2017 27" iMac
4.2 GHz Intel Core i7 running Sierra 10.12.6
2 TB Fusion Drive with 32GB of Ram
After reading this thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2017-imac-27-external-ssd-as-boot-drive.2096033/) I was inspired to boot my slow iMac from an external SSD. I bought a Samsung 860 EVO 2TB and cloned my OS to it. When I try to boot from it the startup screen loads completely but never advances to the desktop, it just hangs there for hours. Initially, I thought the cloned OS might be corrupt so I ran a fix in Disk Utility which repaired some errors and gave me the green checkmark. It still would not advance to the desktop. Decided to try a a different USB-C cable and voila, loaded right up. The OS and files were all there but the speed was NOT. My friend's cable was an Apple USB-C charging cable with only USB 2.0 speed, not a viable solution to get the speed improvement I am after. I bought a second USB-C cord thinking the one that came with my hard drive enclosure must be junk but once again the start up screen just hangs with the new one. Do I need an Apple brand Thunderbolt cord to achieve startup and desired speed? I realize the speed of thunderbolt will be bottlenecked by the SATA drive. Could this be a power issue? Any advice is appreciated!
Hard drive enclosure and cable #1: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071V4ZH59/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cable #2: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7RZ1VS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Friend's apple charging cord: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201700#usbc
4.2 GHz Intel Core i7 running Sierra 10.12.6
2 TB Fusion Drive with 32GB of Ram
After reading this thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2017-imac-27-external-ssd-as-boot-drive.2096033/) I was inspired to boot my slow iMac from an external SSD. I bought a Samsung 860 EVO 2TB and cloned my OS to it. When I try to boot from it the startup screen loads completely but never advances to the desktop, it just hangs there for hours. Initially, I thought the cloned OS might be corrupt so I ran a fix in Disk Utility which repaired some errors and gave me the green checkmark. It still would not advance to the desktop. Decided to try a a different USB-C cable and voila, loaded right up. The OS and files were all there but the speed was NOT. My friend's cable was an Apple USB-C charging cable with only USB 2.0 speed, not a viable solution to get the speed improvement I am after. I bought a second USB-C cord thinking the one that came with my hard drive enclosure must be junk but once again the start up screen just hangs with the new one. Do I need an Apple brand Thunderbolt cord to achieve startup and desired speed? I realize the speed of thunderbolt will be bottlenecked by the SATA drive. Could this be a power issue? Any advice is appreciated!
Hard drive enclosure and cable #1: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071V4ZH59/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cable #2: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7RZ1VS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Friend's apple charging cord: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201700#usbc
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