Mod: 2 Hd In Laptop

[nikster]

I have a MacBook Pro and I have used my DVD burner exactly once in 6 months of ownership.

If you think about it the optical drive is using LOTS of space in my laptop - everything else is crammed as tightly as can be but there's this large thing that I never use.

What to do? I got an optical bay HD caddy - ordered direct from the USA for $50. Here: http://www.newmodeus.com/pics/OBHD/OBHD-Matrix4.html (be sure to choose the right one for your laptop).

Now the useless optical is going to get replaced by a nice 500GB hard disk.

The possibilities are many now, for example:

1 - 500GB HD + 80 GB SSD for booting / apps.

2 - 2x500GB drives for 1TB of space.

3 - 2x160GB SSD in RAID-0 for an insanely fast 320GB SSD.

I will do (1) once the Intel X-25M G2 (what a name!) is available again. Speed of a SSD + space of a hard disk, all for about $350. I will use the slow 500GB HD for media, all my movies, music, etc, and the SSD for the OS and my work. 80GB should be plenty for OS and work, really.

The optical will either go in an external enclosure, or I'll just get an external one, for those few times where people ask me to burn disks for them.

Thanks to the guy pointing out this possibility in another thread. Really great idea. And a pretty cheap way to get into SSDs.

[dave_boo]

Make sure that when you do that you put your swap and your /tmp (not sure if OSX also uses /var, but that would be another I'd consider putting on the the mechanical drive) on the hdd. Also, turn off the 'atime' option. Will help extend the life of your new SSD.

[nikster]

I'll assume that the SSD will just work. It has a 3 year warranty from Intel so should it break or severely degrade in performance before its time, I'll send it back.

Main reason is that I want the big fat media HD to stay in idle mode most times (battery life) and that won't happen if the swap files are on it (OS X: /var/vm). In addition the SSD speed boost will help particularly with tmp, and to a lesser extent, also with swap files.

I imagine OS X will soon have support for SSDs, just like Win 7, which already has some. All MacBooks can purchased with pre-installed SSD these days so if there are problems over time, they will be fixed very quickly.

[jerrylee]

OSX cannot install system files or external boot-up unless external superdrive is connected by Firewire and not USB !!

[nikster]

OSX cannot install system files or external boot-up unless external superdrive is connected by Firewire and not USB !!

Good point - you mean without internal DVD, it could be a pain in the behind to install or re-install OS X. Hmmm... hadn't thought of that. It's not something you do often but with Snow Leopard coming out, pretty important. Also important if the HD fails.

I will therefore install OS X on the 500GB drive as well, so I'll always have two boot drives, in case something happens to the primary one.

This post seems to suggest that you can create a custom "Leopard boot hard disk" by creating a DMG of the Leopard install DVD, then using Disk utility to "restore" this DMG onto an external hard drive (even the USB kind), then starting from the hard drive: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-oper...-dvd-drive.html

I shall try this procedure with my Flash USB stick and see if I can install from that.

As a last resort - if no FW external CD case is available - I could also use the "borrow another Mac's DVD drive" function introduced in OS X 10.5 - I think they did that for the MacBook Air, which also doesn't have an optical. I'd just have to find another Mac.

[MarleyMarl]

Sounds like an awesome project, i'd love to get another HDD in my macbook, but I think for now I still need my DVD drive.

[nikster]

Ok I found the tool for the job - DeployStudio will create install images on any external hard drive.

http://www.deploystudio.com/Home.html

Upon trying this out, it seems to be for IT pros who want to do large scale networked deployments. Now I am using the discontinued, but still working Netrestore to do the same thing.

[jerrylee]

The superdrive does'nt last forever either, depends on your working environment, they're both dead on my imac and ibook ...

its an apple saying: The indian out front - ends up with arrows in the back -

if your computer is important for your work, don't be too daring to try un-tested modifications/customizations

until the results are certain and beneficial.

However, it does take courage to venture into unknown territories.

[namoo]

Works fine been running 2 HDs, and now 2 SSD's in Macbook Pro's for over 18 months now. No issues.

Enjoy it

[jerrylee]

Works fine been running 2 HDs, and now 2 SSD's in Macbook Pro's for over 18 months now. No issues.

Enjoy it

Good to learn this.

[nikster]

Works fine been running 2 HDs, and now 2 SSD's in Macbook Pro's for over 18 months now. No issues.

Enjoy it

Thanks for posting this in another thread, gave me the idea... I didn't know it's so easy... still waiting for the Intel X-25M G2 to be re-released.

[namoo]

Yeh they have released the firmware patch for Gen2 drives already. So just waiting for the logistics of the drives getting back in stock. A week or 2 at most i would imagine.