Remove optical drive?

Hi,
I have an older MacBook Pro 15" (2.16 GHz) whose optical drive is no longer recognized. I have purchased an external drive as replacement. My question is whether removing the optical drive will make my MacBook clumsy because of weight distribution. I'd like to lighten the load, but not if my laptop becomes much more likely to be dropped.
Has anyone tried this?
Thanks!

Yeah, i just started having this problem recently. My computer would not read any media of any kind, had a hard time reading DVDs, would only read about 2 out of 10 CDS i put in the computer. After looking around on the forum for a while, cleaning it with air, preforming a safe boot, cleaning the directory, making sure i could do everything i could do, I finally decided to get a new drive. I took it to an authorized mac retailer/repair center today, should have it back in a day or two. sigh. Luckily, I bought the applecare package.

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MBP - Remove optical drive to save weight?

Hi,
Is removing my MBP optical drive save a lot of weight?
Thanks
Bertil

... because the Optical Drive is very light indeed.

Removing optical drive from PPC G4

I have a superdrive from my G5 that I want to put into my G4. Can someone point toward a tutorial on how to remove the G$ optical drive? I cannot figure out the mounting. It apears to be in some sort of carrier with the zip drive that must be removed befoe the drive can be removed.

ilovetrainskc,
Sorry, I misinterpreted the G$ in your original post (Can someone point toward a tutorial on how to remove the G$ optical drive?)as G5. Therefore, I assumed you were having difficulty removing the optical drive from the G5.
Had I know that your problem was part removal from an AGP Graphics G4; I would have provided you the following Apple DIY link:
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75312>
It relates to Gigabit Ethernet G4s, but the AGP Graphics G4s are almost identical (many Apple Support documents cite use for PowerMac G4 (AGP Graphics/Gigabit Ethernet). I've never been able to find Apple DIY documents or CIP documents strictly for the AGP Graphics G4, but these worked quite well for me when upgrading my friend's 350 MHz AGP Graphics G4 (aka., Sawtooth) last year.
Carl B.
Power Mac MDD G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Dual 1.25 GHz 2MB-L3, 2 GB RAM, Verax fans, ATI 9600, DVR-111D, SyncMaster 215TW

Stripped screw to remove optical drive

Hi everybody,
I'm trying to remove the optical drive in my Macbook pro 2011.
I want to add a second drive.
Problem is, one of the screws to remove in order to do it, is Stripped..
My computer is still under applecare.. Would Apple accept to help me out with this ?

yanco wrote:
Would Apple accept to help me out with this ?
Nope, but you might find a sympathetic Genius that has a trick to get it out.
If AppleCare finds out you tampered with the optical drive, it's voided you know.
Or you can visit the hardware store(s) and find a stripped screw remover tools.
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/02/the-12-best-ways-to-remove-strip ped-screws/

V240 - removed optical drive, now having constant HBA (ata controller)reset

Hi there,
I have 2 Fire v240's - and only one working DVD optical drive which I move between them.. Running Solaris 05/09, whichever machine doesnt have the optical drive physically installed, goes through a continuous routine of resetting hba and trying to re-sync with it..
--start messages snippet
Feb 10 12:40:07 hosta uata: [ID 464412 kern.warning] WARNING: timeout: reset target chno = 0 targ = 0
Feb 10 12:40:12 hosta uata: [ID 606412 kern.warning] WARNING: timeout: reset bus chno = 0 targ = 0
Feb 10 12:40:32 hosta uata: [ID 252109 kern.warning] WARNING: ata_controller - Set features failed
Feb 10 12:40:32 hosta uata: [ID 859416 kern.info] ghd_timer_newstate: HBA reset failed hba 0x60011149800 gcmdp 0x60016280c40 gtgtp 0x60011072b40
---end messages snippet (repeated approx every 2 minutes)
There is surely a way for me to disable the controller or advise Solaris to stop trying to talk to the missing hardware (DVD drive)?
Many thanks!
Hugo

Humm, can you see the DVD somehow in cfgadm -l or cfgadm -lv? If so you should be able to unconfigure or disconnect it from the OS :-)
.7/M.

I removed my optical drive because i added an ssd hard drive. when i plug in the dvd to usb it will not play from the macbooks dvd program. the error message is there was an initialization error, a valid drive could not be found.

I can go into disk utility and see the optical drive and mount what ever cd is in the drive and quicktime will play it. but i would like to have the dvd program recognize the optical drive and open what ever is in it.

