Hi All I just got my Mac Mini 2012 and I am planning to install the SSD out of my Mac Pro 2006 running 10.7.5. I am hoping to avoid a complete reinstall of the OS. I will upgrade to 10.8.2 after but I cannot do this before because it is not supported on my current Mac Pro. Will the Mini Boot with the 10.7.5 drive or will I be screwed because of minimum OS version on the new Mini? Is it possible to upgrade the OS without reformatting the drive?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New Mac Mini with Old startup disk
- Thread starter JimT1701
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Uhhhhhh....... Super random, but super cool question. 
I would put ur chances at 50%, because you should be missing key drivers.
I made a ML install USB for my SSD install and it was completed in about 15min
Data transfer took about 2hours while I watched Firefly (good show)
That would be the simplest quickest and most hassle free solution
I would put ur chances at 50%, because you should be missing key drivers.
I made a ML install USB for my SSD install and it was completed in about 15min
Data transfer took about 2hours while I watched Firefly (good show)
That would be the simplest quickest and most hassle free solution
Since my data is on the SSD already can i perform an upgrade to the existing install? Do you still get an install usb or is internet recovery the only way? Ive never used internet recovery before will it work with no bootable OS?
You are stressing my brain. Ok ok. Install ssd. ML on USB installer, use the installer welcome screen to partition ssd and install ML. From there, I think you can use ML desktop to go into your old partition file structure and pull data!
OR.
Pull hdd from new Mac mini, install as second drive in macpro, put data on second drive.
Wipe ssd, install in mini, install ML. Install second drive into mini
hummmm so there is no way to just install SSD as is with 10.7.5 into mini as only drive. Run USB installer and have it upgrade the existing install just as if i were to install from the app store?
It will work with no bootable OS. If you have a time machine backup, you could use internet recovery to install OSX then migrate data from time machine backup.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
Yes I will superduper the drive first then experiment i guess. I just dont want to reinstall apps and loose preferences. Looks like I am in for a fun weekend. Crossing fingers it is as simple as an upgrade from USB. But I do have a time machine backup. So i guess I could fresh install ML on the SSD and recover everything from Time Machine? I have never actually restored anything from TM it has always just been there backing up lol.
Fresh installs are usually the best, then use migration assistant to retrieve all settings and data from time machine.
Internet recovery will upgrade your existing OS without a problem. There's no USB recovery included, and you can't use the Mountain Lion installer from the App Store with the 2012 mini, as it's the wrong version of OS.
OK so here is the verdict. After installing the SSD and trying to boot i got a gray circle with a line through it on my screen. Holding down Command-R gave me the Apple but since it was a Lion Recovery partition nothing happened. So after some fiddling I just decided to format the SSD and use Internet Recovery. Luckily I used super duper to clone the SSD to a regular HD. I installed that back to the Pro and it booted up normally. After Internet recovery finished I used Migration Assistant to copy all my settings and apps from the Pro over the network. That actually works really well. It even copied over iDVD which you can't even get any more. So all in all it was not as smooth a transition as I wanted but I am sending this now from the working Mini with my Samsung 830 SSD and all my settings and apps transferred. Thanks for the advice, hopefully this thread will help someone else. Cheers.