Confused by 27" iMac and two hard drives

Question

Level 1

25 points

Confused by 27" iMac and two hard drives

Hello,

I just purchased a pre-owned 27" iMac to replace my late 2012 Mac Mini. I noticed that there were two drives on the iMac:

Mac HD, 121 GB, Flash Storage
My renamed Web-Betty, 3 TB, SATA Disk

I was told that the Flash Storage was for startup. But it's holding all of my files that I'm adding to the computer. Nothing is being saved on the 3TB HD, which was the point of getting a Mac with 3 TB.

How can I:

Switch all of the user files under Mac HD to Web-Betty?
Ensure files are saved to the 3TB disk going forward?

Also, any information or resources regarding all off the different drives and names would also be appreciated. I'm very confused at having a Mac HD, MacHD with a house icon, Web-Betty (that I named, think this would be the house icon location).

Thanks in advance!

Melissa

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Aug 18, 2017 10:12 AM

Reply

Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

145,030 points

Aug 18, 2017 10:38 AM in response to web-betty

The computer was not properly prepared for sale so you need to do this. Otherwise you will have problems. Please read What to do before you sell or give away your Mac - Apple Support

Then you can start with a fresh slate. If your system is supposed to have a Fusion Drive installation then please set it up correctly. The original owner seems to have unfused the drive creating somewhat of a mess. You can ask your local Apple Store or AASP to re-fuse the drive for you if you don't have knowledge to do it yourself.

Good luck.

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Answer 2

Rysz

Level 8

44,421 points

Aug 19, 2017 6:20 PM in response to web-betty

General info about Fusion Drives.

About Fusion Drive, a storage option for some Mac computers - Apple Support

Please provide the exact model of your iMac (from the About this Mac menu). This will allow us to check what the original configuration was, although the previous user may have modified it. It would also be helpful if you attach a screenshot of what Disk Utility (in your Applications > Utilities folder) sees.

If you want to get a jump start on things, following the instructions that rkaufmann87 provided might save you a lot of other steps, as it might set everything up correctly. Just make sure you still have external backups of all your data, as everything on the disk(s) will be erased.

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Answer 3

web-betty Author

Level 1

25 points

Aug 18, 2017 2:27 PM in response to rkaufmann87

"If your system is supposed to have a Fusion Drive installation then please set it up correctly."

How would I know this? It's easy enough (I guess) to re-install the OS. But then you're saying I have to do something else to the HD? Sorry for my naiveté. 😟

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Answer 4

web-betty Author

Level 1

25 points

Aug 19, 2017 5:04 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I have researched this issue and have come up with nothing helpful. This article, from Cult of Mac in 2010, provided a little more information.

"Apple suggests putting the operating system and key applications on the SSD, and everything else on a traditional Serial ATA drive..."

Unfortunately, nothing in the article helps me solve my problem.

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

145,030 points

Aug 18, 2017 2:39 PM in response to web-betty

I'm pretty sure that is how the computer came configured. Look at the year model you have and then research the configurations available. Once you do I think you will come to the same conclusion.

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