Using SSD only for OS X

[deconstruct60]

To be on the safe side...

Why not create an emergency 'admin' user and leave its home folder on the SSD before moving your regular user's home folder to the external HD?

If starting from scratch that is fine. However, the situations in this thread seem to indicate that there is already a fused OS X + Apps + User volume already in place.

How is the OS getting onto the new SSD drive? A bootable clone , restore from back up , or fresh/clean install ?

System restore from back-up would run into a problem if HDD content is bigger than the SSD. ( plus overhead of copying stuff on that will immediately remove. )

Some bootable cloners allow user to mark some folders outside of the process of cloning. In that case:

a. create admin account.
b. mark all the other user accounts as outside scope of cloning.


A clean install implicitly requires that the accounts be created in same order were created on the system image on the HDD ( so the user ID , UID, numbers all are consistent between old and new system. ) [ I think some folks get whacked systems when create mismatched UID and the copying between old/new volumes goes sideways. ]

Then you should be able to log in as the 'admin' user and change settings even if your external drive isn't connected.

Even internal drives can 'disappear'. If the OS disk dies and the admin account is on the same disk, it really doesn't matter much. Can't boot that OS much less login. But if the HDD dies but the SSD is OK you'll still want to be able to login and do some administrative things. ( run back up recovery, run diagnostics , etc. ). That account doesn't need a huge Photo Album, music , custom Logic plug-ins, etc.


Even if not splitting home directory locations it is still prudent to have a separate admin account and run "normal" app usage in a non privileged account. There is no good reason for normal users to run with admin privileges turned on all the time.

 

[ixxx69]

Okay, this is a dilemma now

No, there shouldn't be a dilemma. If you're still confused about something, ask for clarification.

There shouldn't be any issue installing the OS and all your apps on the SSD. In my previous Mac Pro, I had an 80GB SSD and a HDD for my home folder. While I would highly recommend getting at least a 240GB SSD (larger if you can afford it!), I was able to have Mavericks, all the typical apps, MS Office, the entire Adobe CC, etc. installed on 80GB.

I would recommend starting from scratch with the OS install on the SSD and create all new accounts. Move your old users folder (containing your user account "home" folders) to wherever you want on the HDD. Then reassign your "new" account to your "old" home folder using the guide I posted previously. After everything is working right, you can then delete the old OS X.

However, as others have suggested, if you have a large enough SSD, you may just as well keep the primary user account (home folder) on the SSD and use that for daily use, and then use the HDD for additional storage space, iTunes library, etc.

I split it up because at the time, 80GB was a large and expensive SSD (circa 2009), and I didn't have room for my data. Get a 240GB or larger SSD and the whole issue goes away and you can keep things way simpler!

Good luck!

 

[Silly John Fatty]

No, there shouldn't be a dilemma. If you're still confused about something, ask for clarification.

There shouldn't be any issue installing the OS and all your apps on the SSD. In my previous Mac Pro, I had an 80GB SSD and a HDD for my home folder. While I would highly recommend getting at least a 240GB SSD (larger if you can afford it!), I was able to have Mavericks, all the typical apps, MS Office, the entire Adobe CC, etc. installed on 80GB.

I would recommend starting from scratch with the OS install on the SSD and create all new accounts. Move your old users folder (containing your user account "home" folders) to wherever you want on the HDD. Then reassign your "new" account to your "old" home folder using the guide I posted previously. After everything is working right, you can then delete the old OS X.

However, as others have suggested, if you have a large enough SSD, you may just as well keep the primary user account (home folder) on the SSD and use that for daily use, and then use the HDD for additional storage space, iTunes library, etc.

I split it up because at the time, 80GB was a large and expensive SSD (circa 2009), and I didn't have room for my data. Get a 240GB or larger SSD and the whole issue goes away and you can keep things way simpler!

Good luck!

Yes, thanks, and thanks for all the other replies too! I need to find the time and read them a few times again to understand everything yet

I'll probably go with a 512 GB, that would be sufficient space for the Home folder but I'll be adding more Logic Pro plugins in the future so I'd like to keep the space for that.

Also, this is a fresh install! The Mac Pro is still in the box I didn't even start it yet, but I'm still looking for a screen. So it makes it hard to picture some of these things for me also.
I have my time machine backups however, but I'll only start backing them up once everything is set up. I hope that doesn't complicate things!