My mid2011 MacMini has become painfully slow of late and is frequently crashing too. I'm thinking of upgrading the drive to SSD. Should I leave the old drive in place and use it for memory or do a swap out? Anyone have experience doing this with the same machine and have pointers to offer? What positive impact have you seen? I primarily use my machine as a music server. Thanks!
MacBook Air, macOS Sierra (10.12), 8gb of RAM
For starters ask yourself
How big is my music library?
Where do I want to store my music library?
How much is my music library going to grow in the future?
Some insight
The HDD upgrade procedure for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Mac Mini's are basically the same. The only difference is, that the 2010 has a SuperDrive in the upper bay.
Replacing the existing HDD in the lower bay is a lot easier than doing a dual drive setup. Because a dual drive setup requires an aftermarket ribbon cable for the drive in the upper bay and completely disassembling the Mac Mini.
Take a long hard look at > Mac Mini Mid 2011 Repair - iFixit it will keep you from damaging something.
My best answers to your questions are
lgoler wrote:
Should I leave the old drive in place and use it for memory or do a swap out?
Nope' it is old and should not be reused. If you are going to do a dual SSD/HDD setup, then buy a new HDD to put in the upper bay.
Anyone have experience doing this with the same machine and have pointers to offer?
Yep' I have upgraded and maintain a number of Mac Mini's for myself and friends. 1 has dual SSDs, 2 have SSD/HDDs, 2 have SSDs and 1 has dual HDDs.
What positive impact have you seen?
The PNY CS1311 SSD's that I put in a couple of Late 2012 Mac Mini's are smoking fast.
The 2010 Mac Mini's are slower because they are SATA II 3G, but they still rock at around 250 wright and 280 read.
I primarily use my machine as a music server.
If you can afford an SSD that will hold your music library with room to spare, then go that route.
If not, get an SSD that you can afford and put your music library on a HDD in the upper bay or on a good quality External Hard Drive.
The biggest problem that I see is that your HDD is nearly full.
You really should keep around 10% (50GB) of the total drive space free.
The other is Possible Adware.
Click on Remove and follow the instructions for getting rid of it.
In addition, it wouldn't hurt to lean down some of those Launch items, User login items and Internet Plug-ins that you no longer use or need.
Then once you have that in order, determine what size SSD or SSD/HDD combination you need.
Good advise, Anson
For reference,
the 2009 box and the 2010 unibody Mac Mini's are SATA ll 3G.
the 2011, 2012 and 2014 unibody Mac Mini's are SATA lll 6G.
In addition to speed, the other thing that I like about using an SSD or two in the Mac Mini's. Is that they run a lot cooler, which in turn helps the rest of the hardware run cooler and last longer.
How much do you charge to edge, mow and blow? 😉
(it's only going to be around 100F 38C here today and I have huge front and back yards) 😎
Dennis
Woodmeister,
Here is the report that Etre generated. Seems to be a number of issues. Would love to hear your diagnosis and solution fixes. Thanks!!!!
EtreCheck version: 3.4 (420)
Report generated 2017-07-13 19:41:58
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 14:05
Performance: Poor
Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Click the [Remove/Report] links to remove adware or update the whitelist of legitimate software.
Click the [Clean up] link to delete unused files.
Problem: Computer is restarting
Description:
computer restarts on its own signalling an OS crash.
Hardware Information: ⓘ
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
Mac mini - model: Macmini5,1
1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2415M) CPU: 2-core
8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]
BANK 0/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless:
en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
iCloud Quota: 20.10 GB available
Video Information: ⓘ
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
PRI HDMI TV 1280 x 720 @ 60 Hz
Disk Information: ⓘ
TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 210 MB
Lance's MacMini (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) /
[Startup]: 499.25 GB (19.52 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted>
[Recovery]: 650 MB
USB Information: ⓘ
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
USB20Bus
hub_device
LaCie LaCie Desktop Hard Drive
HDP725050GLA360 disk3: (500.11 GB)
LACIE 2 (disk3s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) /Volumes/LACIE 2 : 500.11 GB (68.86 GB free)
USB 2.0 Hub [MTT]
USB 2.0 Hub
Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc Portable Super Multi Drive
Seagate Backup+ Desk
Backup+ Desk disk4: (3 TB)
(disk4s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Time Machine Backups 3 (disk4s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 3 : 800.25 GB (305.36 GB free)
Lossless Backup 3 (disk4s3 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Lossless Backup 3 : 2.20 TB (1.31 TB free)
Seagate Backup+ Hub
Seagate Backup+ Hub WH
Backup+ Hub WH disk2: (4 TB)
EFI (disk2s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 210 MB
MacMini Files (disk2s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/MacMini Files : 550.00 GB (68.14 GB free)
Time Machine Backup 4 (disk2s3 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Time Machine Backup 4 : 1.73 TB (23.29 GB free)
Mac Mini System Backup (disk2s4 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Mac Mini System Backup : 500.00 GB (3.33 GB free)
Untitled (disk2s5 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Untitled : 1.22 TB (535.70 GB free)
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Firewire Information: ⓘ
Iomega HDD unknown_device 800mbit - 800mbit max
(disk1s1) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 315 MB
MiniMax (disk1s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/MiniMax : 2.00 TB (553.83 GB free)
Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
System Software: ⓘ
macOS Sierra
10.12.5 (16F73) - Time since boot: about 4 hours
Gatekeeper: ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
Possible adware: ⓘ
Unknown file: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.appstart.AppStart.plist
~/Library/Application Support/AppPolicy/AppStart -i -c 419964 -isn 1C9F85E9-C1CC-4C18-98C7-5EC2BE9808D8
Adware: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.onlineapplicationrequest.AppRequest.plist
Unknown file: ~/Library/Safari/Extensions/SlickSavings.safariextz
3 possible adware files found. [Remove/Report]
Clean up: ⓘ
com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist
/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Reader Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Reader Updater Helper
Executable not found!
