ATTENTION Current Mac mini/A+ users: Boot Mavericks from an SD card, load a RAMdisk, dismount your internal SATA drives, and pour a drink for the musicians walking out of your speakers!

[eltee00]

One more caveat with booting from SD card. Not sure if it has happened to anyone else, but anytime the OS crash and I have to do a hard reset, or if I accidentally unplugged my Mac mini, basically anytime I don't do an official soft shutdown/reset, it corrupts the SD card and I have to re-clone the SD card over again.

 

a HUGE pain in the ass.

[Superdad]

One more caveat with booting from SD card. Not sure if it has happened to anyone else, but anytime the OS crash and I have to do a hard reset, or if I accidentally unplugged my Mac mini, basically anytime I don't do an official soft shutdown/reset, it corrupts the SD card and I have to re-clone the SD card over again.

 

a HUGE pain in the ass.

 

That's odd. I've done many, many sudden shutdowns (power outages, power supply disconnects, etc.) and have never had any corruption that would keep my SD form booting and playing normally. BTW, I am running just the first version of Mavericks on it (10.9.0).

[alsterfan]

That's odd.

 

It´s odd for me too.

It never happened to me using Mavericks 10.9.3 on a 32 GB SD card with 2 RAM discs and the CAD script 1.2.2 running. It is working like a charm, so I don´t want to go back using the buit-in HDD of my iMac.

Maybe it would be a good idea to make a clean install of Mavericks on the SD card once again, assuming that the installation has gone corrupt.

 

Uwe

[Ipoci]

Same issue with my MacBookPro Mavericks … But I've very limited experience.

 

I did a 10.9 clean installation on a Trascend 64GB, and landed with as stable system. Then I executed classic upgrade procedure throught AppStore but at the end I had an unstable system that experienced lots of system crash … So I removed SD and move back to SSD.

 

Have a nice day, Massimiliano

[alsterfan]

Same issue with my MacBookPro Mavericks … But I've very limited experience.

 

Then I executed classic upgrade procedure throught AppStore but at the end I had an unstable system

Have a nice day, Massimiliano

 

Hi Massimiliano,

Give the SD card trick one more chance (you won´t regret it). Download Mavericks 10.9.3.dmg (5.3 GB) from App Store--> format your SD card --> copy the downloaded Mavericks dmg file to your SD card --> doubleclick it to start the installation procedure. Thus you will have a clean install of 10.9.3 and hopefully it will work for you like it should.

 

Best wishes,

Uwe

[Ipoci]

… copy the downloaded Mavericks dmg file to your SD card …

 

Best wishes,

Uwe

 

Just check at Appl Store … How should I download .dmg image ?

 

Max

[alsterfan]

Just check at Appl Store … How should I download .dmg image ?

 

Max

 

Hello Max,

 

please look for this page:

About the OS X Mavericks v10.9.3 Update

Then look for "Apple Support Downloads" (in blue letters, line 15)

There you will find a rectangle named "OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Update". Click it and you will get the complete .dmg file.

 

Hope I could help.

 

Best wishes,

Uwe

[hytechrednek]

Just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. While I have not read every entry as yet, I have tired booting from an SD card on a 2010 Mac Mini and creating a ram disk for music playback software and media. It all worked great to remove that "digital" character from the recordings.

 

I also have a 2009 Mac Mini that likewise benefits from the SD card. I use an external card reader for booting the OS from the SD card. While I thought the 2009 was history compared to the 2010, it's now very close in SQ, with the 2009 giving a little warmer presentation.

 

One more thing for Spotify users; If you go under Spotify Preferences and change where the cache files are stored from your hard drive to a Ram Disk, you will get much better SQ when using Spotify.

 

Cheers...

[Superdad]

Hey High Tech Red Neck! I've seen your title a half dozen times and I'm just now getting it.

 

Very glad to hear you are enjoying the results. And I think I have heard what you did in the somewhat "warmer" sound of the 2009 (though not as deep in detail and silence). The older minis really respond significantly with a good linear supply, maybe more so than the thin new ones, because those years were more power hungry.

 

How do you have your external card reader attached: USB?

 

Thanks for the tip about Spotify!

 

--Alex C.

[hytechrednek]

Hey High Tech Red Neck! I've seen your title a half dozen times and I'm just now getting it.

 

Very glad to hear you are enjoying the results. And I think I have heard what you did in the somewhat "warmer" sound of the 2009 (though not as deep in detail and silence). The older minis really respond significantly with a good linear supply, maybe more so than the thin new ones, because those years were more power hungry.

 

How do you have your external card reader attached: USB?

 

Thanks for the tip about Spotify!

 

--Alex C.

 

Superdad!

I was born on the Redneck Riviera (Gulf Coast) with accent to match and earned that moniker during my 32 years with the Shuttle Program.

