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iMac 2011, install SSD, change boot folder, HELP!!

G

gibbo18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 24, 2008
25
0
Nottingham
Ok i have a 2011 iMac 3.4Ghz i7 with a 1 Tb internal drive as stock.

I have bought a Kingston HyperX 120gb SSD, which is getting installed by an Apple certified repair centre on the 2nd January. All they are doing is installing drive and making sure it is working.

Ideally i would like to have the SSD as the boot drive and applications as i have heard that this is best?

Please could someone explain the process to achieving this? I was also recommended by the service centre to do a clean install on LION on the SSD drive, as this enables TRIM and other drivers better? Is this correct?

I would like some help as to what people recommend about changing home directory or leaving it? E.t.c

I have a full TM back up of my iMac on an external drive. And there is 198gb free space on the internal drive.

Thanks to anyone that can help

Gibbo

:)
 
Hey check out these 2 threads from the Mac Pro forum :

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/907373/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1278532/

I'm actually doing this myself tomorrow on my 2009 mac mini, installed the SSD earlier today but had to go to work right after :( Anyway those 2 threads have a lot of good info.

Edit: I'm probably going to reinstall Lion anyway on the SSD. Not only to get rid of some cruft, but also to recreate the "recovery partition" on the SSD. There are ways to do that manually, but it's a pain.
So reinstall, then recreate users manually, then modify the user to point to the old directory on the HDD.

AFAIK TRIM is only automatically enabled for Apple-provided SSD's and not third party ones. There's a program TRIM Enabler that does this for third party SSD's.
 
Last edited:
Hey Gibbo18,

I happen to have exactly the same iMac and want to retrofit a Kingston Kingston HyperX SSD too.

The only thing is the Apple certified repair centre has warned me that there might be "that issue" with high and loud fan speeds after fitting.

How are you getting on with Kingston HyperX SSD? Any issues that I should take in to account?

Thanks
 
Thanks Tyr there is a lot of good information there.

Kwakmaniac my iMac is still at the repair centre as they were still waiting for a part to install, think its all done now tho, so will be picking it up Saterday as have work today.

Are you getting yours fitted by apple or attempting yourself??

But as soon as i get it back from the apple repair centre i will let you know about fan noises etc. I have heard people have had problems when doing it themselves but not repair centres, as they all use parts which can only be bought directly from apple, whether this effects performance and noise i have no idea.

Also what way about the LION install are you doing after reading the threads above??

I was thinking install LION fresh onto SSD then use migration assistant to migrate user data across. But still a bit unknown what to do?

Will be using the TRIM enabler tho, there have been some new beta releases recently which fix a lot of problems people have been having.

Hope that help

Gibbo :)
 
iMac 2011, install SSD...

Hey Gibbo18,

I usually have a bash at doing these types of thing myself, but the glass removal freaks me out a bit…don't know why that would be, but it does. So, I've found an Authorised Apple Service Centre (AASC) nearby who'll also collect for free.:D

The only thing is that judging by the parts list the AASC have sent me, I think that they think that I want to swap out the hard drive for the SSD, which is not what I want at all. Like you, I want the SSD as a second drive professionally mounted behind the optical drive. I need to clarify this with them.

As for moving the OS, I did come across an article whereby the author used Carbon Copy Cloner in Incremental Mode to shift everything over to the new drive with the exception of the Home folder.

http://macintoshhowto.com/hardware/how-to-speed-up-your-mac-with-a-ssd-drive.html

I think I favour this way, as if something does go wrong, then at least you can back to the original installation without too much trouble.

As for the TRIM thing, well, my thinking is that I'll transfer everything over first and then make an assessment. If I need to tinker, then I will, but only if it's necessary.

Of course, this is all theoretical until you get your iMac back. I'm really looking forward to reading about the outcome.

Cheers!
 
Hi Kwakmaniac

I received my iMac back yesterday and had a couple hours to tinker. I started up and it booted straight from the hard drive as normal. The Kingston Drive appears on the Desktop, showing 120gb free space. I then went in to System information and read the 6gb/ second negotiated link speed, all good.

I then rebooted and when into my hard drives recovery partition and choose the reinstall LION option then choose the SSD as my drive and went from there. After install had finished got option for setup as new , restore back up etc. I choose restore from TM or another mac, then choose my mac. And only restored My user folder, unpicking all the documents and downloads folders etc. Didn't know what the other folders were inside migration assistant so unpicked those to. This took a little while then came to my desktop. Appears the same as when i left it. My applications in my dock worked but were mapped to the hard drive, and was told its better to just re download them and install on SSD than just drag from hard drive to SSD. So will be doing that today. Other things i have done are to re-direct my home folder, by going systems prefs, users then advanced prefs then going to my home folder on my hard drive, so all my documents show in my finder. Which seems to work well.

I also tried the TRIM enabler as in system information is read as no TRIM support run the application in link below and it appears to have enabled TRIM. Whether i see any performance improvements yet i don't know but will keep testing.

I do see a huge improvement with the way things open and run, e.g. iPhoto where i have 80gig of photos opens instantly, as well as iMovie, with about 20 HD projects. So from that point of view i am happy. As i do more tweaking i will hopefully see more speed improvements.

I am still a bit confused with layout, and unsure what files are coming from where sometimes. If this all gets to much i may do a clean LION install and start again, because settings can be tweaked again and applications can be download again, its not the end of the world, then you know you have got the best speed possible.

I would love to get your opinion on this and when you get yours done any improvements you do and make.

If you want me to test anything just let me know.

Thanks

:):)
 
iMac 2011, install SSD...

Hey Gibbo18,

Thanks very much for the update. It's really very reassuring to see that you aren't having any technical issues - it's the fan issue that bothers me more than anything.

As a matter of interest, was your AASC based in the UK, and and if so, who did you go with? Others on the forum might have the same ambition and are looking for a reliable AASC to do the work.

I'll get in touch with my local AASC to get the wheels in motion for the installation. It'll take a good few days to get the iMac there and back, but I'll let you know how things work out at this end.

Cheers.
 
It was £99 for service and labour, and it cost me £29 pounds for 2 parts that Solutions had to buy directly from Apple.

This labour fee is standard but the parts cost will differ for your system, they may need 3 different parts my system required only 2.

Hope this helps

Gibbo
 
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