SSD install into Optical Bay on MacBookPro

t3h · 22nd June 2010, 1:02 AM

I performed this install a fair while ago, and I've been meaning to post it but haven't quite gotten around to it.

Anyway, I wanted to have a SSD in my 2010 model MBP, but I didn't want to outright replace the HDD with it. I very rarely use the optical drive in my laptop, so I decided to swap it out entirely. I've seen another install on here where a guy hacked up a cable to connect it in - but I didn't want to do that.

I knew about a thing called the MCE OptiBay that did something like this - but it's reasonably expensive. A bit of looking around found me a site called NewModeUS that has a similar device. Looking at their product guide, I found the OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF, which is perfect.

The SSD I used was a G.Skill Falcon2 from MSY. I actually had it replacing the HDD of my old MBP before I sold it in the few days I waited for the new one to arrive.

Anyway, undo the screws on the NewModeUS adaptor, and take the top off.

Plug the SSD into the SATA port.

Flip it upside down:

and install the screws.

Now for the scary bit:

Take the back off the MacBookPro.

Undo the ribbon cable that is connected to the logic board and undo the screws on the wireless board. Then undo the 2 screws at the front of the optical drive, and the one at the back, and lift it out, unplugging it from the onboard SATA.

Unscrew the little tab from the back of it, and screw it onto the NewModeUS enclosure.

... but not that way around. Put it on the right way.

Put the wireless card back on top and do the screws up. Unfortunately, the NewModeUS enclosure lacks the two screw holes at the front, so it can't be screwed down, however, the top edge is secured by the wireless board, and it's screwed in at the back, so it's not going anywhere.

Now, dismantle a FireWire external HDD, and plug the board into a SATA optical drive, and install OS X onto the SSD

I'll post more details later, including how to have the system on the SSD and your home folder on the HDD, as well as a few benchmarks.

I can however say that the system is unbelievably responsive with all the apps on the SSD. The system boots in just under two seconds most times. Most apps launch before they rise all the way up in the Dock for the first bounce.

It'd be awesome if Apple put a SSD bay in the MBP like they have on the XServe above the drive bays. The SSD they use there is quite small, and could probably be worked into the MBP somewhere. What would also be cool is if someone made an optical drive to HDD adaptor with a port multiplier and a small 64GB SSD in the remaining space in the unit so you can have a second HDD and a SSD in the optical bay. Interestingly, though, I have heard that there are DVD drives coming with SSDs built in so you can add one and not lose your optical drive.

Also, I might add that since the grey felt just inside the optical drive is part of the case, this looks totally stock from the outside. You can even attempt to put a disk in... but it only goes in until it hits the SSD

Waking the machine from sleep or booting it is odd as well, because I'm used to hearing the optical drive initialise...

DeejW · 22nd June 2010, 1:14 AM

very nice work, who the hell needs optical drives these days anyway

memory chips all they way I say

the Fan-Man · 22nd June 2010, 1:26 AM

kudos for initially having the guts to remove the cover of your MBpro!

t3h · 22nd June 2010, 11:07 AM

Here's some XBench results for the SSD:

tin · 22nd June 2010, 11:11 AM

I find it silly that Apple still call their motherboards "Logic Board" like none of the other boards in the computer deal with logic...

Nice work there.

I was kind of hoping for something more ghetto though... Like sticky taping it into the old hole

Renza · 22nd June 2010, 12:31 PM

actually its called the main logic board these days....

theres pretty much only one board in them anyway

gibbz · 22nd June 2010, 3:13 PM

ive been looking for these bays in Aus, where abouts did you order yours from?

t3h · 22nd June 2010, 3:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gibbz

ive been looking for these bays in Aus, where abouts did you order yours from?

newmodeus.com - they do ship internationally. Was $60.67 US including FedEx shipping.

dexster · 22nd June 2010, 5:03 PM

very neat install, well done

i was looking at ways to put a ssd in my old dell but i dont think the bios will allow it

ascl · 22nd June 2010, 10:12 PM

Nicely done, very cool mod!

JohJoh · 23rd June 2010, 9:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tin

I find it silly that Apple still call their motherboards "Logic Board" like none of the other boards in the computer deal with logic...

Nice work there.

I was kind of hoping for something more ghetto though... Like sticky taping it into the old hole

Agreed with the ghetto part.

