DIY: Adding SSD or HDD storage using an optical bay caddy

Thank you nando4 for all the fish.



How to install a secondary hard drive in the optical drive bay of a VAIO_VPCF Series

*****

 

I am kind of confused on how the drives would work together...

My idea is for my notebook is the following:

80GB SSD holding Windows 7, apps, and important programs
- app like itunes

500GB 5400rpm HD in caddy
- holds media/music/downloads/pdfs/etc...

How do the drives run together?

Example:

I open Itunes on my SSD and the music is stored on the HDD. Does this work correctly and how does itunes run? Is is bottlenecked by the HDD speed? (Not that using music or media will affect speed) But how will itunes run I guess.

Also, can you actually install a game on the HDD and then play if off that harddrive and not the SSD even though the HDD has no OS itself?

As for the reliablility and lifespan of SSD's, I've read that as writing on them increases they do go slower, but with TRIM installed on windows 7 they are renewed almost to new-like speeds. If anyone can let me know on that for notebook as well...

And how reliable is the HDD in the caddy of the Optical Drive? How sturdy is it in terms of moving it around without risking the reliablity of the hard drive. Is it comparable to the HDD being fasted within the notebook HDD chamber itself?

Summary:

Is it feasible for me to have:

SSD + WIN7 OS + APPS (ITunes and media players)
HDD + 100GB of music/movies + Backups of Files


Thanks for the help in advance, just a couple questions i would like answered before I invest in this.

 

I open Itunes on my SSD and the music is stored on the HDD. Does this work correctly and how does itunes run? Is is bottlenecked by the HDD speed? (Not that using music or media will affect speed) But how will itunes run I guess.

Only the load times of the programmes/data should differ as once opened it is stored in RAM.

Also, can you actually install a game on the HDD and then play if off that harddrive and not the SSD even though the HDD has no OS itself?

Yes you can install games/programms etc onto the hdd without an OS

As for the reliablility and lifespan of SSD's, I've read that as writing on them increases they do go slower, but with TRIM installed on windows 7 they are renewed almost to new-like speeds. If anyone can let me know on that for notebook as well...

If the ssd supports trim then it works the same way

And how reliable is the HDD in the caddy of the Optical Drive? How sturdy is it in terms of moving it around without risking the reliablity of the hard drive. Is it comparable to the HDD being fasted within the notebook HDD chamber itself?

If you use the correct size caddy and fit seccurely with all screws etc then its as stable and reliable as can be.

Summary:

Is it feasible for me to have:

SSD + WIN7 OS + APPS (ITunes and media players)
HDD + 100GB of music/movies + Backups of Files

Great way to do it


Thanks for the help in advance, just a couple questions i would like answered before I invest in this.[

 

Hey guys, first post here, I got referred from a web deals site.

I would be interested in doing this to my DELL Vostro 1320, but...

I see none for sale on ebay, and one place on the net sells it but for $44US plus shipping. Um, no thanks.

Also, has anybody done this to their 1320? If so i'd like to hear from you.

I scanned through the pages on this thread, and it seems that the throughput is low, like 30MBPS, but editing some code fixes this but then resets back to default upon reboot or restart? Whats the good of that.

After the modifying of the code, what transfer rates do you get then from the DVD caddy?

is the face plate transferrable to the caddy? and does it sit flush or is it bulged out a bit from the side of the laptop?

Thanks in advance. Great site BTW.

 

I just wanted to post the details of what I've done with my new Dell M4500. I added an SSD as a secondary drive (for running a couple of databases that I wanted to be as fast as possible). Since this is for work, I opted to get the drives from newmodeus.com. I have been quite happy with it so far (though I only got it installed this weekend).

I installed an Intel M-25 G2. I checked and my BIOS seemed to already be set to support SSD drives-- so I didn't have to do anything other than pop the drive into the media bay, boot things up, and go into disk management to partition and format the drive.

