I could not get this to work when the MacBook Air 2020 m1 came out, but just I was recently told its been possible since a less then a year now, but you need a thumderbolt 3 or even 4 if your Mac is newer and it happens to be that my crucial X9 pro may do (but im not sure if its TB3 or just plane usb-c ) but my internal drive is only 250GB which is way too small!

But I am asking here if anyone has suck-sex-fully audio sexy installed this and got it to work with sister site plugins..


please let me know and how its been going for you!

 

Last edited: Jul 23, 2024

https://eclecticlight.co/2023/03/15...ters-how-it-can-stop-external-bootable-disks/

 

looks tricky, have you done it or know someone who has?

 

I've done it. And I've tested it. It works.

I forget exactly how I did it, but I believe it just required using Carbon Copy Cloner, and I forget the order, but I either used their standard suggested clone (of just user data), and then installed Sonoma selecting that drive and booting in safe mode on the drive, OR I installed Sonoma to the drive and then cloned over my user data.

I selected it as a start drive, and all good. Booted fine.

I don't usually use it as haven't had to, but it worked. (it was more a thing of "old habits die hard" in terms of wanting a bootable clone)...

I usually just clone my system drive normally every day or so to another partition (well, er, 'container') on the same SSD as that.

But it works and wasn't that much of a pita to do.

(and oh yeah, it was just a run of the mill usb c drive, not thunderbolt. certainly not as fast as internal lol....I assume it would be faster with TB3)

 

I done it with CC as well with Catalina but everyone including CC says its not possible to clone the os and use anymore, its not what I was asking, I was asking if you can install Sonoma on a ext SSD using a m1 Mac, https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255265797?sortBy=best

hopefully Alchemy could share his thoughts on if its actually possible to install Sonoma with a MacBook m1, yet with sister site apps, if that changes anything at all., his link is very complicated.

 

I don't know about M1, but again, I did on an m3 Mac...

You can't obviously clone the macOS, as they don't allow for that, and want a clean install on another drive...(and somehow I was able to install an earlier version of Sonoma then latest iirc) but it doesn't matter for any reason I can surmise (unless I'm missing something or there are situations where, say, an interface needs to be installed via safe mode and whatnot), as you can install it and then bring over user data or clone it over... am I missing something you are trying to accomplish?

I certainly didn't lose anything or have to lose/wipe my internal in the process etc...

I think I am just not understanding what you are trying to do clearly... as I had no problems with authentication and whatnot at the time...

(granted, it's been since late march since I did it so memory fades...)

I read the link from Alchemy, and I see the conversation regarding different issues... but on the same system, (unless you are trying to make a boot drive operate from another system, which you may be suggesting?), it worked without a lot of headache at all...

 

Just to clarify - you mean boot off the external disk and use this separate operating system for everything as if it was separate / not touch the internal right?

The Crucial X9 Pro is not thunderbolt 3 - it's USB-C and there is huge concerns right now about the reliability of these drives and anyone in a pro studio (or photographer) is not touching them anymore after getting burnt too many times. They also run really HOT as I've used one for backups etc. with my M1 Max until it died. Read the reviews on amazon for many sad tales.

If you want peak performance and Thunderbolt 3 then it's the SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 (Thunderbolt) with lightning fast speed AND cool temperature and a long professional warranty. Sadly you also pay a premium price for these :/

 

I think I was clear no ? lol I m trying to install the OS on a ext SSD with a iMac or MacBook m1 and Sonoma, cause the internal drives are only 250GB and I have tons of FCP plugins that are over 150GB alone, I can't put them on a ext SSD using symbolic links or anything, FCP cant see them if I do no matter how I try., and besides FCP im concerned about other apps I may install unto a OS living on a ext SSD, can you boot from it?

I had in the past put a user account on the SSD, but the system library living on the Internal SSD still does not help as the application support folder is bloated with yet more data from applications, I purchased the arturia synth collection and NI instruments and boom, I cant use them even with a user on a ext SSD., I managed to put some of the folders unto a ext SSD and symbolic link them but not all work, especially folders inside the Audio-AU plugins folder.

So its simply, can you install a OS on a ext SSD and boot from it so you can use a larger SSD for both your system and OS., I only managed to do this with Catalina, but since m1 Ive been lost , especially with software modified etc.

 

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4723580

almost all brands have issues on Mac at 4TB, no one has discussed this openly at Apple yet to nail the problem, especially Samsung, they have the highest reports of issues with both Mac and PC, and sad part is that recovery looks slim too

 

No, it wasn't made clear to me, as you didn't explain that your internal was too small for your liking, you just said that you wanted to have a bootable clone from your M1, to which I responded that I had and how.

I don't know about FCP plugins personally, as I don't use it, or if their constituent parts are bloated into the plug, or their ability to have assets stored externally, so I can't advise on that... but I have indeed cloned my system and can boot from it (although I will say it is far slower then the internal on my m chipped mac, and as Londoner pointed out, the Crucial X9 Pro is most likely not tb3, and has it's own host of documented problems unfortunately.

