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mac mini 2012...adding a new SSD for OS and APPS

Cbdboz

Cbdboz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2013
159
2
Hi,

I have just added a new 500GB SSD into my 17 2.3GHZ late 2012 Mac Mini...and so far ..after studiously following i-fixit, crucial and youtube guides...everything seems to be as it should be.

I want to move my OS and key applications to the SSD, but save files, documents and media to the original 1 TB HDD...and possible even an external HDD going forward as fill up the HDD.

Firstly I should note that I am keen to retain the current OS X 10.9.5...as I am not sure if some of my key apps and streaming web sites work on Yosemite or even el Capitan...and would rather not take the risk until I have fully tested on my iMac.

So far I have mounted the SSD and partitioned as 1 partition and named so that I can now see it under devices.

I don't have too much data on the original HDD as brought recently from apple as a refurb...so just want to find out how I can move OS and key apps to the SSD, and then going forward ensure the mac mini boots from the SSD, key apps are read from the SSD, and I can point the mac to save files etc to the HDD or subsequent external HDD.

would really appreciate guidance here.

..one other thing...is there any free diagnostic tool I can use to check that my install and reassemble was all correct...eg that fan works etc...

cheers
 
gixxerfool said:
Why not join them as a fusion drive and let the OS do the heavy lifting?
Click to expand...
in theory sounds good, but from what I gather - pure ssd is much faster than fusion...and also I want to keep things as simple as possible on this first upgrade.


I have trawled other similar threads, which appear to talk about cloning, or using CCC etc...maybe this would be my best option if I want to keep the Mavericks OS??

however, once Cloned, I am not sure how:
(1) I go about making the Mac boot from the SSD,
(2) I put all APPS on SSD , and point them to save to the HDD

...although maybe I would be better to save on SSD, and then periodically transfer to HDD to free up space on SSD...so that in the meantime, I have faster read/write access....
 
Cbdboz said:
in theory sounds good, but from what I gather - pure ssd is much faster than fusion...and also I want to keep things as simple as possible on this first upgrade.


I have trawled other similar threads, which appear to talk about cloning, or using CCC etc...maybe this would be my best option if I want to keep the Mavericks OS??

however, once Cloned, I am not sure how:
(1) I go about making the Mac boot from the SSD,
(2) I put all APPS on SSD , and point them to save to the HDD

...although maybe I would be better to save on SSD, and then periodically transfer to HDD to free up space on SSD...so that in the meantime, I have faster read/write access....
Click to expand...

What you're describing is essentially a fusion drive. Since my ssd was new, I formatted it and then used migration assistance to swap everything over. Never had any luck with CCC.
 
gixxerfool said:
What you're describing is essentially a fusion drive. Since my ssd was new, I formatted it and then used migration assistance to swap everything over. Never had any luck with CCC.
Click to expand...
...so does migration assistant swap everything over in easy to follow steps, and also automatically turn it into a fusion drive....or is there something "extra" that I would need to do??

very important that I can retain the Mavericks OS.

cheers
 
Cbdboz said:
...so does migration assistant swap everything over in easy to follow steps, and also automatically turn it into a fusion drive....or is there something "extra" that I would need to do??

very important that I can retain the Mavericks OS.

cheers
Click to expand...
You would have to fuse the drive first then install the os, should be downloadable from the Mac App Store then use migration assistant to transfer everything back.

It's a few steps that would certainly require some comfort in doing but in the end the fusion drive would use the ssd for all your main functions and it will automatically offload any lesser used items to the hdd. This way it's only your frequently used items on the ssd. I love mine. I just use it, don't think about what is where.
 
gixxerfool said:
....the os, should be downloadable from the Mac App Store then use migration assistant to transfer everything back.
Click to expand...


i think thats the problem, can't see mavericks on the app store, and I need to retain Mavericks on the mac mini as some key media streaming applications are incompatible with yosemite..and beyond...
 
Cbdboz said:
i think thats the problem, can't see mavericks on the app store, and I need to retain Mavericks on the mac mini as some key media streaming applications are incompatible with yosemite..and beyond...
Click to expand...

Have you tried CCC? You may have better luck than I did. People here love it. I personally couldn't get it to work. In this case, you would need a third drive. Doesn't matter what it is, I used an old 5400 3.5" external. It was slow, but it did the job.

You would want to clone your current drive to the third drive. Then you want to boot to the third drive since you can't fuse your boot drive. Do the fusion setup. Then clone back to the new drive.
 
You would probably do better to keep ALL of your apps on the SSD.
How large is your applications folder (original folder on the HDD) now?

Along with your user account(s).

You would want to keep your large media libraries (iTunes folder, etc.) on the HDD and "redirect" your media apps to look for them there.

This works fine for me.
I even partitioned the HDD into separate partitions for "music", "media", etc.

This will give you several volume icons to manage on the desktop.
But you quickly adapt to such filing strategy...
 
Cbdboz said:
in theory sounds good, but from what I gather - pure ssd is much faster than fusion...and also I want to keep things as simple as possible on this first upgrade.
Click to expand...

Normally a pure SSD is a little faster than a Fusion Drive. You can conduct a test that will show a marked difference between them but most users do not regularly encounter similar circumstances.
 
Fishrrman said:
You would probably do better to keep ALL of your apps on the SSD.
How large is your applications folder (original folder on the HDD) now?

Along with your user account(s).

You would want to keep your large media libraries (iTunes folder, etc.) on the HDD and "redirect" your media apps to look for them there.

This works fine for me.
I even partitioned the HDD into separate partitions for "music", "media", etc.

This will give you several volume icons to manage on the desktop.
But you quickly adapt to such filing strategy...
Click to expand...

hi - refurb mac mini is relatively new and appears only 10G of applications.

the 1TB HDD is about 30% full, tho this appears to be mainly movies from what I can tell from About this mac>storage>HDD. assuming these may be the movies I have downloaded from applications that expire after 30 days, as don't have any library of note.

in terms of partitioning separate folders on the HDD...I am wondering if I should not use an external drive...or multiway enclosure, for the videos, music and possibly even photos...that way I am hoping that this could act as the hub for my home and the other MacBooks and an old iMac to read and write from/to...and act as a central storage (will need to do some research here )
 
OP wrote above:
"thanks...but I'm always a bit concerned on downloading something from outside of the app store..."

Don't be.

This is the Mac, it's not a PC.

I've downloaded stuff from all the "unapproved" places.
This Mini still runs just fine.

If I'm infected with viruses or whatever, GREAT -- keep that stuff coming.
Again, excellent performance here.

Aside:
I've had MORE problems with "legitimate" software updates trying to download them from Apple, than I've had with "unauthorized" downloads from torrents, etc.
That's not exaggeration.
 
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