Mac Mini 2014 - best way to remove lag?

[Sai22]

Wow - that's terrible!

Is your disk almost full? Perhaps it's just seriously fragmented? The original 1TB hard drive should run at about 100MB/sec when it's new. I'd be concerned there's a hardware problem. If that were my computer, I would make multiple backups right now and keep them up-to-date until you can install a SSD.

[edit] Just ran the test on my own 2014 2.8ghz i5/8gb Mini. This is what I get from the internal 1tb hard drive.


View attachment 902839

Hoping my upgrade will do the trick. I have been using it as my main computer for over 3 years. I also have a recondition A1342 Unibody Macbook.
When you say back up, do you consider Time Machine enough?

 

[Boyd01]

Wouldn't be enough for me. Are you familiar with the "belt and suspenders" concept? Ask yourself: would it be a problem if all my files were suddenly gone? If so, you need a multi-pronged backup strategy. For my primary computer, I have the following:

Continuous Time Machine backups to an Apple Time Capsule
Continuous backups to the cloud with BackBlaze
Carbon Copy Clone to a bootable external SSD
Time Machine backup disk, stored off-site
Several generations of old Time Machine backup disks, made whenever I upgrade hardware/software

Now, I also have two other Macs and a Windows computer. They have similar, but a bit less robust backup strategies. My files go all the way back to my Apple ][ days in 1978. I don't want to lose any of it.

If you already have a Time Machine backup - that's a good start. But, at a minimum, I would want a bootable Carbon Copy Clone. That is something you could use immediately if you have a failure. Time Machine backups must be restored, which is a very lengthy process, and one that I would not want to depend on.

 

[AdamJohnG]

I was going to say that that is a detachable M2 NVMe drive, so you could upgrade.

I would not use Fusion Drive. Just put operating system and main programs and important files the NVMe stick and use the old HDD for files and even portion it and have a TM drive. I think that fusion drive is on the way out, as less and less HDD drives will be mounted.

 

[Boyd01]

Just put operating system and main programs and important files the NVMe stick and use the old HDD for files and even portion it and have a TM drive.

Considering what @Sai22 has said, I would not put anything on the old hard drive, unless you don't care if it's gone. Certainly would not use a suspect disk for backup. There's no point in doing a backup unless you trust the media.

 

[davefur]

Hi guys, I have a "late 2014" with 8GB of ram, 2.8 dual core i5 and 1TB fusion drive (but I don't understand if it's working or not). These are my tests...
What do you think?? After the update to Catalina 10.15.4 I find it very slow.

 

[Sai22]

Hi guys, I have a "late 2014" with 8GB of ram, 2.8 dual core i5 and 1TB fusion drive (but I don't understand if it's working or not). These are my tests...
What do you think?? After the update to Catalina 10.15.4 I find it very slow.

looks ok to me, compared with mine at least

 

[davefur]

looks ok to me, compared with mine at least

Thank you!
Another question: I don't understand if the fusion drive is active or not, what do you think?

 

[Sai22]

Thank you!
Another question: I don't understand if the fusion drive is active or not, what do you think?

I hope one of the experts can help you with that. Saluti / saludos

 

[AdamJohnG]

Considering what @Sai22 has said, I would not put anything on the old hard drive, unless you don't care if it's gone. Certainly would not use a suspect disk for backup. There's no point in doing a backup unless you trust the media.

I had not read anywhere from Sai22 that his HDD was failing, but I fully agree with you and would never suggest that a proper back up system is based on any one single drive, however good it is looking at the time. I have 3 backup disks, do a weekly CC Clone plus my all vital files are in the cloud.

But if the HDD is not obviously failing, it could be an easy first backup device.

 

[Sai22]

I think the failing HDD was a general assumption based on the meagre results of the DiskSpeed test. BTW, it is looking a bit better today

 

[AdamJohnG]

I could be wrong, but I don't think that those readings are abnormally low for a probably standard 5400 rpm HDD

 

[Boyd01]

Wow, that is quite a difference from the 38MB/sec you were getting before.