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist
~/Library/Application Support/CitrixOnline/GoToMeeting/G2MUpdate
Executable not found!
2 orphan files found. [Clean up]
System Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks
[loaded] 182 Apple tasks
[running] 82 Apple tasks
[killed] 10 Apple tasks
10 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
System Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[not loaded] 38 Apple tasks
[loaded] 181 Apple tasks
[running] 87 Apple tasks
[killed] 10 Apple tasks
10 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
Launch Agents: ⓘ
[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-02-13) [Lookup]
[failed] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-03-28) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 0 ? - installed (null)) [Lookup]
[running] com.splashtop.streamer.SRServiceAgent.plist (? 86b529f9 1d2755d8 - installed 2013-02-04) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (? 332c1640 bfc273ed - installed 2011-11-12) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (? fe35c4c8 dce0617e - installed 2011-10-07) [Lookup]
Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-02-13) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-02-13) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 18a4fa69 - installed 2017-06-23) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-04-28)
[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-04-18) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (? 0 ? - installed (null)) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist (Oracle America, Inc. - installed 2013-10-30) [Lookup]
[running] com.splashtop.streamer.SRServiceDaemon.plist (? a86addce 32e4ebe4 - installed 2013-02-04) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (? 4470c30 3f526156 - installed 2011-10-07) [Lookup]
User Launch Agents: ⓘ
[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (? c8cc50de 0 - installed 2011-11-26) [Lookup] - /Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Reader Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Reader Updater Helper: Executable not found!
[running] com.appstart.AppStart.plist (? db76c802 a0f2633d - installed 2016-09-08) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (? b9b97797 0 - installed 2014-06-03) [Lookup] - ~/Library/Application Support/CitrixOnline/GoToMeeting/G2MUpdate: Executable not found!
[loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist (? e4878fa f8208157 - installed 2012-04-22) [Lookup]
[running] com.onlineapplicationrequest.AppRequest.plist (? 2bc155a 2e7a8ec9 - installed 2017-01-02) Adware!
[Remove/Report]
~/Library/Application Support/AppCommon/AppRequest
[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2013-02-13) [Lookup]
User Login Items: ⓘ
iTunesHelper Application - Hidden (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-07-09)
(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Google Drive Application - Hidden
(/Applications/Google Drive.app)
Music Manager Application - Hidden
(~/Library/PreferencePanes/MusicManager.prefPane/Contents/Helpers/MusicManagerHe lper.app)
Octoshape Application
(~/Octoshape.app)
HazelHelper Application
(~/Library/PreferencePanes/Hazel.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/HazelHelper.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
OVSHelper: 1.1 (installed 2012-04-22) [Lookup]
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.4.0.11 (installed 2012-01-06) [Lookup]
AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101750: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 (installed 2013-08-15) [Lookup]
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.009.20058 (installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]
FlashPlayer-10.6: 26.0.0.137 (installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]
DivXBrowserPlugin: 2.2 (installed 2012-01-17) [Lookup]
Silverlight: 5.1.50901.0 (installed 2017-03-19) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-04-28)
Flash Player: 26.0.0.137 (installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]
iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2011-11-12)
AdobePDFViewer: 17.009.20058 (installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]
Scorch: 6.2.0 (installed 2010-04-08) [Lookup]
User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (installed 2013-04-25) [Lookup]
OctoshapeWeb: 1.0 (installed 2017-03-08) [Lookup]
Safari Extensions: ⓘ
[enabled] Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (installed 2016-12-23)
[enabled] Slick Savings (installed 2015-08-16)
[enabled] QuickRoute - Andrei Unchiasu - http://www.cloud-extensions.com (installed 2016-03-19)
[enabled] DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video> - © 2000-2011 DivX, LLC. - http://divx.com (installed 2012-04-22)
3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ
DivX (installed 2012-01-17) [Lookup]
Flash Player (installed 2017-06-23) [Lookup]
Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2011-06-30) [Lookup]
Hazel (installed 2017-06-27) [Lookup]
MusicManager (installed 2015-11-17) [Lookup]
Perian (installed 2011-04-08) [Lookup]
TuneConnect Server (installed 2015-01-27) [Lookup]
Time Machine: ⓘ
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Lance's MacMini: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 479.72 GB
LACIE 2: Disk size: 500.11 GB Disk used: 431.24 GB
Destinations:
Mac Mini System Backup [Local]
Total size: 500.00 GB
Total number of backups: 25
Oldest backup: 6/22/17, 9:16 PM
Last backup: 7/12/17, 9:01 AM
Size of backup disk: Too small
Backup size 500.00 GB < (Disk used 910.97 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ
28%
system_profiler
12%
WindowServer
12%
Google Chrome
11%
Archive Utility
10%
Google Chrome Helper
Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ
686 MB kernel_task
373 MB Google Chrome Helper
257 MB Google Chrome
210 MB Google Chrome Helper
206 MB system_profiler
Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ
Input Output Process name
520 KB 76 KB mDNSResponder
32 KB 29 KB apsd
42 KB 5 KB netbiosd
576 B 576 B ntpd
0 B 64 B SystemUIServer
Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ
20.64 Archive Utility
18.84 Google Chrome
14.36 WindowServer
7.00 Google Chrome Helper
2.58 hidd
Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ
2.84 GB
Available RAM
15 MB Free RAM
5.16 GB
Used RAM
2.82 GB
Cached files
3 MB Swap Used
Software installs: ⓘ
Adobe Flash Player:
(installed 2017-07-11)
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (17.009.20058):
(installed 2017-07-11)
Install information may not be complete.