But regardless.. I have recently built a new music system, and I have been able to keep it under 250GB (no FCB of course as mentioned), but I have hundreds/thousands of Kontakt libraries and other application with large assets that I have successfully been able to migrate/install/ on external SSD no problem. For instance, with Kontakt, even with the size of the "official" legit libraries and installs etc, the libraries only require small(er) files on the system drive in App Support and whatnot, and the samples and other assets are easily installed to an external.

Sure, there are a few pieces of software I have encountered over time that prefer those things on the system drive, but not many, and I can't even remember which at the moment. (I can see Arturia on your list, and sure, I can see some issues with that package if I wanted to move all of that to external, but I don't use them outside of a few, and not the ones that are sample reliant etc... but according to this post:

https://audiosex.pro/threads/is-it-...rive of your choice (Preferably an SSD drive).

sure, you can move that stuff to unless they changed something recently, and there are explanations there how to do so with different scenarios/sources of install/etc.. I have all my NI/Kontakt/etc libraries external without a problem...(maybe one lib has to be local? but other then that.. just external...)

So it can be done (at least in a music system thought through with some decisions made, and there are other users here that have cleared out stuff and crap they don't need from everything like Ableton/Logic libraries not used etc), ....

That or clean out some plugs and whatnot you don't use.

But again, with new apple architecture, booting from an external drive is going to be a magnitude slower with that drive..

And yeah, it sucks that one is locked in when purchasing apple cpu's in terms of internal/system drive in that regard given the cost to get larger drives at purchase... that's why it's always recommended to get the largest you can afford, or one that is reasonable at least for what you want to do. 1TB seems to be the sweet spot for me with cost, as I don't like system drives larger, and while sure, I would love the speed of having a larger drive with different containers having assets etc... I can live with external ssd's easier then paying the egregious price at purchase to go to 4TB etc.... but that is obviously moot here, as it is what it is for you right now and there is no changing that...so I feel your pain, as it's going to be tight with 256GB or whatever with an audio AND video system etc...

I also have a 4TB ssd and other denomination SSD's (1/2TB etc), and I haven't had fail yet, but I don't sweat it much as I have them all backed up properly...

 

I do appreciate your help and time, I totally understand you and did everything you mentioned before, I have put everything possible including folders from inside the Audio Units folder unto a external SSD via symbolic links and this is still limited depending on the developer,

what im not quite sure about is what you mean by booting into the external ssd is slower, its hardly noticeable according to some people, what is noticeable is that FCP is slightly slower, roughly 8% slower..., but still 40x faster then Catalina Intel Macs..but yeah, slower, so lets say it works, how does it work on this architecture?

I mean
1-Do you install a os internally and externally then choose it as the start up?
or
Only externally but need to still choose it during boot?

2- and if your MacBook or iMac m1 is from the year 2020 they came with TB3, TB4 came with Macs the year after, is a fast USB-C SSD like the Crucial x9pro as fast as TB3 or decent enough or is a TB3 or TB4 that fast and am just have?

 

I couldn't tell you, but a usb c drive with a top read speed of ~1050 MB/S over usb c is gonna be a hella lot slower then the internal drive for sure by design, and the way apple handles ram swapping and whatnot...

I wouldn't plan on that other then an emergency backup plan if something happened myself... TB3 drive? maybe fine as ports right into the mobo etc whatever and whatnot... tb3 and usb c may share similar theoretical speeds and ports, but are different protocols and they operate differently on an m chipped Mac from what little I know on it...but I haven't tried working off it in that regard other then booting and checking to see if it 'would', and it 'would' and did, but it was noticeably slower.... but perhaps whatever drive I did on it isn't as fast as what your Crucial x9pro... but again, I would pay attention to what Londoner said in that those specific drives run real hot...

They gotta be better than the Sandisks you referenced, so.... but also, I haven't seen systemic reports of 4TB SSD's being a problem with apple silicon myself... certain drives, sure, especially those sandisks as those had some serious problems and why they were so cheap last Christmas etc (4TB's for around $150...)...and I don't think they were fixed by firmware necessarily from what I remember reading...

So, TL/DR, I'm not sure, and you can try... but I still think you would be better off shunting off as much as you could to external and running from your internal... and cleaning out any junk you might have in there...as it accrues over time regardless.... but you certainly don't need Kontakt libraries stored internally, that's for sure...

But I'd love it if it works out well for you in that regard...

 

already did this, I only have 24Gb left lol

its the 100GB + of fcp plugins by FX Factory, cant live with out them., amazing

 

well I hear you on that, but I'm not sure what train of thought went in to getting an m1 with a mere 256GB internal drive on that you know?

 

i did, wanted to see if everything worked before installing it on the internal drive. all i needed was the sonoma install dmg and the migration assistant from macos. used a samsung t5 ssd