Duel SSD vs SSD + 2xHDD?

Hi guys
Yes I have read this table http://forums.adobe.com/thread/662972?tstart=0
The question is...
Do I go duel 120gb SSD'S or one SSD and two 10,000rpm drives? SSD's in question are OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS
#1 SSD for OS,Programs,Pagefile,Media Cache
#2 SSD for Media,Projects,Previews,Exports
Total of 240gb for use with Premiere Pro cs5.5
OR
#1 SSD for OS,Programs,Pagefile
#1 WD VelociRaptor 10,000RPM for Media,Projects
#2 WD VelociRaptor 10,000RPM for Previews, Media Cache, Exports
Total of 720gb for use with Premiere Pro cs5.5
ROUGHLY SAME PRICE
It is obvious the second setup will have the added benefit of more space but I am just concerned about which will give better performance?|
I shoot HD video with a DSLR which comes in a H264 format and at the transcode the files with MPEG streamclip. I am fiarly new to video editing and will not be making MASSIVE projects. More for personal use.
I should add the other specs of the PC....
i7 2600k
Asus p67 deluxe
16gb g.skill ripjaws x
nvidia 560GTX (hacked for mercury playback engine)
2tb storage drive
So what do you professionals think?
THANKS!

180sxboosting,
Here is the reason why the F3s are recommended over the Raptors:
The 3.5" Raptors, despite their 10,000 RPM spindle speed, are still slower overall than the F3's in sequential transfer speeds. The "newer" (but still oldish) Velociraptors still have a slower maximum sequential transfer speed than the F3's (the F3's can sustain 140+ MB/s on the outer tracks while the Velociraptors barely touch 120 MB/s on the outer tracks).
And those speeds are just as single drives. If those F3's are in a RAID 0, then single Velociraptors would be more than two times slower (sequential-speed-wise) than most of the RAID 0'd combinations of two 1TB 7200 RPM hard drives.

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hello,
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One of the bigger problems with migrating from PowerPC to Intel is not the operating system, but the chip. Migration Assistant has been known to fail for unknown reasons when moving between the Mac platforms. Instead, this user tip has been recommended to avoid such issues:
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Internal Hard Drive - Hybrid SSD or SSD?

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Reinstalling iDVD via OS X utilities application onto the SSD but SSD is "locked."

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Crucial m4 128GB SSD Low SSD Speeds W520

Link to picture
Crucial m4 128GB SSD ?
I tested the 256GB in Ultra Bay..also..see speeds.
Is this normal for W520 with M4? SSD Alignment is correct.
Moderator note; picture(s) totalling >50K converted to link(s) Forum Rules

Looks about right to me. In fact your sequential write speeds for the 128GB drive are above the listed spec. Don't expect to get the full listed read/write speeds most of the time, those are best case.

Trying to switch to SSD, not working at all.

So I have an A1278 Macbook Pro from Late 2011 with a 2.3ghz i5 and 16gb of ram running OSX 10.9. I also have an MCE optibay in place of my disk drive. I use this setup at a recording studio running Logic off my system drive and record to the drive in the optibay so I don't get any "disk too slow" errors or whatever in logic.
Anyway...
I wanted to put my 1TB HDD into my optibay, and put a Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD into my main drive bay. First I formatted thr drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in disk utility, then I tried cloning my drive in disk utility to which I got a "disk too small" error and several "invalid argument 22" errors. (Note my 1TB drive only has 90GB's of used space on it) I then tried a fresh install of Mavericks onto the SSD and restoring from a Time Machine backup. No such luck. It would be stuck at 0.2% and then "Time Remaining" would keep rising until it would stop and ask me to restart. Everything up to this point was happening in recovery mode btw. I then tried moving all my old files onto this fresh install on the SSD with Migration assistant. This appeared to have worked. The computer booted and I got this amazing SSD speed everyone was talking about. Until finder continued to close and not function properly over and over and I had to force shutdown. Back into recovery mode I went. Tried to repair disk with disk utility. and I got a "Disk utility can't repair this disk, please back it up and restore" error, and the log showed some red text about invalid node structres. So, did I miss a crucial step that one has to undergo before using an SSD? Some sort of magic SSD button in disk utility that I forgot to toggle? Or do I have a faulty drive? Right now I'm booted using the original 1TB disk in my Optibay. Any thoughts?

Hey Clinton
I guess i'm so stuck with the SSD that i have purchased.
Here is the details:
SSD - Samsung SSD 840 Evo 250GB
MacBook Pro - 13-inch, Mid 2012
Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,2
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.9.1 (13B42)
Boot ROM Version: MBP91.00D3.B08
SMC Version (system): 2.2f44
I was running with the factory HDD (toshiba 500gb) and thought of replacing it with an SSD . Tried a clean installation of mavericks at first using Bootable USB drive having mavericks. So i went on and installed the ssd replacing the HDD i had and went on to boot up from the USB, prior the installtion i tired to partition it first with single partition MAC os extended journaled with GUID table. But then it did partition but after that it says trying to reinitialize the drive and it never came back although i tried more than five times. So then i went back to my HDD and tired cloning it to SSD using Carbon Copy Cloner, but even for that i had to do the partitioning which failed. Finally i had to go and return back that peice and they gave me another one convincing me that it might a defective peice.
Now, with the second one, at first i booted up my HDD normally and connected the new SSD the USB/sata converter and i successfully partitioned and using carbon copy cloner, i have cloned as well. Now to make sure if its all ok, before replacing the HDD in the main compartment, i just selected the startup disk as the new SSD and restarted the system... it booted up fine like a cheetah... was all gud... i thought everything is pretty fine. Then ofcourse i went ahead and replaced the HDD and powered up the system again, but then it's not booting up... it gives you that folder with ? mark and that's all...
And then i tried some other ways too... i even checked the firmware versions and i guess they are upto date as well. I just dont get the reason why it's not working.
Please help me.
Anjillan
so should i return and buy crucial now..???

