Mac Pro :: Add SSD For Boot And Apps / Working Or Scratch Disk
Aug 22, 2010
Looking at current SSD's and they do seem to offer exceptional performance. Have a little spare budget after the 6-core purchase and was wondering..
Add a (modest)
SSD as a boot and app disk?
SSD as a working/scratch disk?
Now - we all would like the biggest, fastest etc etc. But taking another view,ie in 6 months time there are going to be cheaper, faster,bigger, better value for money. So - for design CS4/5, 3D...looking for drive big enough to make worthwhile testing the water. Still a bewildering amount of options out there. A starting point seems to be 60G OCZ vertex 2 ?
I am on a macbook pro that has relatively low RAM and video games sometimes will jump, so does a lot of graphic intensive programs, how do I make a scratch disk that any application will load some of its RAM into?
Searched the archives but no luck so far. My old PB G4 is running 10.4.11. When I installed the OS, I chose not to install iPhoto and iMovie because I didn't think I'd need them on this machine. I'd now like to add them, but am not sure how to do it without wiping the hard drive and starting completely from the beginning. There's got to be an easier way...right?
I have an 8 month old MB, 2.4 Ghz, 4GB Ram, 160 GB HD, running 10.5.5. I normally do the updated from Apple when the updates come out.
Anyway, I was trying to reformat/erase an external hd; I didn't see the Disk Utility icon on my Dock. I had used Disk Utility before (last time was maybe a month or two ago).
Go into applications, see something called disk utility, but it has a different logo (a piece of paper with a pencil, brush and ruler in the shape of an A). I click on it, it jumps once and does nothing. I figure it needs to be reinstalled, but the DVD that came with the computer says I can't install OS X on this computer.
My new 2010 hexacore Mac will have 24G memory, an OWC Extreme Pro 120G SSD (positioned in the lower optical bay) and four 2TB WD RE4 drives. I'll use my old Synology 209 NAS (two 1TB WD Green Raid 1 drives) for TM backups over 1000Mbps Ethernet. Yes, I'll need to upgrade to a larger NAS very soon. This will be my first Mac Pro (have MBPs and iMac) and will be used for web design and development (mostly Adobe CS5 products).
The SSD will be used for boot and application files. I plan to use Disk Utility to create a 1+0 Raid array for data files. For a Scratch disk, should I: 1) create a partition on the 1+0 Raid Array for Scratch 2) partition a chunk of the SSD for Scratch 3) attach a spare external 2.5" WD drive via Firewire 800 for Scratch
Based on my reading, it seems that option 1 makes the most sense but I'm not entirely sure if you can partition a 1+0 array with Disk Utility. I'm pretty sure option 3 is quite silly but wanted to toss out the idea. Lastly, are there any generic recommendations on scratch volume sizing?
I have my OS and apps on one HDD and my home folder located on another. Which of these should I allocate for my photoshop scratch volume? I'm assuming scratch partition should be set on the drive containing my home folder, not the drive containg OS and apps.
I'm planning on getting the SSD + 2TB drive option for my new iMac and using the 2TB drive as a scratch disk for final cut (as well as my itunes media drive and a few other things). My question is will this much use on the drive be bad for it? Right now I'm just using external drives and when they fill up I get a new one so I don't put as much use on them as I would with the 2TB drive where I plan on just archiving the footage onto a external hard drive when I am done with project and then continue using the 2TB drive for my next project.
I'll be setting up my Mac Pro tomorrow and it has 3 Hard Drives.. I plan to have it set up like this
HD1 (SSD): Boot/Applications HD2 (1TB): Data/Music HD3 (640GB): Scratch Disk Partition or full HD for Scratch Disk?
If HD3's Scratch Disk is fine as a partition, I'll partition it 3 times for a Windows Operatin System, Time Machine, and a Scratch Disk.. is there a problem with using this drive like this for the scratch disk?
I have a new mac pro with 4 int hard drives (the original boot drive and 3 x 1TB int hard drives).
How should I configure the the drives for photoshop scratch disk?
I intend to have the three int hard drives as a single striped RAID for all my data storage. Can I use the data storage RAID as the scratch disk or is it bad practice to have thesame disks that I'm storing files on as the scratch disk?
I have now attached my Time Machine backup disk to the USB port on my Airport Extreme base and selected it as backup disk but it then started the whole backup again. Is there a way of just continuing with the existing backup on this disk? I can look at the old backup from time machine by selecting the older backup manually but this option is most wasteful of space. It's the same disk connected to the same machine, why can't it just carry on?!
