Thunderbolt 1 or 2?

[ivnj]

I have 2014 mac mini. 8gb 2.6ghz. Two thunder bolt 2 ports

I always wanted a thunderbolt drive but thunderbolt was always too expensive and still is. I found a used lacie rugged with thunderbolt and usb 3.0 for 60 bucks and free shipping with a thunderbolt cable. Thunderbolt cables are still expensive. Even third party. And others on ebay tb based are also 100+. Nothing less. So I jumped on it.

LaCie USB 3.0 Thunderbolt 1TB Rugged Orange External Hard Drive with cable | eBay

Condition is Used.

www.ebay.com

Anyhow thunderbolt 1 is enough for me. But just curious is this thunder bolt 1 or 2? And if it is a thunderbolt 2 drive does cable matter? The ports are the same size. But will a thunderbolt 1 cable give thunderbolt 2 speeds? Or do I need a special thunderbolt 2 cable?

 

[tyc0746]

The USB-Micro-B to USB-A cable should also come with it and simply plugs into a free USB port on your Mac.

The Thunderbolt connection will only operate at the lowest speed of either the device or the Mac. if both are TB2 then fine, but if the drive is TB1 then that’s your limit.

TB1 and TB2 use the same cable/port.

However, as it’s a spinning HD and not an SSD, both connections will be faster than the drive read/write speeds.

Be warned though, I’ve had 2 of these and the USB-Micro-B connections becomes worn over time - probably if you use it as a mobile drive as I do, with constant unplugging - but I’d expect more from what was an expensive mobile-orientated rugged drive. The other watch out is if you need to connect it to a device that doesn’t provide enough power to it, as there’s no external power option.

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't think you're going to find that a platter-based hard drive (which I believe is inside the LaCie drive you bought) is any faster over thunderbolt than it would be over USB3. That's because the drive itself "limits" the speed you can get out of it.

What you might do is buy a "bare" 2.5" SATA SSD.
Then open the Lacie enclosure (you have to take the rubber orange stuff off first), put the SSD into it, and try it that way.
THEN it will be quite fast...

 

[ivnj]

I already have a bunch of ssds at home. Was thinking the same thing. There are no just plain thunderbolt enclosures available. And even used drives are not cheap. So this was the best option. Plus its tiny and slips under my monitor.

But I was wondering if anyone knows if the drive was thunderbolt 1 or 2? And a 1 drive will obviously work at 1 speed even in a 2 port.

But when thunderbolt 2 came out did they change the cable? The shape is the same. But does a cable that came with a 1 drive work for a 2 drive? Or do I need a 2 cable for 2 speeds?

 

[Roxy.music]

I don't think you're going to find that a platter-based hard drive (which I believe is inside the LaCie drive you bought) is any faster over thunderbolt than it would be over USB3. That's because of the drive itself "limits" the speed you can get out of it.

What you might do is buy a "bare" 2.5" SATA SSD.
Then open the Lacie enclosure (you have to take the rubber orange stuff off first), put the SSD into it, and try it that way.
THEN it will be quite fast...

Here s a video of how to it

seems straight forward to do. The drives are very expensive if you are just using the encloser.

 

[ivnj]

The drive arrived today. My internal HD spinner not SSD was about 80mbps.

The link below is 2 screenshots. First is the thunderbolt speed. A little better but not much 109/108.

Then I opened her up and replaced the mechanical with a Sandisk 240gb plus SSD.

Their site says 550 read and 440 write. But I am only getting 324/329.

But thunderbolt 1 is 10gbps about 1250. So I should be able to max out the 550 should I not. Sata is 6gbps and thunderbolt is 10gbps. So that should be enough to max her out. Even same drive in a usb 3.0 enclosure was about 220. Not much faster.

Thunderbolt drive

mvvg.blogspot.com

 

[ivnj]

Update:

Not sure if its thunderbolt 1 or 2. But 2014 mini is thunderbolt 2. Anyhow plugin my thunderbolt port only no usb. And it boots catalina 10.15.4 in 23 seconds.

Used to be almost 2 minutes from internal. And 50 seconds with a clean install of HS. But from external 23 seconds. Not bad for external.

Maybe with a faster ssd even better. My HP ssd only gets like 20mbps so drive matters too. But for now not bad.

 

[ivnj]

I picked up a used MZ-76E250E 860 samsung evo 250gb from ebay for 35 dollars plus 4 dollars and 70 cents shipping plus tax. Not bad. Will see what the difference is when it arrives.

 

[ivnj]

And never used offer up. But here is another good deal.

BRAND NEW Samsung NAND SSD 860 EVO SATA 6 Gb/s for Sale in San Diego, CA - OfferUp

New, Brand new. Getting rid of it because I never built the PC. Asking $60 OBO. Make an offer!;

offerup.com

 

[ivnj]

The Samsung SSD came in the mail today from ebay. And much faster. About 400 read ad 3 something write I forget. But much faster. Took out the sandsisk form my Lacie rugged and replaced it with the 860 evo. I got the boot to 20 seconds now from power button to login screen. Much better than my internal spinner which was 50 seconds. And my sandisk was about 30 seconds. But still every little bit helps. Boots super fast now and flys off the handle. No more colorful beachball.
[automerge]1589848995[/automerge]
Except still not sure I have the right cable. How do I know if its a thunderbolt 1 or 2 cable? Its black color and 1.5 feet. Not official apple.