[GUIDE] M15x Optical Drive HDD Caddy Installation (56k Warning)

What caddy are you guys using? The one from the first post? I got a cheaper one from a member here but it's a pos, and I'd rather get something better.

 

i know what you mean. and its true if your using a lower drive size (<100GB) like mine to store application data that would be to much for the SSD.

my question to you is, are you satisfied with your current speed. or are you looking to speed up a few things. if your looking to speed up. you have to go with the SSD.

i think they are all pos. they are all cheaply made (cant cost more than $3 to produce). but its not a part that you can see or feel, and it does the job flawlessly, doesnt require drivers and (negative point also positive) its cheap.

what more are you looking for?

 

From what I've read around the web, Sata 2 has a marginal difference in actual user speed compared to Sata 1. Looks like it's time to buy a caddy

Only problem now is that my spacebar has begun to squeak lol.

 

Sata I is going to make next to no difference for a 2.5" HDD.

 

Just ordered the caddy from newmodeus. It was a little pricey for something that simple but I just don't trust the ones I've seen on e-bay because of the cheap Fenvi caddy I have. I was gonna use the original DVD as an external unit with an enclosure, but the enclosure costs $20 and a new external DVD writer costs around $30 so I went with that. Great guide btw. Can't wait to drop by 640GB drive in the M15x alongside my SSD. I can really use the extra storage.

 

That's the reason why I'm not buying it from there. I went ahead and just ordered this one... IBM 43N3412 SATA 2nd HDD caddy bay T400s T500 R400 DV13 - eBay (item 300532950077 end time Apr-03-11 00:51:20 PDT) I'm pretty sure it will work. They are all made out of bent sheetmetal and because its in a fixed position inside the laptop, it shouldn't really matter in regards to build quality. I might put some rubber in the gaps to soften the vibration of it, but other than that it should be fine.

 

But how do you intend to mount the bracket? There are no screw holes with threads on that model. Just plastic all around.

 

Good point, but for $12 shipped I don't mind doing some modding.

My guess is that there will be some under the surrounding plastic, if not, it isn't difficult to make some holes.

 

You should just go with a 1TB, thats what I did

 

I can say that I too successfully completed this upgrade. The $12 caddy worked fine with some modding, I had to break off the plastic that was where the front face of the cd drive would be, and then I had to shave off two plastic nubs and it fit quite snug. There was no need to screw the metal housing in as it fit quite snug, and when reassembled is sandwiched in. Thanks for the guide Villosa.

 

so my caddy from newmodeus just came in, did the conversion... my only regret is that i didn't do it sooner.

awesome guide. no spare screws by the end of it... that's always a good sign.

i do recommend you have a second pc with the service manual loaded just in case.

 

Is there anyone notice the temp of GPU after install this caddy? It seems hotter than normal Maybe I will need to reapply paste

 

You are adding more heat to the system by installing the second drive.

 

I've never noticed an increase in temps. Try reapplying with a single dot (half the size of a pea) in the middle of the die. Works for me.

 

Thanx man! that was awesome help!, I did the same thing. thanks for taking your time and post this thread.

 

Well, i didnt have a second computer ready at the time for the service manual, so i just disassembled it by guessing and some how ended up not breaking anything or leaving any spare screws!

It works great,also, i notice a small (3 degree) temp increase in my gpu

 

Installed mine, work well without any sign of extra heat...

160GB SSD Intel G3 320 + 500 GB 7.2K Seagate,

Thx for the guide,

i order my caddy from ebay though, universal model, $19 only... =D

 

Nice to hear all these success stories and yep, some of these very cheap caddies do work! I'm using one in my R3 lol.

 

Edit: Didn't read thoroughly enough.

 

Will either of these work with my m15x?
SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM | eBay

SATA 2nd HDD HD Hard Driver Caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD / DVD-ROM Optical Bay | eBay

which would you recommend?

 

Both of them (not at the same time obviously) will work
I recommend the cheapest one.

 

I'll have to keep this stuff in mind when I go to increase my storage.

 

I did this upgrade yesterday. Worked out perfectly although it took an hour lol

 

yeah its quite the strip down, but you tend to learn alot about your lappy

 

Nice! It's been one of my favorite and most useful mods on my M17x R2.

