M1 Mac Mini = ibrick

[MacUser2525]

Yeah for 6 years I've run my home folder on my secondary drive. I've never been a fan of storing files on the same drive as the OS and apps. My preference is to always store files such as docs, music, photos, and any videos to an external or secondary drive. I was advised today that Apple is adding more security and having that home folder on a secondary, or in my case, external drive, may cause issues in the future. I did not like hearing that. Apple charges a hefty tax for GB's and for my use, I'm only going to run the OS and apps on the internal drive. File storage, of any kind, I want on another drive. Without moving that home folder to my external SSD, I'm at a loss on how to do what I want. This M1 is 250GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM. I have no need for additional hard drive space on the internal drive because I'm not going to store anything on it. So now I'm going to have to try and figure out how to use the OS and have it store documents, photos, Itunes library, all on my external drive without moving the home folder to the external SSD. Apple either wants you to buy GB/TB from them alone, and/or use iCloud. What got me to migrate to Apple in the first place was that quad core Mac Mini where I could add a 2nd hard drive, increase the RAM on my own, etc, which is exactly what I did, and it has worked outstanding. When I bought it, in 2014, I added a SSD (128Gb Crucial), and moved the OS over to it. Then used the Apple HDD for all file storage. Then I hooked up an external HDD to use as a time machine backup. Has worked very well. Now I must change and figure out how to do what I want, while dealing with Apple control.

Strangely enough I have always found that selecting the location other than the default Apple chosen works perfectly fine when you do it. I never store anything but text files in my home directory, all my browswers are set to download files to the Downloads directory on my secondary drive, my music and videos are stored on this as well. Works well with never a problem doing it.

 

[boyorion]

Yeah for 6 years I've run my home folder on my secondary drive. I've never been a fan of storing files on the same drive as the OS and apps. My preference is to always store files such as docs, music, photos, and any videos to an external or secondary drive. I was advised today that Apple is adding more security and having that home folder on a secondary, or in my case, external drive, may cause issues in the future. I did not like hearing that. Apple charges a hefty tax for GB's and for my use, I'm only going to run the OS and apps on the internal drive. File storage, of any kind, I want on another drive. Without moving that home folder to my external SSD, I'm at a loss on how to do what I want. This M1 is 250GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM. I have no need for additional hard drive space on the internal drive because I'm not going to store anything on it. So now I'm going to have to try and figure out how to use the OS and have it store documents, photos, Itunes library, all on my external drive without moving the home folder to the external SSD. Apple either wants you to buy GB/TB from them alone, and/or use iCloud. What got me to migrate to Apple in the first place was that quad core Mac Mini where I could add a 2nd hard drive, increase the RAM on my own, etc, which is exactly what I did, and it has worked outstanding. When I bought it, in 2014, I added a SSD (128Gb Crucial), and moved the OS over to it. Then used the Apple HDD for all file storage. Then I hooked up an external HDD to use as a time machine backup. Has worked very well. Now I must change and figure out how to do what I want, while dealing with Apple control.

I guess I don’t understand why you have to have your home folder on another drive at all. Just run the server off the drive source.

 

[cornerexit]

I hope everyone who needs help reinstalling gets help through Apple Support or a Apple Store genius. They need to fix their broken software and quickest way to get a company to do what they should do is to make it expensive if they don't.

My man, or my woman in 2020. Need to be PC. 100%. Why am I paying for your product, waiting a month for it, then DIY? Nah. I did what I was supposed to do from a layer 8 perspective. I used your product prior, I followed your backup rules, paid my money to Upgrayedd (Idiocracy reference) since you wouldn't let me migrate to the latest OS. This problem is on you, not me. If you read the OP, yeah that's why I was hot, and I don't mean the good kind. I deal with hardcore OSI "stuff" at work. I switched to Mac from PC precisely because of "stuff" like this, because after doing or dealing with it every weekday for 8, 10, 12 hours or more at work, I don't want to deal with it at home. I don't have the time to either. I'm busy. I'm running a household and not doing extravagant S with the machine. It's the basics. At work I'm spilling my plate at layer 1. Doing transport engineering and operations work to make the highways and make them run reliably, five 9's. Computing, I used to build my own PC's. And MS updates would f them up to the point I got tired of it in 2010 and bought a Dell for the interoperability testing. And MS updates killed that thing a year or so later forcing me to reformat, reinstall, reload all my files. F, this is why I went to MAC.

 

[cornerexit]

Fair enough if that's what you want.
From time to time changes are forced upon us and we have to adapt. It doesn't necessarily mean it's worse - just different.
If you're still in the initial window you can return it without giving any reason if you don't want to.
It might have been better to consider these factors before you bought one though

Nah, it's still better than MS, even with this bs. But they aren't going to force me into the Apple Tax of their HD's. And I'm still not going to use iCloud as I loathe hosted solutions. External HD's, even SSD's, are a fraction of the cost Apple wants to charge for them. And I've been doing this long enough where it is ingrained that my OS and Progs need to be on one HD, my files another. Machine craters IDGAFF, I have my drive, my files, etc. All Apple is doing is doing what they can to force you into buying GB's, and TB's from them, and at the same time trying to push your A into iCloud, or their hosted solution where you will pay a monthly fee. I'll fight it until there is no other way. Basic computing for me is my OS and Progs/Apps on a drive, and my data/files on another that I can copy/backup/migrate. The machine, OS, and progs are expendable. My data is not and I do not want to use a hosted solution. Why? I can backup locally, and make a backup, or 2, or 3, etc and save $.

 

[cornerexit]

I guess I don’t understand why you have to have your home folder on another drive at all. Just run the server off the drive source.