My results have been:

Using ATTO benchmark, I am seeing read performance of up to 257MB/sec, and write performance of 111MB/sec.
Using HD Tune, it is reporting 3500-3800 reads/sec for small reads (512 B or 4K), and 236 reads/sec on 1MB reads-- with an average seek time of 0.3 ms.

From my experience, things aren't limited to only 30MB/s through the media bay.

 

Same here. Benchmark from the how-to link I posted above, Vaio_F11 & 5400 rpm HDD:



The EXACT SAME HDD but in it's original WD Passport external enclosure & connected via USB in the EXACT SAME laptop, much slower:

 

That is pretty much what I would expect. USB does limit the throughput of the drive. The theoretical maximum throughput on USB2 is 480Mb/s (60MB/s), but even under ideal situations 30MB/s is my rule of thumb for the best I can expect. I'm not at all surprised to see the 27.5 MB/s that you're getting through the USB connection.

 

Thanks for this guide nando4! Working a lot with large audio recordings I am always in need of extra storage space.

I would like to point out that the ODD bay caddy also helps lowering HD temperatures; currently there is a 6 degrees difference between two of the same drives in my lappy (29 vs 35 degrees).

 

Hey would the SATA 2nd Hard Disk Drive HDD caddy adapter 12.7mm from ebay SATA 2nd Hard Disk Drive HDD caddy adapter 12.7mm new - eBay (item 180516605450 end time Jul-04-10 23:31:22 PDT) fit in the W860CU ?
thank you for your help

 

Hard to say for me since I do not have one.

My advice is to look up the model number of the current optical drive in system properties or by removing it from the system.
If you do the last thing, simply measure the height (12.7 or 9.5 mm) and the connector (SATA or ATAPI/IDE).

With this information go to the First post in this thread and find what you need.
Good luck.

 

Is there a distributor for Newmodeus caddys in Europe? Or a shop that sells similar ones, especially where the original faceplate of the notebook can be used?
Would be easier in terms of customs handling and paying.

 

Not that I am aware of. Recent redesigned ebay items lack a faceplate, instead have mount holes. Appears they are designed for faceplate transplant.

Edit: *some* ebay Fenvi branded 12.7mm caddies have swappable faceplates. Newmodeus also only doing swappable faceplates on 12.7mm caddies. 9.5mm caddies unfortunately without such an option.

 

Like nando4 says, check the Fenvi here, the OEM VAIO_bezel fits perfectly on it: secondary hard drive in the optical drive bay of a VAIO_VPCF Series

 

Newmodeus ship worldwide, I got acaddy sent to me in NewZealand, shipping wasn't expensive either

 

That is a very good development!
Will get me one of those asap to replace the generic I have now.

Thanks for the tip.

Edit: all the Fenvi-branded caddies have a replaceable faceplate? I remember the name without that feature...

 

Errr... NO. Read & follow link above.

But their caddy are twice as expensive and are flimsy.

 

Thanks for all the answers. I'd like to replace the ODD in a Asus N61VN (12.7mm high) and keep the original faceplate.
Using for example the Ebay item 250615687388 would do the trick?
Are the mounting parts (position of clips) of the plates standardised?
Till now just saw those standard faceplates like in 180523413131 - need glasses

edit: put in links to ebay items
@Joe Bleau: didn't want to offend someone by linking to specific ebay sellers.

 

Why not post links instead of asking us to redo the search you already did?

 

Edited my previsous post accordingly.

 

Thanks, checked multiple listing and find the fenvi one are indeed different from the others.

Ordered one for my Vaio FW. The current one is mostly plastic and already breaking. Like the aluminium in the fenvi

 

Well this will render my HDD caddy for the ODD bay + external enclosure for the optical drive obsolete: Hitachi-LG goes official with HyDrive: SSD-equipped optical drives. Up to 64 GB + BD ROM & DVD burner!

Video showing faster booting time with the HyDrive on Youtube.

Thanks to nikeseven for the pointer in an other thread.