Clean Install of Mavericks on new SSD - Final Question

I am looking for some help installing a new SSD into my mid-2010 Macbook Pro. I have the 15 inch with i5 and 4GB of RAM. last week I upgraded to 8GB of RAM, purchased from Crucial, and am about to install a MX100 512GB SSD also purchased from Crucial. I have read about the issues with third party drives in Yosemite and because of this I will keep Mavericks until I learn more.
My goal has been to get the new SSD into the computer and treat it like a brand new computer completely clean. This I learned was considered a "Clean InstalI". I am not very good with computers and sometimes the discussions I've read on the internet can generalize things and not define each step like a complete novice like me would need. So I have done a lot of research and below have a step by step guide on how I intend to do a clean install of the operating system onto my new SSD. I am looking for validation that this is correct or any steps I need to adjust.
I had asked a question about 2 months ago that lead me into the direction of doing the clean install. Drew helped out quite a bit and got me started on researching what I need to do for this clean install. There were some comments I had a question with. His notes are in italics and my questions are in bold.
During install use Setup Assistant (it's basically the same as Migration Assistant).
Connect the old HD (Can I connect to my external HD that backed up my old HD via Time Machine?) & choose the option to migrate the User account (leave the applications & other data disabled). (what happens if I opt to not do this step, not migrating User account information, what would be the Pros / Cons... another basic question I guess would be what exactly is in these User Accounts... anything that if I did not migrate over would give me issues?)
When completed you will have the same user on the new disk.
The Applications are left on the old disk, it's better to reinstall them in my opinion.
now on to by guide I compiled...
My Step by Step guide that if confirmed on here I will move forward with! Very excited and hope I got this correct.
Create bootable MAC OS X Mavericks USB Flash Drive
App Store - Download OS X Mavericks from PurchasesDone
Now found in the Applications folder (leave right there)
Plug in USB Flash drive (minimum 8gb)
Go to UtilitiesLaunch Disc Utility
Find USB Flash Drive on left hand side
Format this drive
Click on Erase (tab towards top)
Format: Mac OS Etended (Journaled)
Name: “installMavericks”
Click Erase button at bottom
Launch Terminal
Copy and paste text below. replace the red “Untitled” with the name of the USB drive (installMavericks) - case sensitive and keep the space after installMavericks
click enter - put in password
will take approx 20-30 minutes
If message says Done I now have a USB drive with Mac OS X Mavericks right on itwhat happens if there is an issue?
Text to put in terminal
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction
Upgrade HD to SSD
I have backed up my current HD on an external 1TB drive via Time MachineI plan to do a Fresh/Clean install of the Mac OS Mavericks. I will individually bring over songs, pictures, movies, documents etc from the external HD that has the last x amount of my Time Machine Backups of current/soon to be old HD
Open Macbook Case
loosen two screws, pull the entire strip out. The screws do not come out, only loosen
Pull hard drive out with the clear strip of (paper?)
careful, still connected to SATA cable
once removed - use TORX screw driver to remove the 4 screws on the Hard drive and transfer them into the same spot on the SSD
connect SSD to the SATA connector
put the SSD back into its bay by lining up the 4 screws to the locations within the bay
add back the strip that had the two screws from earlier. tighten screws
put case back on.
Plug in USB into computer and turn on computer
Will boot to the Mac OS Utilities
go to “Disc Utility”Find SSD on the left
go to Erase Tab to repartition
Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Name: example “new SSD”
click erase at the bottom
Exit out of Disc Utility
go to “Reinstall OS X”Click continue
go through the screens and menus… (not sure what happens here) assuming this is loading the OS Mavericks from the USB to new SSD
after this step is the installation complete?
what will be on the new SSD?
iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Garage Band, QuickTime player etcwill these need to be re-downloaded from the App store etc
Logic Pro X, Toontracks, Fluenz etc.these I need to re-download from the sites using serial keys etc. (I have decided to just buy the new Logic Pro X so that I can do the clean install and leave my old Logic Express behind where I have lost the disc that came with it)
From here I can connect my external 1TB drive that had my previous HD backed up on it and pick and choose what songs, movies, pictures, documents etc that I want to drag onto my new SSD
DONE !! ??
Sorry for the long post. Wouldn't make sense not to reach out to this awesome community though. Thanks again for all the help. I realize I am responding to an old post so I may end up re-posting this as a new topic.
Daniel

DRH85 wrote:
...However the simplicity of using Time Machine to migrate over to the new SSD is very alluring. I have found a link that talks about the Pros and Cons. Do you think they summarize things very well?...
Your link makes very interesting reading. One thing that jumps out is how an old HD's installation and Time Machine are equated. Time Machine is a remarkable system, simple on the outside and complex under the hood (this is the fundamental resource on the subject, created by a Community member who is sorely missed). But it doesn't play well with certain types of files (virtual machine files for running Windows, etc., on a Mac for example) and has, in my experience at least, lost some files after briefly saving them. Your old HD, on the other hand, is both complete and current, making it a better source IMHO to migrate from.
The point about older software no longer being compatible is well taken, but I tend to keep older versions long after newer versions appear and I've been surprised at how well they continue to function after the publisher insists they're no longer supported by a newer OS (and are sometimes better than what replaces them). And in the case of commercial software, associated files are often sprinkled far and wide, perhaps to prevent easy pirating. Moreover, while keeping track of serial numbers is always a good idea, many publishers limit the number of installations and entering the S/N over again usually involves the program phoning home to check on the installation count so far. Cloning avoids that more effectively than migrating.