I don't run a "server" at home. I have no need. The "want" for putting my data on another drive is in case the OS, firmware, hardware, the device itself, takes a S! I put my files....documents, photos, music files, video files, any file, period, on another drive because that keeps me from OEM hardware failures, OS failures, pretty much anything. I run an external drive, that contains all my files, and I back that drive up, once in a while. The worst case for the way I manage my data is that I have to use a week or 2 week old source. No cloud, no off-site anything. That's why I do what I do. You don't have to understand it. It's my money, and my modus. It's always worked for me, for several decades. I've had machines go TU, a zip drive go TU, a flash drive TU, name it. I still have my data, 100%, and still haven't used hosted storage. What I have been doing for a long time and what I'm trying to do, is not rocket science. Maybe in 2021 it's original, but for the past 25 years it is basic computing. Not reinventing the wheel here.

 

[mwidjaya]

And I'm still not going to use iCloud as I loathe hosted solutions. External HD's, even SSD's, are a fraction of the cost Apple wants to charge for them. And I've been doing this long enough where it is ingrained that my OS and Progs need to be on one HD, my files another. Machine craters IDGAFF, I have my drive, my files, etc.

Ah, I see your model.

A bit outdated though. Even businesses are giving up on-prem and moving to cloud en masse.

I find myself needing less local storage these days. All the essentials are in the cloud.

So if I lose a machine or a disk, no big deal. Can be up and running again shortly.

 

[David Hassholehoff]

Yeah for 6 years I've run my home folder on my secondary drive. [..]

I do the same, since over 20 years. I did on BSD and GNU/Linux before OS X, and then on OS X (since '03).
However, I have never used Migration Assistant and would not expect it to work with highly customised solutions.

I also have the new M1 mini and will be setting up my storage soon. I'll get back with info about how I did.

 

[Zazoh]

Have had a computer since 1980, doing things because they have always worked in the past is not an excuse. Always start fresh out-of-the-box and then retool workflow if appropriate. In so doing, you will avoid problems.

I wouldn’t migrate a dot upgrade let alone a whole new OS and hardware architecture.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[cornerexit]

I do the same, since over 20 years. I did on BSD and GNU/Linux before OS X, and then on OS X (since '03).
However, I have never used Migration Assistant and would not expect it to work with highly customised solutions.

I also have the new M1 mini and will be setting up my storage soon. I'll get back with info about how I did.

Thank you, very interested in what you come up with. Since Apple is advising me NOT to move the home folder, I’ll have to come up with some techniques to do what I want. Docs/files, photos, iTunes library, and my iphone/iPad backups, I want all on my external SSD. There has to be a way. Then I will continue to use an external HDD for Time Machine backups periodically.

Migration assistant would have worked fine. It was Big Sur 11.0.X having a bug. 11.1 and no problem. We actually used migration assistant after DFU and it worked flawlessly. Just slow because my HDD is not quick over USB-A.

 

[cornerexit]

Have had a computer since 1980, doing things because they have always worked in the past is not an excuse. Always start fresh out-of-the-box and then retool workflow if appropriate. In so doing, you will avoid problems.

I wouldn’t migrate a dot upgrade let alone a whole new OS and hardware architecture.

Sorry for your loss.

I didn’t have any loss. Migration assistant worked great once the bug in the OS was removed. Didn’t lose any data.

 

[cornerexit]

Ah, I see your model.

A bit outdated though. Even businesses are giving up on-prem and moving to cloud en masse.

I find myself needing less local storage these days. All the essentials are in the cloud.

So if I lose a machine or a disk, no big deal. Can be up and running again shortly.

I’m heavily in the ”business” that you mention. The company I work for is doing the same thing, migrating to cloud solutions everywhere they can and finding out the shortcomings of it. Companies ahead of us have long been “cloud” for whatever they can, and many are migrating back to ownership instead, happily taking control back of their own data. In many areas it’s more expensive to use a hosted solution. It’s not the end all be all the industry makes it out to be. Apple, like many, wants to move to a subscription based service for everything. Even car companies are chomping at the bit to do this. The “cloud” is nothing more than marketing bs for “hosted”.

Mathematics and basic computing principles have not changed. Why give Apple or anyone else my most crucial and personal data? No need at all. I’d prefer to not have it leave the prem. Local storage is not expensive, even SSD’s have severely reduced in price to the point of say a Samsung T7 external SSD with 1050Mb write speed, is $149 for 1TB. Take this M1 Mini, I’d have to pay Apple $400 for that and I don’t store my critical files on the same HD as the OS and progs. So this is a privacy thing with some of us. I do not use Fakebook, ****ter, Instacrap, or any other social media platform that sells my data off. I get it, most people have no issue giving away their privacy. I have no issue putting photos without humans in them, in the cloud, or music files, but my bills, spreadsheets, personal data, F no. Just because Apple and many others are pushing that model, doesn’t make it right for everyone. My “model” is not outdated at all, it’s just not the marketed model. No different than you, if I lose my machine or disk, I have a backup, always. Inexpensive too and no monthly fees.

 

[David Hassholehoff]

Have had a computer since 1980, doing things because they have always worked in the past is not an excuse. Always start fresh out-of-the-box and then retool workflow if appropriate. In so doing, you will avoid problems.

I wouldn’t migrate a dot upgrade let alone a whole new OS and hardware architecture.

Sorry for your loss.

I don't think it is fair to fault users for using the built in tool recommended by Apple for the specific task.

 

[Zazoh]

I don't think it is fair to fault users for using the built in tool recommended by Apple for the specific task.

Thats a fair point.

It's one of those fool me once situations tho. At a bare minimum every tester turned on the computer and went through the script of a fresh install, there is only one path. With migration, no way to control all the variations of what was migrated and to what external drive, custom previous install etc.