Well spotted! Didn't know that
Use this guide to Clone HD with no additional software:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/mac-hard-drive-cloning-the-eas-141889
Not tried myself though!
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Adding Second Hard Drive to Mac Mini
- Thread starter That-Guy
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Well spotted! Didn't know that
Use this guide to Clone HD with no additional software:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/mac-hard-drive-cloning-the-eas-141889
Not tried myself though!
If you just clone and then reformat your original drive you'll be left without a recovery partition.
I installed a SSD as a second drive. I booted into the recovery partition of the original drive, and from there I did a clean install of ML onto the SSD. That created a recovery partition for it. Then I deleted the partitions of the original drive and reformatted.
For the guys in the uk who bought the OWC kit, any particular issues with the shipping at all, or was it fine? I work it out to be about £50 delivered, delivery seems a bit steep, but there doesn't seem to be an alternative.
The low end is good enough for me, but I need more HD capacity. I actually have another 500gb 7200 drive spare, so trying to figure out what to do.
Grateful if anyone in the UK can share there OWC experience.
The low end is good enough for me, but I need more HD capacity. I actually have another 500gb 7200 drive spare, so trying to figure out what to do.
Grateful if anyone in the UK can share there OWC experience.
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I got a mac mini 2012 yesterday and bought a Samsung 830 SSD to put inside it.
Now i installed the SSD without any problems but when i tried to boot the mini up to install mountain lion through USB i only saw a cross in the screen and then the system shut down.
What the hell am i doing wrong ??
Now i installed the SSD without any problems but when i tried to boot the mini up to install mountain lion through USB i only saw a cross in the screen and then the system shut down.
What the hell am i doing wrong ??
Is it the Mini version of Mountain Lion? You cannot use the standard Mountain Lion installer. It will refuse to run.I got a mac mini 2012 yesterday and bought a Samsung 830 SSD to put inside it.
Now i installed the SSD without any problems but when i tried to boot the mini up to install mountain lion through USB i only saw a cross in the screen and then the system shut down.
What the hell am i doing wrong ??
I didn't know that there was a mini version of Mountain Lion
What am i supposed to do now ??
Thanks in advance for everybody's help
What am i supposed to do now ??
Thanks in advance for everybody's help
You need to boot into the recovery partition of the original drive and install Mountain Lion from there. That will download the correct version.I didn't know that there was a mini version of Mountain Lion
What am i supposed to do now ??
Thanks in advance for everybody's help
Forgive me but i don't understand......
How can you use the recovery partition from the original drive when i replace this with the SSD ??
I am not using this as a second drive in the mac mini.
Third party vendors buy and refurbish apple parts.
Source the HD cable for your second drive, it fastens into your mini and hd allowing space for two HDs. Invest in a hex wrench set which is also good for general geekery.
videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=mnrhin2ed8E
youtube.com/watch?v=jSA65MjfRG8
I was able to purchase a small box of fat rounded screws that fit the general hard drive casing for the second drive. Nesting the hard-drives can be hard as you have to adjust the screws just right to fit into slot, the HD's also have to be inserted at an unwieldy angle. I went about mine a bit quick and my mini's heatsink casing is shifted 1-2mm but is fine. The task is simple, nesting the hard drives is hard. You may want an HD slip cover.
Lot's of nice hybrid drives on Amazon too. I have a 500gb that was stupid cheap and about 90% as fast as an ssd. Hitachi I believe.
Take the final nesting of the hard drives slowly. Make an OSx recovery flash drive. Cloning your drive directly introduces all sorts of f*ckery concerning the hidden recovery partition. Straight drive duplicating software is difficult to find. If you've migrated computers and can partition on disk utility you will be fine. Just reinstall (recovery) from the flash fob.
"How can you use the recovery partition from the original drive when i replace this with the SSD ?? I am not using this as a second drive in the mac mini."
You can do a macos recovery boot with (option button) at startup. You can download the recovery utility from apple support.
My mini has two active drives and runs pretty warm. The thing runs like a dream, though.
