From MP 1,1 -> Hex Core 3.33 - Can I just swap hard drives?

[slughead]

Due to total lack of any self-control and an overly generous Apple gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket, I bought the bullet and got a Hex Core today. The projected speed advantage to Sandy Bridge wasn't worth the wait, and I can just upgrade the video card later.

I got the RAM situation under control and bought 3rd party (Apparently I have to toss the three standard chips when using registered? Lame), but that's about all I can afford to upgrade in this thing.

I have an SSD with Lion installed in my current Mac Pro. My question is: can I just take it out and put it in the new one, or do I need to reinstall? In addition, I'm taking the stock 1TB drive in the new MP and putting it in the 1,1.

I'd really like to not have to reinstall if I can avoid it. Windows 7 is probably going to Seppuku. I've actually booted my Mac Pro off my Macbook while in Target Disk mode before (PS: it takes like 30 minutes to boot), so I know it's likely okay.

 

[WardC]

Lion should work going from the old one to the new one.

With the HexCore (3.33Ghz 6-core Mac Pro) you need at least the "special" build of 10.6.4 or later, that is what the BASE System on the 6-core is.

When I upgraded from a 2.93GHZ Quad (with 10.6.4 installed) to the 3.33GHz 6-core, I swapped the drives and ran into trouble, because it turns out that the 3.33GHz (and Westmere machines) shipped with a "special" build of 10.6.4 that included updated drivers for the Video Cards and stepping of the Processor. Running the "old 10.6.4 build" on the new hex-core machine, I fired up Geekbench and it was reporting one-half the score it should be.

When I updated my OS, it updated to 10.6.5 and everything was fine. Also running the 10.6.4 from the System Discs I was fine too.

But, with Lion, you should be fine just swapping the HDs out (or SSD) because Lion contains all of the needed drivers for the 2010 Mac Pros as well as all the new Sandy Bridge iMacs and MacBook Pros.

I doubt you will have any trouble. Just make sure your HDs and SSDs are all SATA II as well because that is what the 2010 Mac Pro takes (cannot take SATA III (6G) drives). Good luck.

 

[Neodym]

Just make sure your HDs and SSDs are all SATA II as well because that is what the 2010 Mac Pro takes (cannot take SATA III (6G) drives).

Are you sure about that? Afaik SATA-III (6G) is backwards compatible to SATA-II (3G). It's only that you can't get full speed when running a 6G drive on a 3G port and are limited to SATA-II speeds.

 

[WardC]

It may be backwards compatible but I would not (myself) put a SATA III drive in a machine that is meant for SATA II drives. What I really meant was to make sure his drives were not incompatible and not SAS or IDE or SCSI.

 

[derbothaus]

Totally backwards compatible. No issues. Have never heard of any issues. I have a WD Velociraptor 6G in my 2010 since day 1. Also a Sandforce SATAIII SSD. No issues. SATAII drives are also becoming more scarce. HDD's don't matter anyway as you don't gain or lose anything from one link speed to the next.

 

[jasonvp]

I have an SSD with Lion installed in my current Mac Pro. My question is: can I just take it out and put it in the new one, or do I need to reinstall? In addition, I'm taking the stock 1TB drive in the new MP and putting it in the 1,1.

Do not expect this to work without problems, that may not be completely evident immediately. The best thing to do is re-install Lion on top of itself without formatting the drive. That way all of your apps, data, etc will still be there once the "new" Lion boots up.

jas

 

[derbothaus]

Do not expect this to work without problems, that may not be completely evident immediately. The best thing to do is re-install Lion on top of itself without formatting the drive. That way all of your apps, data, etc will still be there once the "new" Lion boots up.

jas

The latest combo update should suffice. I only even do that when I go from one architecture to another like Mac Pro to Macbook Pro. Works every time. Probably over 1000 times. OS X is pretty darn portable.

 

[jasonvp]

The latest combo update should suffice. I only even do that when I go from one architecture to another like Mac Pro to Macbook Pro. Works every time. Probably over 1000 times. OS X is pretty darn portable.

It really isn't. I'm glad you haven't tripped over any issues with your installs but I have with mine. And they're small, insidious ones that might go unnoticed by most. It's a 20 minute process to re-install Lion over top of itself and it does no harm whatsoever.

jas

 

[Loa]

Hello,

It may be backwards compatible but I would not (myself) put a SATA III drive in a machine that is meant for SATA II drives.

+1 derbothaus.

I have several sata3 hard drives in my 2009 MP, all working without any issue. Backward compatible *is* backward compatible, no need to fear anything.

Loa

 

[4JNA]

The latest combo update should suffice. I only even do that when I go from one architecture to another like Mac Pro to Macbook Pro. Works every time. Probably over 1000 times. OS X is pretty darn portable.

i'd second that, to include moving a G5 drive to a MP. a few minor issues to clean up after the swap, but worked fine. laptops to desktops, old to new, and even a few new to old. amazing OS!

I have several sata3 hard drives in my 2009 MP, all working without any issue. Backward compatible *is* backward compatible, no need to fear anything.

Loa

i'd second this as well. any (really, any) sata drive would be fine. III works with III, and is backward compatible with II and I. PC and Mac. any drive, any controller. only a few drives that have been on the market that needed a jumper change to work and they were all platter (non-ssd) drives, everything else works out of the bag/box. best of luck.