new 27inch data swap

[martinchivers]

OK, let's try some more.

The external SSD has "all the stuff" from your OLD Mac, right, Martin?

And you seem to be able to boot the newer iMac from it.

The next step is going to be another "clone".
Only this time, you're cloning the contents of the external drive to the internal drive on the new Mac.

THIS WILL WIPE OUT ALL DATA that's on the internal drive.
This is OK, it's what we want.

The old drive is probably HFS+, so, YES, SuperDuper will erase it and reformat it to APFS BEFORE it copies all the data over.

This is what we want.

So get back to where you were in reply 24 above, and click "convert", and let SuperDuper do its job.

When done, the OS and data on the SSD will now be on the new internal drive.

When it's done, you also need to go to the startup disk preference pane on the NEW Mac, and set it to boot from the internal drive.

Thanks. I’m still very lost! I’ve unplugged the (old SSD from the old Mac) after initially plugging it into the new Mac. I have the brand new bigger SSD plugged in and as you say, it boots into it fine using the option key. Do I copy crucial SSD (2tb) onto mac hd? Or do I plug my old SSD in and copy that?

I’ve not been able to fully understand what to do, i’m sorry.

If it’s the new SSD with the clone on it to the Mac hd i’m getting this (image attached)….i’m using my iPhone to reply now and the image is literally a photo of my screen. So hope you can read it.

 

[Fishrrman]

OK, Martin, I'll try one more time.

Look at the picture above.

Look towards the bottom.

Do you see where it says "convert to APFS"?

Just click that.

Then SuperDuper will copy from the SSD to the internal drive.

Would you give it another try?

 

[martinchivers]

OK, Martin, I'll try one more time.

Look at the picture above.

Look towards the bottom.

Do you see where it says "convert to APFS"?

Just click that.

Then SuperDuper will copy from the SSD to the internal drive.

Would you give it another try?

Thank you. Yes I will look at it again on Monday

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Yes, that's called Powerline Networking. Post #14 will almost certainly work.

Once you have the switch (go get one at Walmart or similar if you don't want to wait out Amazon delivery), pull the ethernet cable out of iMac and plug it into switch. That gets the Powerline-based internet into the switch.

Connect both iMacs to that same switch. Internet will then be shared to both iMacs. Both will be connected.

Think of this like water (internet) flowing through pipes (ethernet cables). Right now you have a single pipe. An ethernet "switch" will turn one pipe into five pipes. Connect 2 more "pipes" to where you want the water to go. It will flow to both.

Switch will likely work better than that splitter in your picture and cost about the same. Bonus: instead of giving you only 2 ethernet ports, that switch will give you FIVE, so you can plug anything else in over in that separate building that could benefit from wired internet (future television? AppleTV? Other stuff).

But for now, keep it simple: 3 ethernet cables plugged into the switch:

• One from the powerline box plugged into your wall
• One from old iMac
• One from newer iMac

Why didn't you recommend a Wireless router for OP?
He still can get 4 Lan Ports for wired network, while having wireless network at the same time?

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www.amazon.com

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

OP already has a router and he explicitly referenced “very inexpensive” in the first post looking for the solution. He also showed he desired a wired connection, though favoring an option- the ethernet 'splitter'- that prob would NOT work.

An ethernet switch will be much cheaper than any router and do the job of connecting both Macs just fine (both are confirmed to have Ethernet and are apparently located together in his office).

 

[martinchivers]

OK, Martin, I'll try one more time.

Look at the picture above.

Look towards the bottom.

Do you see where it says "convert to APFS"?

Just click that.

Then SuperDuper will copy from the SSD to the internal drive.

Would you give it another try?

ok, back in the office this morning. I've revisited. got it! Currently copying the external SSD to the Mac HD. Once done, I assume its best to reformat the external drive and use for whatever (time machine probably). the new Mac will then boot from the internal drive, I assume. In terms of my old Mac, I may as well advertise it and sell, complete with the external drive that I have run if from previously, as thats only 500gb and not really any use to me. I'll just delete the data from it, leaving the os. and delete the time machine backups (I'll copy the very oldest version and a couple more, just incase) from the Mac HD & its good to go? Anything else I should do? I'm extremely grateful for all your help.

