2011 27" iMac Thunderbolt & SSD

Av8

Av8

Av8

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Hi all,

Thinking of buying a 120GB SSD and using my Thunderbolt dock to use and boot iMac from rather than the installed 1TB drive, just seems to be getting slower and slower to boot up.
Anyone got tips on this setup? Please.

Thanks.

Av8 :)
 
Personally I wouldn't rely on a thunderbolt connected drive to boot from. Something about the OS being located externally feels wrong. Also if you ever need to disconnect the dock / have power issues with that your operating system would go down the pan, and whilst it should boot ok there is always the chance you would lose something.

I would look into getting an SSD installed internally. Definitely worth it over the solution you are considering.
 
OP: been doing this since the Seagate Thunderbolt sleds were available.... absolutely no problems at all (for me) and works a charm.

Only fly in the ointment is having to flick Trim Enabler every time there's an OS patch, but other than that it's fine.

If you're using the Seagate 2.5 sled, then it'll take up to a 250GB SSD before you start to get power issues I believe (I'm running a 128GB M4), but I think with the 3.5" dock you're safe running larger capacity drives without any issues that I'm aware of.

Plenty of threads over on Macrumors forums about doing this and it's a no-brainer really if - like me - your iMac has Applecare and you don't fancy opening it.... plenty of horror stories in the same threads, where people have have sausage-fingered mishaps and trashed their expensive iMacs.

In terms of operation, I personally did a backup of whatever I had on the internal drive, flattened that from Disk Utility on startup, then prepped the SSD and installed to that. The OS doesn't care one bit that it's running externally (TB connected drives are seen as internal and can support TRIM where applicable), whereas USB3 drives on the newer Macs - whilst they'll support external boot - won't support TRIM at all.

As dav3evans points out, there are possible issues, but my experience and that of the geeks over at Macrumors shows it's an easy solution that's not no heart wrenching chance of trashing your hardware!

EDIT: the SSD, when run externally off the TB sled, benches pretty much near to normal for the Crucial M4 128GB.

TL;DR - iMac > TB cable > TB dock > SSD > flatten HD > prep SSD > install to SSD > laugh all the way to decent performance again
 
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Dismantling the iMac isn't actually that difficult, just more daunting than anything.

I've done it twice to fit my SSD and the first time took me an hour, the 2nd time I had it in bits in 15 minutes :D

It's honestly not that bad, just take your time and be patient :)
 
Two years left on AppleCare and my sausage fingers are the main reasons for me.... Got plenty of patience, which I got as a free add-on as part of my marriage! Might have a crack if I've still got the beast come AppleCare expiry.
 
Similar position, still under AppleCare so it is that what was swaying me not to bother. Saying that I suppose I could in theory install said ssd internally, and if the proverbial hits the fan while still under warranty I could swap it for the original drive or would they know?

Phate, sounds like you've had fun that's going off the fact that you've done so twice :D
 
undergroove said:
Two years left on AppleCare and my sausage fingers are the main reasons for me.... Got plenty of patience, which I got as a free add-on as part of my marriage! Might have a crack if I've still got the beast come AppleCare expiry.
Click to expand...

I think I had mine a week before I cracked it open :p

Av8 said:
Similar position, still under AppleCare so it is that what was swaying me not to bother. Saying that I suppose I could in theory install said ssd internally, and if the proverbial hits the fan while still under warranty I could swap it for the original drive or would they know?

Phate, sounds like you've had fun that's going off the fact that you've done so twice :D
Click to expand...

Well the original drive I kept, so I have a 240gb SSD and the original 1TB. If you change the 1TB drive it upsets a temp sensor somewhere in the machine and the fans run at full speed, you then have to make a motherboard mod to fix it...sod that :p

I did it twice because the cable I ordered to connect the SSD was the incorrect one, I didn't check this until my bedroom was littered with iMac components :p So I put it back together, ordered the correct cable, then dismantled it again and finished off fitting the drive :)

Av8 said:
What size SSD drive you use? 3.5 or manage a 2.5 ?
Click to expand...

OCZ Agility 3 2.5" SSD. 240gb :)

Boot time from power on is roughly 6-7 seconds :)
 
Phate said:
If you change the 1TB drive it upsets a temp sensor somewhere in the machine and the fans run at full speed, you then have to make a motherboard mod to fix it...sod that :p
Click to expand...

Yep, custom firmware I think.... hooky cable to sort the problem, but makes then upsets the fan monitoring possibly.

All this talk and my mails to Av8 have got me thinking now.... argh! Haven't just mailed iFixit to ask about availability of the kit.
 
undergroove said:
Yep, custom firmware I think.... hooky cable to sort the problem, but makes then upsets the fan monitoring possibly.

All this talk and my mails to Av8 have got me thinking now.... argh! Haven't just mailed iFixit to ask about availability of the kit.
Click to expand...

You don't need any 'kit'

I secured my SSD with double sided heat proof tape :)
 
Phate said:
I think I had mine a week before I cracked it open :p


I did it twice because the cable I ordered to connect the SSD was the incorrect one, I didn't check this until my bedroom was littered with iMac components :p So I put it back together, ordered the correct cable, then dismantled it again and finished off fitting the drive :)



OCZ Agility 3 2.5" SSD. 240gb :)

Boot time from power on is roughly 6-7 seconds :)
Click to expand...

So the internal cable to connect the original HDD isn't long enough to connect the SSD if mounted internally, unless you remove the original 1TB drive?
Impressive boot time :D
 
Av8 said:
So the internal cable to connect the original HDD isn't long enough to connect the SSD if mounted internally, unless you remove the original 1TB drive?
Impressive boot time :D
Click to expand...

There is a 2nd Sata port to connect the SSD to, however the power and data are combined into a smaller than standard connection, so you have to get a cable to convert it from their connection to standard to connect a drive to it, basically. :)

I have both my internal 1TB drive and SSD drive internally :)
 
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Phate said:
There is a 2nd Sata port to connect the SSD to, however the power and data are combined into a smaller than standard connection, so you have to get a cable to convert it from their connection to standard to connect a drive to it, basically. :)

I have both my internal 1TB drive and SSD drive internally :)
Click to expand...

Hi, What's the name of the cable required?
 
Mine was a different make but more or less the same construction yep. :)

Plus I had to get mine from 'Murica, that's in the UK so no agonising 2 week wait!
 
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