Just bought a mac mini server 2012. Some how its set up so you can not use an external hard drive on it . or change the hard drive for that matter. it boots to the original ok but i replaced it with an SSD that i know boots and got a ?. put it in the usb and held option it doesnt show up. doesnt show up in start up disk or on my dektop either but it does show up in disk utility and I know it works fine I booted two other macs off it with no problem. Does that fact that its a mac mini SERVER make a difference? Does any one know i can turn off dont boot from usb some how ? Suggestions please. and thank you
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mac mini server help please
- Thread starter sundown57
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Which version of OS X is currently on the Mac Mini?
What Mac and which version of OS X was the SSD used with previously?
Have you tried reformatting the SSD in Disk Utility and then either re-installing OS X onto it or cloning the old drive onto the SSD?
What Mac and which version of OS X was the SSD used with previously?
Have you tried reformatting the SSD in Disk Utility and then either re-installing OS X onto it or cloning the old drive onto the SSD?
I have a 2012 Mini Server with original internal Apple 256g SSD. It's just a Mac, nothing special about it. The only difference in the server models was there were different disk options available.
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I booted mine from a 1tb USB3 external SSD for over two years and it worked perfectly with Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and other demanding software. When I first set it up with the external SSD, the disk was a clone of my 2013 MacBook Air with Sierra. Booted right into that, I was actually surprised that worked.
Sounds like there's something wrong with yours.
Mac mini "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012/Server) Specs (Late 2012, MD389LL/A, Macmini6,2, A1347, 2570): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012/Server). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
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Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012/Server) Specs (Late 2012, BTO/CTO, Macmini6,2, A1347, 2570): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012/Server). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
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I booted mine from a 1tb USB3 external SSD for over two years and it worked perfectly with Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and other demanding software. When I first set it up with the external SSD, the disk was a clone of my 2013 MacBook Air with Sierra. Booted right into that, I was actually surprised that worked.
Sounds like there's something wrong with yours.
I dont really know what version was on it when i bought it. I never logged into it. I have learned a little more. Every external i tried was APFS even the SSD i installed Is APFS none of them work BUT. I found an old back up disk from like 6 years ago. so for the heck of it i tried it. and It booted to it its formated Mac extended . So seems it has somthing to do with APFS or at least newer back ups. I did replace the startup hard drive with an SSD loaded with High Sierra. I formatted the second drive APFS. when i booted it, it went straight to repair mode by its self and now says fusion drive is not set up. so yeah im lost
Ever since I got my 2018 Mini, I've been using the 2012 as a file and Time Macine server, booting into Catalina from the internal SSD which is formatted as APFS. No problems there.
You need to connect your Mac Mini Server 2012 to the internet and do a boot recovery via Command+Option+R to re-install the OS from scratch. MacOS personalizes your Mac's boot drive so the only way you can re-install a new OS is to first de-personalize it via boot recovery and then re-personalize it through boot recovery's Disk Utility. Through boot recovery it will re-install the new OS on the Mini and that will partition the Fusion drive properly if there is any installed. The way MacOS is setup is that it will only re-install the OS or a newer OS than it was last installed. So, if the last OS was Mojave, then you can either install Mojave or Catalina. And this has to do with the boot firmware -- meaning that every new OS install will update the Mini's boot firmware to match the installed OS. You can re-install an older OS if you wish, but it is best done through boot recovery so that it installs the necessary configurations and personalize it for that OS and the Mac that it is installed on, which then will allow stable operations of your Mini. I do not recommend carbon copy cloning an OS made for another Mac and implant it on the Mini server. While this is doable, the OS which wasn't personalized for your Mini can cause you to encounter some odd behavior with your Mini.
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First I've ever heard that, and you very well could be right. However, I had absolutely no problems doing this myself. My Mini originally had Mountain Lion pre-installed, which was good because I have some very old CAD and 3d software that won't run on newer versions. For years, I left Mountain Lion on the internal SSD and booted from the external SSD with Sierra. As I said, this worked perfectly and I used the Mini heavily with Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.
After installing Catalina on the internal SSD, I was still able to boot into Mountain Lion and Sierra using external SSD's. I had the impression that the problems you describe were limited to newer Macs with the T2 chip?
Yes, the problem is more apparent with newer Apple Silicon Macs and Intel Macs with the T2 chip. However, it has always been a practice we are taught as working Apple techs to re-install a clean OS through boot recovery or through one of the supplied Apple's USB sticks (white sticks). Also, as long as you had properly clean installed Mountain Lion and Sierra build on the Mini, then you will have no issues booting from those clone copies as well as Catalina, due to the fact that they were properly installed build OSes to begin with. It's just that you can't take a Mac Pro's Sierra build and implant it on the Mini and expect it to work well even though it's doable. When I was working as an Apple tech for a non-profit organization 2 years ago, this was a common thing I see with people transplanting OS build from another older Mac into a new Mac and not doing it through Migration Assistant and then have their new macs behaving strangely or crashing often or having internet not working properly. Apple also mentioned this on their Apple Support page below.
