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Rip Those Macs Open
- Thread starter Kirkle
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Thanks it doesn't look too hairy but I'm always a bit concerned about some of the weirder screws as over the years I've had the occasional scare with stripping them, etc.
Another option is I simply leave the slower 128GB blade SSD in place and replace the pokey mechanical drive with the Samsung 840 then reinstall and let the OS build it back as a fusion drive.
I have the original kit from Apple for removal and re-install of the screen, so I don't imagine that will prove to be terribly difficult.
I don't think OS X will automatically try to rebuild the Fusion drive if you have 2 SSDs in there, only if one is a hard disk ... and why would you want it to do so?
You can use the 2 SS Drives separately as boot and data, or put Windows on the small one, or span (concatenate) them with Disk Utility if you want a single logical drive.
I'm pretty sure that you can join two SSDs into one fusion volume per R.OGs plans to do the same thing (bridge a 256GB blade SSD with a 2.5" SSD in an adaptver in the 3.5" drive bay). Fusion is just a software thing, I doubt the software cares what the device is physically as long as it's a hard drive of some kind (not an optical media, etc).
I don't want to deal with two volumes, ick.... another option is I could pull the blade SSD completely out and just run everything on a 512GB SSD, which has more than enough space for what I do.
There would be no advantage to creating a Fusion drive out of 2 SSDs.
The Fusion drive is a clever compromise solution to provide SSD speeds much of the time at a lower cost than a full-SSD solution. This involves moving blocks of file-data between the fast SSD and much slower HDD based on frequency of access.
If your system is totally SSD, albeit on 2 physical SSDs, it already has the maximum performance attainable with those drives, managed moving of data between the drives would only slow things down.
If you want a single logical drive that is the sum of the two SSDs, then simply use Disk Utility to span (concatenate, aka. JBOD) the drives (this is found under RAID options in Disk Utility: Mirrored, Striped, Concatenate).
Yes, I understand how fusion works, and am familiar with disk spanning. You are correct, spanning the disks would be the most efficient way of running them as a single volume.
Since the blade SSD is quite a bit slower than the Pro 840 it might be advantageous to simply remove it or disable it (not sure if that's possible or feasible), or, as you mention use it as a separate disk for just running a bootable Windows image.
Yeah ... if you have a need for a bootable Windows, that would be a great use for the original 128GB blade SSD.
From some of the linked articles around here, I read that the coreStorage functionality in OS X actually read the SMART status of the drives to determine which was the faster SSD, and which was the slower HD, in order to connect and manage them properly in the event the user reversed them on the fusion create command line. I don't know what it would do if both drives were interpreted to be similar SSD technology.
Yeah ... if you have a need for a bootable Windows, that would be a great use for the original 128GB blade SSD.
From some of the linked articles around here, I read that the coreStorage functionality in OS X actually read the SMART status of the drives to determine which was the faster SSD, and which was the slower HD, in order to connect and manage them properly in the event the user reversed them on the fusion create command line. I don't know what it would do if both drives were interpreted to be similar SSD technology.
Only one way to find out!
Dear jmpage2,
im interested in some parts for the 21.5 Modell. Is this possible? Send me a PN...
Regards.
Does anybody know if this drive can be put in to the iMac: 240GB Aura Pro 6G
This drive has 500 reads 500 writes, blows the stock blade ssd out of the water but it is designed for the mpbr will this fit? I am about to cancel my order and reorder without fusion drive.
This drive has 500 reads 500 writes, blows the stock blade ssd out of the water but it is designed for the mpbr will this fit? I am about to cancel my order and reorder without fusion drive.
Slower, yes but is the difference really noticeable? In benchmarks it looks quite fast.
It's a Samsung 830 isn't it?
More or less yes. I am still debating how much of a speed benefit I am going to get by replacing the Fusion setup with a dedicated SSD.
