Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
SSD question
- Thread starter novanut
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Isn't the Mini 2014 equipped with a Fusion disk, usually a bit larger than 1TB? Such disks are only roughly 10% SSD, where the system installs the OS and the user cannot control that action. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
PDFs are a vector for malware. Perhaps that's what's happening here?
Depends on how it was spec'ed? If I recall, you *could* probably BTO a 1TB SSD but it would've been crazy expensive back in 2014. A Fusion Drive was probably a more common configuration -- and any Fusion Drives still running today are probably on their last legs, as those tiny SSDs tend to get hammered with read/write cycles.
This is just one of our less tech-savvy members, nothing malicious. Here's the image he tried to post.
Looking at that quickly, it appears the New Mini has a fusion drive and you are showing only the 128gb SSD portion of it, which is unformatted. The old Mini also has a fusion drive. So, my guess is that you are actually booting the new Mini from the 1tb hard disk and not an SSD or fusion drive.
As far as I can tell, neither Mac has a 1tb SSD.
As far as I can tell, neither Mac has a 1tb SSD.
Attachments
I think both of your Mini's have 1tb fusion drives, I have a 2014 Mini like this myself. The fusion drive consists of two separate physical devices: a large, slow 1tb hard disk and a fast, small 128gb SSD. Using software, these two drives are "fused" together such that they appear to be a single disk to the user. To improve performance, frequently used data is accessed from the SSD while the bulk of your files are on the slow hard disk. MacOS handles all of this automatically.
Since the fusion disk is created with software, it can be split apart into two completely separate devices such that the hard disk and SSD are accessed separately. My *guess* is that, somehow, they were split apart when you re-installed the operating system. This resulted in everything going onto the slow hard drive and nothing on the SSD, and that is why it is so much slower than the "old" Mini. But I could be wrong here, and I'm sure somebody will correct me if that's the case.
This brings us back to your other thread, and the way you installed Sierra on the new Mini. Hoping that someone else can help you out here, because installing operating systems is not my speciality. That is why I prefer simply using bootable clones from another system with older versions of MacOS such as Sierra.
Since the fusion disk is created with software, it can be split apart into two completely separate devices such that the hard disk and SSD are accessed separately. My *guess* is that, somehow, they were split apart when you re-installed the operating system. This resulted in everything going onto the slow hard drive and nothing on the SSD, and that is why it is so much slower than the "old" Mini. But I could be wrong here, and I'm sure somebody will correct me if that's the case.
This brings us back to your other thread, and the way you installed Sierra on the new Mini. Hoping that someone else can help you out here, because installing operating systems is not my speciality. That is why I prefer simply using bootable clones from another system with older versions of MacOS such as Sierra.
Not sure but probably, probably it's because you're connected two drives to one bus, so it's bottlenecking. Yeah, even with Fusion Drive, if it split on two separate drives (or in other word, mounted without CoreStorage), also encountered the problem, sure thing SSD was faster compared to HDD, but no that as it was compared to separate SSD (not used in Fusion or SSHD)
Rebuild your drive using CoreStorage:
support.apple.com
Rebuild your drive using CoreStorage:
How to fix a split Fusion Drive - Apple Support
If your Fusion Drive appears as two drives instead of one in the Finder, it's no longer working as a Fusion Drive. Here's how to fix it.
Thanks for your suggestions but after reading the link I don't feel confident enough in my technical abilities to attempt it. I might check with OWC since it's still under warranty.Not sure but probably, probably it's because you're connected two drives to one bus, so it's bottlenecking. Yeah, even with Fusion Drive, if it split on two separate drives (or in other word, mounted without CoreStorage), also encountered the problem, sure thing SSD was faster compared to HDD, but no that as it was compared to separate SSD (not used in Fusion or SSHD)
Rebuild your drive using CoreStorage:
How to fix a split Fusion Drive - Apple Support
If your Fusion Drive appears as two drives instead of one in the Finder, it's no longer working as a Fusion Drive. Here's how to fix it.
