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Elho

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
finally got my ram and ssd in today.

The install is not something i want to do everyday. I'm pretty used to opening up electronics, but this was challenging!! I followed the OCC instruction video. It's pretty good.

After the install I did a reboot with an usb stick and the system suggested to repair to "fusion drive". First, i was not planning to do this, but i didnt know it was that simple to set up a fusion drive so i did choose that option.

It's installing right now :)
 

jimj740

macrumors regular
finally got my ram and ssd in today.

The install is not something i want to do everyday. I'm pretty used to opening up electronics, but this was challenging!! I followed the OCC instruction video. It's pretty good.

After the install I did a reboot with an usb stick and the system suggested to repair to "fusion drive". First, i was not planning to do this, but i didnt know it was that simple to set up a fusion drive so i did choose that option.

It's installing right now :)

It is very easy to create a fusion drive; however I will not do it again after my personal experience. The fundamental issue to me is that you are coupling two devices with very different failure rates. I had my hard disk fail and it rendered the entire fusion volume useless... thank goodness for backups. I replaced the drive and formatted the system with two separate volumes. Now I have lost the convenience of auto placement of data - I have to move things off to the disk when they are not being actively used. But the flip side is when this disk dies (more likely than the SSD statistically speaking) I will still have a bootable system and will only need to restore my old stuff at my leisure...

Other opinions will differ; just pointing out a different view.

Good luck,

-JimJ
 

thedeske

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2013
963
58
First, i was not planning to do this, but i didnt know it was that simple to set up a fusion drive so i did choose that option.

That dialog is fairly new in disk utility. Noticed it as well on a mini here. I won't try to convince anyone either way, but there things to consider.

If you do not want the SSD to fill up, ignore Fusion.

If you like the idea of controlling what is on the SSD, ignore Fusion.

A 250 or above SSD has plenty of room for the System/Apps (60gb or so for most) and a number of working files without filling the volume past 70%
 

hleewell

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2009
544
62
I installed a dying HDD with an Intel SSD in my Mac Mini server. Re-install everything and run it as a non-server unit. I was in some kind of bizarro Mac heaven where there is hardly beach ball even when there were 7 Safari tabs opened. I got greedy and install a 2nd Samsung EVO SSD in the 2nd slot and I must have yanked the power supply too hard, and the unit is dead or bricked.

:(

Shoulda stuck with the Intel SSD and just be happy with it
 

MoschuS

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2014
7
0
Croatia
...
If you do not want the SSD to fill up, ignore Fusion.
...
How can you know that ssd is full when the disk is part of Fusion drive?
Don't you think Apple thought of that problem and built in some algorithms in Fusion engine to solve that issue?
Im still not sure should I go with Fusion or have two separated drives :/
 

808?

macrumors 6502a
Aug 4, 2011
583
24
Hong Kong
I installed 2 new drives in my refurb i7 mini, a 250GB Samsung EVO & Hitachi 1TB 7200rpm.

When I first put them in unformatted, Disk Utility combined them into 1 Fusion drive of 1.25GB, I wasn't comfortable with the lack of control over this, so I pulled the drives out and formatted them again separately, popped them back in and have restored all my data from a backup.

Feels better to be in a bit more control over what is on my drives. :D
 

thedeske

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2013
963
58

MoschuS

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2014
7
0
Croatia
Question for ssd+hdd setup. If you move hdd to upper bay did you leave that black thermal tape thing on it or did you move it to ssd in lower bay? What is that tape? Should it be on hdd regardless of bay or it should always be on lower unit?
 

808?

macrumors 6502a
Aug 4, 2011
583
24
Hong Kong
There is a black "wrapping" on the OEM drive usually, this can be peeled off carefully and used for the SSD as it has holes for the top screws and side pegs for mounting. There is also a smaller piece of black tape that holds the SATA cable in place, you should use this with new SSD also, as the cable needs to stay flush so you can get it in easier.
 

Donka

macrumors 68030
May 3, 2011
2,842
1,439
Scotland
The black thermal wrapping n the stock drive protects the exposed electronics of the drive. I would leave this in place. The SSD drive is fully enclosed so does not require this cover.
 

MoschuS

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2014
7
0
Croatia
I also think that it should stay on hdd but I'm not sure. Ssd is fully enclosed and if that is also thermal protection hdd is producing more heat than ssd.
 

808?

macrumors 6502a
Aug 4, 2011
583
24
Hong Kong
The black thermal wrapping n the stock drive protects the exposed electronics of the drive. I would leave this in place. The SSD drive is fully enclosed so does not require this cover.

The black cover has 2 screw holes only on one side and 2 screw holes in the top, if you left it on the OEM drive, then you would have to punch 2 extra holes on the other side to mount the OEM drive in the upper bay.
 

Donka

macrumors 68030
May 3, 2011
2,842
1,439
Scotland
The black cover has 2 screw holes only on one side and 2 screw holes in the top, if you left it on the OEM drive, then you would have to punch 2 extra holes on the other side to mount the OEM drive in the upper bay.

Yup, this is what I did. Just snipped out two holes on the side to allow the screws to fit for the upper bay.
 

