, a chassis that can contain HDD and SSD but with discrete controller

3. If you need to replace SSD, it's a breeze .. no need to deconstruct your iMac all over again.

But again, that's just me saying .. OP may need SSD soon, but for anyone who's not .. I think we'd better choose external SSD with TB
 
I installed a 240Gig Vertex 3 inside my 2011 27" i7 iMac this week and also swapped out the ITB for 2TB HD.

Had to of course do a full install of OSX after this - just have original OSX DVD in Optical drive turn mac off then restart while holding down the C key - it will then boot off the DVD.

Use the Utilities app that will appear in boot menu to configure the new drives and off you go with OSX installation from there.

If it is not booting then you must have not plugged something back in.

Frosty
 
Okay, so I got everything to work. I had to pull out the drive again and format it on a different MAC. After that everything worked as a charm - Xbench is giving me 514mb and 12834 on Geekbench 64Bit.

To the people asking why I'm not adding the SSD instead of swapping it with the 3,5". It's because I don't have the heart/soul to pull out the logicboard. It's a very basic install to just swap the 3,5" with the SSD. I'm running a WD Black Scorpio 750GB in a FW800 enclosure which is actually faster than the 3,5" stock drive the iMac came with.

I'm not saying my solution is the perfect solution, but I'm VERY happy with the out come.

Thanks for the hints.
 
Hi Hecro,

I have almost an identical system and also wnat to replace the orignial 1TB HDD with a 500GB SSD. I was thinking about either the Vertex3 or the latest Vertex4.

AFter going through hours and hours of reading here, it's my understanding that you had 0 (zero) fan issues after replacing the HDD drive with your Vertex3 SSD drive right?

Many thanks
Cronik
 
CronikNL75 said:
Hi Hecro,

I have almost an identical system and also wnat to replace the orignial 1TB HDD with a 500GB SSD. I was thinking about either the Vertex3 or the latest Vertex4.

AFter going through hours and hours of reading here, it's my understanding that you had 0 (zero) fan issues after replacing the HDD drive with your Vertex3 SSD drive right?

Many thanks
Cronik
Click to expand...

I am interested in knowing this as well.
 
police340 said:
Where exactly is the SSD mount for the iMac? I installed the SSD under the optical drive according to OWC instructions. Thanks, Bill
Click to expand...

That's where it is. It's just if you have an official Apple install there's a bracket there to mount it to. Unofficial instals just use tape or velcro, or a custom-made bracket to hold the drive in place.
 
SSD Location

Thats great, i thought perhaps Apple had another slot somwehere. And removing the logic board wasn't too bad when all said and done and it worked. It was a little nerve wracking while doing it and following video. Those connectors are awfully small!
 
Hi all,
Sorry if this a little off topic but I didn't want to start a new thread.
I'm thinking of purchasing a new 27 inch imac when the refresh happens for my photography work. As I'm also buying a 13inch air this evening I'm trying to keep costs down.With that in mind, am I correct in assuming that it's usually cheaper to install a 3rd party ssd after purchase thus getting a potentially faster ssd and possibly cheaper?
Thanks in advance all
Damien
 
tradman said:
Hi all,
Sorry if this a little off topic but I didn't want to start a new thread.
I'm thinking of purchasing a new 27 inch imac when the refresh happens for my photography work. As I'm also buying a 13inch air this evening I'm trying to keep costs down.With that in mind, am I correct in assuming that it's usually cheaper to install a 3rd party ssd after purchase thus getting a potentially faster ssd and possibly cheaper?
Thanks in advance all
Damien
Click to expand...

Yes, that's correct.
 
Hecro said:
So I am installing my OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 120GB in my new iMac 27" 2011.

The hardware installation went as planned, but I have a few question to the actually OSX installation.

I have taken out the stock 3,5" HD that the iMac came with and placed the SSD in the bay.

When I boot the iMac now - it hangs a long time though still reading on the optical drive (OSX installation DVD is in the drive). It does eventually get to a blue screen after 5-10min and then nothing happens - still occasionally it still reads on the optical drive now and then.

Should I just wait for it to continue or is something wrong?
Click to expand...
Reset SMC and PRAM
 
Sorry for swaying slightly off topic - is it poss to run a thunderbolt ssd (the elgato one) in target disk mode so the mac boots from it, all apps on there etc - but the internal 1tb 3.5 to house all user data?

Just curious! Not brave enough to open my imac!
 
Make sure you have the disk selected in "Startup Disk" from the system preferences. I had a similar problem when I did a fresh install onto a SSD and there was a ~30-45 second delay while the EFI looked for my old hard drive.
 
thedoofa said:
Sorry for swaying slightly off topic - is it poss to run a thunderbolt ssd (the elgato one) in target disk mode so the mac boots from it, all apps on there etc - but the internal 1tb 3.5 to house all user data?

Just curious! Not brave enough to open my imac!
Click to expand...

yeah but it is a waste of money.



this ssd is 203 2 of them are 406

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...qid=1341876126&sr=8-1&keywords=crucial+m4+ssd



lacie little big disk is 329

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Thunder...1876181&sr=1-4&keywords=lacie+little+big+disk


329 plus 403 is 732 ;

for a 512gb raid0

or a 256gb raid1 or

a 2x 256gb jbod setup




my thread for the mods.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1280118/
 
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Okay, so i took the courage today and successfully replaced the default HDD with a Vertex3 without any probe what so ever! No speeding up fans and also no major temp increases at all. Vertex3 has the latest firmware upgrade, so also no issues with the Negotiated Link-speed phenomenon etc.

So all in all, one big happy camper! Wow this beast is fast now!

I'll be getting myself the new Vertex4 512GB in the next few months or so. Will post another update after.
 
Last edited:
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