Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
In case you got a SSD :
It's recommended to activate TRIM (you could do that after all the install hassle )
Open Terminal and type:

sudo trimforce enable

It will ask your password and some warning you can ignore .

What is the purpose of doing that?
 
TRIM keeps the SSD nice and clean so improves performance especially after a longer period of usage.
By default the OS only activates TRIM automatically if there's an OEM Apple SSD installed.

Okay, thanks. You've been very helpful!

I'm about ready to break down and update this old bucket-of-bolts?!

The software on this older Mac has all but ground to a halt - although I still fear breaking a few things that I have yet to migrate.

But like when I read Google News at night, it only loads half the page, and I have to wait 5-10 minutes for the rest of the news to appear.

Also, after I click on a few links nd open news articles in another tab/window, it can take 15-20 minutes for the pages to load.

This makes reading the news each night quite lengthy! ;-)

Probably a fact that my browsers are so outdated...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: KeesMacPro
make a good TimeMachine backup first ;)
After installing all it's easy with ImmigrationAssistant to import all your data.

Although 8GB RAM is not too much, but sufficient ,performance with TRIM enabled and Mojave will improve significantly.
 
make a good TimeMachine backup first ;)
After installing all it's easy with ImmigrationAssistant to import all your data.

Although 8GB RAM is not too much, but sufficient ,performance with TRIM enabled and Mojave will improve significantly.

Well, I was led to believe in the past that I could just upgrade the OS and Apple would leave my data alone.

But since I have to update the firmware and switch from NFS+ to APFS, I guess that doesn't apply?

The whole reason that I have *not* touch this old Mac is that migration is NOT an easy thing when it comes to old apps and to all fo my settings and all of my data.

And as I type I am thinking this needs to get postponed until later... ;-)
 
Your data will be fine, having a backup is just best practice. Converting to APFS won’t delete anything.

But going from Mountain Lion to Mojave certainly could break some applications and configurations that I have, right?

And, yes, I am on the CCC bandwagon, so no worries there.
 
I just did Yosemite to Sierra last week with no ill effect. Applications: do you have any that are 32 bit?

Probably lots, but I don't know.

The main reason I have never upgraded is because the on audio setup that truly works on all of my Macs is on this old clunker.

And I totally do not understand how I got my audio setup to work, so I don't dare touch it!!

(And if Rogue Amoeba's support was 1/10 as good as their products, maybe I would have had better lucks with my migration long ago?!)

On my 2nd rMBP, I *think* got 95% of the audio setup figured out, but need to try and get the last 5%. And I need to set up rMBP #1 to mimic rMBP #2.

Then after lots of testing, I can probably retire this Mac, or more correctly my OS.

But I have a Terabyte of improtant data on this, and probably some apps I need but have forgotten about (e.g. development stuff), so like a messy garage, things have lingered... ;-)
 
Your data will be fine, having a backup is just best practice. Converting to APFS won’t delete anything.

As stated you wont lose data by upgrading, i was just assuming you'd do a clean install , but upgrading will work fine too.
One more thing i'd recommend :
For good performance keep at least 10-15% of the SSD free.
Good Luck!
 
TRIM keeps the SSD nice and clean so improves performance especially after a longer period of usage.
By default the OS only activates TRIM automatically if there's an OEM Apple SSD installed.

It was my understanding that the issue of whether TRIM improves performance is dependent on the SSD used.
If you are to believe what people post in forums, some people actually report decreased performance with some SSDs.

Personally I have a Crucial MX500 with TRIM enabled on my 2012 mini as Crucial themselves confirm a very small performance increase compared with the unbuilt 'Garbage collection' utility in their firmware, but only in some extreme cases.
 
I'm not OP
I know
As you can see I shared the same opinion.

If you are to believe what people post in forums
I don't
Assumption is (let me put it this way) risky.
With all the best intentions I recommend , based on my own knowledge and experiences.

some people actually report decreased performance with some SSDs.
Could be, but this is not the case , since the OP owns a Samsung 850 EVO.

Crucial themselves confirm a very small performance increase compared with the unbuilt 'Garbage collection' utility in their firmware, but only in some extreme cases
I can confirm that.
The fuller the disk and the longer the time without TRIM, the more the increase of I/O speeds after enabling TRIM.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.