 

I'm just using a 2.0 USB card reader on the 2009 Mini. A very cheap one at that! Cost <$5 off eBay but seems to work really well. In fact it has been more reliable than the card reader built into the 2010. I have to resort to that trick of moving the write protect tab to the middle of the slot to get it out of read only mode with the 2010.

 

I cobbled together a linear power supply awhile back for the 2009. Results were just OK. Nothing to write home about. I used some Linear Technology LT1083 Regulators but I understand they are far from the best or quietest available. I may add some additional filtration on the output using some Oscon caps. I understand the connector on the back of the 2009 is a real sonic liability and I may try to bypass it in some fashion.

 

That tip on Spotify seems to work really well for me. Would like to get a sanity check from you if you ever have a chance to try it.

 

Again, thanks for the suggestion on the SD Card. It has made a big difference for me and really helps get rid of that unnatural quality I associate with digital recordings. Should also mention Jud, for his suggestion of the ram disk. Thanks all..

[Superdad]

Hytek: 32 years with our nation's shuttle program? Wow--I salute you! Your tiny avatar picture here does that no justice. Do you have a link to a photo gallery somewhere of you in your native space scientist habitat?

 

Your mention of the SD card write protect tab just solved a mystery for me. I had that problem once or twice and was always certain that the slide-tab was in the write mode. Never thought of putting it in the middle position. Wonder why that works.

 

Happy listening...

[Jud]

Should also mention Jud, for his suggestion of the ram disk. Thanks all..

 

Hey, Hytek. Another space program fan here. Re the RAMdisk suggestion, all credit for that goes to PeterSt from whom I got the idea.

[hytechrednek]

Hytek: 32 years with our nation's shuttle program? Wow--I salute you! Your tiny avatar picture here does that no justice. Do you have a link to a photo gallery somewhere of you in your native space scientist habitat?

 

Your mention of the SD card write protect tab just solved a mystery for me. I had that problem once or twice and was always certain that the slide-tab was in the write mode. Never thought of putting it in the middle position. Wonder why that works.

 

Happy listening...

 

Superdad,

I think Apple intended the SD Card reader to be read only, so a novice would not screw up and lose their vacation photos, then threaten to sue Apple. Here is a video on the problem.

 

 

Here's a larger photo of the high-tech redneck near the right wing of Discovery. Hard to make things out with all the access platforms installed. Vehicle is vertical. Fuselage and engine compartment access door are behind me, the wing is to the right. Added a second photo to give perspective. That photo must have been taken around 2005 at KSC in the vertical assembly building. I think this would be the first flight after the loss of Columbia when we were getting Disco ready. All I remember about that photo is how tired I was. I had not been getting much rest. Most of the old photos I have are archived away. I need to go through some of that stuff now that I been out of the game for nearly 4 years.

[Superdad]

Here's a larger photo of the high-tech redneck near the right wing of Discovery.

 

Just AWESOME. Thanks for sharing. Quite a lifetime experience it all must have been. Hard work too.

[Mike Pinkerton]

Yes, thanks for sharing and for your hard work on our space program! +1,000,000!

[miguelito]

Superdad,

I think Apple intended the SD Card reader to be read only, so a novice would not screw up and lose their vacation photos

I have not had this issue with the mac mini's SD card reader (latest i7 version), it works just fine reading/writing without any tweaks to the lock switch.

[hytechrednek]

Hey, Hytek. Another space program fan here. Re the RAMdisk suggestion, all credit for that goes to PeterSt from whom I got the idea.

 

Jud- It's too bad we really don't have a space program anymore. I knew it was over the day Bush announced we were going to the Moon & Mars and ending Shuttle, but there would be no additional funding for NASA. I'd been around long enough to know that was impossible. There was no way to accomplish what he proposed at present funding levels. The lion's share of the cost is not in the vehicle itself, but the development and the infrastructure to support, maintain and launch it. We had all that paid for and behind us with Shuttle. It could have flown another 20 years if they had wanted. In fact, the Augustine Commission strongly suggested to the current administration that Shuttle be continued and orbital refueling / transfer capability be developed for deep space travel. Instead they let shuttle go, destroyed all the infrastructure and cancelled the Bush proposed follow on program called Constellation as unsustainable. Congress forced them to replace the "Cancellation Program" with something similar called SLS. The current "leadership" has us begging the Russians for a ride into space, while imposing sanctions on them over Ukraine. They've given NASA the mission of flying to an asteroid, take a leak on it and come back. My prediction is the lack of any worthwhile goals and congressional budgetary constraints will eventually be the perfect excuse to cancel SLS. They'll have the ballot box stuffed with enough illegals by then to generate a Congress with a mindset to swing the budget axe on NASA. That will be the last gasp of the US space program and by then, we'll have people accustomed to buying a ride into space from someone else. What can we expect when you have a Science & Technology Czar with a stated goal to DE-develop the United States?

