Where is this partition located? I hope not the HDD only because I am replacing the stock 500GB with a Seagate 1 TB? and I will need to configure and load Lion once I am done.
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2011 Mini Recover Partition Question
- Thread starter Wicked1
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1 if you replace the hard disk with a fresh one or an SSD the 2011 mini will boot into internet recovery mode and carry out the installation via that instead.
2 alternately you can create the USB recovery stick using the download from Apple (you need to do this while the existing drive is in the machine so its recovery partition can be copied over to the stick).
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433
Lion will still be installed via the net same as if you booted off the recovery partition on existing hard disk or went thru internet recovery, just using the stick you wont have to rely on internet recovery to start the process.
Lastly option 3 If you want to be able to do the whole lot off line (have multiple units or a need for multiple clean installs) then you need to grab the full install image for your machine.
To get that you have to go thru the motions of an internet based re-install once, while pointing the install to an external drive, that lets you capture the install image and write it out to a stick for future use. If all you plan on is one clean install that 3rd method is probably not worth the extra grief.
2 alternately you can create the USB recovery stick using the download from Apple (you need to do this while the existing drive is in the machine so its recovery partition can be copied over to the stick).
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433
Lion will still be installed via the net same as if you booted off the recovery partition on existing hard disk or went thru internet recovery, just using the stick you wont have to rely on internet recovery to start the process.
Lastly option 3 If you want to be able to do the whole lot off line (have multiple units or a need for multiple clean installs) then you need to grab the full install image for your machine.
To get that you have to go thru the motions of an internet based re-install once, while pointing the install to an external drive, that lets you capture the install image and write it out to a stick for future use. If all you plan on is one clean install that 3rd method is probably not worth the extra grief.
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Yep
It'll take an extra 10-ish minutes (depending on connection speed) for it to download the recovery partition data and reinstall your recovery partition. Then you'll boot to that (automatically) and reinstall Lion via the net as well.
What if I use CCC to mirror the original drive to another that I will be putting in the Mini, would I still need to go thru step 2?
All I want to do is swap the 500GB stock one for a larger either 750 or 1 TB which I need to buy.
All I want to do is swap the 500GB stock one for a larger either 750 or 1 TB which I need to buy.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but using CCC Block Copy should work. And since you are moving to a larger HD, Block Copy will be available.
Does CCC Block Copy really allow you to Duplicate an existing drive in Lion to a new drive.
I am going to replace the internal 500GB with a 750GB drive and I would love to be able to do what we were used to doing which is CCC the internal to new drive, swap them and back in business in a few minutes?
Can anyone confirm this?
I am going to replace the internal 500GB with a 750GB drive and I would love to be able to do what we were used to doing which is CCC the internal to new drive, swap them and back in business in a few minutes?
Can anyone confirm this?
So with option 3 I am going to wipe my 2011 Mini, recover from the internet and point the install recovery to my external HDD so I will have the Image of Lion on my drive? I am interested in this only because I will be installing Lion on several machines in the house, and I would prefer the fastest install possible. I was also thinking of buying a Lion USB Stick just not to have to install it over the internet.
for option 3 I wouldn't wipe the internal drive first, just hook up a freshly formatted external and boot the machine while forcing internet recovery.
Then tell the recovery utility that you want to install onto the external
Personally I kept an eye on the install process in order to quit the install just at point it wants to restart (so that it doesnt complete the process and wipe the image you've just spent X amount of time downloading).
However I think there's an alternative of calling up the install log while installing which will prevent the autostart and save you having to sit watching all the way thru (just come back later and pull the plug)
In either case once you pull the plug, disconnect the external till you've booted back up from the internal and then reconnect the external in order to start hunting for the install image you can transfer to a usb stick
When you carry out above bear in mind that your PRAM will have an entry in it pointing to the ID of the external drive that you told the installer to install to, as that install never completed that entry wont get automatically removed.
When you next try to install Lion on that particular machine it'll see there's been an install that quit unexpectedly and start looking for that drive to install onto (and then complaining that it cant find it).
Resetting PRAM erases that temporary entry and fixes that.
Not sure if all lion builds are syncronised into a single build yet - the 2011 MBA and MacMini (non Server) had a different build from 2011 Mac Mini Server, and all of them had a different build to that for earlier models of mac.
As a result those machines couldn't use the USB stick sold in Apple stores (whereas older machines could) and in return older machines couldnt use builds downloaded on a mid 2011 model.
Now we're on 10.7.2 that might no longer apply, just worth bearing in mind if you plan to use a single installer on a variety of models. No big deal if you're using one of these roll your own options (all it will have cost you is time) but def worth checking before spending cash on the retail stick from Apple, as you could end up with a shiny Apple stick useless on half the machines you own.
Then tell the recovery utility that you want to install onto the external
Personally I kept an eye on the install process in order to quit the install just at point it wants to restart (so that it doesnt complete the process and wipe the image you've just spent X amount of time downloading).
However I think there's an alternative of calling up the install log while installing which will prevent the autostart and save you having to sit watching all the way thru (just come back later and pull the plug)
In either case once you pull the plug, disconnect the external till you've booted back up from the internal and then reconnect the external in order to start hunting for the install image you can transfer to a usb stick
When you carry out above bear in mind that your PRAM will have an entry in it pointing to the ID of the external drive that you told the installer to install to, as that install never completed that entry wont get automatically removed.
When you next try to install Lion on that particular machine it'll see there's been an install that quit unexpectedly and start looking for that drive to install onto (and then complaining that it cant find it).
Resetting PRAM erases that temporary entry and fixes that.
Not sure if all lion builds are syncronised into a single build yet - the 2011 MBA and MacMini (non Server) had a different build from 2011 Mac Mini Server, and all of them had a different build to that for earlier models of mac.
As a result those machines couldn't use the USB stick sold in Apple stores (whereas older machines could) and in return older machines couldnt use builds downloaded on a mid 2011 model.
Now we're on 10.7.2 that might no longer apply, just worth bearing in mind if you plan to use a single installer on a variety of models. No big deal if you're using one of these roll your own options (all it will have cost you is time) but def worth checking before spending cash on the retail stick from Apple, as you could end up with a shiny Apple stick useless on half the machines you own.