I'm a serious photographer and do my post processing in Capture NX2 (2.2.4). Sometimes, especially when saving files, it drags on interminably. I have read that one way to speed up NX2 is to create a scratch disk. I'm currently upgrading my HD on my iMac G5 (Leopard) to a 1TB HD. Would it be wise (and efficient) to create a partition on the new HD and use it as a scratch disk? I understand you can't use the boot drive as a scratch disk, but if I partition will I be able toname the new partition something other than Macintosh HD, thus permitting use of a scratch disk?
I just got a 2nd caviar black 1tb and I'm goin to be setting up raid with another drive.. I have data on my current 1tb which is backed up with time machine. what do I have to do to get the drives workin in raid? I'm lookin to have a faster write speed since I need the raid setup. Since I will be using the 2 drives for my data and a photoshop scratch disk, should I create a partition for the scratch disk? I've seen some say yes.. Some that said no but without reason.What r the pros/cons to partitionin the drive?
I have a G3 iBook and just the other day the display stopped working. There were no signs of the display going bad, it's just went. Am I able to boot the iBook via Target Disk Mode on my PowerBook and run the iBook Hardware Test CD on it? Also, can I reboot my PowerBook and choose the iBook as the startup volume?
I know how to do Target Disk Mode but the latter I'm not sure about.
I have taken everything off my desk top and backed it up and it's still saying the same thing! I've also emptied the trash. I get it when I try to use Photoshop.
Here's another speculative question for if/when I get a Mac Pro:I don't forsee myself needing the multiple terrabytes of storage most of you guys seem to have , since I'm still doing OK with just the stock 250GB that came with my G5 Quad + an external 120GB. I'll probably get a 750GB drive for boot, apps, and most files (leaning toward SpinPoint F1 750; the new 640GB WD also seems enticing).So, here's my Q: which would be a better setup for apps like Photoshop as well as the OS (I've read you can relocate the swap file?), performance-wise (both in terms of app speed, and keeping the OS from hanging on a busy disk) - using the slow stock 320GB as a more dedicated scratch disk (possibly just a partition on it, with other partitions for Windows), or using the free space on the faster, but non-dedicated, boot and storage disk?
I am getting an i7 iMac in the near future (ordered yesterday, won't arrive til Jan. 3rd ) And I am getting it stock with just the 4gigs of ram, and don't plan on upgrading anytime soon, but I probably will at some point when prices come down. Anyway, I use photoshop some (not a power user or anything but I use it for some stuff) and I was wondering if you could use a mini sd card as a scratch disk, and if you can, is it a good idea? Thoughts/opinions/comments.
On to my HD question: should I pay apple to upgrade my HD to the 2TB drive? I think I will definitely fill up the 1TB so I'd like the extra space, but would prefer to buy the drive from ifixit or owc or something to save some cash, but the thought of having to remove the huge glass screen with suction cups and disconnecion the LCD seems a little daunting so I was wondering if I should just save myself the hassle and get the upgrade done by mac (it'd be $225 instead of $250 because I get the student discount) Of course I'd lose out on the 1TB HD that I could later stick in to an external HD enclosure, so its a pretty big hit in terms of cash.
From watching the teardown on ifixit changing he HD looks like it could be a little tricky, but I'd like some input from you guys. I am pretty tech savy (former PC user so I've replaced a lot of components like ram, video cards, HDs, ec cetera) but getting past the wall of glass is daunting, but I may just be hyping it up, so I wanted some input.
Third and finally, I got the wired keyboard because I wanted a # pad but I just found out my old Logitech G13 has mac drivers so I was thinking of switching to the wireless one just so I could have a wireless mouse + keyboard for when I want to watch a movie or something from further away, though ideally I think I'd prefer a keyboard with a built in track pad or track ball, but I don't really want to fork out the cash for it now. So is there any advantage of the wired numeric apple keyboard compared to the Logitech one? I can still control media, I have a remote, and it can do expose and screens and all that good stuff. But as always I wanted to make sure I wasn't over looking anything.
I have a MacBook 4,1 with Intel Core 2 Duo processor 4GB Ram. It is taking over 10 minutes to boot up past the gray apple screen when I turn it on. First I cleared the PRam (?) then I checked the disk using Disk Utility Verify, and it said the disk needed repairs. So I ran the disk repair and it said it was unable to fix the errors on the HD.