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't use time machine and don't recommend it.

Rather, you might consider to keep using either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to "maintain the cloned backup" on the SSD.

The old Mac can be "cleaned" and sold. And that is that.

Something I suggest you do once you get the newer iMac up-and-running:

Get BlackMagic Speed Test (a FREE drive speed testing app).

Run a test on your INTERNAL drive (new iMac).
Write down the read/write speeds on paper.

Now run a test on your external SSD.
Write down the read/write speeds on paper.

Compare the results.
Which is faster?

 

[martinchivers]

I don't use time machine and don't recommend it.

Rather, you might consider to keep using either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to "maintain the cloned backup" on the SSD.

The old Mac can be "cleaned" and sold. And that is that.

Something I suggest you do once you get the newer iMac up-and-running:

Get BlackMagic Speed Test (a FREE drive speed testing app).

Run a test on your INTERNAL drive (new iMac).
Write down the read/write speeds on paper.

Now run a test on your external SSD.
Write down the read/write speeds on paper.

Compare the results.
Which is faster?

Thanks again for all the help. I am currently no copying the data which has taken eight hours or thereabouts so far. Once done I’ll be able to fully look at it.

I’m away on holiday on Wednesday morning so won’t be doing much between now and then but we’ll take what you say on board

 

[martinchivers]

the super duper has finally finished copying everything to the Mac HD (new computer). I've shut down, unplugged the external SSD and rebooted (from the Mac HD). First impressions is that the boot was very slow. I've looked in Disk utility to try to establish whether the Mac hd is SSD or not. its listed as "Fusion drive"/ container disc and it 3.12 TB. when I hit get info, it says Solid state.....yes. But may be quite old. I agree the brand new external SSD will be quicker. So that leads me to the question of how to use that instead. as the OS is booting now from the internal disc. I'll be working in the office tomorrow, last day before my holiday so will action any suggestions then if I can. One small thing, is that the computer name in finder is 21.5 iMac, which I suspect is an easy fix, but I don't know how to do that.

 

[Fishrrman]

You need to go to the startup disk preference pane and RE-designate the internal drive as the new boot drive.

 

[davidlv]

the super duper has finally finished copying everything to the Mac HD (new computer). I've shut down, unplugged the external SSD and rebooted (from the Mac HD). First impressions is that the boot was very slow. I've looked in Disk utility to try to establish whether the Mac hd is SSD or not. its listed as "Fusion drive"/ container disc and it 3.12 TB. when I hit get info, it says Solid state.....yes. But may be quite old. I agree the brand new external SSD will be quicker. So that leads me to the question of how to use that instead. as the OS is booting now from the internal disc. I'll be working in the office tomorrow, last day before my holiday so will action any suggestions then if I can. One small thing, is that the computer name in finder is 21.5 iMac, which I suspect is an easy fix, but I don't know how to do that.

Learn how to use Google:
"Change the Name of a Mac computer", Google results shown below:
You can view and change your computer's name in the About settings window. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click About on the right. (You may need to scroll down.) Type a new name in the Name field. Macintosh HD is the traditional name, even for an SSD, but anything is OK, for example, "Tundra", "Fusion", "Martin Keep", etc.
Your iMac is most likely the iMac 15,1. That is shown by; Apple Menu, About this Mac, More Info, scroll down and hit
System Report. Hardware, top left should show the Mac model.
MacTracker, a small useful app on the Apple App Store, shows the drive is a 3TB hard drive (usually Seagate) and a 128GB Apple blade "Fused" together so the end user sees only one drive. I have the same iMac, originally with a 1TB Fusion drive, now split into a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. That is doable, but perhaps a little above your current skill level. Probably best to just use the computer as it is. How much RAM is installed? It is very easy to install for RAM, as there are 4 RAM slots, user access available.