 

Got myself the Fenvi caddy for my Vaio FW51 (aka FW590).

Looks much better now, just like OEM - the faceplace fits perfectly!
Thanks again for the info on this one!

 

You are welcome.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Can someone help me figure out how to remove the ODD from this laptop?

The red rectangle indicates the ODD position.

Usually there is a single screw holding the ODD in place... but I can't seem to find it here. Any ideas?



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And is this the Fenvi caddy everyone is talking about?

http://cgi.ebay.com/9-5mm-Serial-AT...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item3a5b1414b0

 

There's two screws in my FW.
Might be just one for you. The one just right of the rectangle at the top might be it.

And no, that's not the one you need (it's 9.5 mm high, not 12.7).
This is the one 12.7mm SATA TO SATA items - Get great deals on Computers Networking items on eBay.com!
Check for the fenvi brand too in the picture.

 

Received and installed this item in a Asus N61VN using the OEM faceplate. Needed to pull off the sticker from the caddy, after that the caddy slides in. (There is a cable tie extended into the space where the caddy goes.)

It seems to me they are not 100%:
The Fenvi comes with a premounted faceplate. Pulled it off and mounted the Asus OEM faceplate instedt. The OEM fits but is very tight. Guess I won't get them apart without breaking some plastic anymore.
Then I tried to install the fenvi faceplate the the odd for using it in an external enclosure. But the plastic hooks are to short for mounting on the odd. But with some more diy it fits now . The Fenvi faceplate lacks an eject button, but that can be done via software, so no problem here.

Thanks for all the information prodived here.

 

my laptop has a super slim optical bay... are you positive it's 12.7mm?

what kind of laptops have the 9.5mm?

 

Aawww
My mistake.

I supposed you had a Vaio F by the title of your post.
Easiest way to find out is take it out and measure it I guess.

Do not forget to check the connection too!!! ATAPI or SATA. You did not mention this, so best to make sure it's SATA before you order.

 

I read this entire thread and I believe this question hasn't been answered.

Can we make the SSD in caddy drive, the main boot drive?

I would like to keep the HDD in its original spot because I figure the heat would dissipate better.

 

For a Asus N61VN this works for me.

 

can you elaborate on what you did to make this happen?

im guessing you had to change some priorities in the bios?

 

I installed a ssd using the caddy i posted in this thread to the odd bay while leaving the hdd in its place. Then i switched the hdd priority in the bios.
The N61 uses two menus here: first the boot device priority where you can select different typs of devices, eg hdd, odd, usb. Second is the hdd menu where the hdd sequence can be choosen. With only the hdd installed, this menu shows one entry only, after installing the sdd, both drives show up and the order can be altered.
Other bios types handle it all in one menu.

 

Change the boot order in the bios, quite easily done.
Even on usually very limited laptop-bios's I have always found at least this option.

 

Thanks very much guys.

Do you think leaving the HDD in its original place and putting the SSD into the ODD caddy is a good idea?

My reasoning is, there are already existing vents for the HDD to "breathe"... if I were to put the HDD into the ODD caddy, I imagine heat dissipation won't be optimal.

Since SSDs give off much less heat, I figure it's best to put the SSD into the ODD caddy.

Thoughts?

 

Another thing to consider is your ODD interface. Some notebook models have a slower ODD interface (PATA or SATA 1.5 Gb/s), and if yours does, then your SSD will be much slower in the ODD slot than it would be in the HDD bay.

 

@Nando4

I am looking at a 2nd/hand Vaio TZ (cos they are such a great little machine) for about AUD $400. Is it reasonable and possible to swap the standard 4200 -100Gb HDD with a small SSD and then use a DVD drive caddy to house a 2nd SATA HDD?

In addition do you think this is a good price/performance equation, as I want a thin and light machine with more revs than a netbook. Do you know of any issues I should consider here? Thanks in advance.

Btw I already have loads of 1.8/2.5 HDD's so no cost there. I also have a 32Gb Kingspec 1.8 PATA SSD which I could possibly use as the primary drive.