 

Yeah unfortunately I don't have much use for it yet lol. What do you use yours for? I already have a 2TB external!

Thinking of using it for primary backup although that won't use much of 500GB and then using it for bluray shrinkage work....

 

I have 1 160GB SSD for OS/Apps, 1 160GB SSD for just game installs, and 1 1TB where I store my music, documents, photos, movies ect. Works well. Plus I have images of all my drives on old external HDDs.

 

is there a guide on how to clone the old system partition into the new ssd?

also, i own a m15x/i7 720qm/ati 6970m/4gb ram

which of these is recommended:

1.Mushkin Chronos 120gb

2.Intel SSD 320 120gb

3.OCZ Agility 3 120gb

4.Crucial M4 128gb

I searched up and there's no recent thread just for ssd, thanks in advance

 

Good to see this guide is still being put to good use. It's best not to clone to a new storage device. Always always fresh install an OS imo.

I highly recommend the Crucial M4 or Intel for SSDs. Two of the best brands out there and well worth the money.

 

I use the samsung 470 and 500gb hitachi 7k500 and can't complain at all.

The sammy is the best for sata II. The M4 is a good second choice though.

Villosa I read about your personal problems a couple of months back. I hope things are better for you now!

 

I did this yesterday and I got the new hd drive to work just fine but now when I put my old dvd drive into a casing it won't work

The computer recognizes it as a DVD drive but it simply won't read anything

 

i think Most of SSD maker will give you a software to help u clone your system disk (well at least intel does)

about the choice, i believe OCZ or Crucial could do a good job for you, but for the same price, u can get bigger capacity from intel...

 

Hey all, I can't find a DVD enclosure for the life of me and the one mentioned a few pages back on NewEgg by Sabrent is out of stock. Any suggestions on a good (and cheap ) enclosure?

 

Here you go:
SATA 2nd HDD HD Hard Driver Caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD / DVD-ROM Optical Bay | eBay

 

Thanks for the quick reply, but I'm looking for an enclosure for the ODD drive I'm removing from the laptop, not a caddy for the HDD.

 

Oups, my apologies.
Here you go:
External USB enclosure caddy case for 9.5mm 12.7mm SATA Superdrive Optical Drive | eBay

 

Thanks! I'll be ordering one...Now!

 

Check my sig under 1tb as well.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS using Tapatalk 2

 

I'd been meaning to do this for a while now...Finally got it!!!!

 

Looking good, congrats!

 

I was now wondering, can I just move everything from the User folder to the 2nd drive or can I make changes in the registry to make the new drive my default location for My Documents, My Music, etc.
EDIT: Nvm, I figured it out. Right click, properties, Location, change!

 

Has anyone got benchmarks with atto or crystalmark using an ssd in second bay? I have a secondary ssd but i need to know if the speeds will reach sata2 speeds

 

I managed to put 2 SSDs in and they both give me ~250MB/s Read and 247MB/s Write

 

I'm pretty excited to do this to my M15x. SSD costs have been pretty bad, but I just snagged a 240gb SSD for $189.99, regular 259.99 so I'm pretty excited. Finally less than a dollar per gb. Taking the screen out and all the connectors has me a bit worried, but the service manual is pretty clear. Good YouTube videos too. Ah my M15x will be so rejuvenated for College, new SSD + 500gb secondary, 16gb ram upgrade, usb 3.0 ports. All I need now is an i7 940 and maybe a graphics update (although the 5850 still does the job for me). Hopefully the ebay caddy I ordered fits the bill.

 

I just did this last night, everything went well except my new second HDD isn't showing, guessing either the caddy I used isn't working or I didn't plug it back in right but I triple checked. So I'm guessing I'll have to do this all again? Is there an easy way to test it before putting everything back together?

 

If the HDD is new, it has to be formatted.
Right click Computer > Manage > Storage > Disk Management. Here you should have your new HDD listed, you should create a new volume (or partition it) and format it.

 

Be sure to assign drive letter.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

 

Yeah either the caddy isn't working, I didn't connect it right, or the HDD is DOA because I don't see anything under there. I guess I'll have to redo it.

 

Will a 9.5mm hdd fit in a 12.7mm caddy? thanks

 

Of course. Only bigger than 12.7mm will be a problem.