iMac External SSD Slow Boot Time

[andrew5494]

Hi everyone I just bought the Crucial MX300 525GB SSD for my iMac, hooked it up with a USB3 to SATA3 adapter and made it my startup disk.
I thought the boot time would be a huge difference like you see in all of those YouTube videos but it wasn't.
What do you guys think?
Also does anyone know why it flashes like that mid boot?

Spoiler: Speed Test Results

 

[MacUser2525]

Mid boot flash is when the graphics finally load in the boot up process, if you were to use a verbose boot so you only seen text at the start you would see the switch over when it happened there. Does not seem any slower than mine when I boot with external SSD to clone from main install to spare machine to keep both identical.

 

[andrew5494]

Mid boot flash is when the graphics finally load in the boot up process, if you were to use a verbose boot so you only seen text at the start you would see the switch over when it happened there. Does not seem any slower than mine when I boot with external SSD to clone from main install to spare machine to keep both identical.

Thanks a lot for the info!
Very interesting.

 

[I Need a Drink]

I might be wrong here, but using a USB to Sata cable is probably limiting your speed. If you use an enclosure that supports UASP that would probably increase the speed you get over USB3. Again, I might be wrong on that.

 

[andrew5494]

I might be wrong here, but using a USB to Sata cable is probably limiting your speed. If you use an enclosure that supports UASP that would probably increase the speed you get over USB3. Again, I might be wrong on that.

The specific USB3 to sata adapter I bought from Startech supports UASP. Good guess though Thanks
https://www.startech.com/ca/HDD/Adapters/USB-3-SATA-adapter-cable-with-UASP~USB3S2SAT3CB

 

[DeltaMac]

Can you try a test of your drive with Blackmagic Disk Speed test?

 

[Orbsandoz]

My OS is on a bare drive SSD in a Seagate Thunderbolt dock hooked up to an Elgato Thunderbolt 2 dock hooked up to my iMac's Thunderbolt 1 dock.... My Mid 2011 iMac now runs as fast as my early 2011 15" MacBook Pro with a ssd drive and without having to open it up! I have encountered no random disconnects of the OS and and I also get to enjoy the benefits of USB 3.0 via the Elgato dock.... Not a perfect solution but one that has brought new life into my old workhorse! Granted I bought the Seagate Thunderbolt Dock at a Pawn Shop for $10 on clearance, since they had it listed as a modem. The Elgato dock I bought used on eBay for $80.... I could have just opened up my iMac and installed a ssd but I would not have enjoyed the benefits of what Thunderbolt provides! I am really happy and have had no issues in the seven months since I made the switch. Just my 2 cents and I would appreciate anyones feedback on my choices!

 

[Fishrrman]

I watched your video and frankly, I don't find that bootable time to be overly "slow". It did seem to take more time to "find" the boot drive.

Have you gone to the Startup Disk pref pane, and selected the external SSD to be the boot drive?

Of course, it's not going to equal the boot speed of a new MacBook Pro with the PCI-e based flash SSD's, nor one of the new iMacs with a similar drive, either.

Please run the BlackMagic Speed tester utility, and post the results here.
The important number is the "read" speed.
With a USB3/SATA setup, the optimum is going to be around 435mbps.

Regarding the "flash" -- I sense that has to do with a graphics file or setting being initialized. Nothing to worry about. It's "just there".

 

[antonypg]

As an experiment I built myself an external Fusion drive using an SSD in a Thunderbolt case and a spinning hard drive in a USB 3 case. I just checked and booting my MacBook 2011 took 25 seconds from the moment I hit the power button to the login prompt showing up.

 

[andrew5494]

@DeltaMac @Fishrrman
Just posted my results. Thanks!
[doublepost=1479329470][/doublepost]

As an experiment I built myself an external Fusion drive using an SSD in a Thunderbolt case and a spinning hard drive in a USB 3 case. I just checked and booting my MacBook 2011 took 25 seconds from the moment I hit the power button to the login prompt showing up.

So shouldn't mine be faster then if its a Late 2012 iMac?
Guess it depends on the specs of the computer and the SSD.

 

[antonypg]

My external Fusion takes 25 seconds to boot, but it only contains a fresh copy of Sierra. My internal SSD takes 40 seconds, but it is encrypted and has loads of other utilities/applications installed.