 

The idea is sound, however swapping the optical drive for a caddy in a sony might be problematic for two reasons. 1. Sony might use a proprietory optical drive with non-standard connectors so a caddy might not be available 2. if it's not a proprietory optical drive it would likely be a pata interface (ICH7M) which has occasionally presented performance problems. See Quirks section in the first post to get an idea of issues that occur with pata optical interfaces.

If the above two check out, then by all means it's a great setup. Same as I have on my 2510P (1.8" ZIF SSD + 2.5" SATA HDD via sata-to-pata optical bay caddy).

As for value-for-money, if you can afford it, a US$800 13.3 Toshiba R705 offers a 1.3kg 13.3" with 9.5mm optical drive for a great price. Similar configured system starts at > $2k in Australia. Only issue would be getting AUS warranty.

 

oh wow great point... so im basically hoping my ODD has SATA II 3.0gb/s? how can i check what kind of interface speed it has?

 

Usually by looking for the data sheets for your particular model. If you have trouble doing that, you can usually also ask us (making sure to let us know which model) and someone here will often be able to find out for you.

 

I'm using an Acer aspire 5935g with a Samsung SN-T083C.

The back of the drive is around 1.2Cm tall so I guess I need the larger caddy to pull this off?

 

Yes you do.
The samsung is Sata apparently.

Easy choice from the 4 options
Good luck.

 

Yeah lol. 12.7mm sata to sata caddy.

Even Intel's software sees the port as a standard port.

What's stange is it detects 4 ports :/

I have 1 primary, 1 optical and 1 eSata. Must have an unconnected (even to the PCB) internal port.

 

Since i'm going dual hard drive, do you guys know if I still have to make backup DVDs for the drivers?

Or can I just have my computer search the original HDD for the drivers?

Anyone know how that works?

To be more specific...

I remove the original HDD w/ factory install and drivers... put that into the ODD bay.

Then I place an SSD in, and start a clean install. When I get to the part where I have to install all the drivers.. can I have the computer search in the ODD-HDD?

(I ask because I don't have any blank DVDs around...)

 

Most effective would be to download the drivers for your model from the manufacturer.

Your method might find a lot of them, but possibly not the latest (maybe the latest, seeing how lame OEMs are about driver updates).
Might just be fine, just make sure you do have the network-card driver to get everything even it this completely fails

 

Some people said that the 12.7" "Fenvi" optical bay caddy allows for switching to the OEM faceplate. Does the 9.5" Fenvi allow you to switch the faceplates also? Has anyone done this himself/herself? I have a Sony SR that I would like to use this in.

 

The previous 9.5mm plastic/metal version did not allow faceplate swapover. The new fenvi ones we are not sure of. Can see pics of both here. Someone would need to buy the new 9.5mm Fenvi caddy and see how it's faceplate is attached.

I'd be inclined to say the answer is "probably not" since newmodeus also only have 12.7mm optical caddies with swappable faceplates (see their universal bracket units here). I believe they would have created and advertised their 9.5mm product with this feature if it was possible.

 

I wonder why newmodeus doesn't make a universal bracket unit that is 9.5". If anyone owns or is going to buy the new 9.5" fenvi caddy, could you please tell us if it has a swappable faceplate.

 

very useful, i will try to do that later

 

is anyone selling the new fenvi 9.5mm?

how can we tell its the new one?

 

The 9.5 mm high SATA-SATA unit is in this fleabay offering.
2nd HDD caddy Apple OptiBay SuperDrive Replacement SATA - eBay (item 180530418291 end time Aug-06-10 20:00:27 PDT)

In the 3rd picture no faceplate is visible.
I assume it was not forcebly removed, makes me 90% sure that it is indeed detachable like on the 12.7 mm model.

< Too bad, the Fenvi site itself it hopelessly outdated - no info there http://www.fenvi.com/en/products/?type_one_id=12&type_two_id=33