I did a little research and tried booting into the Single User mode, then running /sbin/fsck -fy. It said that it found errors but could not fix them. I ran it two more times as suggested and got the same result each time. I then tried rebooting and now instead of taking 10 minutes to boot up, it takes about 5 minutes on the gray apple screen and then just turns off. I started in Verbose mode to try to troubleshoot the error and it appears the last thing to come across the screen before power down is a message "Apple Yukon 2: RxRingSize <= 1024....etc".
I decided next I would run the Apple Hardware Tester. The test came back with an error code "4SNS/1/40000001:IG0C-0.265". I am very good at searching the web but I could not find any errors that had the IG0C or IGOC or any combination at the end, but plenty of 4SNS/1/40000000(1) errors with different endings. From what I can tell people are saying anything with 4SNS/1/4000000 is a logic board failure, but this computer was literally just booting this morning until I did the /sbin/fsck -fy.
I am considering purchasing diskwarrior but want to make sure it can help my situation before I purchase it. My imac will not boot from the internal hard drive (Intel processor) When I use disk utility to try and repair the disk, I get error messages and it won't repair. I can see the HD but cannot repair it. When I connect using target mode with my mac book pro, the hard drive does not appear on my host (macbook pro) computer. I have reloaded OS X (Leopard) onto a firewire external drive and can boot my imac that way but I can not find my original internal Macintosh HD. Will disk warrior be able to help with this scenario. I would really like to access that internal Macintosh HD and retrieve my files.
I'm currently in the process of trying to install Win7 on my Macbook Pro (purchased July '07) using an ISO burned to a DVD with Disk Utility. Unfortunately, the DVD isn't bootable, and while the symptoms match what's in this blog post, the author's solution involved using a Windows-only program.
I'd like to know if it's possible to re-burn the ISO without the version number in the filenames as in the original solution, but with Disk Utility or something else that a Mac can use.
Just an FYI. Tech Support at Allsoft states The Disk Warrior 4.2 Boot DVD will not Boot the new 2010 MBP's. They are waiting for information (software) from Apple.
Will need to use Target Mode or another Mac connected with Firewire till then. Boot from that then run DW from your MBP.
Recently I noticed that if I run Check Disk in Disk Utility, all the process works correctly but at the end it doesn't tell me that everything is correct (in green).
On the contrary, if I run it in recovery mode, (reboot w cmd-r), it works correctly to the end with the correct green result at the end.
Just wonder which should I go with? Single Raptor or raid for OS + Apps. Right now, I'm using WD 1TB, but want to spend no more than $200 for a faster HD(s).
I love Mac OS and i am addicted to spaces but rebooting your computer is such a bitch when you have 9 spaces to manually restore every time. Is there a way to have all Apps open up and restore to what they where before the reboot? Kinda like when you Macbook goes all out of battery so it saves the state to the Hard drive and when you boot it up again its just like before.
I have a 2007 non unibody MBP. I have the OptiBay as well. I'm going to install my old HDD in the optibay because my 2007 MBP has ATA. The SSD will be installed with SATA in the old HD position.
What I'd like to do is to have only the OS and all apps including my virtual machine on the SSD and use my HDD as the files server, but keep the OS and apps there as a back plan in case the SSD dies suddenly. What is the best way to get my OS and apps from the HDD to the new SSD?
I inherited a 3+ year old MacBook (2GHz Intel Core Duo, 2GB RAM) that was working fine until I dropped it! After that, it was very slow to start up and wouldn't open some applications, so I bought a new hard drive and reinstalled the OS and now it's back on its proverbial feet. The problem is, since it was actually not my computer to begin with, when I booted up from the 10.6 SL DVD, I opted to do a full install from the disc and re-register it under my name. Then I used migration assistant to transfer all my applications and data from a Time Machine backup. Now all the disk permissions are off and I'm locked out of some applications and folders. I tried using DiskWarrior, OnyX, and the SL DVD to repair permissions, but they never actually repaired, just detected.
I have tried zapping the pram, nvram, unable to boot from a disk, tried safe mode, tried verbose, did the single user /sbin/fsck -fy several times and it came back with everything appears OK. Tried the hardware test & no trouble found, did the short & long test.The MacBook is a college kid (friend of my youngest) that dropped it off last night and I am stumped. I thought it was surely the HD but all the test say it is fine.I cannot get it to boot from a disk either.