 

[martinchivers]

Learn how to use Google:
"Change the Name of a Mac computer", Google results shown below:
You can view and change your computer's name in the About settings window. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click About on the right. (You may need to scroll down.) Type a new name in the Name field. Macintosh HD is the traditional name, even for an SSD, but anything is OK, for example, "Tundra", "Fusion", "Martin Keep", etc.
Your iMac is most likely the iMac 15,1. That is shown by; Apple Menu, About this Mac, More Info, scroll down and hit
System Report. Hardware, top left should show the Mac model.
MacTracker, a small useful app on the Apple App Store, shows the drive is a 3TB hard drive (usually Seagate) and a 128GB Apple blade "Fused" together so the end user sees only one drive. I have the same iMac, originally with a 1TB Fusion drive, now split into a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. That is doable, but perhaps a little above your current skill level. Probably best to just use the computer as it is. How much RAM is installed? It is very easy to install for RAM, as there are 4 RAM slots, user access available.

Thanks. Will do tomorrow. It’s got 32 gig of ram. 4x 8gig.

 

[davidlv]

Thanks. Will do tomorrow. It’s got 32 gig of ram. 4x 8gig.

You can also change the name of the Startup drive, the Icon on the desktop (Finder prefs set to show HDD etc), by selecting the icon name (one click) then aafter a second, another click, should highlight the name allowing you to edit it.

 

[martinchivers]

You can also change the name of the Startup drive, the Icon on the desktop (Finder prefs set to show HDD etc), by selecting the icon name (one click) then aafter a second, another click, should highlight the name allowing you to edit it.

Will do! Thanks

 

[davidlv]

Will do! Thanks

After some reflection, I thought I would let you know about some quirks I have found with my 2014 iMac 15,1, basically the same machine you have, except for the smaller 1TB HDD installed. 1.) This may be specific to my machine, but be aware that there may be a limit to using the 4 USB ports (USB 3) on the iMac. I have found that if I use all four ports, the machine will not recognize attached SSDs or HDDs correctly. If I only use 3 of the 4 ports, everything works. I usually have a USB interface to an external app and speakers attached to the 1st USB port, and I will occasionally attach 2 external drives. Attaching 3 external drives screws everything up. 2. The computer will sometimes refuse to operate the Software Update preference pane correctly, and I have to switch to a second user, with almost nothing installed, in order to get updates. That might be due to something I have installed, but that issue remains a question mark. You may not have that quirk at all. 3.) The iMac 15,1 will boot Big Sur without using OCLP, and Monterey using OCLP, but no post install root patches are necessary, so either of those systems can be easily installed. However, when it comes to Ventura, you need a USB 2.0 hub witha wired keyboard and mouse attached until after you run the post install root patches. Without that hub, even a wired mouse and keyboard will be as slow as a glacier making it super difficult to finish an OS installation. I have done it without a hub, but it was very, very painful.
OTA updates are easier, like Ventura to Sonoma.

 

[martinchivers]

After some reflection, I thought I would let you know about some quirks I have found with my 2014 iMac 15,1, basically the same machine you have, except for the smaller 1TB HDD installed. 1.) This may be specific to my machine, but be aware that there may be a limit to using the 4 USB ports (USB 3) on the iMac. I have found that if I use all four ports, the machine will not recognize attached SSDs or HDDs correctly. If I only use 3 of the 4 ports, everything works. I usually have a USB interface to an external app and speakers attached to the 1st USB port, and I will occasionally attach 2 external drives. Attaching 3 external drives screws everything up. 2. The computer will sometimes refuse to operate the Software Update preference pane correctly, and I have to switch to a second user, with almost nothing installed, in order to get updates. That might be due to something I have installed, but that issue remains a question mark. You may not have that quirk at all. 3.) The iMac 15,1 will boot Big Sur without using OCLP, and Monterey using OCLP, but no post install root patches are necessary, so either of those systems can be easily installed. However, when it comes to Ventura, you need a USB 2.0 hub witha wired keyboard and mouse attached until after you run the post install root patches. Without that hub, even a wired mouse and keyboard will be as slow as a glacier making it super difficult to finish an OS installation. I have done it without a hub, but it was very, very painful.
OTA updates are easier, like Ventura to Sonoma.