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As far as a recovery or mini specific lion it basically fills as needed to your model when running startup recovery with an internet connection
Source the HD cable for your second drive, it fastens into your mini and hd allowing space for two HDs. Invest in a hex wrench set which is also good for general geekery.
videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=mnrhin2ed8E
youtube.com/watch?v=jSA65MjfRG8
I was able to purchase a small box of fat rounded screws that fit the general hard drive casing for the second drive. Nesting the hard-drives can be hard as you have to adjust the screws just right to fit into slot, the HD's also have to be inserted at an unwieldy angle. I went about mine a bit quick and my mini's heatsink casing is shifted 1-2mm but is fine. The task is simple, nesting the hard drives is hard. You may want an HD slip cover.
Lot's of nice hybrid drives on Amazon too. I have a 500gb that was stupid cheap and about 90% as fast as an ssd. Hitachi I believe.
Take the final nesting of the hard drives slowly. Make an OSx recovery flash drive. Cloning your drive directly introduces all sorts of f*ckery concerning the hidden recovery partition. Straight drive duplicating software is difficult to find. If you've migrated computers and can partition on disk utility you will be fine. Just reinstall (recovery) from the flash fob.
"How can you use the recovery partition from the original drive when i replace this with the SSD ?? I am not using this as a second drive in the mac mini."
You can do a macos recovery boot with (option button) at startup. You can download the recovery utility from apple support.
My mini has two active drives and runs pretty warm. The thing runs like a dream, though.
----------
As far as a recovery or mini specific lion it basically fills as needed to your model when running startup recovery with an internet connection
Yes, I've read this elsewhere. Interestingly (at least I thought it was interesting) I received a 2012 Mini Server yesterday and it came with 10.8.1 installed (which I've since updated to 10.8.2). Is the current 'standard' 10.8.2 version downloadable from the App store not able to boot and reinstall ML on the Mini?
You can actually erase the whole hard drive, there is a recovery partition online for Mountain Lion. I should know as I actually did it by mistake, luckily Apple has that back up option as long as your connected to wifi.
If I try to download Mountain Lion from the App Store on my Mini I get an error stating it isn't compatible. See image below...
Good to know. When I booted into the recovery partition, it had to download the installer anyway. Took about an hour.
Attachments
mac mini 2012 usb install/recovery
this: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110831105634716
trust me - i was pulling my hair out too - but, these instructions worked great for me (but do it before you pull your mac apart - obviously)
i would recommend this for all new 2012 mac mini owners - internet recovery takes forever
edit: & yes it works for mountain lion too
more edits: & rumor has it os x 10.8.3 will be a unified installer that should work for all ml-capable macs
this: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110831105634716
trust me - i was pulling my hair out too - but, these instructions worked great for me (but do it before you pull your mac apart - obviously)
i would recommend this for all new 2012 mac mini owners - internet recovery takes forever
edit: & yes it works for mountain lion too
more edits: & rumor has it os x 10.8.3 will be a unified installer that should work for all ml-capable macs
BE CAREFUL ON UNPLUGGING THE IR CABLE Mine ripped the entire socket off the circuit board. Keep in mind I have been building/repairing PC's for over 25 years. Not a big deal to me since I don't use the IR remote thankfully but a quick call to OWC revealed that this is happening to a lot of people. The tech I spoke with has personally handled 10 cases so far.
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BTW, CCC has a fully functional 30 free trial with the download of the newest version.
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BTW, CCC has a fully functional 30 free trial with the download of the newest version.
I thought the IR cable was a bit tricky to unplug, but I managed OK. I had some difficulty reconnecting the SATA cables. Everything is pretty tight in there.
Well, that was more exciting than I expected!
I did the upgrade last night using OWC's kit. Had two issues that made me nervous (or worse), which was unexpected since I've done several similar "surgeries" on a Mac mini, PowerBook, iBook, and MacBook.
First, the logic board was in very tight. When using the tool to pull it out, I was initially afraid I was going to break something. As it was, I had to pull hard enough that the tool actually enlarged the holes in the PCB slightly before the board started to move. Perhaps several lighter, shorter pulls on the tool would have helped loosen it better than one long pull?