Haha, nice mod though, I might do the same with my MBPro, I hardly use the optical bay, and if I need to i can use my external one anyway.

t3h · 23rd June 2010, 5:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohJoh

Haha, nice mod though, I might do the same with my MBPro, I hardly use the optical bay, and if I need to i can use my external one anyway.

Yeah, it will indeed boot from USB and FireWire, so you really don't need an internal optical drive for anything.

Wonder if I can install OS X off a SD card? :P

(I've installed Win7 off a SDHC card in my desktop, as that also has no optical drive.)

vinnY · 23rd June 2010, 6:04 PM

^ planning to replace my optical drive with a hdd, made an image of my restore discs and 'restored' it to a sd card, works good

also made images of the application disc and as well as iwork and copied it to the sd card too so i can install those after i've installed osx

question for the op, i've been hearing people have been having trouble waking up from sleep with the startup drive in the optical drive bay's sata instead of the normal location
suffering any of these troubles at all?
something to do with the startup disc having to send out the bat signal to turn on hdd's when waking up but osx only waits for it from the regular hdd sata port

motas · 23rd June 2010, 10:10 PM

I want a MacBook lol. I didn't really notice the difference between an ssd and hdd. So what are ya gonna do with the optical drive? Anyone know how to get it working with a pc?

t3h · 23rd June 2010, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinnY

suffering any of these troubles at all?

No, seems to be fine, I haven't had that issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by motas

So what are ya gonna do with the optical drive? Anyone know how to get it working with a pc?

I have it sitting on my desk. Might install it in a desktop.

As for getting it going in a PC, this adaptor will convert it to SATA and a molex power connector.

22nd June 2010, 1:02 AM	#1
t3h Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Adelaide Posts: 229	SSD install into Optical Bay on MacBookPro I performed this install a fair while ago, and I've been meaning to post it but haven't quite gotten around to it. Anyway, I wanted to have a SSD in my 2010 model MBP, but I didn't want to outright replace the HDD with it. I very rarely use the optical drive in my laptop, so I decided to swap it out entirely. I've seen another install on here where a guy hacked up a cable to connect it in - but I didn't want to do that. I knew about a thing called the MCE OptiBay that did something like this - but it's reasonably expensive. A bit of looking around found me a site called NewModeUS that has a similar device. Looking at their product guide, I found the OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF, which is perfect. The SSD I used was a G.Skill Falcon2 from MSY. I actually had it replacing the HDD of my old MBP before I sold it in the few days I waited for the new one to arrive. Anyway, undo the screws on the NewModeUS adaptor, and take the top off. Plug the SSD into the SATA port. Flip it upside down: and install the screws. Now for the scary bit: Take the back off the MacBookPro. Undo the ribbon cable that is connected to the logic board and undo the screws on the wireless board. Then undo the 2 screws at the front of the optical drive, and the one at the back, and lift it out, unplugging it from the onboard SATA. Unscrew the little tab from the back of it, and screw it onto the NewModeUS enclosure. ... but not that way around. Put it on the right way. Put the wireless card back on top and do the screws up. Unfortunately, the NewModeUS enclosure lacks the two screw holes at the front, so it can't be screwed down, however, the top edge is secured by the wireless board, and it's screwed in at the back, so it's not going anywhere. Now, dismantle a FireWire external HDD, and plug the board into a SATA optical drive, and install OS X onto the SSD I'll post more details later, including how to have the system on the SSD and your home folder on the HDD, as well as a few benchmarks. I can however say that the system is unbelievably responsive with all the apps on the SSD. The system boots in just under two seconds most times. Most apps launch before they rise all the way up in the Dock for the first bounce. It'd be awesome if Apple put a SSD bay in the MBP like they have on the XServe above the drive bays. The SSD they use there is quite small, and could probably be worked into the MBP somewhere. What would also be cool is if someone made an optical drive to HDD adaptor with a port multiplier and a small 64GB SSD in the remaining space in the unit so you can have a second HDD and a SSD in the optical bay. Interestingly, though, I have heard that there are DVD drives coming with SSDs built in so you can add one and not lose your optical drive. Also, I might add that since the grey felt just inside the optical drive is part of the case, this looks totally stock from the outside. You can even attempt to put a disk in... but it only goes in until it hits the SSD Waking the machine from sleep or booting it is odd as well, because I'm used to hearing the optical drive initialise... __________________ MBP 15"/750GB 7200RPM HDD/64GB G.Skill Falcon2 SSD/8GB DDR3 RAM/512MB GT330M/2.66 i7/1680x1050 hires matte Asus P5Q-Pro/E8500/GTX275/Antec EarthWatts 500/many HDDs/4GB 1066 RAM/G5 case

