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Momentus XT Clone or not to clone?

redshovel

redshovel

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 19, 2007
516
111
About to buy a new base 13'' MBP. Have a new Momentus XT 500GB I want to put into it to replace stock 320GB hard drive.
Am I best to clone original drive to the Momentus XT then install it into the MBP or just take the original drive out straight away and install the OS fresh to the XT?
If so can I boot from OSX recovery disc and what the process of formating the new hard-drive.
 
Unless there's some stability issues with your current install on the 320GB, then I'd recommend cloning.

Boot off your restore disc and run Disk Utility. Partition the XT using GUID (click the Options... button on the Partition tab before partitioning). Format as Mac OS Extended (journaled)

To clone, use the Restore tab. Make sure you have the correct source and destination (that should go without saying). Check "erase destination", enabling block copying.

I've used this procedure to swap drives for years without any problems. I also use it periodically to make an image backup (in addition to a Time Machine backup).


Note: I'd recommend using a minimum of version SD24 on the Momentus XT. The current version is SD25 - your drive might even have shipped with it. From what I've read, SD25 seems to be fine, though it's fairly recent and I'm personally waiting on a bit more feedback. I've been running SD24 for 6 months without issue.

In any event, you can get the current version from Seagate. Choose the .iso version and burn the image to disc using Disk Utility (don't copy the .iso file itself, but rather it's contents as a disc image). You can then boot directly off it to install the firmware (restart holding down the "option" key, then select the disc as the startup volume).
 
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I had problems with cloning to my new Momentus XT until I upgraded the drive's firmware. It's a bit of a hassle on Macs as you have to burn an ISO to a disc, but once the FW was done, the cloning went fine. I've had no problems with it since; no extra vibrations, heat, battery seems fine etc.
 
AlBDamned said:
I had problems with cloning to my new Momentus XT until I upgraded the drive's firmware. It's a bit of a hassle on Macs as you have to burn an ISO to a disc, but once the FW was done, the cloning went fine. I've had no problems with it since; no extra vibrations, heat, battery seems fine etc.
Click to expand...

Which firmware version did you end up with? (SD24 or SD25)
Thanks.
 
BTW the problem was that it wouldn't copy. Got about halfway through the process using SuperDuper, and it crashed three times. I wiped and zeroed the drive, upgraded the firmware, and it ran fine after that.
 
I've got an external enclosure and did the following steps:
  1. Burn the drive firmware update disk (SD24 at the time)
  2. Replace the original HD with the Momentus XT and put the original HD in the external enclosure.
  3. Boot from the firmware update disk and update the drive firmware
  4. Boot from the external HD and clone to the Momentus XT (I use SuperDuper!)
  5. Now you are finished, and have a bootable external you can use for recovery or backup.
 
I got one last night and it came with SD24 on it. Used Carbon Copy Cloner and it worked like a treat. No issues. I do feel the vibrations people talk about but it's not a big deal at all.
 
Regarding the vibrations, I had them with two different drives (I've got two of them). However after upgrading to SD25 the vibration was greatly reduced. Before it was annoying, now I don't notice it unless I try.
 
Thanks for the replies. Gonna just clone when I get the MBP.
My XT has shipped SD24 so might just run with that as I read in most places that it seems stable.
Talmy's method of using Super Duper is also my choice, but think I will put the XT into the enclosure first, clone and then swap the original for the XT.
 
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