MacBook: SSD instead of DVD drive - you have to consider that
You can retrofit a MacBook with an internal DVD drive with an SSD. This significantly improves the performance of your MacBook and you do not have to do without the large storage space of your internal hard drive.
Replacing a DVD drive with an SSD: You have to be aware of this
The most elegant solution for this conversion is an adapter kit, such as that offered by Hardwrk. The SATA3 adapter kit, which you can order for 79.90 euros, not only contains the necessary installation material and the tool for the conversion, but also an external USB housing in which you can remove the removed DVD drive after the conversion There are a few points to keep in mind for your conversion to be successful.
- First check here whether your model is compatible with the adapter kit.
- Back up your data before the conversion. It is best to do a complete backup with Time Machine on an external hard drive.
- Make sure you have a Mac OS installation DVD. You have to reinstall the operating system on the SSD. Read here how this can be done easily.
- If you have a bootable USB stick with Mac OS 10.9, you can of course also use it to load the latest version.
- After successful installation, connect your backup medium again and play your data, programs and settings back on your new installation. If you want to bring your users back, please do so first without the subdirectories of the home folder. You should store this on the normal hard drive and not on the SSD.
SSD card instead of DVD drive: How to create more storage space
To move the user folders to the hard disk, a few small intermediate steps are necessary.
- If you have not yet deleted the hard disk, you can adjust the path for the respective user in the user administration of the system settings. Right-click on the user and select the "Advanced Options".
- Use the "Select ..." button to conveniently select your user folder on the hard drive.
- You then have to adjust the access rights. The best way to do this is with a command in the terminal. Enter: "sudo chown –R Guest / Volumes / HDD / Users / Guest". Of course, you have to adapt the respective user name and the path to the folder to your system.
- Finally, rename the user folder on the SSD and set a symlink to the correct user folder for security. The commands for this are: "mv / Volumes / SSD / Users / Guest / Volumes / SSD / Users / Guest_backup" "ln –s / Volumes / HDD / Users / Guest / Volumes / SSD / Users / Guest" You can adjust the path and Username again, of course.
In a CHIP video you can see how the conversion to SSD works.