Freakin amazing! I installed a new 1TB Samsung SSD in my main hard drive slot and moved my old hard drive into my DVD slot and moved my DVD to an external DVD case and it would never work with movies, only software disks. I have Late 2011 Macbook Pro running Mavericks with 1TB Samsung SSD and a 512GB HDD in the DVD slot with my DVD in an OWC external DVD case.
I tried this trick but at first, this did not work because OxED was saving the new file as a text file and not a unix file. I was perplexed until I read the comments below the article and found the tip to use Terminal to change the saved file to a Unix file. I have never used Terminal before and I had no clue what I was doing, but I just followed the steps to a T and it worked. It took two tries with Terminal.
The comment mentioned "Code:" so I typed that along with the rest and it didn't work. I tried it again and this time just typed
chmod +x (with a space after the x) then dragged and dropped the saved dvd file from my Desktop into Terminal and hit enter. Worked great. Thank you. I have my DVD player back.
I also had to play around with some permissions and I had to remove the original file completely from the "A" folder, before I dropped the new file back in.
Took a little work, but I am back up and running. Thanks to all who contributed to this and yet OWC definitely needs to have all this in their manual or even provide a disk or software download that does this automatically.
Here is the trick: http://macenstein.com/default/2011/07/how-to-get-your-external-super-drive-worki ng-in-lion/
Be sure that the new file saves as a Unix file. If it doesnt save as Unix, you will need to:
Open Terminal.
Type: chmod +x
…with a space at the end (and do NOT press enter yet).
Then, drag the saved file you want to change from whereever it is saved and drop it on top of the Terminal window. The file path and filename should automatically fill in (and you should ensure that there’s a space between “+x” and the file path).
Press enter.

MacBook Pro: BC/XP works fine until I remove my optical drive

I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro, and have replaced the internal drive with an OCZ Vertex 3. The good news is, after I made an impromptu RF shield around the cable and the drive itself out of aluminum foil, it works flawlessly at the full 3 gbps. And, after I spent literally 20 hours trying to figure out how to get it restored, I have finally restored my boot camp (XP SP3) partition to the Vertex 3 and it works flawlessly also. **** fast, too.
Everything's great, then, right? Well... not quite. I still would like to take my optical drive out of the computer and put my original hard drive in. However, as soon as I take my optical drive out (leaving the hard drive out of the equation entirely for now), XP stops booting, and just shows a black screen. I assume this is because device order is somehow screwed up; however, the boot.ini file says that I should be booting off of device 0, and I can't imagine the internal hard drive being anything other than device 0.
Please help. I feel like I'm so **** close to making this work.
(Oh, by the way: I suspect, from certain experiments that I did during those long 20 hours, that this same thing would happen if I installed this on the internal hard drive, too. So I don't think this is Vertex- or SSD-specific... just something that happens if you remove the optical drive from a XP Boot Camp installation on a MacBook Pro.)

You need to provide more info please. What's the exact error? What email client? Who's the email account through? When the last time your email worked without issue? Do you remember something changing right before it stopped working?

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 SSD Dual Drive Installation , i need to install ssd or hdd without removing my optical drive?

salam 3lykum,
my MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 need to install SSD Dual Drive in the enclosure in the laptop, but without removing my optical drive? can one help me. and without cable sata to usb to use it external.

I only know of one 2 terabyte drive that will fit in a notebook - and it comes in an enclosure that you must disassemble to get to the drive -> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRHTSK4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&coli d=110YIC0GU53A7&coliid=I38PEBUNYX6OUM&psc=1.
HGST does make a 1.5 terabyte drive that would work quite well in your machine - the Travelstar 5K1500.
Clinton

How to remove stuck optical drive carrier

I'm in the process of replacing a worn out Optical Drive in my 2007 Mac Pro Tower. When I got to the 'remove the optical drive carrier,' the stinker comes out about 3/4 inch and then no further. I don't want to force it of course. Anyone else ever have the same problem?

I posted same question, got no answer so found a solution? for Mac Pro 3.1 early 2008 version.
This only can be done if you have 2 super? drive bays with lower unoccupied.
In my case it did not move at all in attempt to pull it out - in fact it is stuck on two screws that act as posts and are in slots in the bottom side of aluminum tray that it is supposed to slide out from. You don't see these until you get it out.
In your case with 3/4" opening, first try pulling one side then other, rocking, prying, a small crow bar. Try harder.
no, not the jack hammer.
Failing all else,
1) lay the computer - open side panel down - on the floor.
2) slide the lower unoccupied DVD tray open with your finger and insert a blunt object (I used big old blunt screw driver) into the opening aimed down towards the floor. When you apply force to the inserted object, it is in the direction that enclosure must be pulled to get it out normally and on the side where it is stuck. You may have to strike the object, as I did, before enclosure will come free.