Second problem was much worse: there is an error in the OWC instruction booklet. In section 4 step 1 where it says to replace the 2 Torx screws holding the hard drive carrier in, DO NOT DO THIS YET! If you recall the disassembly, you'll remember that the power supply is held in by one of those screws. Therefore the power supply must go back in BEFORE the screws. Their reassembly steps are out of order.
I blindly followed the instructions without thinking about what I'd just done to disassemble. Big mistake. The screw that's supposed to also hold the power supply went in too far and got stuck to the little threaded silver piece (nut? post? receptacle?) that it screws into. The silver piece came loose from the outer case, so unscrewing the screw did nothing - the two pieces simply turned around in circles together.
I was stuck. I had a brand new Mac mini in pieces, with no apparent way to get it back together. The power supply wouldn't fit back in with that screw in the way, and I couldn't get the screw back out. Panic time.
Finally I was able to use the little flathead screwdriver from the kit to get in past the black screw and push down HARD on the silver piece to keep it from turning, while I turned the screw to loosen it. I finally got the two pieces apart and the screw out.
Reassembly, in the CORRECT order, went smoothly from there. Except for the fact that the little silver piece was no longer attached to the case, so that screw, after the power supply went back in, is pretty loose. I'm not even sure if I'd be able to get it back out now (I did consider just leaving it out altogether, that may have been smarter in the long run).
Anyway, I hope this helps others avoid the panic and seething frustration I had last night. I'm kind of surprised I didn't see anything about it before - those steps are clearly out of order. Did anyone else notice that, and did it give you any problems?
I did the upgrade last night using OWC's kit. Had two issues that made me nervous (or worse), which was unexpected since I've done several similar "surgeries" on a Mac mini, PowerBook, iBook, and MacBook.
First, the logic board was in very tight. When using the tool to pull it out, I was initially afraid I was going to break something. As it was, I had to pull hard enough that the tool actually enlarged the holes in the PCB slightly before the board started to move.
Perhaps several lighter, shorter pulls on the tool would have helped loosen it better than one long pull?Second problem was much worse: there is an error in the OWC instruction booklet. In section 4 step 1 where it says to replace the 2 Torx screws holding the hard drive carrier in, DO NOT DO THIS YET!
If you recall the disassembly, you'll remember that the power supply is held in by one of those screws. Therefore the power supply must go back in BEFORE the screws. Their reassembly steps are out of order.I blindly followed the instructions without thinking about what I'd just done to disassemble. Big mistake. The screw that's supposed to also hold the power supply went in too far and got stuck to the little threaded silver piece (nut? post? receptacle?) that it screws into. The silver piece came loose from the outer case, so unscrewing the screw did nothing - the two pieces simply turned around in circles together.
I was stuck.
I had a brand new Mac mini in pieces, with no apparent way to get it back together. The power supply wouldn't fit back in with that screw in the way, and I couldn't get the screw back out. Panic time. Finally I was able to use the little flathead screwdriver from the kit to get in past the black screw and push down HARD on the silver piece to keep it from turning, while I turned the screw to loosen it. I finally got the two pieces apart and the screw out.
Reassembly, in the CORRECT order, went smoothly from there. Except for the fact that the little silver piece was no longer attached to the case, so that screw, after the power supply went back in, is pretty loose. I'm not even sure if I'd be able to get it back out now (I did consider just leaving it out altogether, that may have been smarter in the long run).
Anyway, I hope this helps others avoid the panic and seething frustration I had last night. I'm kind of surprised I didn't see anything about it before - those steps are clearly out of order. Did anyone else notice that, and did it give you any problems?
If you want to add an internal SSD (2nd drive) to your base mac mini - you can buy the correct connector here in the UK.
http://tinyurl.com/a7rwotc
There are various 'HOW TO' videos on youtube and elsewhere - or you could employ an independent apple specialist.
http://tinyurl.com/a7rwotc
There are various 'HOW TO' videos on youtube and elsewhere - or you could employ an independent apple specialist.