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"how to" install SSD for boot?

Mine is hooked up in the 2nd optical bay. Just plugged it in and just resting in the bay, not mounted or anything :/.
 
I 2nd moving the home folder, smart move if you ask me and doesn't require a HUGE boot drive. My Boot drive only has apps and is about 59GB.
 
Just install it in whichever bay is free; for some bays you might want to get an adapter, but that's up to you.

Apart from that, when you first boot up you want to have your OS X Restore DVD inserted in to the machine and hold the 'C' key on the keyboard and it will boot into the disk. At that point, go to the top menu and open up Disk Utility; you should be able to format the SSD through that. Be sure to give it a unique name; you can always change it later.

Afterwards just install OS X on that drive and when you're booted up you can wipe the original HDD with Disk Utility.
 
I like the advice given at macperformanceguide.com. I had my home folder on a second drive, and did have trouble. Occasionally, the system would lose track of where my home folder was, and then recreate a new home folder on the system disk. Then I had to delete the new home folder, rename the old home folder (the system added a "1" to the end of the name when the second drive was mounted, which messed with everything that was looking for the drive under the original name), and then change the pointer back to the original home folder.

Admittedly this was under Leopard, and only happened a couple of times, but more that once was enough to convince me not to do it.
 
lssmit02 said:
I had my home folder on a second drive, and did have trouble. Occasionally, the system would lose track of where my home folder was, and then recreate a new home folder on the system disk. Then I had to delete the new home folder, rename the old home folder (the system added a "1" to the end of the name when the second drive was mounted, which messed with everything that was looking for the drive under the original name), and then change the pointer back to the original home folder.
Click to expand...

This is actually a good warning, but it's actually super easy to avoid (see below)... I still highly recommend moving your home directory if you're booting off an SSD... save that precious space for Apps!

OSX only adds a "1" to the end of a Volume name if there's a duplicate name, so *before* you move your user directory rename the destination volume to something distinctive. I named mine "Mac Users" to differentiate from a dedicated NTFS drive I use for Bootcamp/Win7 "My Documents" files. But it can be anything other than the default name OSX assigns volumes, really. And just make sure you don't rename any other volumes to that same name later.

One other bit of advice... if you copy (rather than move) your user files over immediately after a clean OSX install, you can leave the minimal /Users/<login> directory on your boot drive as an emergency escape clause... it won't take up much space, and if you ever DO accidentally rename or otherwise mess up (or even unmount) your new users volume, you'll still be able to boot and log in with your userid. You just will have reverted back to a default desktop.
 
Hi Everyone

I am new to Mac OS X and I will be getting my very first Mac Pro next week (not shipped yet) and I am coming from a Windows environment.

I will be getting the OWC SSD. So, to migrate from the 1TB HD that comes with the MP to the SSD, do I need to install Mac OS from the scratch or is that a way to just clone the OS from the HD to the SSD?

Thanks
Marcos
 
marcos73 said:
Hi Everyone

I am new to Mac OS X and I will be getting my very first Mac Pro next week (not shipped yet) and I am coming from a Windows environment.

I will be getting the OWC SSD. So, to migrate from the 1TB HD that comes with the MP to the SSD, do I need to install Mac OS from the scratch or is that a way to just clone the OS from the HD to the SSD?

Thanks
Marcos
Click to expand...

You can clone it using Carbon Copy Cloner, superduper, or disk utility using the "restore" tab.
 
Here are two more useful links:

http://macperformanceguide.com/BuyersGuide-SetupMacPro.html

and

http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-SettingUpYourMac.html

When you get your mac pro, pull out all the factory hard drive sleds. Install new memory, install your ss drive in the optical drive or in one of the sleds with an adaptor. Start the computer. Put in the Install disk but don't go through the automatic install. From the upper left menu, star disk utility. Format your new ss drive by erasing the disk with disk utility. Then install the operating system. It's not that tough and, frankly, easier than just cloning the 1T disk that comes with the system installed. Hope that helps.
 
biker joe said:
Here are two more useful links:

http://macperformanceguide.com/BuyersGuide-SetupMacPro.html

and

http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-SettingUpYourMac.html

When you get your mac pro, pull out all the factory hard drive sleds. Install new memory, install your ss drive in the optical drive or in one of the sleds with an adaptor. Start the computer. Put in the Install disk but don't go through the automatic install. From the upper left menu, star disk utility. Format your new ss drive by erasing the disk with disk utility. Then install the operating system. It's not that tough and, frankly, easier than just cloning the 1T disk that comes with the system installed. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

That sounds very easy! Thank you for the tips Biker Joe and Strausd. Very much appreciated.
Marcos
 
Two other easy tips but something that might be annoying for someone coming from windows. To get the disk drive to open after you install the ss drive, turn on your machine and after you hear the initial doing!!! sound, hold down the mouse key. Also, to boot from the cd in your optical drive, when you restart with the disk in the drive, hold down the c key. Also of note, it usually takes the system longer than normal to start up from a cd so don't panic when it takes an extra minute or two to get going.
 
biker joe said:
Two other easy tips but something that might be annoying for someone coming from windows. To get the disk drive to open after you install the ss drive, turn on your machine and after you hear the initial doing!!! sound, hold down the mouse key. Also, to boot from the cd in your optical drive, when you restart with the disk in the drive, hold down the c key. Also of note, it usually takes the system longer than normal to start up from a cd so don't panic when it takes an extra minute or two to get going.
Click to expand...

hey Biker Joe

That tip was very usefull indeed. Thank you.

I am seriously considering getting one of those "Mac OS for Dummies" books.

Cheers
Marcos
 
petitrouge said:
so my first MP will arrive within a week. :cool: i'm ordering the OWC mercury extreme 120gb ssd, ... so uh, then what. :D

is this a good guide for installing the SSD? i have only messed with RAM + PCI cards (on my PCs), ... this is a first for me.

http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-InstallingSSD.html

thanks for the advice, as always.
Click to expand...

Hey, I took that Guides comments to heart and used a OWC 40GB SSD for hybrid boot setup and used only 27GB with all apps and had 12+ GB available. They've got a special for $99 this month only. I'm using them for offsite cloned boot drives.
 
sboerup said:
Mine is hooked up in the 2nd optical bay. Just plugged it in and just resting in the bay, not mounted or anything :/.
Click to expand...

You might want to get an OWC Multi-Mount to secure that drive in the optical bay. A bit overkill for an SSD, but you can at least move the Mac Pro without worrying that the drive will become detached.
 
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