How to install third-party SSD as boot disk in MacPro 5,1

I had so much trouble with this that I thought I'd post a recipe that others could follow.
The first thing you should know is that it's not possible to get a non-Apple SSD recognized in a sled slot of a MacPro 5,1. It just doesn't see them at all, even if (as some suggested) previously partitioned as a GUID partition (which works in a MacBook Pro, but not a MacPro 5,1). This is true even with the most up-to-date EFI firmware. You're going to have to use a PCIe adapter card.
The next thing you should know is that not all PCIe SATA3 SSD adapter cards are bootable on a MacPro 5,1. For instance, even though the Sonnet Tempo SSD is advertised as working for a boot drive in a Mac Pro, it actually works in any Mac Pro *except* the 5,1. In a 5,1 drives on the card do not work as boot drives, either with option boot or if you select it as the startup drive after booting from something else. Also, EFI boot is extended by about a minute -- not the end of the world, but an annoyance. The Tempo card does work well for add-on drives, its very fast. I am pretty sure the Tempo Pro variant of the card also does not work, as the Sonnet support guys told me that they have to use use rEFIt for booting 5,1 MacPros in their lab. I imagine if the Pro worked they would have pointed me at that instead. (Note that rEFIt has been superseded by rEFInd, http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/. I didn't try using rEFIt or rEFInd because I found a better way, but if you want to dual-boot to Linux those utilities are apparently Da Bomb.)
An Apricorn Velocity x2 Duo card *will* boot, and does not have a long EFI boot delay. That card is a little more expensive than the Tempo SSD (but not the Tempo Pro SSD) but it works properly. It's worth the extra money, especially since it's the only card I could find that explicitly claimed to work as a boot drive on a 5,1 MacPro. And it does.
One caveat: With the Tempo SSD the SSD drives were invisible until repartitioned in GUID format, which also happens if you try to use a third-party SSD inside a Macbook Pro. I found that I could repartition one drive, a Crucial MX500 960GB, using a run-of-the-mill USB SATA2 adapter. Unfortunately this solution did not work with a Samsung Evo 1TB drive, I had to use an external USB3 enclosure. Moreover, the enclosure supported both FireWire and USB3 but FireWire did not work. This FireWire issue might be due to the super-cheap enclosure I was using, so YMMV, but keep in mind that it's possible that you'll need either a USB3 expansion card in the MacPro, or a different Mac, to perform the initial repartition to GUID format.
It's possible that SSDs would be visible on the Velocity card even before repartitioning, I don't know as both of my drives had been repartitioned prior to trying the Velocity. So, it might work ... but you might need to partition externally.
I don't know if pre-partitioning is necessary with the Velocity card, as I only ever tried pre-partitioned drives with it. If you try the Velocity and the drive isn't seen, that's the problem and you'll have to use an external SATA adapter of some sort to repartition before installing on the Velocity card.
After partitioning the drive and installing on the Velocity card, it worked fine. Yosemite installed properly and with reboot it blazed.
Next up, TRIM support. For some reason known only to Apple, the Apple AHCI driver refuses to enable TRIM support for anything other than Apple drives. It's possible that there are or were bugs in some of the early SSDs and Apple is just playing it safe, although I would have preferred to have the option to enable TRIM or not if that's the case. Unfortunately there is no such option, you have to use a substitute AHCI driver.
Unfortunately if you're using Yosemite you cannot use a substitute driver without disabling kext extensions, because Apple will not sign anyone else's driver (at least not at the time of this writing). That's unfortunate, I would prefer to have signed extensions if I could, but realistically speaking you're no worse off in terms of security than you were with Mavericks so it's not the end of the world. With a little luck Apple will either start supporting TRIM on third-party drives or starts signing third-party drivers sometime in the future.
So: Before you can start TRIMming drives, you first need to run this command, or something like it:
sudo nvram boot-args=“kext-dev-mode=1”
I rather like seeing the boot process, rather than just the Apple logo, so I use this:
sudo nvram boot-args=“-v kext-dev-mode=1”
I tried both Trim Enabler (http://www.cindori.org/software/trimenabler/) and Chameleon SSD Optimizer (http://chameleon.alessandroboschini.com/). As of this writing the Chameleon driver is more up-to-date, and comes with some additional utilities that are pretty nice. Take your pick, though, both worked fine in my experiments.
With a TRIM-enabled AHCI driver, kext signing disabled, a Velocity card, and your favorite SSD you are in business.
The only weird thing after all of this is that non-boot SSDs on the Velocity card (or on the Tempo) are ejectable. As far as I can determine there’s no way to mark them as non-ejectable. That’s a minor annoyance compared to the performance you get out of the SSD, though.
Because, with this stuff in there, yowza is the MacPro 5,1 a fast machine. You Will Like It. Enjoy!

Then you should read these.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1804704&highlight=sonnet+tempo+pro
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1721573&highlight=sonnet+tempo+pro
This was strange but has to do with how startup disk and nvram interact
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1795765
I think your problems were solvable and not that the Sonnet card and 5,1 is not bootable, in fact the 5,1 is easier, there are more supported cards.
I have the 1,1 where the Sonnet Pro is recommended but for data only and are not bootable because of the 32-bit EFI firmware. NOT the 4,1 and 5,1. The 2008's are problem child and have a mix of PCIe 1.1 slots, first implementation of EFI64 that also has problems. Also the 4,1 has two PCIe 2.x slots 3 and 4 that share a controller but that simply limits bandwidth.
I would have left the TRIM support and NVRAM changes in Yosemite to a separate thread if you wanted to focus on the Sonnet Tempo Pro support in Mac Pro 2010-12 5,1s.
Also the make of SSD can vary and they also have their own firmware as do bootable controllers along with the EFI of the Mac, all of which have to work together. Meaning it might be that Samsung 840 va 840 EVO vs 840 Pro will all be slightly different but my experience is Samsungs work well (as do others like Crucial with the proper firmware - and there was/is an issue with the firmware of the Samsung 840 but not with booting).
The PCIe card gets seen and treated as external and therefore 'eject' but of course you can't when it is the system boot drive.
One thing I found last week and meant to mention: After installing or changing PCIe cards, RESET SMC made all the difference in the world with the long boot delay. Some PCIe cards will add a few seconds, system has to search the device tree which now shows another controller with multiple devices - and sometimes NVRAM and SMC are what I will call "dirty" and need to be rebuilt and reset.

Samsung SSD 840EVO not booting from macbook pro mid 2012 after cloning

Hello there,
I guess i'm so stuck with the SSD that i have purchased.
Here is the details:
SSD - Samsung SSD 840 Evo 250GB
MacBook Pro - 13-inch, Mid 2012
Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,2
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.9.1 (13B42)
Boot ROM Version: MBP91.00D3.B08
SMC Version (system): 2.2f44
I was running with the factory HDD (toshiba 500gb) and thought of replacing it with an SSD . Tried a clean installation of mavericks at first using Bootable USB drive having mavericks. So i went on and installed the ssd replacing the HDD i had and went on to boot up from the USB, prior the installtion i tired to partition it first with single partition MAC os extended journaled with GUID table. But then it did partition but after that it says trying to reinitialize the drive and it never came back although i tried more than five times. So then i went back to my HDD and tired cloning it to SSD using Carbon Copy Cloner, but even for that i had to do the partitioning which failed. Finally i had to go and return back that peice and they gave me another one convincing me that it might a defective peice.
Now, with the second one, at first i booted up my HDD normally and connected the new SSD the USB/sata converter and i successfully partitioned and using carbon copy cloner, i have cloned as well. Now to make sure if its all ok, before replacing the HDD in the main compartment, i just selected the startup disk as the new SSD and restarted the system... it booted up fine like a cheetah... was all gud... i thought everything is pretty fine. Then ofcourse i went ahead and replaced the HDD and powered up the system again, but then it's not booting up... it gives you that folder with ? mark and that's all...
And then i tried some other ways too... i even checked the firmware versions and i guess they are upto date as well. I just dont get the reason why it's not working.
Please help me.
Anjillan