Diagnostics Information: ⓘ
2017-07-13 19:00:56 iTunes.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]
2017-07-13 19:00:22 Tune Sweeper 4.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]
2017-07-13 18:56:36 passd Crash [Open]
2017-07-13 15:28:35 Kernel Panic [Open] [Details]
3rd Party Kernel Extensions: None
2017-07-13 15:27:43 Last shutdown cause: -62 - System unresponsive
2017-07-12 19:49:36 iBooks.app Crash [Open]
Cause: *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[_NSXPCDistantObjectWithError methodSignatureForSelector:]: No protocol has been set on connection <NSXPCConnection: 0x7fa6f370e7d0> connection from pid 0'
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException
abort() called
2017-07-12 07:33:20 media-indexer High CPU use [Open] [Details]
lgoler wrote:
My mid2011 MacMini has become painfully slow of late and is frequently crashing too. ...
An SSD will not solve issues of frequent crashing and your slowness
is likely not related to that as well.
Please download, run, and post the results of an app called
Etrecheck (https://etrecheck.com/). It is an app developed
by a long time participant in the Apple Communities and will let
us help diagnose your issues.
Bottom line, need to deal with crashing issues before considering
any system changes.
The problem with using cloning software, is that it does not always work and then you will be forced into starting over using the preferred macOS Recovery anyway.
Typically I will put the new drive (HDD or SSD) into an external enclosure, startup in macOS Recovery, format the new drive, install the macOS onto it, use Setup Assistant to move my user data from the old drive or backup and then swap out the drives.
The other way is to swap the drives, put your old HDD into an external enclosure, startup from macOS Recovery, format the new drive, install macOS, use Setup Assistant to move your user data from the old to the new drive.
If you would like more info on formatting, installing and moving your data to a new drive, there are really good instructions, articles and movie clips at iFixit, OWC macsales.com and other numerous sites.
Buying a SSS is the best way to restore an old PC, in that case for your Mac Mini. Go for it. (Older Mac Minis are customizable unlike the new ones) First, I am pretty sure the Hard Drive is on a SATA 2 Port which means that if you get a SATA 3 SSD it will have its speed reduced a bit but will still make an enormous impact of making it faster. SSDs also have longer life span as there is no moving parts and because of that it is completely silent. Though you will see less storage than HDDs for mug higher prices at the expense of making your system much faster in general. I recommend the Samsung 850 EVO. It has the perfect balance between value and incredible speed, I use it for my custom built PC.
Cheers!
Always mowing people's lawns :)
Anson
Really helpful, thank you!! I will take those action items you suggested and let you know if it resolves the issues I've been experiencing. One more question, I notice that Time Machine keeps a succession of backups which easily fills up my external. Is it saving a full copy or are just the micro changes day to day?
Much better, I'll call you when I need a Physicist to mow the yard. 😉
It's been fun, however now I'm getting concerned that the Hosts will use their Atom Smasher on us for thread-jacking Igoler's question.
Thanks! Just so I'm clear, if I do a 1 to swap, HDD for SSD, I would need to make a bootable version of the old on an external backup to be able to write the OS onto the new SSD?
Woodmeister - thanks! I will run etrecheck tonight. I should post the results here or in another forum?
Sorry for the typos. Typed on an iPhone 4 with auto correct.
Anson
Thanks buddy! I was rushing because it was late😟 But thanks I think you really helped.
Best regards
Snoop Dogg
I charge 1 dollar per picometer. Thanks.
Always mowing your lawn :)
Anson
First time it should have done a full copy, then micro changes.
Cheers!
Always mowing your lawn :)
Anson
Upgrade to a SSD for Mid2011 MacMini?