Use the Mac operating system that came with your Mac, or a compatible newer version - Apple Support
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That's very interesting, thanks. However, as I said above, I ran my Mini from an external SSD that was initially cloned from my 2013 MacBook Air. I was not expecting that to work when I first tried and was planning to do a clean install. But it worked perfectly, so I just went with it and deleted stuff I didn't want while adding other software I needed. This was very stable for almost three years, with no mysterious crashes or issues and I pushed it hard with Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Filemaker Pro and web development with Javascript, HTML, CSS and webGL.
I'm sure your method is a better approach for somebody who is starting from scratch, but I really had no problems with my method over a period of years.
Older Macs won't recognize APFS volumes as bootable devices until the macOS Installer has applied a firmware upgrade. So after the firmware upgrade, it will recognize APFS as well as legacy formats.
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Sure, most of the time though implanting clones do work and this is why it's common practice for many Mac users.
ok so decided to give a blow by blow description. Just got lion installed and it did format the disk to extended journal. plugged iin my back up and nope , wont read it. It sees it in disk manager but not on desktop and i can not access the files. so on to first update of the os if i can find it. thank you all for the help im getting in here. I actually bought 2 of these 2012 servers. Hoping to get one running for me and sell the other one.
Lion can not read APFS formatted drives if that is what your backup is based on. Only High Sierra, preferably Mojave which will install the required firmware to read and boot from APFS formatted drives as well as all legacy formats. If you want to boot off both Lion and the latest OS like Mojave or Catalina, then you would need to clone the Lion drive and then use a Mojave or Catalina Mac OS installer to re-install the build for the Mini 2012 with the correct firmware for APFS. Sorry if I wasn't as clear before.
I just want to use it as a home desktop computer, nothing fancy. I have a 240 ssd and a 1tb storage. both internal. But i would like to be able to plug in things like externals. thumb drive. SD card for my 3d printer that sorta stuff. I know buying a server wasn't the best idea. but i got them both at a super good price. ( installing high sierra ) now. stay tuned for further news as it happens .
I think you should be able to plug in things like externals, thumb drive and the SD card not just because the name "server" prevents you from doing those things. The Mini 2012 is still a fantastic machine, especially the server model once you get it up and running. You're not actually catching your Server at its best right now you know.
ive had an I5 2012 for years but for the last few months its been giving me grief so figured it was time to upgrade . then these servers came along to i took a shot. they may not be at their best right now but i believe i am on the road to recovery. HAHA get it , recovery ??? yes pun intended .
High sierra is in and it DOES see my external YAHOOOO.. no wait that something else.
Ok so now im up to Catalina but i don't think i got that fusion set up. disk utility shows 2 separate hard drives, the 240 ssd and 1tb. so question now is . do i care that much to start all over? for what little i do is there much benefit?
I believe the 1Tb fusion comes only with a 24Gb SSD drive. Only 2Tb+ Fusion drive comes with the larger 128Gb SSD drive. After the clean install, install your mainly used Mac apps that will fit into the measly small 24Gb SSD and the rest of less often used apps and data will be placed on the 1Tb portion, but because Catalina is such a large install to begin with, I think you'll going to end up with just the 1Tb physical space for most of your apps install.
IMO, you are far better off keeping the SSD separate from the hard drive. I always felt that fusion drives were just an awkward hack that Apple used because large SSD's were prohibitively expensive in the past.
I got a 2014 2.8ghz Mini with a Fusion drive which is actually a 128gb SSD paired with a slow 1tb 5400 rpm disk. I split the SSD from the hard drive and use it as the boot drive and don't really use the hard drive for anything. That machine is just a media server, so 128gb is more than enough for the system drive, it's mostly empty and all my media is on a 4tb USB ssd.
I got a 2014 2.8ghz Mini with a Fusion drive which is actually a 128gb SSD paired with a slow 1tb 5400 rpm disk. I split the SSD from the hard drive and use it as the boot drive and don't really use the hard drive for anything. That machine is just a media server, so 128gb is more than enough for the system drive, it's mostly empty and all my media is on a 4tb USB ssd.
This has been discussed before, and I gather in the beginning Apple was using very small SSD's. Don't know about the 2012 Mini, but my 2014 had a 128gb SSD paired with a 1gb hard drive. Pretty sure that others have posted the 2012 Mini was the same, but not certain.
Did the 2012 server have a fusion drive however? Didn't think so, I thought you had the choice of either one or two 1TB hard drive or alternately, one or two 256gb SSD's.
That's right; the 2012 server model never came with the Fusion drive and yes you did have a choice of either 1 or 2 1Tb or a SSD during build, but is available as an option. The original owner must had opted for that option. If a Fusion drive appears to have 2 volumes on the desktop, then it's no longer a Fusion drive. The OP saw 2 volumes in DiskUtil, but if he sees just 1 volume on desktop, then the drive is in Fusion mode.
Something sounds wrong there. If it had two hard drives, I don't see how it could have had a fusion drive. For a fusion drive, one of the internal disks must be a SSD.