yea... i have tried all those...
can you confirm if this is ok to buy:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-HDD-Hard-Drvie-Cable-for-13-MacBook-Pro-A1278-MD101-M D102-821-1480-A-2012-/181269577616?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a34823f90&_uh b=1
or
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/NEW-MacBook-Pro-Unibody-13-A1278-2012-md101-102-HDD-Hard- Drvie-Cable-821-1480-A-/121183868039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c371f1487&_ uhb=1
or this one..??
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/for-APPLE-MacBook-Pro-13-A1278-HDD-Hard-Drvie-Cable-MD101 -MD102-821-1480-A-2012-/331060187298?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d14b990a2&_ uhb=1
i guess i aint gotta buy those brackets again..?
Thanks
Anjillan

Warning! Using SuperDuper to clone from an HDD to an SSD might seriously da

WARNING! USING SUPERDUPER TO CLONE FROM AN HDD TO AN SSD MIGHT SERIOUSLY DAMAGE THE HEALTH OF YOUR SSD!
This is the new thread which I referred to when replying to:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2274972&start=0&tstart=0
I used SuperDuper to clone from a VelociRaptor 300GB HDD to an OCZ Agility EX SLC SSD, with disastrous results.
To save me the time of rewriting all the events please refer to the following emails and online submissions:
(Biltan-Wales - 21 Dec 2009 - 11.02 GMT):-
After reading several very favourable product reviews of the above SSD, I have just purchased one from Aria Technology Ltd., to use as a boot drive for my (early 2009) 8-Core 2.93GHz Intel Xeon Nehalem desktop workstation.
Also, prior to purchase of an OCZ SSD, I posted a question on Apple's Discussions' Forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2263023&tstart=0
From the response to this, and from reading several other threads regarding SSDs, I found that several Mac Pro owners are using OCZ SSDs as boot drives, and in some cases employing up to 3 of them.
I received my Agility EX from Aria on 16th. December, and yesterday afternoon I decided to set up my boot drive and 4 drive RAID 0, as described in: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2263023&tstart=0
First of all I used SuperDuper to clone from my VelociRaptor 300GB drive in Bay 1, to my original Apple (WD) 640GB drive in Bay 2.
Then I removed the original Apple drive, and installed it in an ONNTO dataTale TQ-M12H external single enclosure, using a Firewire 800 interface connection. Next I selected this as my boot drive to check it would boot OK, restarted my system, and there was no problem.
So my next step was to install the Agility EX, and another 3 VelociRaptor 300GB drives, in the Mac pro workstation.
First, I reselected VelociRaptor 1 as my boot drive, so that I could use SuperDuper to clone to the Agility EX.
The Agility EX was installed in the lower of the 2 optical bays, and was connected to the pre-wired SATA and power cable, and the VelociRaptors were placed in hard drive bays 2, 3, and 4.
I then started up the Mac Pro, and there were 4 message boxes on the desktop, requesting that the drives should be initialised. So then I used Disk Utility to initialise the 4 drives. The SSD was named "Agility EX Boot", and the others "VelociRaptor 2", VelociRaptor 3, and VelociRaptor 4". The Mac system accepted all 4, and mounted desk top icons for each drive. I cannot remember the exact figure, but the Agility EX was listed as approx. 64GB in Disk Utility after its initialisation. All 4 VelociRaptors are shown as 300.07GB. All drives were formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
The next stage was to use SuperDuper to clone from VelociRaptor 1 to the Agility EX Boot drive.
Everything was fine until 28.00GB had been copied, and then nothing more would copy. The total to be cloned was just under 30GB, which should not have been a problem with a SSD disk capacity of approx. 64GB, but everything was frozen at that point - exactly 28.00GB!
Eventually, my only option was to stop the process, and quit Super Duper.
Then I restarted the system to try again, but this is where there is a real problem now!
My system does not recognise the Agility EX at all now! Also, it is no longer listed in Disk Utility!
The system does not even acknowledge its existence! It is not even shown on the desktop at start-up, whereas I thought that perhaps there might have been another message box requesting that it should be reinitialised.
I tried disconnecting and reconnecting everything - all drives, interface connections, power cables etc., but to no avail!
This morning I tried this again, but still I cannot get my system to even acknowledge the Agility EX, let alone list it!
So at the moment I am still using VelociRaptor 1 as my boot drive, and, in fact, as my main drive, because I am reluctant to use it with the 3 other VelociRaptors as a 4 drive RAID 0 set up until I get this problem with the Agility EX resolved.
(OCZ - 22 Dec 2009 - 18.29 GMT):-
Cloning from a HDD to an SSD is very problematic. I strongly recommend against doing this. Instead you will want to just install normally onto the SSD. You can clone from SSD to SSD, or from HDD to HDD, but going from one to the other can cause issues.
Try disconnecting the drive from the computer for an hour or so. This will allow all power in the drive to fully discharge. This is a way of resetting the drive that can usually recover the drive. Then plug the drive back in. Does the drive show up again?
If so, delete the partition on the drive, then create a new partition and then install the OS onto it clean rather than clone the OS onto the drive. That should resolve the issues you are having.
(Biltan-Wales - 23 Dec 2009 - 16.19 GMT):-
Thank you for your advice.
I have now disconnected the Agility EX SSD, and removed it from my Mac Pro's lower optical bay.
As Christmas is imminent, and I will not be using my system very much over the next few days, I will leave the drive for 4 to 5 days to allow ample time for all the power to discharge.
Then I will reconnect it, and I will let you know whether or not the drive is recognised by my system.
I was not aware that cloning from a HDD to an SSD could be problematic. Several threads on the Apple Support Discussion Forum have recommended using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner for this purpose. SuperDuper is the preferred option of most Forum members, whereas Lloyd Chambers (diglloyd.com), author of "macperformanceguide.com", uses Carbon Copy Cloner to clone his HDD boot drives to his Intel and Crucial SSDs.
After the Agility EX had been set up as my system boot drive, my intention was to use SuperDuper to clone from it to my original Apple (WD) HDD, now in an external enclosure with Firewire 800 interface, and then use SuperDuper's Smart Update for regular backups, so that I always had an up to date spare boot drive for the OS and applications.
The current VelociRaptor 1 boot drive would then be erased, and I would then use the Mac OS Disk Utility to create a 4 drive software RAID ) with the other 3 VelociRaptors, and this would be backed up using Time Machine to my existing WD My Book Studio Edition II 2TB External Hard Drive.
Please correct me if I have misunderstood your advice, but are you saying that I should only use another SSD, and not my original Apple (WD) HDD, as my back-up external boot drive? I don't know of any other Mac users who are using SSDs for that purpose, possibly because of the prohibitive cost of doing so.
I am more than happy to follow your advice to reinstall the Mac OS and my applications cleanly onto the Agility EX, and, in fact, I did exactly that with my first VelociRaptor HDD, before I had SuperDuper. However, that would still leave me with the problem of how to set up and maintain an external back-up system boot drive, without incurring the expense of another SSD. Any suggestions please?
Anyway the most important matter is the existing problem, and I am hoping that following your advice will resolve this.
I will contact you again early next week. In the meantime have a very enjoyable Christmas!
(OCZ - 24 Dec 2009 - 00.25 GMT):-
If the image is of an HDD and that image is then cloned onto an SSD that does tend to be problematic. I do not recommend doing this, as an image of the HDD somewhat regularly does fail to copy onto an SSD and still remain functional or fast.
You can store the image file on any sort of drive. Storing the image file is fine, as that is just a digital file, so the storage medium doesn't matter. Its actually applying that image to a drive is where the problems often occur.
You can image from a HDD to a HDD just fine, or an SSD to an SSD just fine, but going from one to the other is problematic enough that I recommend not doing this. Sometimes it works just fine, but other times it can fail catastrophically to the point of even bricking the drive. To error on the side of caution I recommend just going a clean install on the new SSD.
Once you have that clean install done you can then take an image of that SSD and image on to other SSD's, or store the image on a HDD for backup purposes.
(Biltan-Wales - 29 Dec 2009 - 13.16 GMT)
Thank you for your last email.
Further to your previous email, and my reply of 23/12/2009. this morning I reconnected the Agility EX SSD.
However, unfortunately, the drive has not showed up again on my system. There is no icon for it on the desktop, nor is it listed in Disk utility.
When I checked Serial-ATAS in my Mac Pro's System Profiler, all 6 Intel ICH10 AHCI are listed in the Serial-ATA Device Tree, but, whereas all my other drives are sub-listed, there is nothing underneath the ICH10 AHCI for the lower optical bay.
As the drive has had 6 days to discharge and reset, it would appear that it has not recovered.
Where do I go from here?
I am still awaiting a reply from OCZ, but that is not surprising, because of the different time zones and the Christmas?New Year holiday period.
In the meantime does anybody else have any ideas, please?