How do I remove the display glass on an imac7.1 to replace the optical drive?

I have a 2007 iMac 24inch which has a bad optical drive. How do I remove the display glass to get to the optical drive?

Replacing anything in the newer designed iMacs is not a job for someone inexperienced or a novice.
If you don't like the idea of having to use an extrernal optical drive, It might be best to take your iMac to an Apple store or authorized Apple repair center for repair/replacement.
If you damage anything else while trying to do this replacement yourself, it will cost you even more cash to repair at a repair center later.

Optical Drive Difficult to Remove

Product Name HP Pavilion DV5000
Product Number EP411UA#ABA
Model Number DV5020US
I need to replace the optical drive. I've consulted HP video and relevant service manuals and the topic is covered quite satisfactorily with one exception.
The exception is the drive is hard, very hard if not impossible to budge from the laptop. The video implies it will slide out once the retaining screw is removed. Wiggling the case does nothing to loosen it. I'm not to crazy about prying against a PCB at the bottom of the well. Not impressed with levering against a plastic screw hole. A cold chisel and hammer would be counter productive in my way of thinking.
I am performing a clean install of XP Home. The system does not operate the drive even though bios clearly sees it. DOS boot utilities fail to startup.
So any helpful suggestions in getting the optical drive out?"

Try ejecting the tray and pull on the tray fully extended. The drive is junk anyway so no need to be squeamish.

How do I remove two DVDs from my MacBook's optical drive?

My 2yo daughter put two DVDs into my MacBook’s optical drive. Does anyone know how I can remove them? Everything I can find is for removing one DVD. Thanks.

Best to bring it in for service, and not use it around her in the future.

Removing MDD optical drives won't wake up - Cause ??

Hello,
I've recently been on a quest to quite down my G4 MDD. I plan on replacing just about every fan in the enclosure and wanted to streamline things. One of the thoughts that I had was to remove the optical drives. I don't use them (this machine is mostly used as a file server, so everything is done through the network), and it's one source of heat that I can remove. Plus, as I mentioned, it's one less thing to have to move air around.
I went ahead and removed the drives and unhooked all of the connections from them to the motherboard and everything booted nicely! System Profiler admits to not finding any optical drives, so I guess that worked fine. My problem arised when I sleep the machine. It wakes up in a locked state. The fans kick on and the display wakes up, but the machine is effectively locked; I can't do anything. A manual reboot works fine and the machine is operable until I sleep it again and I see the same problem.
Once I put the drives back in and hook them back up, all problems go away and the machine wakes beautifully.
Is there some dependency on the drives that I'm missing here? I never use them and want to get them out of the case.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
-Alan

Hi,
Don't forget to look at the far right of the logic board where you will find an empty two pin connector. Use that to connect an external fan to further cool the system. I have three fans running in my system: a PCI slot fan, a 120MM fan on top of my optical drive roof, and another 120MM on the bottom underneath the front drive cage. My temperature is an astounding: 89 degrees FAHRENHEIT!
It does get higher if I am watching a movie, or youtubing.

Dual Boot Systems via Removing the Optical Drive

Hi Apple,
Would like to enquire this thing if we can manage the boot up systems, so probable this is the setup. Since MBP has only have 1 Hard drive installed by MAC OS system and 1 Optical Drive. If we removed the optical drive and replace with another HDD. Our question is can MBP can select which drive will boot?
Original HDD --> wil boot as MAC OS (not shared with bootcamp)
Secondary HDD (from removing the optical drive) --> will boot Windows Platform 7 or 8.
The reason is that we don't want to share MAC system files to another OS systems files that's why we are planning to installed another HDD. The optical drive we really don't use, now adays all software is ELD downloadble over the web.
Thanks & Regards,
Jeffrey Quidasol

Yes, you can remove the DVD drive and replace it with another disk, or an SSD (OWC has some "Data Doubler" kits for replacing the DVD with another HDD or an SSD.
You can also partition your current HDD and put a bootable OS on each partition if you like. And you can do the same with an HDD or SSD in the DVD slot.
NOTE: I've used the OWC Data Double to replace the DVD in my iMac with an SSD, and it is currently booted from the SSD in the DVD slot (and running much faster with the SSD vs the slow HDD). So technically, it will work just as well for the Macbook Pro (and many people before you have done exactly that).

No sound after removing defective optical drive

I have removed a defective optical drive and reassembled the macbook pro leaving the bay empty while waiting for a replacement to be shipped. Don't think I pulled any internal wiring harnesses. Anybody know what's up?

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Remove optical drive?

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