Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cheapest way to connect an internal SSD to a Mac Studio

D

danqi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2010
233
19
I have an external Sabrent 4-bay enclosure with 2 HDDs and 2 SSDs in it.

One of those SSDs is causing weird behavior (like extremely long mount times, unwillingness to dismount) and kernel panics that crash my whole computer (happened multiple times now). The other drives seem to work fine.

The good news is that I really just need to copy the data from the problematic SSD. But I’m afraid to try with the way it is acting. The data and its integrity is super important to me.

So my thinking is: instead of spending a lot of time trying to fix this problem I’ll just get some super cheap interface (maybe just a cable without enclosure?) and use that to copy the data, hoping that the problems don’t occur when using that. The SSD used to work fine in my old Mac Pro.

Does this make sense? Can anyone recommend anything?
 
Take the SSD OUT OF the 4-bay enclosure.

Get a cheap USB3 enclosure like this one:
www.amazon.com

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
www.amazon.com

Put the SSD into it.

Connect it to the Mac and see if it can be read.

If it still can't be read, you may be out of luck.

In my experience, when an SSD fails, that's pretty much it.
Whatever was on it is then... gone.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Like
Reactions: Basic75
Fishrrman said:
Take the SSD OUT OF the 4-bay enclosure.

Get a cheap USB3 enclosure like this one:
www.amazon.com

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
www.amazon.com

Put the SSD into it.

Connect it to the Mac and see if it can be read.

If it still can't be read, you may be out of luck.

In my experience, when an SSD fails, that's pretty much it.
Whatever was on it is then... gone.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

It really doesn't "feel" like the SSD is gone. When it works, everything seems to be there. It just seems to have mounting errors so severe that they cause Kernel panics...

I had no idea that there are enclosures that are this cheap. That's why I mentioned cables. Since an SSD doesn't really need an enclosure I thought that that would be the cheapest option.

I will check out some enclosures. Are there any others you can recommend? Since my current 4-bay enclosure is from Sabrent I would prefer a different brand for this...
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
danqi said:
Thanks!

It really doesn't "feel" like the SSD is gone. When it works, everything seems to be there. It just seems to have mounting errors so severe that they cause Kernel panics...

I had no idea that there are enclosures that are this cheap. That's why I mentioned cables. Since an SSD doesn't really need an enclosure I thought that that would be the cheapest option.

I will check out some enclosures. Are there any others you can recommend? Since my current 4-bay enclosure is from Sabrent I would prefer a different brand for this...
Click to expand...

Amazon.com: ORICO USB 2.5 Enclosure SATA

Amazon.com: ORICO USB 2.5 Enclosure SATA
www.amazon.com
Orico enclosures are cheap but work well, usually include a good cable or two.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Like
Reactions: danqi
danqi said:
Thanks, I'll check those out!
Click to expand...
Look carefully at the cables included with any case before you buy it. The USB-B (USB 3.0 gen 1) cables have a thin flat connecter on one end and almost always a USB-A connecter on the other end (like the case Fisherrman provided a link to). Those will work well if you have - for example - an iMac with USB-A ports.
I have a M2 MBA 2023 that only has USB-C ports so I got an Orico enclosure that came with 2 cables, both with USB-C connecters on one end and with USB-C and USB-A connecters, respectively, on the other end. So that enables using the case with my MBA and my iMac 15,1 (2014 with USB-A ports.
You didn't say what Mac you will be connecting that case to, or what ports are available.
 
  • Like
Reactions: danqi
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
davidlv said:
Look carefully at the cables included with any case before you buy it. The USB-B (USB 3.0 gen 1) cables have a thin flat connecter on one end and almost always a USB-A connecter on the other end (like the case Fisherrman provided a link to). Those will work well if you have - for example - an iMac with USB-A ports.
I have a M2 MBA 2023 that only has USB-C ports so I got an Orico enclosure that came with 2 cables, both with USB-C connecters on one end and with USB-C and USB-A connecters, respectively, on the other end. So that enables using the case with my MBA and my iMac 15,1 (2014 with USB-A ports.
You didn't say what Mac you will be connecting that case to, or what ports are available.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I'll be connecting it to an M1 MacStudio, so definitely USB-C.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
danqi said:
Do you feel like you are missing out compared to a proper enclosure?
Click to expand...
I've had worse luck with the enclosures. These are out of sight so that's not a factor. No heat buildup that you'd get in an enclosure. They're exposed but there's not much connector showing. It's all temporary anyway with everything moving to faster SSD versions…though I'm in no hurry to spend money on that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: danqi
OP wrote:
"It really doesn't "feel" like the SSD is gone. When it works, everything seems to be there. It just seems to have mounting errors so severe that they cause Kernel panics..."

Get another drive and get your stuff OFF OF the flaky drive as soon as you can!

Once that's done, erase the old drive.
Then, run disk utility's "first aid" on it.
Does it give you "a good report"?
If so, repeat this process five more times.
A good report each time?
If so, then use the drive -- but keep an eye on it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: danqi
Fishrrman said:
OP wrote:
"It really doesn't "feel" like the SSD is gone. When it works, everything seems to be there. It just seems to have mounting errors so severe that they cause Kernel panics..."

Get another drive and get your stuff OFF OF the flaky drive as soon as you can!

Once that's done, erase the old drive.
Then, run disk utility's "first aid" on it.
Does it give you "a good report"?
If so, repeat this process five more times.
A good report each time?
If so, then use the drive -- but keep an eye on it.
Click to expand...
Will do!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back