Hi thanon,
"So the SSD is not visible, not even in disk utility, even after a restart ?":-
No.
"Check the log of SuperDuper (Window-Show Log); warnings are in red, I think.":-
This is a copy of the log, but it only refers to the original Mac (WD) drive as the Target Volume and it only lists the last Smart Update. There is no record of the original cloning to the same drive on 21st. December, nor of the interim Smart Updates. There is no record logged at all for the OCZ Agility EX SSD, despite the unsuccessful cloning attempt on 21st. December:-
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | SuperDuper!, 2.6.2 (87), path: /Applications/SuperDuper!.app, Mac OS 10.6.2 build 10C540 (i386)
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Started on Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 11:39 AM
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Source Volume: VelociRaptor 1, mount: /, device: /dev/disk3s2, media: WDC WD3000HLFS-01G6U1, interconnect: Internal SATA, file system: "Journaled HFS+", OS: 10.6.2 (10C540), capacity: 299.73 GB, used: 30.53 GB, directories: 164608, files: 521266, ejectable: NO, ACLs: Enabled
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Target Volume: Untitled 1, mount: /Volumes/Untitled 1, device: /dev/disk5s2, media: Ext Hard Disk, interconnect: External FireWire, file system: "Journaled HFS+", OS: 10.6.2 (10C540), capacity: 639.79 GB, used: 30.27 GB, directories: 164519, files: 522654, ejectable: YES, ACLs: Enabled
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Copy Mode : Smart Update
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Copy Script : Backup - all files.dset
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Transcript : BuildTranscript.plist
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | PHASE: 1. Prepare to Copy Files
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Preparing VelociRaptor 1
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Verifying the integrity of volinfo.database
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | volinfo.database OK
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Enabling permissions on VelociRaptor 1
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Refreshing Disk Arbitration ...
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Verifying that permissions are enabled for VelociRaptor 1
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Permissions on '/' are enabled.
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Preparing Untitled 1
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Enabling permissions on Untitled 1
| 11:39:15 AM | Info | Refreshing Disk Arbitration ...
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Verifying that permissions are enabled for Untitled 1
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Permissions on '/Volumes/Untitled 1' are enabled.
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Verifying that Untitled 1 ACL support matches VelociRaptor 1
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Preserving Spotlight state on Untitled 1
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Disabling Spotlight search indexing on Untitled 1
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | PHASE: 2. Copy Files
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Copying files from VelociRaptor 1 to Untitled 1 using Smart Update
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Cloning VelociRaptor 1 to Untitled 1
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Copying copy files with delete using script: /Users/williamtanner/Library/Application Support/SuperDuper!/Copy Scripts/Standard Scripts/Backup - all files.dset
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Loading 27 commands from copy script /Applications/SuperDuper!.app/Contents/Resources/Copy Scripts/Exclude system temporary files.dset
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Loading 6 commands from copy script /Applications/SuperDuper!.app/Contents/Resources/Copy Scripts/Exclude system cache files.dset
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Loading 1 commands from copy script /Applications/SuperDuper!.app/Contents/Resources/Copy Scripts/Exclude Norton FileSaver files.dset
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Loading 2 commands from copy script /Applications/SuperDuper!.app/Contents/Resources/Copy Scripts/Exclude Google Desktop Index files.dset
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Loading 1 commands from copy script /Applications/SuperDuper!.app/Contents/Resources/Copy Scripts/Exclude iTunes Temporary files.dset
| 11:39:16 AM | Info | Loading 0 commands from copy script /Users/williamtanner/Library/Application Support/SuperDuper!/Copy Scripts/Standard Scripts/Backup - all files.dset
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | /
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | /.vol
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /.vol
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | /cores
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | /Network
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | /.Spotlight-V100
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Preserving /.Spotlight-V100
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | /private
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/folders/-S
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/folders/zz
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/tmp/com.epson.epw
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/tmp/com.apple.speech.synthesis.globals
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/tmp/launchd
| 11:39:20 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/tmp/com.WD.WDDriveManagerService
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/vm/swapfile0
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/vpncontrol.sock
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/usbmuxd
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/syslog.pid
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/syslog
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/printtool
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/portmap.socket
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/mDNSResponder
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/cupsd
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/com.apple.ActivityMonitor.socket
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/asl_input
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/SCHelper
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/diskarbitrationd.pid
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/configd.pid
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/DirectoryService.pid
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/.DSRunningSP1
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/automount.initialized
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/mds.pid
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/com.apple.loginwindow.didRunThisBoot
