Problem with putting SSD in 2012 Mac Mini

[Joelburman]

I've been trying to install an SSD disk in my 2012 (i5) Mac Mini. The disk inside before the swap was the original 500gb platter drive. The SSD I'm trying to install is a Crucial MX100 256gb that I've previously used as a system drive in my 2011 MBP but lately I've been using it as a storage drive inside a USB 3 caddy.

I did a carbon copy clone between the original drive and the SSD both in USB caddies on my MBP (long story why I choose that option). Now I get the following error screen.

Someone have any ideas?

 

[Daniva]

I did a carbon copy clone between the original drive and the SSD both in USB caddies on my MBP (long story why I choose that option). Now I get the following error screen.

It doesn't find a system folder to start up from. Try to reboot holding Cmd R keys and reinstall from OS X Recovery

 

[Joelburman]

It doesn't find a system folder to start up from. Try to reboot holding Cmd R keys and reinstall from OS X Recovery

Thanks! This looks promising!

 

[gustavopi]

I used a SSD in a caddy for two years in my mac mini 2.1, and than strange problems starts to happens from nowhere. I was thinking my SSD was broken but I decided to try it in the original place for HDD inside de Mini. Now it's working again. The caddy still works with a second HDD (I swap the SSD with original HDD) but it does not boot from it, nor even with an optical drive with original OS X DVD install (it can be done with a SATA extension cable).

So consider the possibility of your caddy being malfunction for some reason.

 

[treekram]

I'm not sure of word definition here. What I would consider a "caddy" is something to place a HDD where an optical drive (or an HDD of a larger size) used to be. However, if you enter "USB caddy" in the US Amazon search and you get enclosures and docking stations so I don't doubt that's a common usage of the word.

In any case, Mini's from 2011 and later didn't have an optical drive. So if gustavi was referring to the internal type of caddy, that isn't applicable. Still what's been suggested may be on the right track - maybe there's a problem with the external USB 3 enclosure/docking station or something happened to the cable in the Mini when the SSD replacement was done. Unlike some of the MBP models, I haven't heard of problems with the Mini cable working with a HDD but not working with a SSD.

 

[gustavopi]

I'm not sure of word definition here. What I would consider a "caddy" is something to place a HDD where an optical drive (or an HDD of a larger size) used to be. However, if you enter "USB caddy" in the US Amazon search and you get enclosures and docking stations so I don't doubt that's a common usage of the word.

In any case, Mini's from 2011 and later didn't have an optical drive. So if gustavi was referring to the internal type of caddy, that isn't applicable. Still what's been suggested may be on the right track - maybe there's a problem with the external USB 3 enclosure/docking station or something happened to the cable in the Mini when the SSD replacement was done. Unlike some of the MBP models, I haven't heard of problems with the Mini cable working with a HDD but not working with a SSD.

My comment was generic, so he might consider other possibilities as well, I taken months to discover that my SDD was not the problem :-/. In my case, it was an internal caddy to put an SDD or HDD in the optical drive bay, but can happens with external cases too.