Thank you. So fat it’s not had much plugged into it while setting it up. I’m hoping to to complete the setup today and swap over. So will be mindful of this potential issue. I have 2 printers and lots of stuff plugged into the old one so will see how it goes today.

 

[martinchivers]

I've physically swapped the Macs now & using the new one. Despite, now, booting from the external SSD, it's a slow boot, probably 3 times longer than the old computer. Not really an issue ultimately, but I'm just wondering why that should be. Its newer, has a better processor and a lot more ram.

Second problem is that excel isn't activated now. Word will be the same. I can open documents, edit them but not save them. This is a massive problem. Whatever was carried over, hasn't worked.


I really want to use time machine, as its something I've used for a long, long time. Was going to set it up. My data (documents) are on both the internal and crucial SSD. (after cloning the old one & copying back to the new one) But when editing, which version am I using? (i.e which hard drive) I need to set the drive to copy and the one to copy to. (at least I thing I do). within the settings Mac HD is listed, but recon thats the internal drive on the old Mac. How do I set it all up on the new machine?

Any help would be gratefully received.

 

[davidlv]

I've physically swapped the Macs now & using the new one. Despite, now, booting from the external SSD, it's a slow boot, probably 3 times longer than the old computer. Not really an issue ultimately, but I'm just wondering why that should be. Its newer, has a better processor and a lot more ram.

Second problem is that excel isn't activated now. Word will be the same. I can open documents, edit them but not save them. This is a massive problem. Whatever was carried over, hasn't worked.


I really want to use time machine, as its something I've used for a long, long time. Was going to set it up. My data (documents) are on both the internal and crucial SSD. (after cloning the old one & copying back to the new one) But when editing, which version am I using? (i.e which hard drive) I need to set the drive to copy and the one to copy to. (at least I thing I do). within the settings Mac HD is listed, but recon thats the internal drive on the old Mac. How do I set it all up on the new machine?

Any help would be gratefully received.

1. The speed of the boot is not really a mystery. The External SSD is intrinsically much faster than the internal Fusion drive, but the interface of the internal drive is much faster than the external drive as it is connected via a USB 3.0 port.
Once booted, the external drive is fast enough, don't worry about that.
2. However, I recommend that you use the internal fusion drive as the main drive and the external SSD as a Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) back up drive. The reason is simply that the internal drive gets Trim activated automatically and the external drive cannot use trim. That is a limitation of the USB port. You should reformat the external drive using Apple's APFS and then run CCC to make a backup of the internal drive on the external. It will not be a bootable disk, but that is OK. Read the blog at https://bombich.com/ for more info.
That way, you will know that the content of the internal drive will always have the latest version of your files.
You can use the external drive, once it is initialized as a APFS drive, as a Time Machine backup if you prefer that to CCC. Your choice and your responsibility.
It should be obvious which drive is the source and which is the target in the Time Machine app. I never use that app, so I can't give you any more hints. I have a license for CCC, money well spent in my opinion. The main programmer at Bombich software is really good at what he does and everyone at the company is a pleasure to work with when you have an issue. They respond quickly and are very helpful. A rare case these days, a "responsible" company.
I have no financila connection to CCC, I am just a very satisfied customer.
3. As for Office apps not being activated, that happens, but it can usually be resolved easily by checking the Excel, Word etc., Menu top left. It should give you the choice of activating the license again.
You can always hit the MS home page and download the latest installer;

Update history for Office for Mac - Office release notes

Provides IT Pros with information about the latest updates for Office for Mac, including links to download packages, and an update history

learn.microsoft.com

 

[martinchivers]

Good morning Guys. thanks again for all your help, so far. I'm back from my holiday (in Turkey, very nice!). So continuing getting up and running with the new 27 inch.

