I've just found a bargain about a used SSD 2.5" hard drive (100Euros for a 256GB one!) and I would like to install it in my Powerbook15 and use it with MorphOS and MacOS, but I have some doubts: I read "2.5" PATA ZIF"

This means that I can't install it in the PB? If so, neither some adaptor can help me?





[ Edited by Miky060 19.10.2012 - 21:41 ]

You would need an adaptor for sure (just don't ask my which one, both my SSD are plain 44pin IDE), problem is there is no space for any adaptor in the PB drive bay.

I've heard about people cracking open SATA-SSDs ( the actual SSD is much smaller as the 2.5" HD-sized case) so that it would fit in there together with an ISD/SATA-adaptor. Not sure how big a ZIF/44Pin adaptor would be, but my guess is that the weird format might be a contributing factor in the low price.

Thanks Kronos.
No other suggestions?

maybe you should just buy a IDE version. If theres no space, then theres no space.

Even if you find suitable adaptor for it you won'yt be able to fit it into Powerbook, I've already tried. You can look for some kind of optibay (replaces your cd) but I doubt there is one with that weirdo ZIF thingy.

Ciao Michele!
Though I guess space isn't enough for that ssd drive, you can take a look at those two adapter:

Pata/Zif CE HDD to IDE/CF 50 pin

1.8" pata/zif to 1.8" 44pin

I have no idea about dimension of ssd drive, space inside PB and connector type/position so my example is only.. an example =)
Your ssd seems to be bigger than those in the photos and in the second example ide connector seems to be not the right one.

[ Edited by Jambalah 20.10.2012 - 16:52 ]

He has 2,5" ssd so any adapter WON'T FIT. I had ssd drive with sata-ide adapter which was 1,5cm long and guess what - it didn't fit.

Ok. So what I wrote is useless. Case closed =)

aren't there 1,8" SSDs?

SSDs, especially smaller versions like 64GB *may* fit in a mini or powerBook. All you need is a quite small adapter like mentioned below.

Then you need to open the plastic case of the SSD. It may be much smaller than the actuall case. Some are even only half sized on the inside. Afterwards you cut the case a little, so the entire construct is not able to move when connected within the mini/powerbook.

The main problem here is, that you cannot know unless you open them. Maybe we should create a list of SSDs and their internal sizes, to allow such usage.

Big SSDs are often using many and bigger small chips, so the chance is quite low there.

Geit

Normally that ZIF connector is only used for 1.8" HDDs (and therefore 1.8" SSD) and yes there are plenty of those around (actually more than big 2.5" IDE SSDs).


In the end it's really down to wether miky is adventouros enough to open that cheap SSD and reduce it to the bare flash-chip(s) and connectors.

In that state there should be plenty of space left, wether the adaptor aligns well enough to use that new space is another question.

A littlebit offtopic but curious: And after that?

Morphos using trim correctly, or is there a trick/command for it?

SandForce based SSDs don't need TRIM. They rely on a built-in garbage collection.

[ Edited by Korni 21.10.2012 - 09:53 ]

Trim support is optional for all SSDs. It just helps the controller to avoid useless block swap copy operations, which a) speeds up writing and b) saves SSDs health.

a) is no big issue, as even the slowest SSD should boost our old systems to the limit.
b) we don´t write very much (no hibernation/swap), so it is not a big issue.

A proper installation would also require proper block alignments and sizes matching the on disk flash block dimensions, which is quite impossible to setup with current available tools.

Anyway, I am using a small SSD for quite some time without any errors and just remember a bigger drive has more blocks to swap, which in the result causes a longer lifetime, too

Geit

Ok, I am understanding that buying this disk is not a good move.. :(

I'll look for a real PATA 44pin SSD disk. Any suggestions about which model to buy and, most of all, where to buy one at a good price?

It seems that the easier model to find is the Kinsgpec MLC and it's about 230Eur + shipping for the 256GB version.
While maybe the fastest you can have is the OWC Mercury Legacy Pro but it's very expensive. Moreover I was curious to know if it's actually faster than other SSD disks.

