Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Seagate Momentus XT Install Questions

E

eswank

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 26, 2006
260
19
NorCal
Hey guys. I'm really interested in purchasing the 500GB Seagate Momentus XT hard drive from MacSales but I had a few questions before I did.

1. For those who have the hard drive already, how did you transfer your files over? Did you start fresh? Or use a program like CCC to transfer everything over?

2. If I wanted to start fresh, which should I do first: update the firmware to SD24 right off the bat or load files and then update firmware?

3. If I wanted to start fresh, can I load the OS on to the hard drive if I have it in an external enclosure or do I have to install it into my uMBP?

Any other suggestions would help to.

I'm deployed right now so I'm limited on use of YouTube and other forums so that's why I've asked the questions. I'm hoping to get some help on this. Thanks!
 
I have the drive and cloned all contents form the old drive to this one—just like I have for every hard drive upgrade I've ever done (on a Mac). A fresh install is completely unnecessary unless you've somehow trashed your system or just want a clean slate.

If you want to do a fresh install, you can do it on and external enclosure if you'd like, no problem there, though it probably will be slightly slower, just because of transfer speed differences.

I didn't know about the firmware upgrade until I read your post, I'm off now to go see what I can find out if mine needs it.
 
I love this new drive,I lost no battery life,I think it even increased. Everything is much faster. Ive had it for about 2 weeks now and no problems.

1) I used time machine to restore all my files back from back up. It took about 3 hours at most.

2) as soon as I stuck the new drive in,The first thing I did was updated the new firmware.

3) I believe you may have to load the os on the drive when its in the computer if you want a fresh start,But dont quote me on this one.
 
Surfer13134 said:
I love this new drive,I lost no battery life,I think it even increased. Everything is much faster. Ive had it for about 2 weeks now and no problems.

1) I used time machine to restore all my files back from back up. It took about 3 hours at most.

2) as soon as I stuck the new drive in,The first thing I did was updated the new firmware.

3) I believe you may have to load the os on the drive when its in the computer if you want a fresh start,But dont quote me on this one.
Click to expand...

So you backed it up with TM then updated the firmware? Or you updated the firmware and then use TM? What method did you use to update the firmware?
 
eswank said:
So you backed it up with TM then updated the firmware? Or you updated the firmware and then use TM? What method did you use to update the firmware?
Click to expand...

It doesnt matter when you update the firmware, if your just getting the XT it might have SD24 on it already.
 
Just one more note since I saw you mentioning Time Machine backups - a drive clone with Superduper will be much faster than a Time Machine restore.
 
So I want to revive this thread. I just bought a 500GB Momentus XT today (I assume it has SD24 already).

I plan on popping it in my new 2011 MBP and installing the OS on the SSD (does it show up as separate drives in the destination window?) and then restoring all my apps/documents/etc from a TC backup. Will all of my time capsule stuff go onto the regular HDD portion or will it try to fill up the rest of the SSD portion first (or will TC ask which disk to place it all on)?

Also will all updates from Apple in the future regarding the OS be automatically loaded onto the SSD portion with the OS since it doesn't ask a destination for those?
 
you don't get to select between the two portions of the drive. Everything, including the OS installation, and your files and applications, will be stored on the HDD. The SSD portion is 4GB and the drive uses it to store commonly used files and apps, including things like files used during booting the OS.

So the SSD portion is treated like a quick access holding area for data that still exists on the actual HDD.

This is my understanding of how this drive works. I have on on the way to install into my 13" MPB (mid 09). Hopefully someone else can confirm, or edit my explanation?
 
GabooN said:
you don't get to select between the two portions of the drive. Everything, including the OS installation, and your files and applications, will be stored on the HDD. The SSD portion is 4GB and the drive uses it to store commonly used files and apps, including things like files used during booting the OS.

So the SSD portion is treated like a quick access holding area for data that still exists on the actual HDD.

This is my understanding of how this drive works. I have on on the way to install into my 13" MPB (mid 09). Hopefully someone else can confirm, or edit my explanation?
Click to expand...

Correct - you cannot choose what you want to install on the flash memory of the drive. As I understand it, the drive learns over time what your most accessed files are, and caches them in the flash.
 
I haven't seen any affect on my battery life since I always have it plugged in but the heat is something that I've noticed. It does get hotter a lot quicker than it used to. I'm hoping the SD25 firmware update might help with some of the heat *wishful thinking*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back