I gave my base 2012 Mini to my daughter's family a few years ago after upgrading the RAM to 16gb, adding an external USB SSD startup disk and setting up time machine on the original internal hard drive. It was a pretty fast little machine. A few months later they started having problems that were hard for me to understand at a distance. Had to talk them through doing an internet restore when it wouldn't boot. They mainly use iPhones and iPads, so fortunately all their files were in the cloud. They continued having problems and when I visited I saw lots of errors coming from the internal hard drive.

To make a long story short, finally they just gave up on it. I took the external SSD back and it's fine, I use it regularly for other things. So, I think the old internal drive was the source of all their trouble, but it just wasn't worth the effort to troubleshoot. Gave them a new MacBook Air that they like much more anyway.

Hard drives definitely do fail. I lost the media disk on my iTunes server about three years ago. Since I had CC clone, I just swapped it and was back up and running in a couple minutes. The old one went in the trash. About a month ago, the replacement drive started making a lot of clickety-clack noises and I started noticing dropped frames when I watched video on my Apple TV(s). This seemed all too familiar, so this time I replaced it with a 4tb USB SSD which is terrific (although expensive).

Anyway... sure, go ahead and use the internal disk. Maybe it's fine? But personally, I wouldn't put any important files there. That's just me. You'll have to decide whether it's worth the risk. Backups are essential, but a backup of a corrupt file is still a corrupt file.

 

[Boyd01]

I could be wrong, but I don't think that those readings are abnormally low for a probably standard 5400 rpm HDD

Those readings are just fine. It's his earlier test that showed 59MB/sec write and 38MB/sec read that is worrisome. Various things could cause that, and maybe it is fine. I wouldn't trust it myself, but that's me.

 

[Fishrrman]

davefur --

for a 2014, those speeds in post 30 above actually look very good.

 

[AdamJohnG]

Wow, that is quite a difference from the 38MB/sec you were getting before.

I gave my base 2012 Mini to my daughter's family a few years ago after upgrading the RAM to 16gb, adding an external USB SSD startup disk and setting up time machine on the original internal hard drive. It was a pretty fast little machine. A few months later they started having problems that were hard for me to understand at a distance. Had to talk them through doing an internet restore when it wouldn't boot. They mainly use iPhones and iPads, so fortunately all their files were in the cloud. They continued having problems and when I visited I saw lots of errors coming from the internal hard drive.

To make a long story short, finally they just gave up on it. I took the external SSD back and it's fine, I use it regularly for other things. So, I think the old internal drive was the source of all their trouble, but it just wasn't worth the effort to troubleshoot. Gave them a new MacBook Air that they like much more anyway.

Hard drives definitely do fail. I lost the media disk on my iTunes server about three years ago. Since I had CC clone, I just swapped it and was back up and running in a couple minutes. The old one went in the trash. About a month ago, the replacement drive started making a lot of clickety-clack noises and I started noticing dropped frames when I watched video on my Apple TV(s). This seemed all too familiar, so this time I replaced it with a 4tb USB SSD which is terrific (although expensive).

Anyway... sure, go ahead and use the internal disk. Maybe it's fine? But personally, I wouldn't put any important files there. That's just me. You'll have to decide whether it's worth the risk. Backups are essential, but a backup of a corrupt file is still a corrupt file.

I agree again, if there is budget for things like 4TB SSDs then that is a safer way to go, though HDDs are not inherently unreliable and are still the basis for almost all large scale backup storage. But yes, never good to trust important and irreplaceable information to one single back-up media, even an SSD. A mix is the best.

 

[Hrothgar]

My 2014 mini slowed significantly when I upgraded to Catalina. In the past few weeks, it has gotten much worse.
I figured it was Apple's way to tell me I should buy a new Mini.

 

[ChrisChaval]

this thread motivated me to do a little research on the possibility of upgrading the base Mac mini 2014 with a PCIe SSD.

