Best SSD for Mac Mini late 2012?

if you want the SSD to be your primary boot disk you also probably will want it to have a recovery partition. You can accomplish this two ways: (1) install Yosemite on it and then use Setup Assistant to transfer everything from the current boot disk or (2) use carbon copy cloner to clone the internal drive to the SSD. I do not think Disk Utility will do this on its own (I could be wrong - I often am)

Hello Guys,

I also tried to setup an SSD as a primary disk. Unfortunatelly my first drive was Samsung EVO 850 250GB SATA III, but it was very unstable, it was not working for me.

Now I trying to use Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB SATA III drive (530MB/s for writeing, 560MB/s for reading).

I started my system as usual from the original HDD (Macintosh HD) and then I used DiskUtility application.

After erasing SSD, I tried to use Restore function to clone my original Machintosh HD, from the original HDD to HyperX SSD.

It was not started at all, I got the following error message :

Validating target...

Validating source...

Source volume is read-write and cannot be unmounted, so it can't be clock copied.

Operation failed...

Now I just would like to know, what to do? What am I doing wrongly?

Can I start DiskUtility application without starting the original Macintosh HD usage?

How can I unmount Macintosh HD to clone it to SSD?

Thanks your answer in advance!

Regards,

Janos

Sounds like you booted from the disk you want to clone. You can't do that. Boot to Recovery

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

and then then use DU

If you have Bootcamp/Windows, please be aware that this DU method does not work for moving Windows.

Here is my experience adding a second drive (Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB) to my Mac Mini Late 2012.

I would say two things:

1. DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE VERY EXPERIENCED. I have changed out several components such as RAM, HDDs, etc., over the years in various older MacBooks/Powerbooks and desktops but this is CHALLENGING. I followed OWCs video which is quite detailed but, unknowingly, I broke off two boots/connectors from the logic board while trying to disconnect the IR connection and the fan. It is really easy to do this without realizing what you've done. It was when reassembling the unit that I realized I actually had pried the boots right off the board. (Luckily for me, I have a friend who works on circuit boards for a living who was able to insert pins in to the logic board and solder the fan wires directly in. Could not do that for the IR connector but that was not critical).
2. DO IT. Pay someone else to do it but get it done! It's worth the extra $$ to have someone do it. My machine is screaming FAST after the upgrade. Night and day difference! My user login times have gone from 2 minutes to literally seconds. All apps launch in seconds. It's fantastic.

Notes:

• I ordered the installation parts right off eBay for $8.39. Search for "Dual Hard Drive SSD Flex Cable for Mac Mini A1347" - doesn't matter if it says "server."
• I left the original drive in the lower bay (or upper, if you have the unit opened and upside down).
• Once the SSD was installed, I booted up in restore mode, formatted the SSD, ran first aid on it, and then used Disk Utility to "restore" the old drive on to the new SSD. "Restore" is a menu item in Disk Utility. It cloned the drive with no issues. Of course, you then have to rename the new drive and select it as the startup disk. (I had to use disk utility again to figure out which drive was the new SSD as it completely cloned the original drive, including name and icon).
• Once booted up, I enabled TRIM. To run trimforce, open a Terminal window and type the following command: sudo trimforce enable -- this will result in some warnings but after you accept it will perform the command and reboot the machine.

End result? The machine is running just great with no problems.

Hi all, I hope this thread is still being read. I recently bought a Mac mini late 2012 (server model I think) and then bought a Samsung evo 850 ssd to install. So what I want to clarify is:

when i I make a clone of my original hdd on to the ssd through a sata/USB connector when it is external to the machine, do I need to do anything else after installing the ssd iinternally? From what I've read, when you make install the OS on the ssd, you then boot with that ssd and choose it as the primary drive and then install it. obviously the sata connection will be direct to the Mobo so will this affect the boot at all?

Also, have there been any problems with any Yosemite or El Capitan that one should warn about? I've read that if you are installing the ssd as a second drive in the mini, there are some things you have to be careful of, but after much deliberation I have decided to replace the hdd and use it as an external drive for back ups. So is there anything that may pose a problem, such as compatibility with new OS, or connectors, or trim stuff and updating?

Amother question, if the original hdd is cloned to the ssd, then how does one enable or disable trim, and how does the garbage cleaner program still run? If the ssd is formatted with a new OS wouldnt that erase any preinstalled program such as garbage cleaner?

A final question, how hard is it to actually instal? I'm going to try and do it myself to save some money, it looks relatively simple, but for a beginner is it doable?

cheers for any replies in advance

- Yes, clone the internal HD to the SSD when it is in anUSB dock or enclosure.

Make sure you clone both the OS partition as well as the Recovery partition.

- Then boot with the Option key depressed and select to boot from the external clone to see if you were successful.

- If successful then replace the internal disk with the SSD. Then boot normally to verify that it works. If it work go to System Preferences>Startup disk and select the SSD as the startup disk if not already selected.

- You can check if TRIM is enabled by going to System Profiler/Information and looking under SATA/SATA Express. Enable TRIM by:

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/29/use-trimforce-trim-ssd-mac-os-x/

Note you need 10.10.3 or later

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/29/use-trimforce-trim-ssd-mac-os-x/

- It is not that hard to swap out the HD/SSD.

I did it myself on a 2102 Mini.

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac_mini2012/

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac_mini2012_server/

Never mind...

This is an old post so I need to know if these drives will do well with Sierra?