Can I run PT off an external drive?

[Dopamine]

Quick Question...

Can I run Pro Tools software on a Mac OS that is booted off a FW800 or USB 3 drive?

I have a Mac Mini and have been getting crashes in Pro Tools 10, so I want to try a fresh install of Mountain on an external drive. That is BOOTING from an OS on an external drive.

Has anyone tried this? Thanks for any info.

[Drew Mazurek]

Yes, works fine.

I do it all the time during testing.

So long as you're talking about a Mac is booted from and running its OS and apps from that external.. all good.

[Dopamine]

Thanks, Drew! Would you recommend a USB3 or FW800?

[bradch00]

I do this as well, I have 2 FW400 drives with OS X and PT10/11 hanging off my iMac. I work mostly this way because for some reason I seem to be always testing something.
I assume FW800 would give you more throughput than FW400, I have no experience with USB3.

[Dopamine]

Good to know. I know I just mentioned testing, but have you guys actually tried to run full sessions on that external drive?

[Andrew. D]

I have run my ProTools, both 10 & 11, from an external drive exclusively for about two years and have never had an issue.
I work at home and a number of different studios and having it all on my own drive means I am always using my setup regardless of where i am plus its just my work tools so there is nothing else using the system. Its an FW800.
The only downside is if the place I'm working doesn't have a compatible computer which isn't very often.

[Dopamine]

very cool, thanks!

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by Dopamine

Good to know. I know I just mentioned testing, but have you guys actually tried to run full sessions on that external drive?

Rule no. 1, never run sessions from the boot disk. It's a performance thing.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

Rule no. 1, never run sessions from the boot disk. It's a performance thing.

I do this all the time now :) this late 2013 MBP internal SSD is wicked fast (750MB/s sync, 1GB/s cached) and i have had zero hiccups so far...

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by bradch00

I do this as well, I have 2 FW400 drives with OS X and PT10/11 hanging off my iMac. I work mostly this way because for some reason I seem to be always testing something.
I assume FW800 would give you more throughput than FW400, I have no experience with USB3.

Couple of questions:
Which iMac are you doing this on?
How do you boot an iMac with a working OSX version off an external disk? The reason I ask this is I've never done this with a Mac that has had a working internal system drive; they've had failed internal system drives. Kind of dumb to ask this considering I've had Macs for ages (back to an old Mac SE).