Donka

macrumors 68030
May 3, 2011
2,842
1,439
Scotland
The only additional thing I did was add some black tape to secure the Sata connection on the SSD drive. Its unlikely to pop out but seems like a good measure given the stock drive also has this. Its more to keep the connection secured as you put everything back together.
 

Galvao

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2013
42
2
Lisboa, Portugal
Ssd+hd

I have a Mac mini late 2012 standard (with 16GB and Mavericks 10.9.2) and would like to install a SSD 480GB as a main drive, keeping the HD 500GB as a secondary drive.

Assuming that I have no major problems with the physical process of putting everything in place - I've read and seen several tutorials - I still have to deal with the process of putting it to work properly, in which it seems I am lost.
Is it possible to:
1. boot normally from the HD
2. with disk utility format the SSD
3. clone (with CCC or other) the HD to SSD - (it seems that Disk Utility can also do this?)
4. make the SSD the primary disk (to boot from) - How do I do that? does it depend on the bay where it is mounted?
5. reboot (hopefully from the SSD) and wipe the HD

This must be wrong, it seems too easy to be true :(

Is all this feasible, or is it required a different approach? -
Thank you for your advice.
 

Donka

macrumors 68030
May 3, 2011
2,842
1,439
Scotland
I attached my SSD in a USB enclosure.
Booted Mac to recovery partition and entered Disk Utility.
Formatted the SSD then cloned the stock drive to the SSD.
Restart the mini and boot from the USB SSD drive to ensure it has cloned perfectly and can boot.
Once confirmed, turn off the Mini. Install the SSD drive in the lower bay and move the stock drive to the upper bay.
Start back up and choose the SSD drive as the boot drive.
Once booted, go into Disk Utility and erase the stock drive which can now be used as a secondary data drive.
 

Galvao

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2013
42
2
Lisboa, Portugal
Thank you for your input.

If I well understood, the use of a USB enclosure was intended only to test it prior to installation?

Is it necessary to boot the recovery partition to enter Disk Utility? (not that it is a problem...).

I am now cloning my HD to a USB HD (I do not have the SSD yet) to test the process.

Since I have no experience on cloning, I have one more question:
I wish to clone the stock HD 500GB to a new SSD 480GB. Is it an obstacle the fact of the target being smaller than the source even if the source is only half full?
 

Donka

macrumors 68030
May 3, 2011
2,842
1,439
Scotland
Thank you for your input.

If I well understood, the use of a USB enclosure was intended only to test it prior to installation?

Is it necessary to boot the recovery partition to enter Disk Utility? (not that it is a problem...).

I am now cloning my HD to a USB HD (I do not have the SSD yet) to test the process.

Since I have no experience on cloning, I have one more question:
I wish to clone the stock HD 500GB to a new SSD 480GB. Is it an obstacle the fact of the target being smaller than the source even if the source is only half full?

The USB enclosure was so I could both clone to the new SSD and also to test. You don't need to clone it if you are planning on doing a clean install or restoring from a time machine backup.

I don't think it is necessary to boot the recovery partition to clone using disk utility but it is the safest option.

To clone using disk utility, the target drive needs to be the same size or bigger than the source. In your case, you would need to resize your stock drives partition prior to cloning. This is done easily in disk utility by dragging the bottom bar of the partition up until the partition is 480gb or less. As long as you have less data in the drive than what you are resizing to it will work fine. In your case, you can drag it down to about 270gb if the drive is half full.
 

robE89

macrumors regular
Oct 9, 2011
167
59
Sorry for the small thread hijack but i am a bit confused: Will i void my warranty if i add that double bracket for 2 SSD's ? Or if i need to send the mini to warranty, i need to remove the bracket/SSD and install the hdd which came with mac mini ?

Thank you!
 

Galvao

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2013
42
2
Lisboa, Portugal
The USB enclosure was so I could both clone to the new SSD and also to test. You don't need to clone it if you are planning on doing a clean install or restoring from a time machine backup.

I don't think it is necessary to boot the recovery partition to clone using disk utility but it is the safest option.

To clone using disk utility, the target drive needs to be the same size or bigger than the source. In your case, you would need to resize your stock drives partition prior to cloning. This is done easily in disk utility by dragging the bottom bar of the partition up until the partition is 480gb or less. As long as you have less data in the drive than what you are resizing to it will work fine. In your case, you can drag it down to about 270gb if the drive is half full.

Donka, thanks a lot for your explanation. I simulated the process with a external HD (clone+boot) and all went as expected. ;)
 

Che Castro

macrumors 603
May 21, 2009
5,878
676
i normally keep my mac mini running 24/7
so when i did a restart today i noticed it took 50 seconds to boot, like a normal drive, i have an ssd in it from a few weeks back


after following this tip
My solution or tip is as follows; The reason it takes so long to boot is because the mac mini doesn't know you replaced the old drive and it is looking for it during the boot process. Finally it can't find the drive so it boots to the ssd drive. All you have to do to correct this is click on "system preferences", select and click on "startup disk" and select your ssd drive and click on "restart". After these steps your mac mini will now boot in about 17 seconds. Issues solved.


it now boots in 17-20 seconds



https://discussions.apple.com/message/24227101#24227101
 
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