22nd June 2010, 1:14 AM	#2
DeejW Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Dandenong Ranges VIC Posts: 1,803	very nice work, who the hell needs optical drives these days anyway memory chips all they way I say __________________ MiniBeast: i5 2500k @ 4.6Ghz/16GB Vengeance/Asrock Z68 Pro/HD7870 Direct CU/120GB Vertex3/12TB Total/AX850/TJ08-E/Win7Ultimatex64 Bigbeast: Version VI STI/GTPS01 @ 20PSI/Process West Tmic/PFI Fuel Rails/ID850cc Inj/Vi-Pec ECU/MRT & TCP Xorst/MAFless, IACVless 212kw ATW

22nd June 2010, 1:26 AM	#3
the Fan-Man Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,493	kudos for initially having the guts to remove the cover of your MBpro! __________________ DEM AINT YOH FUNIONS BMW Perth Cruise #41 6 cylinders, 5 gears, 4 doors, 3 pedals, 2 exhaust, 1 ultimate driving machine BMW ///M Main: i7 3770k @ 4.87GHz on air, 16gb ripjaws, XFX 7970HD, 256GB SSD, HX850W, Win 7 Secondary: Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.8GHz, 8GB ripjaws, Radeon 5870HD, 64GB SSD, HX650, Win 7

22nd June 2010, 11:07 AM	#4
t3h Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Adelaide Posts: 229	Here's some XBench results for the SSD: __________________ MBP 15"/750GB 7200RPM HDD/64GB G.Skill Falcon2 SSD/8GB DDR3 RAM/512MB GT330M/2.66 i7/1680x1050 hires matte Asus P5Q-Pro/E8500/GTX275/Antec EarthWatts 500/many HDDs/4GB 1066 RAM/G5 case

22nd June 2010, 11:11 AM	#5
tin Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Narrabri NSW Posts: 5,662	I find it silly that Apple still call their motherboards "Logic Board" like none of the other boards in the computer deal with logic... Nice work there. I was kind of hoping for something more ghetto though... Like sticky taping it into the old hole __________________ ©®£¤¥±²³¶µ»«¼½¾¿§ The software required Win95 or better, so I installed Linux. Question marks are the new full stop?

22nd June 2010, 12:31 PM	#6
Renza Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Adelaide, 5051 Posts: 3,009	actually its called the main logic board these days.... theres pretty much only one board in them anyway __________________ i7 3770K @ 4.5ghz \| AsRock Z77 Professional \| 16gb Corsair Vengence 1600mhz \| Gigabyte GTX580 \| Seasonic X750 \| Silverstone TJ07 \| Crucial M4 256GB \| 2x Dell 2407WFP Canon 5D Mark II \| Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L \| Canon EF 17-40 f/4L \| Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS \| Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 \| Canon EX-580II \| Manfrotto 190 Pro B Traded over $22,000 on OCAU! - PM for recent traders

22nd June 2010, 3:13 PM	#7
gibbz Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Adelaide, SA Posts: 1,429	ive been looking for these bays in Aus, where abouts did you order yours from? __________________ sigs are so fu*ing gay! they waste my precious screen real estate! http://www.fabtab.org

22nd June 2010, 10:12 PM	#10
ascl Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Sydney Posts: 434	Nicely done, very cool mod!

23rd June 2010, 6:04 PM	#13
vinnY Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: granville.nsw.au:2142 Posts: 1,965	^ planning to replace my optical drive with a hdd, made an image of my restore discs and 'restored' it to a sd card, works good also made images of the application disc and as well as iwork and copied it to the sd card too so i can install those after i've installed osx question for the op, i've been hearing people have been having trouble waking up from sleep with the startup drive in the optical drive bay's sata instead of the normal location suffering any of these troubles at all? something to do with the startup disc having to send out the bat signal to turn on hdd's when waking up but osx only waits for it from the regular hdd sata port __________________ [Apple Mac Owners Club Member #39 Mac & Spec's: 13" MBP C2D 2.4GHz w/SSD!, 15" PB G4 1.67]

23rd June 2010, 10:10 PM	#14
motas Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 2,285	I want a MacBook lol. I didn't really notice the difference between an ssd and hdd. So what are ya gonna do with the optical drive? Anyone know how to get it working with a pc? __________________ jeepmods.weebly.com