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/pppconfd
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/resolv.conf
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/sntp.log
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/ntpd.pid
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/utmpx
| 11:39:23 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/run/mds
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/db/BootCache.playlist
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/var/db/volinfo.database
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/MobileDevice.log
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/launchd-99.KTlnYd
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/launch-TIwnDn
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/launch-S6asBo
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/launch-1v6MDi
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/icssuis501
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/4b3745a3d4d81
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | Ignoring /private/tmp/target221.indexState
| 11:39:32 AM | Info | /Users
| 11:39:36 AM | Info | Ignoring /.hotfiles.btree
| 11:39:36 AM | Info | /bin
| 11:39:36 AM | Info | /sbin
| 11:39:36 AM | Info | /usr
| 11:39:48 AM | Info | /System
| 11:41:47 AM | Info | /Library
| 11:42:41 AM | Info | /Applications
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | /.Trashes
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | /.fseventsd
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Preserving /.fseventsd
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | /dev
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | /net
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | /home
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | /Volumes
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Ignoring /Volumes/My Book
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Ignoring /Volumes/VelociRaptor 3
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Ignoring /Volumes/VelociRaptor 4
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Ignoring /Volumes/VelociRaptor 2
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Ignoring /Volumes/VelociRaptor 1
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Ignoring /Volumes/Untitled 1
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Evaluated 685438 items occupying 29.45 GB (164606 directories, 511269 files, 9563 symlinks)
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Copied 463 items totaling 0.69 GB (117 directories, 335 files, 11 symlinks)
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | Cloned 29.15 GB of data in 306 seconds at an effective transfer rate of 95.25 MB/s
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Resetting Custom Icon bit on Untitled 1
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | PHASE: 3. After Successful Copy
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Making Untitled 1 bootable
| 11:44:22 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Blessing OS X System Folder
| 11:44:23 AM | Info | Successfully blessed Mac OS X folder on Untitled 1
| 11:44:23 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Blessing OS 9 System Folder
| 11:44:23 AM | Info | Did not bless Mac OS 9 System Folder on Untitled 1 because it does not exist.
| 11:44:23 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Updating prebinding on Untitled 1
| 11:44:23 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Updating boot cache on '/Volumes/Untitled 1'
| 11:44:30 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache[271] current i386 cache file invalid because /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Desk topServicesPriv has changed
| 11:44:34 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache: warning mismatched install path in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle/Contents/Resources/MetadataLib.dy lib for /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
| 11:44:34 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache: warning mismatched install path in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle/Contents/MacOS/RawCamera for /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
| 11:44:38 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache[271] current ppc cache file invalid because /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Desk topServicesPriv has changed
| 11:44:41 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache: warning mismatched install path in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle/Contents/Resources/MetadataLib.dy lib for /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
| 11:44:41 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache: warning mismatched install path in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle/Contents/MacOS/RawCamera for /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
| 11:44:45 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache[271] current x86_64 cache file invalid because /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Desk topServicesPriv has changed
| 11:44:48 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache: warning mismatched install path in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle/Contents/MacOS/RawCamera for /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
| 11:44:48 AM | Info | updatedyld_sharedcache: warning mismatched install path in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle/Contents/Resources/MetadataLib.dy lib for /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
| 11:44:52 AM | Info | Successfully updated boot cache on Untitled 1
| 11:44:52 AM | Info | ...ACTION: Restoring Spotlight state on Untitled 1
| 11:44:52 AM | Info | ......COMMAND => Restoring Spotlight search indexing state on Untitled 1
| 11:44:53 AM | Info | /Volumes/Untitled 1:
| 11:44:53 AM | Info | Indexing enabled.
| 11:44:53 AM | Info | Indexing enabled on Untitled 1
| 11:44:53 AM | Info | Copy complete.
"Maybe turn the MP off, pull the power cord and disconnect all external devices but keyboard and mouse, disconnct the SSD, reconnect and start MP":-
I have tried this several times without any success.
"Also, make sure no programs are running during cloning, and leave the computer alone.":-
SuperDuper was the only program running when I cloned firstly to the Mac (WD) HDD, and secondly to the Agility EX on 21st. December.
Also everything was disconnected before I removed and transferred the Mac HDD to an external enclosure.
After I had checked that the Mac HDD had been cloned successfully, everything was disconnected again before I fitted the Agility Ex and the other 3 VelociRaptors in the lower optical drive bay, and drive bays 2,3 & 4 respectively.
I used a Lindy anti-static Service Kit throughout the whole process. I purchased this originally for when I installed 16GB of Kingston RAM, an ATI Radeon HD4870, and my first VelociRaptor

