Mid 2011 IMac 21.5" - Failing SATA controller?

[MasterMoron]

I obtained an iMac dirt cheap from a surplus auction and I have been having trouble getting it to work properly. I did install Windows on it and wiped out OSX, but I believe I am experiencing a hardware issue.

What happens is that I am experiencing corruption on the hard drive, the system still runs fast but I am unable to perform backups due to this corruption. I tested the hard drive, reinstalled windows, AND then swapped in another tested good hard drive where the issue occurred again on another fresh install (With a fresh burned install media). I also tested the RAM with memtest and the results came back with no errors...

It is rare, but once or twice the windows install media in the disk drive will fail to load and just hang.

I am thinking that maybe it is the SATA controller going bad, but I am not sure how I can possibly test that.

Now, that isn't the end of the world if that is this issue. It would appear a USB-C connected to a thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter will be fast enough to house a bootable OS. In theory, it sounds like it might work, please let me know if it won't!


I haven't owned a Apple product before this so my experience with anything Mac specific is limited. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

The stock standard TB on the machine will be more than fast enough, assuming this is a 2011 model which you have not shared with us. That is the first iMac with TB,

Then get a legal copy of Mac OS X on it.

 

[MasterMoron]

This iMac comes with a 500GB drive, more than enough for what I am using it for. Its actually looking a little more cost effective to use a thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter.

 

[Fishrrman]

You don't need tb3.

What year is the iMac?
Does it have USB3?

Even with USB2, you can still get modestly-decent performance from a USB3 SSD, once the Mac is up-and-running.

 

[Richdmoore]

2011 iMac has thunderbolt 1 & usb 2 & FireWire 800. You can get a usb 3 adapter, but as far as I know no USB adapter/hub will allow you to use the usb 3 drive as a boot drive. It will work for other purposes however.

When I owned a 2011 Mac, I used a delock thunderbolt 42510 paired with a SATA ssd drive, that worked as a boot drive for the 2011 models.

http://www.synchrotech.com/products...sd-drive-external-enclosure-delock-42510.html

 

[Fishrrman]

Richardmoore wrote:
"as far as I know no USB adapter/hub will allow you to use the usb 3 drive as a boot drive."

I have several Macs of various vintages:
2006
2010
2012
2015

... and have worked with Macs of other years:
2008
2017

... and they ALL can be booted from USB3 drives, or even USB2 drives.
Doesn't matter whether it's a standalone drive, a "bare drive" sitting in a USB3/SATA docking station, a USB3/SATA adapter dongle, or even a USB flashdrive.

They ALL can be booted via USB.

Where did you get the idea it couldn't be done?

A friend has a new (2017 design) iMac, and I was even able to boot it "through a powered hub" -- it still booted and ran.

 

[Richdmoore]

Richardmoore wrote:
"as far as I know no USB adapter/hub will allow you to use the usb 3 drive as a boot drive."

I have several Macs of various vintages:
2006
2010
2012
2015

... and have worked with Macs of other years:
2008
2017

... and they ALL can be booted from USB3 drives, or even USB2 drives.
Doesn't matter whether it's a standalone drive, a "bare drive" sitting in a USB3/SATA docking station, a USB3/SATA adapter dongle, or even a USB flashdrive.

They ALL can be booted via USB.

Where did you get the idea it couldn't be done?

A friend has a new (2017 design) iMac, and I was even able to boot it "through a powered hub" -- it still booted and ran.

I am not talking about using a USB drive booting directly into the computer. That wan't the Opening Post's question.

I am talking about using a thunderbolt to USB adapter, specifically on a 2011 mac with only usb 2.

The Opening post mentioned using a thunderbolt hub to get USB-c and using a USB-c drive on his 2011 model, not the native USB 2 interface (without a thunderbolt to USB adapter.)

Here is one of the pages that mention this, but it is a limit for all the thunderbolt 1 computers using the usb 3 interface "bolted on" as far as I know. I researched this a bunch when I had this model of computer to speed up an external boot drive.

Here is one such page discussing the limitation: http://www.caldigit.com/KB/index.asp?KBID=147&viewlocale=1

Support - CalDigit Online Troubleshooting Knowledge Base
How can I boot up my Mac OSX using a USB drive connected to Thunderbolt Station 2?

First Published: 2/9/2015 Last Modified: 2/9/2015 Last Modified by: LL
Article ID:147
Summary:
CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 2 does support Mac OSX booting from USB drives with some system requirements.
Products Affected: Thunderbolt Station, TS2 - Thunderbolt Station 2
The following items must be met before you can boot off Mac OSX from a USB drive connected to Thunderbolt Station 2.

1. The booting partition must be GPT format. (GUID Partition Table).
2. The Mac OSX on the USB boot drive must be OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks, or later.
3. Your Mac machine must be "Late 2013" or later. From the Finder menu, please check Apple -> About This Mac for more information.
4. Please ensure you always have the latest firmware on your Mac computer.
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201518


Basically, if the Opening Post wanted to run a boot drive via thunderbolt 1, (on his 2011 iMac) it would have to be either a native thunderbolt drive "sled" (like I linked above) or he will be limited to the native USB2/firewire 800.

 

[MasterMoron]

I appreciate all the input, looks like the native thunderbolt hard drive dock is the way to go. Thank you!

 

[Richdmoore]

I appreciate all the input, looks like the native thunderbolt hard drive dock is the way to go. Thank you!

No problem, I ran my old 2011 iMac for several years using the delock enclosure with a SATA SSD without any issues. (It was much easier than opening the iMac and risking damage, and dealing with the thermal runaway fan issue that will occur when anything other than the stock hdd is used.)

 

[mrdunderhead]

Actually there is a fix for the run away fan issue now. and it doesn't cost you 50.00 for OWC Solution and all you need is Macs fan control.