 

Of course the young dudes that worked with me had dreams of sugarplums and interplanetary travel after the Bush announcement. The way they handled it from the Whorehouse in Washington was pure subterfuge. It was like they were putting down Lenny in Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice & Men. First distract them with visions of feeding the rabbits and quickly administer the coup de grâce. I told the younger guys the days of a government funded space program like Mercury, Gemini and Apollo were over and to warm-up their resume. They simply couldn't or wouldn't believe it. Most of them are working in some other profession now and you lose a lot of tribal knowledge that way. Of course an old dog like me simply rode off into the sunset when it was over.

 

As you can see I lost the starry-eyed attitude many years ago somewhere along the way. I could go on for days with old war stories, but enough of that dribble. Lets get back to Hot Rod Hi-Fi. Thanks for passing along what you heard about the Ram Disk. It has really been a gateway to better sound for me and greatly appreciated.

[wwaldmanfan]

@hytchnredneck:

 

Thanks for you service to this nation when it meant something to be the world leaders in technology. Now the Chinese either buy or steal our technology, and then sell it back to us. Too bad we squandered billions in pointless wars and social entitlement programs that indirectly bankrupted NASA. It's pitiful.

 

I grew up during the entire endeavor, and vividly remember watching all the Mercury and most of the Gemini launches from my grammer school desk on a B&W TV from the A/V department. I was so into it, even as a 9-year-old 4th grader, I persuaded my former 3rd grade teacher to let me deliver a lengthy lecture on Mercury to her class, complete with my handdrawn visual aids. It went quite well, and my parents were very proud of me.

 

We all remember where we were when Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the moon (as teenagers, snuggling with a young lady from Long Island late at night at summer camp in the Berkshires). I'll never forget that moment (for several reasons).

 

Later, I made an independent film about a "Roaring Twenties"-style air show in Virginia, and that film is now in the collection of the Glenn Curtis Museum, in Hammondsport, NY. As a result, I had the great honor of meeting former X-15 test pilot and X-2 world speed record holder Scott Crossfield (depicted in the film,"The Right Stuff", by actor Scott Wilson) at the home of one of the pilots in my film who befrended me. Crossfield said my film was "a fine piece of work". Unfortunately, he later perished in a plane crash.

 

Enjoy your audio system.

[hytechrednek]

I have not had this issue with the mac mini's SD card reader (latest i7 version), it works just fine reading/writing without any tweaks to the lock switch.

 

I get the same results with my MacBook Pro with i7 Processor. It seems to work fine, so the problem appears to be isolated to the 2010 Mac Mini.

[hytechrednek]

@hytchnredneck:

We all remember where we were when Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the moon (as teenagers, snuggling with a young lady from Long Island late at night at summer camp in the Berkshires). I'll never forget that moment (for several reasons).

 

 

@ wwaldmanfan

 

Are we talking redevous and docking maneuver?

[wwaldmanfan]

@ wwaldmanfan

 

Are we talking redevous and docking maneuver?

 

"simulated"--hey, we were only 14!

[Jud]

@ wwaldmanfan

 

Are we talking redevous and docking maneuver?

 

I recall with great fondness a profile of the Stanford "marching" band containing the sentence "Those treated to their reenactment of the Soyuz-Space Shuttle docking will not soon forget it."

[hytechrednek]

"simulated"--hey, we were only 14!

Well even NASA had a dress rehearsal with Apollo 10....

[Booster MPS]

Sorry to pile on the off topic but I was a flight controller in the Booster team here at JSC in Houston. I flew between STS 76 and 84. Will circle back when I don't have a ipad in my hands.

[hytechrednek]

There seems to be a difference in the SQ of the two SD Cards I have on hand. Both are 16GB HDHC and look identical, except for the label on top and the manufacturing data on the back. I have a Sony that is Made in Taiwan and a Sandisk made in China. I perceive the Sony as clearly better sounding. It also seems a bit more responsive / faster in use.

 

I borrowed the Sandisk from my camcorder for the initial tests of booting OSX from the SD Card. I bought a second card to put back in my camcorder, when I decided the SQ improvement was worth keeping one in the Mac Mini. I bought the same type and size card but not the same brand. I went for the cheapest I could find ($13). I planned on putting the new card in the Camcorder but decided to try it in the 2009 mac mini using an external USB card reader and compare it more directly to the 2010 mac mini using its internal card reader.

 

I used Carbon Copy Cloner to reproduce the OS from the Sandisk card to the Sony. Upon first comparisons, I felt the 2009 now had an edge on the 2010. I first suspected the external card reader was giving some advantage. After further comparisons, I believe the new Sony card is the source of the SQ improvement. The level of improvement is pretty significant to me. The Sandisk is not as open and relaxed sounding as the Sony in either the 2010 or 2009 Mac Mini. The better card keeps me more involved in the music. With the lesser one my mind wanders off to other things.

 

As many times as I have tried, I have not completed reading this thread. Been preoccupied lately (my wife just got out of the hospital). Has anyone else picked up on this?