Replacing the HDD with SSD and reinstalling Mountain Lion

Hello,
I have a MacBook (Mid 2010) since August 2010. Since then, I have been using Time Machine and every time Apple releases a new OS, I download it from the Mac App Store and put it on a USB so that I can boot from it, whether to reinstall the OS or in case I faced Hard Drive problems.
My HDD is dying slowly, so I planning to get an SSD. The version of Mountain Lion that I have on the USB is 10.8.
The question is, do I have to download a newer version of Mountain Lion (say 10.8.3) from the Mac App Store knowing that I will be restoring from Time Machine?
Thank you..

Since you want to restore what's on TM to the SSD, the SSD needs to be booted from to receive the restored files and to do that, the SSD has to have an OS on it. And since you'd want to have the SSD's OS updated to the latest ML version eventually, you might as well do that first, since, to some degree, it's also a test of the SSD's functioning. Since you already have the Combo updater, you could just run that, and since it's only a bit over 800 MB, it might even fit on the flash drive. I don't believe that migrating from a TM file made by and containing 10.8.3 data would be problematic when initiated from a 10.8.0 installation (which is I think what you're asking), but there may be some subtle software changes we don't know about that could come back and bite. So starting the migration after updating to 10.8.3 would be the safest bet. At the same time, Setup Assistant brings your existing account stuff over to just reestablish your existence on the SSD, while Migration Assistant is run after a new account has been set up on first boot, so I'd think Setup Assistant is the better way to go.
In which case, how about this: when you run the Combo updater, you are given a choice of which drive you want to install it on. If I remember the sequence correctly (it's been a while since a fresh install), you run the installer, which transfers files to the target disk, and then reboot. The installation takes place on the target disk which then reboots again to begin the setup process. When the startup chime sounds the second time, use the option key to run Startup Manager and pick your flash drive to boot from again. If you already have the Combo updater on the flash drive, run it from there and pick the SSD as the target. When it's finished, if it doesn't start from the SSD, choose that as the Startup Disk (check to see that it says 10.8.3 in Preferences) and when it boots, start the Setup Assistant process using TM.
Or is the flash drive only an installer, meaning it doesn't actually have ML installed on it so you can't use it like an actual boot disk from which you can do normal boot disk things?

I have an HP ENVY TS 17 Notebook PC that I'm trying to install an ssd

I recently bought an HP ENVY TS 17 Notebook PC, nice laptop. Anyway, I bought a samsung evo ssd, I bought the drive caddy for it online, but I can not get the laptop to see the drive. I pulled it apart 5 different times thinking that I messed up. But after all that I still can't get it to work. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GIGJYBG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. This is the drive caddy that I bought. I thought this was the right one, but I don't know. If anyone can help me, please respond to this post. Thanks

Hello wily51501,
Welcome to the HP Forums!
I understand your notebook will not recognize a newly installed solid state drive (SSD).
Are you checking in the system BIOS to determine if the drive is detected, or with the HP Recovery / Windows software? Sometimes it's as easy as enabling the drive in the BIOS. You can find information on this here, covered on step 7: Installing or Replacing a Hard Drive
Here is a great guide that walks you through upgrading to an SSD: HP SSD Upgrade Kit Installation Guide. Furthermore this Maintenance and Service Guide has some more specific information for your exact notebook. It could be that the caddy you purchased is defective if the BIOS does not recognize the drive.
Here is a document published by Seagate that talks about drives that are not detected: The BIOS does not detect or recognize the ATA / SATA hard drive.
Hopefully this information helps!
Please click the "Kudos, Thumbs Up" at the bottom of this post if you want to say "Thanks" for helping!
Please click "Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
The Great Deku Tree
I work on behalf of HP.

Advice required fo new SSD/HDD setup and OS/App re-install

Hi,
Over the last few weeks my HDD has been failing verification (4 times in the last fortnight ). I have used both Disk Utility and DiskWarrior to repair the drive and each time the outcome has been successful, only to have Verify Disk report errors a few days later.
I therefore decided to get a new drive. I've gone for a Crucial M-4 256GB SSD. However, as I do a lot of database work (MySQL mainly), I don't want to hammer the SSD with lots of writes. So I have also bought a WD 500GB hard disk (5,400rpm) together with a caddy for installing it into the DVD space. The caddy comes with an external enclosure so that i can slot my DVD drive into there instead and continue to use it via USB.
System details: MacBook Pro 6,2 mid-2010, i5 2.53 Ghz, 4GB DDR3, both internal and additional gfx card, matt hi-res screen, OS X 10.6.8, Time Machine on Iomega external firewire drive
In my mind, I will be allocating the following to each drive:
SSD - primary drive:
OS X 10.6.8
All my Apps and Utilities, documents etc
HDD - secondary drive:
MySQL data files
OS X swap file
Windows 7 partition
Questions:
1. Does this sound like a valid setup - ie is it doable?
2. Will the SDD automatically be picked up as the primary drive when OS X boots?
3. How best to install OS X? Should I do a system restore from Time Machine or take this opportunity to reinstall from scratch? Time spent on this is not a major issue as I have a backup latop to work on in the meantime
3. Can I actually install Win7 on a secondary drive with Bootcamp or would it need to be on the primary SSD?
4. If I can install Win7 onto the HDD, will that Win7 partition be bootable from Parallels 7? I've heard some people have difficulty with this using VMWare
5. Is it worth having the swap file on the secondary drive or should I leave it on the SSD?
6. If I upgrade to Lion/Mountain Lion, will the full disk encryption work with an SSD?
7. I know that I need to go into the DVD app to edit the path to the DVD drive form 'internal' to 'external'. However, does anytone know if games that require the drive to be inserted also work with external drives? Not a big deal if not as I only have 1 of these left.
Any additional advice most welcome
Thank you.