Most of my apps fit into the SSD (maybe with the exception of parallels VM image) and most of my larger files I work with are video files that I rip and re-compress, and it really won't matter if those are schlepping around on a physical 3.5" drive.
Jmpage, I must have missed R.OG say anything about plans to test an all SSD fusion, but this is something you really don't want to do long term. It'll do nothing but quickly waste the finite write cycles of both your SSDs. The speed difference between either drive isn't really noticeable in real world use.
One other thing worth noting. Apple has configured the Samsung SSD to sacrifice a larger percentage of capacity than the default arrangement. They do this to extend the amount if possible writes - and presumably the heavy workload of a fusion cache drive has a lot to do with this compromise. If you were to use your own SSD for the storage part of the fusion, your drive won't be optimised for the large amount if data management it will receive. HDDs can handle it but 3rd party SSDs are not configured for the job.
One other thing worth noting. Apple has configured the Samsung SSD to sacrifice a larger percentage of capacity than the default arrangement. They do this to extend the amount if possible writes - and presumably the heavy workload of a fusion cache drive has a lot to do with this compromise. If you were to use your own SSD for the storage part of the fusion, your drive won't be optimised for the large amount if data management it will receive. HDDs can handle it but 3rd party SSDs are not configured for the job.
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Thanks for the information pubjoe, I had not thought of the points you bring up around the SSD write/cache cycle in a Fusion type arrangement and things Apple have potentially done to optimize it.
I've decided to forego my drive replacement, at least for now. If anyone wants to buy the screen replacement kit I detailed earlier in photos, please PM me or respond to my thread in the buy/sell forum.
I've decided to forego my drive replacement, at least for now. If anyone wants to buy the screen replacement kit I detailed earlier in photos, please PM me or respond to my thread in the buy/sell forum.
It is part of the logic board so its not possible. The cpu however can be removed.
No such luck. The computer will not even turn on with the OWC Blade installed. I have ordered a Apple 256 GB to install instead.
Cheers,
CJ
Thanks for coming back with that, where are you getting the 256 ssd from now then? I was thinking if the rmbp's size ssd did fit in to the iMac slot correctly then it should be able to atleast boot in to the system using osx installed on the hdd. If the drive is then unsupported you will not be able to access the drive. I still think that if the drive fits in to the slot then you will be able to get the ssd to work as long as the firmware is supported.
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This is the only info I can find on this at the moment.
"There are traces showing on the logic board that line up with an SSD plucked from a retina 13-inch MacBook Pro"
This is confusing as they go on to talk about the mbpr in the right image when they are both images of imac boards. Even information in articles now is wrong and unreliable. I am sure doing this upgrade is not hard at all once you have all of the right part's, its just getting hold of them.
I really dont want to be paying apple prices when I can do it myself. Dam you apple for your limited upgrade selection and darn right experience upgrade prices at that for something which is really not a top peformance part.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/12/you-wont-be-adding-an-aftermarket-ssd-to-your-new-imac/
"There are traces showing on the logic board that line up with an SSD plucked from a retina 13-inch MacBook Pro"
This is confusing as they go on to talk about the mbpr in the right image when they are both images of imac boards. Even information in articles now is wrong and unreliable. I am sure doing this upgrade is not hard at all once you have all of the right part's, its just getting hold of them.
I really dont want to be paying apple prices when I can do it myself. Dam you apple for your limited upgrade selection and darn right experience upgrade prices at that for something which is really not a top peformance part.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/12/you-wont-be-adding-an-aftermarket-ssd-to-your-new-imac/
Damn ! I already ordered a OWC Aura Pro 480GB 6G, i hope this works or i will have to order an apple ssd too. It should work since its for retina mbp. Im crossing my fingers i will receive it tomorrow.
That's what I thought. I tried installing it twice thinking it might be something I did in the reassembly. Each time I had it back together it would not start with the OWC blade installed but starts just fine with it removed.
I am interested to see if you get the same result.
Cheers,
CJ