[ Edited by Miky060 21.10.2012 - 21:31 ]

Thx, until recently i think trim and garbage collection is the same, but for legal things the manufacturer's give a different name for it.

@ geit: yeah Morphos fortunatelly no swap file.

Anyway is there a real speed difference between the hihg end latest 2,5" pata drives (wd black scorpio for example) and between the ATA SSD drives? or both capped at 133MB/sec?

> is there a real speed difference between the hihg end latest
> 2,5" pata drives (wd black scorpio for example) and between
> the ATA SSD drives? or both capped at 133MB/sec?

Of course, no drive can be faster than the speed of the bus it is operating on. However, SSDs should still be faster than ferromagnetic drives, in both throughput and seek time.

Even my cheap Samsung SSD (64GB 50 Euro) supports around 400MB/s writing and much more reading.

Especially as the 2.5" harddrives are always slower than 3.5" harddrives, a modern SSDs will for sure boost any 2.5" System alot. The OS doesn´t matter.

Geit

@Milky060

Quote:

I got one in my Powerbook (OWC Mercury Legacy Pro 64gb), if you tell me how to benchmark it i can post the results here.

I have a OWC Legacy and it is very nice. Boot time into MOS is no more than 5 seconds after the bong. That is a complete boot btw.

I haven't benchmarked it, but by the boot time alone I'm willing to endorse it. Besides it fits in perfectly and works out of the box, PB is such a pain to take apart and fit stuff into, PATA is your only choice for space reasons.

As a bonus the firmware with autotrim is suppose to be remarkable and negate need for trimming. I know this isn't that needed with MOS not swapping, but I view it as a bonus anyways...

I created 3 partitions: 2 sfs and one icefs. Ice FS is really nice, I put a bluray of a movie I bought, the file is 6 gigs. it plays perfectly on the Powerbook. Between the Powerbook 1.67 and the SSD 720+ movie playback with huge files is simply beautiful and perfectly smooth. Kudos to all involved in the MOS camp.

Had one in my PB for many months. No issues. Keep life easy Milky go with something proven like the OWC or the Samsung which Geit mentioned...

[ Edited by matt3 22.10.2012 - 12:14 ]

The OWC Legacy Pro is really expensive and I can't find it here in Europe. I should buy it in USA and get it shipped to Italy. Moreover I fear there is the risk to pay customs duties when it arrives here in Italy.

I think I'll take of of these:

http://www.ebay.it/itm/KingSpec-SSD-2-5-IDE-128GB-PATA-128GB-MLC-109-/170551886905?pt=DE_Elektronik_Computer_Computer_Festplatten&hash=item27b5af4439#ht_3354wt_1002

http://www.ebay.it/itm/KingSpec-SSD-2-5-IDE-256GB-PATA-256GB-MLC-110-/310260965093?pt=DE_Elektronik_Computer_Computer_Festplatten&hash=item483cfe9ee5#ht_4109wt_1002

I also have a Kinspec in my mac mini, and it's far from being a fast SSD, nothing that compares to the OWC. I also heard a lot of cases where these SSDs fail after a few months. You can find the OWC SSDs in France, that would avoid any custom issues. But they are pricey. Here's a link : http://www.macway.com/fr/ It's a very serious dealer, that's where i bought mine.




[ Edited by SoundSquare 23.10.2012 - 07:51 ]

Thanks SoundSquare for the infos!
However on your site there is only the 80GB version available and it's very expensive! 189Euros while on the US site it costs 130Euros ($169)!

Moreover I would like at least a 120GB one..

@SoundSquare
another question: can you do some test/benchmark on both Kingspec and OWC to have an idea how much faster is the last one? I would be not the only one to really appreciate it.

sure, i can do that, but can you tell me how can i benchmark them ? is there a benchmarking software for MorphOS ?