Well, now I'm really confused. I thought this whole situation arose after you installed Sierra on the new Mini? It looks like that machine has a fusion drive that was split, but I could be mistaken there. Hopefully somebody else can clarify this. What were OWC's advertised specs for the new Mini? Was it supposed to have a fusion drive?
Sorry for all the confusion Boyd. Can't remember what OWC promised but I did ask them if they could install Sierra before shipping and they said "Sure, for another $$$". I'll check my paperwork to see and get back to you. As far as the drive (con)fusion status I haven't a clue. I just thought it would boot up like the old mini.
Thank you again.
That shows the devices that belong to a fusion drive, which is 2 devices. One 1TB HDD (spinning hard drive), and one 128GB SSD. Those 2 devices are combined with software to form the fusion drive. Your Mac will see those 2 devices as a single drive (assuming everything is set up properly)
There's a quick way to find out what is really happening:
Open your Terminal.
Run the command "diskutil list" (without the quotes.)
Post the results here...
There's a quick way to find out what is really happening:
Open your Terminal.
Run the command "diskutil list" (without the quotes.)
Post the results here...
Interesting that the invoice says that it has a 1tb and a 128gb SSD instead of a fusion drive. DeltaMac knows more about this than me, but that invoice suggests that OWC split the SSD from the hard disk before they sold it to you and installed the operating system on the hard disk... which is weird!
OP:
The Mini that has the 1tb HDD and the 128gb SSD was probably originally sold as a "fusion drive", but at some point the two drives have become "un-fused" and now they are just two "stand-alone" drives inside the Mini.
The OTHER Mini shows a "fusion drive" together and working as such.
If it was me, I'd just leave the two drives UN-fused.
I'd set up the SSD to be the boot drive, with OS, apps, accounts (basic).
If I had "large libraries" of stuff, such as:
- pictures
- movies
- music
... I'd put them onto the HDD. This is child's play and they will run just as well from there as they would from the SSD.
The Mini that has the 1tb HDD and the 128gb SSD was probably originally sold as a "fusion drive", but at some point the two drives have become "un-fused" and now they are just two "stand-alone" drives inside the Mini.
The OTHER Mini shows a "fusion drive" together and working as such.
If it was me, I'd just leave the two drives UN-fused.
I'd set up the SSD to be the boot drive, with OS, apps, accounts (basic).
If I had "large libraries" of stuff, such as:
- pictures
- movies
- music
... I'd put them onto the HDD. This is child's play and they will run just as well from there as they would from the SSD.
Thanks for the suggestions Fishrrman.
In my other life I worked in media; TV, Audio, Video, Graphics, etc. Managed to accumulate large amounts of the stuff you mentioned.
Somehow I still can't shake the addiction and am still accumulating stuff, this time, family & friends stuff...
I liked the old minis quick boot and response to my, sometimes unreasonable requests.
If this is how it will be with the new mini, so be it. I'm learning to take life at a much slower pace.
Thanks again.
Attachments
If you do as Fishrrman suggest OR you follow the instructions to restore the Fusiondrive your Mini will be as fast as the old Mini as the OS will be on the faster SSD Drive (as it is on the Old Mini). Now your OS is on the slower of the two drives and that's why its slower in general.
Howdy FFabian,
Thanks for your thoughts.
I looked at the link to restore the fusion to the drive sent earlier and that was way above my pay grade. And if I tried to reinstall the OS on the SSD drive I'd probably flood this forum with more "How did I do that's, Why is there smoke coming out of the new mini"...
Guess it's time to let sleeping dogs/old men lie (or something like that).
Thanks again.
Attachments
And I thought this was going to be about dog pictures. Most of mine show that general scene. They always seemed to be doing that when I took pictures. Honest...
Hi Pinky,And I thought this was going to be about dog pictures. Most of mine show that general scene. They always seemed to be doing that when I took pictures. Honest...
No offense intended. Hope this one passes the test...