From what I have read so far, it should be possibile even with Mac minis that originally did not come with such a drive, all the connections seem to be there.

owc even sells an upgrade kit for that specific Mac mini model containing everything from the drive itself (the aura series) to tools, cables and screws.

one very useful thread has already been posted above:

Using a Standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the 2014 Mini

In searching the web a month ago, I wasn't able to find articles on using a standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the 2014 Mini. I was going to order a Toshiba/OCZ RD400 for some yet-to-be-defined future use NOT in the 2014 Mini (it's a good PCIe SSD that Toshiba will be discontinuing and the 256GB...

forums.macrumors.com

I also found an instructional video on how to actually install/upgrade the drive:

How to Replace the PCIe SSD in a 2014 Mac mini

In this video, we show you how to upgrade or replace the PCIe SSD in a Late 2014 Mac mini with a new one, such as the OWC Aura Pro X2 or the OWC Aura N.

blog.macsales.com

maybe, sitting at home day in and day out ..., I might give it a try. the procedure seems to be straight forward and much easier and quicker than replacing the HDD with a SATA HDD for which you need to dismantle the whole mini.

currently, I am booting my mini from an external usb3 drive which is fine, much better than the internal HDD anyway. usb3 speeds are ok, but better suited for large file transfers.

 

[Sai22]

this thread motivated me to do a little research on the possibility of upgrading the base Mac mini 2014 with a PCIe SSD.

From what I have read so far, it should be possibile even with Mac minis that originally did not come with such a drive, all the connections seem to be there.

owc even sells an upgrade kit for that specific Mac mini model containing everything from the drive itself (the aura series) to tools, cables and screws.

one very useful thread has already been posted above:

Using a Standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the 2014 Mini

In searching the web a month ago, I wasn't able to find articles on using a standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the 2014 Mini. I was going to order a Toshiba/OCZ RD400 for some yet-to-be-defined future use NOT in the 2014 Mini (it's a good PCIe SSD that Toshiba will be discontinuing and the 256GB...

forums.macrumors.com

I also found an instructional video on how to actually install/upgrade the drive:

How to Replace the PCIe SSD in a 2014 Mac mini

In this video, we show you how to upgrade or replace the PCIe SSD in a Late 2014 Mac mini with a new one, such as the OWC Aura Pro X2 or the OWC Aura N.

blog.macsales.com

maybe, sitting at home day in and day out ..., I might give it a try. the procedure seems to be straight forward and much easier and quicker than replacing the HDD with a SATA HDD for which you need to dismantle the whole mini.

currently, I am booting my mini from an external usb3 drive which is fine, much better than the internal HDD anyway. usb3 speeds are ok, but better suited for large file transfers.

Good to hear. Yes, there is a lot of info available and it seems pretty straightforward.
I looked at the OWC kit and would have ordered but shipping costs to Europe were too high for my budget. ifixit has a EU store, but I couldn't find the part there. In the end I found a very cheap part on AliExpress, should be delivered in a week or so. I'll post an update once I have it installed.
Happy quarantine everybody. Get upgrading.

 

[ChrisChaval]

I found such a kit on amazon (Italy). Not cheap, but available:

OWC - Aura Pro X2 da 240 GB - Soluzione aggiuntiva per unità a stato solido NVMe per Mac mini solo HDD (fine 2014)

Owc 240gb aura pro x2 ssd add-on solution for mac mini 2014.

www.amazon.it

[automerge]1586068872[/automerge]
and here, this is the OWC EU shop:

Mac mini 2014 Aura Pro X add-on Kit - 54.18EUR - OWCshop

Mac mini 2014 Aura Pro X add-on Kit - Kit with tools and installation components for adding an internal Flash/SSD drive to a Mac mini not configured with a b...

www.owcshop.eu

this is the price for the kit minus the drive which you will need to add

 

[Sai22]

I found such a kit on amazon (Italy). Not cheap, but available:

OWC - Aura Pro X2 da 240 GB - Soluzione aggiuntiva per unità a stato solido NVMe per Mac mini solo HDD (fine 2014)

Owc 240gb aura pro x2 ssd add-on solution for mac mini 2014.