I have both Macs running using the old one as my active system, as I've a problem with word and excel. Working fine on the old one. I don't remember installing it or where its from, but its not a legit version. Now on the clone, new Mac its the only software that doesn't work. It opens but uneditable or unsaveable. It there a file within the application that needs to be used to "activate" it? I don't particularly want to pay a subscription or one off fee. The version is 16.66.1. I also have office 2011, but the software will not open, has a cross through them. I've a folder called "Microsoft_office_16.42.20101102_installer.pkg" but this could be the older version?

Any pointers gratefully received. Martin

 

[davidlv]

Good morning Guys. thanks again for all your help, so far. I'm back from my holiday (in Turkey, very nice!). So continuing getting up and running with the new 27 inch.

I have both Macs running using the old one as my active system, as I've a problem with word and excel. Working fine on the old one. I don't remember installing it or where its from, but its not a legit version. Now on the clone, new Mac its the only software that doesn't work. It opens but uneditable or unsaveable. It there a file within the application that needs to be used to "activate" it? I don't particularly want to pay a subscription or one off fee. The version is 16.66.1. I also have office 2011, but the software will not open, has a cross through them. I've a folder called "Microsoft_office_16.42.20101102_installer.pkg" but this could be the older version?

Any pointers gratefully received. Martin

I don't think anyone will help you to use software that is obviously a "pirate" version. I suggest you use one of the free versions of Office suite, see the URL below.

🔎 free office software - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[martinchivers]

David. yeah, thanks. I've looked at stuff like pages and libra office before and just don't like them.

 

[martinchivers]

A lot of my applications are greyed out (grey circle with a line through) after finishing cloning the old 21 inch Mac. Looking at these, they aren't applications I'm using as far as I know. Shall I just uninstall these?

Another problem is the excessive boot up time. I suspect there is a conflict somewhere. The disk utility looks slightly weird. (see picture) I'm actually thinking of wiping the lot and starting fresh. Obviously the one thing I wanted to avoid.

 

[davidlv]

A lot of my applications are greyed out (grey circle with a line through) after finishing cloning the old 21 inch Mac. Looking at these, they aren't applications I'm using as far as I know. Shall I just uninstall these?

View attachment 2293062 Another problem is the excessive boot up time. I suspect there is a conflict somewhere. The disk utility looks slightly weird. (see picture) I'm actually thinking of wiping the lot and starting fresh. Obviously the one thing I wanted to avoid.

Nothing strange with the Disk Utility screenshot. The **** - Data disks are normal, that's how macOS hides the system from the User's data. The Fusion drive is actually 2 disks, a small SSD and a spinner HDD. The Fusion drive system merges the 2 disks so you only see one disk. They can be split into separate disks but I doubt you will want to do that. The slow boot time may be normal, but it is difficult to tell. The idea of a conflict was valid in the System 9 days, and may still be on the windows platform, but on a Macintosh and using macOS, I haven't heard that phrase for over 20 years, probably 30. The Apple system has its issues, but they are almost always bad programing issues, not conflicts between third party softwares.
The only strange thing I see here is your reluctance to pay for the software you use. I use MS Office to make a living and of course, I have a valid license. If you must use MS Office get a subscription or use a free, alternative version. It's about, what less than a 100 bucks a year. You can make that back in one job!

 

[martinchivers]

David, thank you. Yes, I may well go down the route of buying the office software. I'd rather buy the software outright & instal it than the cloud/online version. What is my best (cheapest) option? Which version of office is the latest?

 

[Chuckeee]

Some of the apps that are crosses out or not working are probably 32-bit apps. Catalina and subsequent MacOS will only run 64-bit applications . You can check this by looking at the Get Info for the effected application. It will denote 32-bits next to the application name located at the top of the Get Info window. Unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to get a replacement updated version of the app