Sparrowhawk wrote:
Over the last few weeks my HDD has been failing verification (4 times in the last fortnight ). I have used both Disk Utility and DiskWarrior to repair the drive and each time the outcome has been successful, only to have Verify Disk report errors a few days later.
Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the present boot drive to a blank external drive, you can hold the option key and boot off this drive.
Option key or c key boot off the 10.6 install disk and use Disk Utility to Repair the internal drive, preferablly to Erase with Security Option Zero all Data, this will assist in mapping off bad sectors on the drive likely responsibel for your problems.
Reinstall 10.6 fresh and use the same log in name as before, Software update fully and install programs from original sources and lastly files from the clone.
Your drive should be fine after this, if it's still having problems then it's very likely a mechanical issue and needs to be replaced.
The caddy comes with an external enclosure so that i can slot my DVD drive into there instead and continue to use it via USB.
You can't boot or install OS X/Windows from a external optical drive is what I understand, so you will have to plan around that issue with bootable clones, Winclone etc.
Clones can be booted from and reversed cloned onto new internal drives, in a lot shorter time and safer than TimeMachine restores.
note: intalling a drive in the optical slot is a violation and disqualification of warranty/AppleCare
Time Machine on Iomega external firewire drive
TimeMachineo only restores, it's not a bootable clone drive.
Most commonly used backup methods
In my mind, I will be allocating the following to each drive:
SSD - primary drive:
OS X 10.6.8
All my Apps and Utilities, documents etc
HDD - secondary drive:
MySQL data files
OS X swap file
Windows 7 partition
Questions:
1. Does this sound like a valid setup - ie is it doable?
No, Windows BootCamp will have to go on the same boot drive as OS X.
The swap file of OS X should be on the SSD for speed, yes it will wear it out, but it employs wear leveling and likely by the time the SSD wears out your going to be buying a new machine anyway.
So on the SSD, OS X, Windows, Programs, basic user folders. This way if the hard drive has issues your up on the SSD.
On the hard drive place new folders with data there, like a storage drive.
2. Will the SDD automatically be picked up as the primary drive when OS X boots?
You set either Windows or OS X as the Startup Disk in System Preferences, and it is the only boot drive.
With OS X/Windows which you select which partition to boot from using the option key at boot.
You could also go with virtual machine software if your hardware demands with Windows isn't great or you can do both.
Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?
3. How best to install OS X? Should I do a system restore from Time Machine or take this opportunity to reinstall from scratch? Time spent on this is not a major issue as I have a backup latop to work on in the meantime
Scratch and only return files manually, no restores or migrations. This way your free of corrupted data.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
3. Can I actually install Win7 on a secondary drive with Bootcamp or would it need to be on the primary SSD?
SSD primary.
4. If I can install Win7 onto the HDD, will that Win7 partition be bootable from Parallels 7? I've heard some people have difficulty with this using VMWare
VM software of Parrallels and VMFusion can copy the BootCamp Windows and uses it as a file in OS X, which one can save snapshots of that virtual machine file, especially useful for malware and only updating pristine copies of Windows so your not pwned.
5. Is it worth having the swap file on the secondary drive or should I leave it on the SSD?
SSD for speed, it's extra space for memory and the faster it is the better for your computer,
If your in the box, might as well max the RAM, that's even faster.
6. If I upgrade to Lion/Mountain Lion, will the full disk encryption work with an SSD?
Yes, but Filevault has serious drawbacks, first it does slow down your CPU as it has to encrypt and decrypt everything on the fly.
If you have trouble with your machine, you can't easily access the Filevaulted drive to recover files.
If you have some sensitive data, you should be using a Iron Key self encrypting USB or a similar external drive (has it own keypad or key), because johhny law, customs and Apple will need the password to search or fix your machine.
With the sensitive data on a external source, then you can use it with any machine.
If you want to keep your speed up, not have to buy all new versions of software and some third party hardware as there are no drivers, I suggest you stick with 10.6 on that machine, it will be around for quite some time.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
10.8 on new hardware is coming, decide then or when 10.9 rolls out, don't torture yourself with 10.7 on older hardware in my opinion.
does anytone know if games that require the drive to be inserted also work with external drives? Not a big deal if not as I only have 1 of these left.
Most games I know install and have their own copy protection not requiring a disk being inserted as it wears out that way also won't work with machines that don't have optical drives.
However I suspect if it has that sort of content protection that it won't work on external optical drives.
Likely a game that old won't work on 10.7 nor 10.8 anymore anyway, so you will have to give it up.
Be warned that 10.7 can cost you more money in upgraded software, PPC based programs of old will no longer work. Also drivers for older third party hardware, so beware before you upgrade.
CS5 doesn't work too well on 10.7 neither, so you'll have to go to CS6 for instance.

Hardware: SSD drives and scratch disks

Hi,
I am building a new system for Photoshop. Two quick questions:
1. I note in Adobe's system reqs it says Photoshop cannot be installed on flash-based storage devices. Does this include SSDs? Is there a genuine problem here (i.e. if my application drive is an SSD the PS won't work)?
2. I have not previously had a so-called "scratch" disk so I don't really know what it is or whether I need one, or more than one. What's the general advice here? - separate drive to the PS application drive? also separate to the Windows drive? How big? Will an SSD be a good choice for a scratch drive?
Thanks in advance,
Alastair

G'day,
In answer to your query SSDs work fine to install cs4 on bar the following I'm having.
I've built a new system using ssds.and is working fine bar one problem
Specs of the system is
I7 920 cpu, Asus P6t se mb, 12gb ram, 128gb ssd, 64gb ssd, 4gb raid 1+0 array onboard, nvidia geforcegtx260. I use the 128gb ssd as the os and programs drive. The raid is the data drive. All works brilliantly except when I set the 64gb ssd as the scratch disk the following happens
"Could not open a scratch file because the file is locked. Use the 'Properties' command in the Windows Explorer to unlock the file."
I hit OK and get this error -
"Could not initialize Photoshop because the file is locked. Use the 'Properties' command in the Windows Explorer to unlock the file."
Pressing ok then shuts the program and I need to reset cs4 prefernces and then it all works fine. OS is Win7 64 bit.
Now I have just got to try and fix this problem Anyone got suggestions?
Cheers
Onslow
Hmm, seems to have stopped doing this now after resetting the scratch to the ssd and then rebooting. All is now fine and wonderfully quick.

Installing SSD increased boot up time of my Macbook Pro

Hi all.
I just installed a Crucial M4 256GB SSD into the Superdrive slot of my 17in MBP with a caddy. I have formatted drive and copy all files from the HDD over to the SSD but the performance is so slow on boot. Before i installed it into notebook, I had the SSD connected via a USB dock and was able to boot from it fine. However after i installed SSD into my MBP, it takes quite a while to boot up off the HDD (3-5mins). After it boots, the SSD drive would not appear on desktop for another minute or so. When accessing the SSD, i would get the colored spinning wheel and it waits before i am able to browse SSD files.
After installation, I then tried to set SSD as boot drive and restarted it. The MBP would not boot from SSD and then reverts to boot from HDD.
What is causing this? It is as if it has trouble initiating SSD, however SSD seems to work off cradle and USB just fine.
Does it matter whether I had SSD in main HDD bay or superdrive bay?
I used SuperDuper to copy files over.
The get info shows that the SSD is bootable.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Nelson.

A SSD may not even work in the Optical bay. Some do and sopme don't. IMHO it is not the SSD used but the Optical drive and more specifically the cable and restrictions Apple places on that bay. Apple only want you to use a Slow CD/DVD drive in that bay so they use a very limited cable system and may restrict the speed of that bay in the firmware to only work with slower type disks/disc (slower HDD and or CD/DVD drives).
EDIT:
That should of been.
May not Work let alone Boot a OS from a SSD in the optical bay.

Duel SSD vs SSD + 2xHDD?

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