www.amazon.it

[automerge]1586068872[/automerge]
and here, this is the OWC EU shop:

Mac mini 2014 Aura Pro X add-on Kit - 54.18EUR - OWCshop

Mac mini 2014 Aura Pro X add-on Kit - Kit with tools and installation components for adding an internal Flash/SSD drive to a Mac mini not configured with a b...

www.owcshop.eu

this is the price for the kit minus the drive which you will need to add

Good work finding that site, I'm surprised I didn't see any reference to it when I was looking.
Be careful with the Amazon "kit" because I don't see the adapter cable which is required.

 

[Sai22]

To update and bring this thread to a close, I received and installed the NVMExpress adapter and the 256GB SSD (Model: INTEL SSDPEKKF256G7H). It was a very quick process (no more than 5 minutes).
I am running the start up disk from there (High Sierra) and the less essential files I have left on the original 1TB HDD. Now it seems to be running very smoothly, fires up in about 15 seconds and is giving the following disk speed readings.
As you can see a 10x improvement.

I found the adapter on Ali Express, it took a while to be delivered, especially now with Covid-19, but well worth the wait. For less than €50 I have a totally revived computer. I hope all this info can be of use to others. Be safe.

 

[ChrisChaval]

glad to hear this!

In the end I bought the OWC upgrade kit from amazon which contained everything: the 240 gb drive, connector cable, plate and tools.

The install of the drive took about 5 minutes, and after a Catalina re-install from a time machine backup my mini was up and running with everything in place where I left it, just much, much more responsive: I now get around 700MB/s in read and write as opposed to a meager 100 MB/s with the external USB 3 SSD drive (which was the cable's fault as I discovered, with another cable that speed rose to around 400MB/s)

I am very happy with my mini now it feels like a new machine. without this thread I would not have noticed that you can easily put a pcie drive in a 2014 Mini , so thank you!

and for those who are wondering: the owc drive has full TRIM support

 

[Hrothgar]

How do you grab those Blackmagic screen shots? I'm running it, and it's cycling between about 250 mb/s write and 45 mb/s write.

If I put in an SSD, will it speed up the entire computer, or just the boot time?
I've got a late 2014 mini (not fusion).

Free: 448.87 GB (448,872,411,136 bytes)
Capacity: 1.12 TB (1,121,118,199,808 bytes)
Mount Point: /System/Volumes/Data
File System: APFS
Writable: Yes
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk2s1
Volume UUID: A68FE1F6-F810-3242-BF6C-B768B895326A
Physical Drive:
Device Name: APPLE SSD SM0128F
Media Name: AppleAPFSMedia
Medium Type: SSD
Protocol: PCI
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: Unknown
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

 

[Sai22]

It will definitely speed up the whole computer. Actually, it'll be like you got a new mac. Mine was kicking out similar readings to your, but look at it now!
BTW, to grab a screenshot of Blackmagic Disk Speed, just stop the reading by pressing the start/stop button then go to the little settings button above and select screenshot.
As you may have seen, above in this thread there is a link to an Ali Express shop with a very cheap PCIe adapter and stick. Good luck.

 

[ivnj]

I have mac mini 2014 2.6ghz 8gb ram.

I got a cheap lacie rugged external with thunderbolt and usb 3.0 for 60 dollars off ebay.

The internal spinner on my mac mini was about 80mbps and the lacie was 110mbps.

Warranty expired 2015 so I opened her up and replaced it with a sandisk 240gb plus ssd. Jumped to 324/329 read/write. Much better. Did not seem like much better but wow so much faster.

Not sure if its thunderbolt 1 or 2. But 2014 mini is thunderbolt 2. Anyhow plugin my thunderbolt port only no usb. And it boots catalina 10.15.4 in 23 seconds.

Used to be almost 2 minutes from internal. And 50 seconds with a clean install of HS. But from external 23 seconds. Not bad for external.

Maybe with a faster ssd even better. My HP ssd only gets like 20mbps so drive matters too. But for now not bad.