semente Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 My 2013 iMac became painfully slow when I moved from High Sierra to Mojave, apparently because HDDs are unsuitable for APFS. I reformated the drive as HFS+ but gained nothing. I read that a possible workaround would be to install Mac OS onto a USB flash drive and run the computer from that. Has anyone been able to do this successfully? "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 I don't think that would be much faster as it would be at USB 2.0 speeds. Is that the model iMac that requires screen removal to replace the drive? semente 1 No electron left behind. Link to comment
kirkmc Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Have you tried a clean install? I doubt APFS would make it that slow. semente 1 I write about Macs, music, and more at Kirkville. Author of Take Control of macOS Media Apps. Co-host of The Next Track podcast. Link to comment
semente Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said: I don't think that would be much faster as it would be at USB 2.0 speeds. Is that the model iMac that requires screen removal to replace the drive? It it the one with the glued-on screen. I would be probably buy a SanDisk USB3 150MB/s flash drive: https://www.westerndigital.com/en-gb/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-ultra-flair-usb-3-0 As it is, it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, extremely slow... "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
semente Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 1 minute ago, kirkmc said: Have you tried a clean install? I doubt APFS would make it that slow. It's a know problem. (I always do a clean install between OS upgrades) My 2018 mini and 2012 MacBook Pro (bundled HDD replaced by SSD) work as intended but the iMac is a torture test to my patience... Browsing with the finder or opening programmes is painfully slow. Almost unusable, and it's my workhorse when I am working from home. "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 If you don't want to do the job yourself, I think it is worth bringing it someplace to let them upgrade the HDD to an SSD. I have a 2011 Mini here still, running Linux, that runs just fine with light loads on its SSD. No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 1 hour ago, semente said: It it the one with the glued-on screen. I would be probably buy a SanDisk USB3 150MB/s flash drive: https://www.westerndigital.com/en-gb/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-ultra-flair-usb-3-0 As it is, it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, extremely slow... I have a Sandisk USB 3.0 drive and I tried running Ubuntu from it on the 2011 mac mini and it was painfully slow. semente 1 No electron left behind. Link to comment
semente Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 5 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said: I have a Sandisk USB 3.0 drive and I tried running Ubuntu from it on the 2011 mac mini and it was painfully slow. That's bad news. Maybe I need a more modern iMac... "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
AnotherSpin Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 I was experimenting several years ago with running mac mini 2011 from SD card. As I could remember, the speed was ok. But, the sole purpose was to use HQPlayer also installed on SD card along with OS. There should be long thread here with all details discussed in length. semente 1 Link to comment
AnotherSpin Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Here it is: semente 1 Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 1 hour ago, semente said: That's bad news. Maybe I need a more modern iMac... The M1 is a pretty good chip. You couldnt really go wrong with one. Apple is rumored to be coming out with a 27 inch iMac as well early next year. No electron left behind. Link to comment
semente Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 8 hours ago, AudioDoctor said: The M1 is a pretty good chip. You couldnt really go wrong with one. Apple is rumored to be coming out with a 27 inch iMac as well early next year. The last new Mac I bought was the PowerMac G5. After that I have decided I would only buy used, and at less than £500. But this move to a different architecture has made Intel Macs semi-obsolete... "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 8 hours ago, semente said: The last new Mac I bought was the PowerMac G5. After that I have decided I would only buy used, and at less than £500. But this move to a different architecture has made Intel Macs semi-obsolete... Perhaps a good deal on an M1 mini is right for you? No electron left behind. Link to comment
JoeWhip Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 My new MacBook Pro which I use for music has a M1 chip. Sounds awesome. Link to comment
semente Posted December 19, 2021 Author Share Posted December 19, 2021 23 hours ago, JoeWhip said: My new MacBook Pro which I use for music has a M1 chip. Sounds awesome. This is would be my home workstation. I use it for architecture (CAD and 3D rendering). Maybe I will end up getting a used M1 mini as @AudioDoctor suggested, but I'd hate to ditch a perfectly good machine with a nice 27" display. What a waste... "Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256) Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 2 hours ago, semente said: but I'd hate to ditch a perfectly good machine with a nice 27" display. What a waste... I understand that as well. I still use a 2011 Mac Mini around the house for various duties that it can still do just fine just for this purpose. No electron left behind. Link to comment
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