How to check which disk am I booted in to?

The external/clone should show up on the Desktop with a generic orange icon. To check which one you are booted to, go to  ->About this Mac. Not sure about 10.9/Mav, but in 10.8 Apple restored the old way of putting the booted volume on top. I would think they'd have kept it like that for 10.9 also.

Hi,

Set up Finder Preferences so the booted drive always appears in the top right hand corner of the desktop:

- Finder -> Preferences -> General

- Under " Show these items on the desktop: " enable Hard disks and External Disks

- Close Finder Preferences

- Right click on the desktop -> Choose " Sort by " -> Kind

- Use unique names for your disks. To change: click on the name, hit return key, type the new name.

Cheers

Kathykate wrote:

...Ideally, I want the booted clone to look a bit different in some way to my internal HD, just so I can visually see which I'm booted in to. ie that is why I changed desktop image before cloning...

As WZZZ says, the (USB?) external should have a different icon. But to see which drive you're actually running from, in a Finder Window, right-click on the Toolbar (the top bar in the window) and pick Customize. One of the buttons you can add to the Toolbar (if it isn't already present) is "Path." Click on the button and you'll see the path right out to your computer, including your boot drive. If the icon is different, you'll see which one you're actually booted from at that time even if the name is the same. I've found that when I clone the internal to an external (which I do frequently), the unique icon I've pasted into the upper left of the Get Info window of the internal, which also identifies the drive on the desktop and in Disk Utility, will not be carried over as part of the cloning process to the clone.

FWIW, I just tried booting from a clone of an early 2013 rMBP, and while it took enough time for the external to spin up that the internal booted, on a restart, the Startup Manager presented all the clones as well as the internal, and when an external clone was chosen, it booted up, albeit slowly (but not USB 2.0 slow). The connection is USB 3.0, the drive is a Toshiba 3TB and CCC did the cloning.

I'd suggest trying a different USB 3.0 cable since they aren't all created equal. I'd also suggest not installing any software that came with the external since that tends to mess things up. I have no experience with Fusion Drives (though Mountain Lion and Mavericks like to create Logical Volume Groups on large internal drives), but if Bombich says CCC works with them, I'm sure it does.

Kathykate wrote:

Can I plug Seagate into my old 2007 iMac (on Mountain Lion) and see if it will boot from there? I have an idea that won't work as new clone is on Mavericks?

It's worth a shot. According to MacTracker, the 2007 iMac can boot into the "Latest release of OS X" which currently is Mavericks. While what's installed isn't customized for an iMac that old, it might work. Also, while the device end of the cable is unique to USB 3.0, the computer end should be compatible with both USB 3.0 and 2.0.

USB 3.0 should be backwards compatible to USB 2.0. Just read the CCC link. Looks like it's the cable issue. No experience with 3.0. Will an older 2.0 cable fit into the 3.0 port on the Mac?

EDIT: Ah, I see you are saying that the external won't take a 2.0 cable? I'd do a one pass zero erase to make sure your data isn't on the drive and send it back.

Maybe a USB 2.0 male to USB 3.0 female adapter? Not sure about the requirement for pins though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4SR1PN4103&cm_re=usb_2.0_to_ 3.0_cable-_-9SIA4SR1PN4103-_-Product

Also have a look at http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=102

WZZZ wrote:

...Will an older 2.0 cable fit into the 3.0 port on the Mac?...

The "A" connector, the one that plugs into the host, will physically fit both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 host sockets. The USB 3.0 cable's "A" end has all the pins necessary to connect to a USB 2.0 socket as well as a separate set of USB 3.0 pins to mate with the connections in a USB 3.0 socket if the host has one. It's up to the computer's circuitry to manage the connection properly and it doesn't always. The original rMBP's had USB 3.0 connections but their behavior was somewhat problematic. The second generation rMBP's had the connection issues worked out. The OP's iMac is current so USB 3.0 operation should be transparent, as long as the connected device cooperates and the cable is good (and any software supplied with the external isn't interfering).

- A cheap USB2 hub connected between the external USB3 drive and the Mac should assist with the booting from the external drive.

- For cloning and adhoc access, direct connect the external drive to the Mac for full USB3 speed. Check via System Profiler the the drive connects at the correct speed / specification.

Cheers

- Thanks for the update, good to see the advice being used. The problems reported in the post about booting directly from USB3 are a real eye opener for me.

- Also very wise to be cloning a fusion drive and testing it works. ✅