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ExpressCard SSD Redux

A few folk have been in touch asking for more information on using an ExpressCard SSD as their main drive, so I thought I’d (belatedly) write up the process.

I got the idea from this post on Mac OS X Hints in which ctapley details his use of a 24GB SSD as the boot drive on his Macbook Pro.

Rob Griffiths followed up on ctapley’s hint with an in-depth article for MacWorld, Add an ExpressCard solid state drive to some MacBook Pros, complete with video.

If you’re thinking of going the ExpressCard SSD route, read the above, and their comment threads: not all ExpressCard SSDs are suitable, and some earlier Macs with an ExpressCard slot can’t boot from an SSD. In other words, don’t rush out and buy a drive until you’re certain it works, and works with your particular Macbook Pro.

For my Macbook Pro 2,2, I opted for the 48GB Wintec Filemate SolidGo, which you can get from Amazon US for $137 or Amazon UK for £216. If you’d like a bit more headroom, there’s now a 96GB version available for $290/£216, which is reported to work well.

Here’s how I made the move to SSD:

  1. Make a complete bootable backup of your existing system on an external drive, make sure Time Machine is up to date, burn the baby photos to a DVD, push all your git repositories, &c.—in short, make sure you’re backed up to the hilt.
  2. Boot from an OS X install CD, and install the OS to the SSD. If you like, use the Customise option to trim away stuff you don’t need (I didn’t bother).
  3. Reboot, hold down ⌥ and boot from the SSD.
  4. Run Software Update.
  5. Set up your new system with the absolute bare minimum you need to get stuff done—for me, that meant installing Dropbox and running it, installing git and pulling down my config files and code, installing 1Password, mutt, Notational Velocity, TextMate and vim.
  6. Open Disk Utility and wipe your internal hard drive. (You might want to wait a week between 5. and 6.)
  7. Use Disk Utility to partition the internal drive in two: one 50GB partition for making bootable backups of the SSD with Carbon Copy Cloner, the other for media files, downloads, &c..
  8. When you find yourself reaching for an application, install it—I was amazed at how few applications I actually use on a regular basis.

Bonus link: Poor Man’s SSD, in which K. Mandla upgrades his 14-year-old laptop with an 8GB CF card and CF-to-IDE adapter—now that’s making the most out of old hardware.