MBP mid 2010 random power cut offs after adding SSD

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Hello,
I have a mid 2010 macbook pro.
Yesterday i added Samsung 830 256GB SSD, placed in the optical bay (instead of the dvd). The original hdd stayed in place.

The first time I started installing Mavericks on it (from the original hdd) however my computer suddenly shut down during the process.

I, then, created a bootable SD install, removed the hdd and installed the system. Used it for a couple of hours, everything was ok.

I reconnected the hdd, after about 15 minutes (mavericks booted from ssd) it shuts down suddenly/

I disconnected the SSD and booted up the system from the original hdd and it seems to be working fine.

In other words- when both ssd and hdd are connected the machine suddenly shuts down.

When the system is booted from either of them and the other one disconected they seem to be working fine.

Any thoughts on how to resolve this situation please? I'd like to keep using SSD as a bootable system but keep the hdd inside as an additional storage.

thanks
 
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It appears your optibay adapter might be malfunctioning, creating some kind of conflict in SATA.
I have two Crucial 960GB M500 SSDs in my mid-2010 MBP17, and never any problem. Also tried my optibay with Crucial 240GB M500 SSD prior to installing 960GB one - just to test the adapter - was fine.

If you want your MBP to boot from SSD, I suggest you swap places of your HD and SSD: install the SSD as a main drive, and put the HD into the optibay adapter. That way you'll be booting from the top of SATA three, might help to resolve the conflict.
 
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Thanks David.
I have tried that but same case- when both SSD and HDD are connected the MBP just randly shuts down after only a few minutes of operating. When I disconnect one it's all ok- regardless of which device im booting from and where is it positioned.

Do you suspect it's a faulty optibay thing then?
 
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I've just looked through pics of my optibay installation, and remembered - there was a black flat pcb connector going over the top of the optical drive, rather tricky one too - I'm sure you've plugged it back in correctly, but thought I mention it anyway. Also the mini-SATA-7+6 lead for the optical drive, worth checking if it is seated properly on the main board.

If all the above bits are OK, then a faulty optibay adapter is looking more and more likely ...

Mine was just a simple unit, pretty sure these all are the same, regardless of a name:

IMG_0586-3_zpse1cd1a8e.jpg




the connectors I was talking about:

IMG_0587-3_zps4533c84a.jpg



after install:

IMG_0588-3_zps081fdc85.jpg



Apologies for horrible pics - it was late and iPhone 4 'flash' is rubbish ... well, that's my excuse anyway :p
 
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Is it also possible the power supply is weakening???? So when both drives are active it fails. Just wondering.

Lisa
 
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Is it also possible the power supply is weakening???? So when both drives are active it fails. Just wondering.

That's a very good idea.

Since you have the system running for a few minutes, before the shutdown, I'd run Activity Monitor and get Battery Health app from Mac App Store (it's by FIPLAB Ltd) - it'll show you some basic stats, including current power usage - perhaps you can see some clues in a few minutes before the shutdown? Obviously need to charge the battery fully with just one HD. You can then compare power usage with HD only as opposed to HD+SSD.
 
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Not sure- before puting the ssd in, the dvd was sitting there so in theory it would draw even more power than the ssd and not cause the shutdown ?
 
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the DVD drive only draws power when it is in use. The hard drive would draw power when the system mounted it, when it was accessed, when the system did background utilities on it, when programs accessed it. Most DVD drives spend more time idle and therefore not drawing power. It was just a thought that the added draw of having two drives might be testing a weak power supply. I have seen it many times in systems where the power supply has been hit with electrical spikes and eventually they weaken. So when an additional draw is made on them they just shut down.

It was just a suggestion.

Lisa
 
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I'd get the Battery Health app and collect the following power usage data to compare:

  • HD in main SATA bay, empty optical bay
  • SSD in main SATA bay, empty optical bay
  • HD in optical bay, empty main SATA bay
  • SSD in optical bay, empty main SATA bay
  • HD in main SATA bay, SSD in optical bay
  • SSD in main SATA bay, HD in optical bay

This will give you a clear picture, and if everything is OK there, then you can look at other reasons for these shutdowns.
 

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