Move the home folder to a SD-card?

[Kaelbron]

I have bought a Minidrive. I have bought a Micro SD card which I have supposed to have to my Macbook Pro Retina 13”.

The aim is to get more space for my computer. When I try to move my home folder to the SD card through the setting on the system settings so the computer starts to runs slower and freezing.

My macbook is fast and works as it should when I had the home folder not on the Minidrive.

Is it so that it is only possible to move some folders and files to the Nifty Minidrive? I want as much as I can on the SD card. What can I store on the Minidrive and how should I format that card?Anyone who use Minidrive?

 

[simonsi]

The SD slot is run off an internal USB hub so transfers are limited to USB speeds...that is causing the slowness. The SD slot is intended for camera image import, not being cheap fast-as-ssd storage, it cant do that.

 

[Intell]

In the retina Macbooks and I think starting with the 2012 Macbooks, the SD card reader is on a PCIe bus and is able to achieve speeds up to 2.5GT/s. The slowness you are experiencing is caused by the SD card. They aren't the fastest solid state media

 

[Kaelbron]

In the retina Macbooks and I think starting with the 2012 Macbooks, the SD card reader is on a PCIe bus and is able to achieve speeds up to 2.5GT/s. The slowness you are experiencing is caused by the SD card. They aren't the fastest solid state media

The SD slot is run off an internal USB hub so transfers are limited to USB speeds...that is causing the slowness. The SD slot is intended for camera image import, not being cheap fast-as-ssd storage, it cant do that.

I bought SanDisk Ultra microSDXC 200GB it should reads up to 90 MB/s which is slower than a SSD but pretty fast. I have mid 2014-version. Sure its image import but I think it should store at least documents, iTunes and Photos etc.

 

[simonsi]

I bought SanDisk Ultra microSDXC 200GB it should reads up to 90 MB/s which is slower than a SSD but pretty fast. I have mid 2014-version. Sure its image import but I think it should store at least documents, iTunes and Photos etc.

Thats the point, USB 2 doesn't run that fast, you can put as fast a card in as you like it will <only> run at USB2 max which is best case less than 60MB/s. Given the writing to the Home folder the OS does all the time (your library for apps etc etc), its not generally a good idea, its like running off an external USB drive and going to be slooow. It will store stuff just fine, its the access speed thats the issue.

Which model do you have? Use the System Report on About This Mac to confirm what bus is running the SD card reader BUT if you have a fast enough card and fast enough bus it wouldnt be a problem and if you only get the problem running the home folder off the SD then the proof is in the pudding as they say...

 

[brand]

I bought SanDisk Ultra microSDXC 200GB it should reads up to 90 MB/s which is slower than a SSD but pretty fast. I have mid 2014-version. Sure its image import but I think it should store at least documents, iTunes and Photos etc.

90 MBps is not pretty fast when it comes to disk access speeds, it actually pretty slow by today's standards.