Bluetooth Problems after installing SSD in Optical Bay

I found a solution to this bluetooth problem here:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/installed-solid-state-drive-m acbook-pro-now-my-bluetooth-components-go-crazy-12701/

and I wanted to report my success using a similar technique.

I have a MacBook Pro 17-inch (mid-2010) with a Samsung SSD in the optical bay, and my bluetooth range for mouse and keyboard was horrible; any obstruction (even a cup of coffee near the CD slot) or distance beyond about a foot would make the Magic Mouse disconnect or stutter. For what it's worth, the optical caddy is mostly metal, with a plastic panel facing the CD slot.

I tried external bluetooth dongles with some limited success; it requires futzing with Xcode utilities to switch the active Bluetooth at each boot, and sometimes didn't want to stick.

I bought some 2.83-inch HVAC foil tape at Home Depot, and wrapped the SSD horizontally (around the shortest circumference, across the rails, over the top, and back around the bottom). I overlapped the two pieces of tape about half an inch, and folded part of the top overlap under so there was foil-to-foil contact without adhesive.

I left about 3/16" extending beyond the front and back, and folded those down to cover the thin front panel. In back I carefully cut out parts of that extension to make sure to not cover the SATA connector.

Then I reinstalled the SSD in the caddy as before, screwing two rail set screws back in place through the foil.

I was a bit paranoid about the interference, since it had been occurring even with a metallic caddy, so in addition, I wrapped the bluetooth/wifi module with foil tape as well, again horizontally around the top, bottom and sides. It didn't look like I would contact any metal, as the antenna connectors are recessed a bit from the surface when seated properly, but a Faraday cage doesn't require grounding anyway. I also noted that the minimal shielding tape present on the module doesn't appear to be grounded in any obvious way, and no grounding appears obvious in the Mac Mini USB3 interference bluetooth module kit that I researched.

Re-assembled and all is well. Bluetooth seems to be operating fine even at a 10-15 foot range.

I followed the iFixit guides to the optical drives for disassembly instructions, but do note that although you can follow the MacBook Pro 17 unibody guide for the chassis disassembly, the bluetooth/wifi module and motherboard connectors are more like the Macbook 15-inch unibody mid-2010 guide (I think they used a 2009 17-inch, which had a Bluetooth-only module on the caddy, and wifi module in the hinge.)

Hi! I have this exact same problem in a 2012 macbook pro. Unusable magic mouse, especially on disk use.

Did you find out what to do?

(Samsung 840 SSD in optibay, also 16 GB RAM, experimenting with foil tale (shielding the bluetooth didn't help much).

Using https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Late+2011+Du al+Hard+Drive/13786 the Airport/BT cable is right next to the Optical drive (see Steps 5 and 8).

1. Check the reseating of these cables.

2. Run a AHT - Using Apple Hardware Test and check if it reports any problems.

3. The Optical drive has a metal casing and offers shielding. The Crucial may not have such encasing.

This is a very "expensive" suggestion, and if you are outside the "return-for-refund" window, it is worse. Do you want to try a different brand, say Samsung or OWC, and test?

i checked and reseated all connectors. Actually, the SSID signal strength fluctuates between -55 and -65, i think that's a good strenght.

2. Run a AHT - Using Apple Hardware Test and check if it reports any problems.

I don't have AHT for this mac (2012 2,3 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro)

I think the samsung 840 also has a metal casing. It's now wrappen in 0,25mm aluminium tape, that has no effect whatsoever.

I have a HDD/SSD corestorage volume also

@Bernard: am i correct that the SSD HDD combination works for you, IF you put the HDD in the optical bay and the SSD in the "default" HDD bay?

I have had very good experiences with Samsung personally. I have 6 machines in various configurations (two with DIY Fusion volumes), and I bought the first SSD with concern. I still do not know the lifetime of MLC SSDs, despite a 5-year warranty. I have gradually upgraded MBA (1.1 - OWC ZIF SSD) to a 2012 MBP (840 Pro - 256GB) and the Minis in between.

I have not felt the need to experiment with Optibay doublers yet, and may never have a chance to do it.

You are correct, but refund windows are usually 14-day or 30-day. Longer term prognosis may turn out to be very different. I had a lot of issues with OCZ Vectors, for example.

I can suggest turning off the built-in WiFi/BT and testing with a USB-WiFi card, if possible to see if it makes a difference. 2.4G is fraught with problems, due to only 11 channels, multiple SSIDs (including your neighbors), electrical interference from other non-computing devices, etc..

Thanks so much; i'm going to try switching the disks. I did it this way because of the sudden motion sensor, i'll just be more careful.

Do you know if the fusion array will keep working, or would i have to do a reinstall?

External bluetooth works fine (usb, 2.4Ghz). I came from a macbook pro 2009 with this exact same setup, and never had any problems, so i think i can rule out interference.

Bernard Harte wrote:

Incidentally, one thing I did find which indicates it might work the way you want it to is that core storage remembers that a physical drive was part of a logical volume previously. I remember it was a pain to get the drive unrecognised, but then I wasn't in the same situation as you.

There is PvUUID written on the disk, which is pain to erase and remove the disk from it's previous CS. I had CS built using an internal SSD and an external FW HDD and removing the HDD and mounting it on another machine it was mounted as a CS volume, with the SSD as a missing PV.

The CoreStorage verbs are hidden and cause a variety of confusion. It is mildly annoying.

Some of it is here - http://blog.fosketts.net/2011/08/05/undocumented-corestorage-commands/

For example, using strings on diskutil binary (on Mavericks), I get...

addPhysicalVolumeDisk:toLogicalVolumeGroup:

removeDiskHelp

removePhysicalVolume:options:

copyDiskForLogicalVolume:disk:

resizeVolumeHelp

resizeLogicalVolume:size:options:

resizeDiskHelp

resizePhysicalVolume:size:withNewMapEntries:options:

Usage: diskutil [quiet] coreStorage|CS <verb> <options>,

where <verb> is as follows:

list (Show status of CoreStorage volumes)

info[rmation] (Get CoreStorage information by UUID or disk)

convert (Convert a volume into a CoreStorage volume)

revert (Revert a CoreStorage volume to its native type)

create (Create a new CoreStorage logical volume group)

delete (Delete a CoreStorage logical volume group)

createVolume (Create a new CoreStorage logical volume)

deleteVolume (Delete a volume from a logical volume group)

encryptVolume (Encrypt a CoreStorage logical volume)

decryptVolume (Decrypt a CoreStorage logical volume)

unlockVolume (Attach/mount a locked CoreStorage logical volume)

changeVolumePassphrase (Change a CoreStorage logical volume's passphrase)

diskutil coreStorage <verb> with no options will provide help on that verb

I'll let you know how it went. I'm going to try it, and if it fails i'll reformat, make a new faux fusion drive and restore from a time machine backup*

*(or shouln't i do that?).