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NazgulRR

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 4, 2010
423
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Out of curiosity, if I were to upgrade my 2009 Mac mini to a newer one (2011, 2012), could I just simply lift the SSD+HDD set up as a DIY Fusion from the old one into the new one and boot up? Would it work? Anyone tried this?
 
To be honest I don't use fusion so I can't give a 100% answer but if it were me and the new setup had both an SSD and a HDD in it I would ensure I had both a Time Machine backup AND a clone done by either CCC or Super Duper.
 
Got both TC and CC clone. Was wondering whether this would save time.

If no one has ever tried this, I'll try it later this year myself and report back.
 
My guess is "no." I once moved a HDD from a MacBook Pro to a MacBook. When I tried to boot, I got an error saying something about the system drive not matching the computer model. I assumed that, when you install OS X, it stores information about the particular computer. I had to do a clean installation of OS X and restore from my TMB. That was several versions of OS X ago, though,so you might give it a try if you're curious.
 
My guess is "no." I once moved a HDD from a MacBook Pro to a MacBook. When I tried to boot, I got an error saying something about the system drive not matching the computer model. I assumed that, when you install OS X, it stores information about the particular computer. I had to do a clean installation of OS X and restore from my TMB. That was several versions of OS X ago, though,so you might give it a try if you're curious.
No, you usually can happily switch the drives between mac models, they just work. There must be something special with your installation that prevented switching. What you observed is highly unusual.
 
Got both TC and CC clone. Was wondering whether this would save time.

If no one has ever tried this, I'll try it later this year myself and report back.

Hi,

I want to do the same thing with a MacBook Pro. Have you ever done it with your Mac mini? What was your experience with that?

Thank you
Michael
 
Personally, I'd shy away from Fusion drives at this point. With fusion, you're relying on two drives - which doubles your chances of failure (generally speaking).

2TB SSD drives are only about $200 now. You'll get better speeds and better resiliency.
 
Personally, I'd shy away from Fusion drives at this point. With fusion, you're relying on two drives - which doubles your chances of failure (generally speaking).

2TB SSD drives are only about $200 now. You'll get better speeds and better resiliency.

You are right, in most cases...

In my case this is not an option because the old Macbook from my stepmom crashed and she want's to get her data back. Guess what... she has no backup. :eek::rolleyes: So I want to put the old drives into the same Macbook Model and try to recover it. So I will see if it works. I'm just waiting for the new Macbook from eBay and then I will give it a try.

(no backup, no mercy)
 
Hi,

I want to do the same thing with a MacBook Pro. Have you ever done it with your Mac mini? What was your experience with that?

Thank you
Michael

Hi Michael.

I have not done it. Still on the Mac Mini 2009 as have not upgraded yet.

Please report back.
 
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Hi Michael.

I have not done it. Still on the Mac Mini 2009 as have not upgraded yet.

Please report back.

Hi,

I just got the Macbook from eBay today. In Detail both devices are MacBook Pro 13" from Mid 2010. In the cracked one there was a fusion drive with the original 250GB HDD from Apple and a 120GB SSD from Samsung. Latest possible macOS was installed. In this case macOS High Sierra 10.13.6

So first of all I installed a fresh copy of High Sierra on the eBay Macbook just because to have the same EFI Firmware on both devices. Then I replaced the HDD and the DVD-ROM with the Fusion Drive and what can I say: "It just works" :)

I don't have to do anything. Just boot up and logged in.

I don't know if this is possible with different devices but with the same model it works.

Hope this will help some of you!

Cheers
Michael
 
Incredible!

If I get the chance to upgrade my Mac mini from 2009 to 2012 in that manner, I'll post back too.
 
Even better it works if you take the drives from the machine and put USB interfaces on them and attach them to a different Mac... (thus recovering another un-backed up machine_...
 
I know this is a old post but what where did you find the usb hookup for the fusion chip drive or the
Model MZ-KNZ0320/0A6


S/N S3DUNYON151343


32GB SSPHOTON


MSIP-REM-SEC-MZ-KNZO320.?
 
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