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External Hard drive ?
- Thread starter Washac
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I think chances are slim. Even if the version of MacOS X installed on the HD was an old enough version to have been a universal install, as opposed to hardware specific install, the Mac mini would need to be a hardware model which supports the MacOS X version installed on the HD in order to boot — and boot from external USB.
What model Mac mini? What version of MacOS on the HD?
What model Mac mini? What version of MacOS on the HD?
If I understand the question, no -- the Mac Mini M2 will not boot from a disk containing macOS El Capitan. According to everymac.com the 2023 Mac Mini M2 ships with Ventura. I don't think it will boot any macOS earlier than that.
However, the new Mini should be able to use Migration Assistant to "bring over" all the user accounts with their files from that old bootable hard disk. Also system settings and apps (although some apps will probably be incompatible with the new macOS).
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
...and if the question is asking if you could wipe that old HDD, put a new macOS version on it and boot from it instead of the internal drive inside the Mini M2, yes, you could do that too. For example, if you wanted to use it to do some testing with the upcoming Sonoma without overwriting Ventura, you could format that old HDD and install Sonoma for a dull boot option: either Sonoma or Ventura.
Warning: my m1 Mini came with Big Sur. When Monterey was released I installed it on an external drive to test it out.
Unbeknownst to me, the Monterey installation performed a firmware update on the m1 Mini. After that, when something corrupted the Big Sur installation, I was never able to re-install Big Sur on the Mini's internal drive after that and I was forced to install Monterey, which was still young and buggy.
Apple told me there was no way to undo it.
So I no longer test new macOS versions on external drives.
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OP:
As you've discovered, if you're moving from an old Mac Pro to a brand new m2 Mini, you'll have to use setup assistant (on the very first boot of the Mini).
My recommendation is to do it this way:
You'll need to back up the 2009 to an external USB drive.
I suggest either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper for this job, but time machine will work too.
When the new Mini arrives, set it up on the table, but DO NOT PRESS THE POWER ON BUTTON until you have connected the backup drive.
Now power on for the first time and begin setup.
Setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive -- YES, you do.
"Point the way" for setup assistant to the backup and give it time to "digest" things.
Setup assistant will present you with a list of stuff to migrate.
I suggest that you UN-CHECK "applications", but migrate everything else.
WHY I suggested that:
On a 2009 Mac Pro, I'm going to GUESS that most apps may be too old to run on a brand-new Mini.
You might need to try them "one at a time" (by copying them over manually) to see.**
But almost everything else should migrate over.
Give setup assistant time to migrate (could take a while).
Then, you should see your old login screen.
So log in and look around.
Good luck.
** If you keep a bootable clone for a backup, you could try this
- follow steps above to migrate
- this will migrate your existing app settings and preferences (but not the actual applications)
- now, with the backup still connected, navigate to the Applications folder ON THE BACKUP DRIVE.
- try double-clicking an app and see if it will launch (From the backup drive).
- if it DOES, just copy it into the applications folder on the Mini
- if it does NOT, chances are it will need to be upgraded (or replaced).
As you've discovered, if you're moving from an old Mac Pro to a brand new m2 Mini, you'll have to use setup assistant (on the very first boot of the Mini).
My recommendation is to do it this way:
You'll need to back up the 2009 to an external USB drive.
I suggest either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper for this job, but time machine will work too.
When the new Mini arrives, set it up on the table, but DO NOT PRESS THE POWER ON BUTTON until you have connected the backup drive.
Now power on for the first time and begin setup.
Setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive -- YES, you do.
"Point the way" for setup assistant to the backup and give it time to "digest" things.
Setup assistant will present you with a list of stuff to migrate.
I suggest that you UN-CHECK "applications", but migrate everything else.
WHY I suggested that:
On a 2009 Mac Pro, I'm going to GUESS that most apps may be too old to run on a brand-new Mini.
You might need to try them "one at a time" (by copying them over manually) to see.**
But almost everything else should migrate over.
Give setup assistant time to migrate (could take a while).
Then, you should see your old login screen.
So log in and look around.
Good luck.
** If you keep a bootable clone for a backup, you could try this
- follow steps above to migrate
- this will migrate your existing app settings and preferences (but not the actual applications)
- now, with the backup still connected, navigate to the Applications folder ON THE BACKUP DRIVE.
- try double-clicking an app and see if it will launch (From the backup drive).
- if it DOES, just copy it into the applications folder on the Mini
- if it does NOT, chances are it will need to be upgraded (or replaced).
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Thanks for that very nicely explained but the migration drive is a 1TB drive so the first thing I will have to do is create a bootable ventura external drive to use with the Mini as I really do not want to pay Apple for a 1TB internal drive. Then once the Mini is up and running with the external boot disk I was going to migrate to that.
I was going to follow this.
Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community
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"Thanks for that very nicely explained but the migration drive is a 1TB drive so the first thing I will have to do is create a bootable ventura external drive to use with the Mini as I really do not want to pay Apple for a 1TB internal drive. "
You DON'T want to do this.
With the m-series Macs, booting from an external drive is a completely different experience. Not nearly as seamless as it was with PowerPC and Intel.
Furthermore, the internal SSDs on new Macs are SEVERAL TIMES faster than almost all external SSDs (USB3 or thunderbolt).
You WANT to boot and run from the Mini's internal drive.
DON'T buy a Mini unless it has AT LEAST 512gb.
The 1tb is worth paying for.
If you want to save $$$, buy from Apple's refurbished pages.
Same 1-year warranty as new.
That's what I did with my 2018 Mini -- it's still doing fine.
If you buy a "too-small" internal drive on an m-series Mac, you're going to regret it, probably sooner rather than later.
Consider yourself as having been duly warned by reading this post.
You DON'T want to do this.
With the m-series Macs, booting from an external drive is a completely different experience. Not nearly as seamless as it was with PowerPC and Intel.
Furthermore, the internal SSDs on new Macs are SEVERAL TIMES faster than almost all external SSDs (USB3 or thunderbolt).
You WANT to boot and run from the Mini's internal drive.
DON'T buy a Mini unless it has AT LEAST 512gb.
The 1tb is worth paying for.
If you want to save $$$, buy from Apple's refurbished pages.
Same 1-year warranty as new.
That's what I did with my 2018 Mini -- it's still doing fine.
If you buy a "too-small" internal drive on an m-series Mac, you're going to regret it, probably sooner rather than later.
Consider yourself as having been duly warned by reading this post.
I really am not bothered about the speed, the machine is NOT going to be used for any heavy video work or photographic work, it is just for everyday usage.
Think as some will say I have seen sense, decided I am going to get this one...
Will do a back up of my 2009 Mac Pro either with Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner, think a TM back up maybe easier to use and take it down the manual route of moving things over if required
etc.
- Apple M2 with 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
- 16GB unified memory
- 512GB SSD storage
Will do a back up of my 2009 Mac Pro either with Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner, think a TM back up maybe easier to use and take it down the manual route of moving things over if required
etc.