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Old 11-30-2020, 11:26 AM
hxcdelivery hxcdelivery is offline
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Default Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

Hello all,

So I have a 2012 MacBook Pro that is very capable for what I need with an i7 and 16GB of RAM. I run OSX 10.9.5 so I can continue using PT10 which I own. However, I need to upgrade. I just bought a bunch of Plugins that only support 64 Bit DAWs. I haven't tried them on my PT10 yet but I'm assuming they wont work. So I need to get a 64 bit DAW, but I want to keep PT10 as well. However, if I upgrade my OS then it will no longer support PT10. Conversely, other DAWS / Plugins will not work on my current OS. I'm in a pickle.

Can someone please confirm for me whether or not one of the two following options would work?

Solution 1 (Preferred)- Buy a "Data Doubler" from OWC (https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/inte...e/Data_Doubler) which will convert my optical drive into a SSD bay. I would then let my original hard drive live in the past on OSX 10.9.5 with my old DAW program, and install the most updated OS possible and a new DAW on to the new SSD drive in the optical drive. I would use them independent from each other, and whichever drive I boot on would be like selecting which "computer" (for lack of a better term) I want to use, my new one or my old one. Is this a real solution? I don't know how multiple drives in a computer works, and if you can have them each independent from each other as different entities with different OS's.

Solution 2 - Buy a hard drive dock toaster looking thing and try to do the above with independent drives that are each different "computers" with different OS's (for lack of a better term), just all externally and nothing internal. I would prefer not to do this as it makes my setup less mobile, and all of my USB ports are already taken when using audio production software. I DO however have an open firewire slot.... And the upside to this would be that I could back up my drives too.

I'm also potentially open to work-arounds to run 64 bit Plugins on PT10 but at this point, it looks like I need to move on.

Please let me know what you think, thanks! Please note I am not super tech savvy and I don't have a super complicated system. I am essentially looking for the easiest way out while preserving my old OS / PT10 setup.

-Sonny
MacBook Pro 2012
OS X 10.9.5
2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB Ram
ProTools 10.0
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  #2  
Old 11-30-2020, 01:00 PM
Ben Jenssen's Avatar
Ben Jenssen Ben Jenssen is offline
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Default Re: Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

I'll start off with some basics:
What you are describing is commonly known as a"dual-boot" setup, and yes, they behave as two computers in a way, because they can't really interact; you have to restart to switch from one to the other.

Lots of people have used this technique, myself included, for different reasons. Here in Pro Tools land the most common reason is that you want to separate your PT part from the "everything-else part" for stability reasons, and sometimes to be able to use a older OS for PT and being more current on the other.

Up until earlier this year My 2008 Mac Pro had one disk with PT10 and OSX 10.6.8, and the other had Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra.

You don't have to have external disks, disk in optical drive, and so on, you could actually partition one drive and it will show up as two different drives on the mac, and have different versions of OS on them.

I think your best option is to buy a big enough SSD and install it internally on the MBP. That will give you the best speeds, and make a big difference in restart/boot-times.

Others here will give you more details, I'm shure.
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Old 11-30-2020, 02:05 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

"MacBook Pro 2012" describes a wide variety of models. What exact model # and EMC # is the computer?
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Old 11-30-2020, 02:27 PM
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Ben Jenssen Ben Jenssen is offline
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Default Re: Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

Also, are you shure this is what you need?
You mention newer plugins and DAWs.
Remember, with a dual-boot setup, things are quite separate; you'll create something in PT when booted from that disk, then restart booting from the other disk, and perhaps import a audio file you exported from PT, work on it in programs you have on that boot-drive and so on. Not shure many people have this as a very practical workflow.
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Old 11-30-2020, 04:46 PM
hxcdelivery hxcdelivery is offline
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Default Re: Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
"MacBook Pro 2012" describes a wide variety of models. What exact model # and EMC # is the computer?
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,2
Part Numbers: MD101xx/A, MD102xx/A
Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7
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Old 11-30-2020, 04:49 PM
hxcdelivery hxcdelivery is offline
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Default Re: Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen View Post
Also, are you shure this is what you need?
You mention newer plugins and DAWs.
Remember, with a dual-boot setup, things are quite separate; you'll create something in PT when booted from that disk, then restart booting from the other disk, and perhaps import a audio file you exported from PT, work on it in programs you have on that boot-drive and so on. Not shure many people have this as a very practical workflow.
Yes, in fact I want them to be very separate to minimize any possibility of having my OS update / any other kind of catastrophe on my original HDD and losing access to my PT10. I wont really be cross working between the two different DAWs on the different "boot drive", I am just looking to move on from PT10 and would like to preserve my access to it / all the projects I've done there. So this would be an ideal situation for me if possible.
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Old 11-30-2020, 07:01 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Computer / OS Advice Needed: Using different drives as different "computers"

Quote:
Originally Posted by hxcdelivery View Post
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,2
Part Numbers: MD101xx/A, MD102xx/A
Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7
OK great, one reason for asking for details was this is a model that has issues with the optical bay SATA working at SATA III speeds, you don't want a modern SSD installed in that optical drive bay running at SATA I speeds (which a modern SATA III drive is likely to if they work at all) ... the hack used to be to use a SATA II SSD and live with that performance degradation. I could not even think where to get a SATA II SSD nowadays. So if this was my computer I'd leave the optical drive as is and replace the current internal HDD or SSD with a new SATA III SSD like a Samsung 860 Pro or 860 Evo 2.5" SSD. Buy the largest SSD you can afford, it should outlast that computer.

Buy an external USB caddy for the drive and use it to get *everything* working there before swapping that drive into your Mac. If you need to you can clone your old systems onto a partition on that new drive using Carbon Copy Cloner, but I think you will be much better off doing a clean install of things on that drive.

One thing I would do if this was my system is get the legacy Pro Tools 12.x installed on a clean High Sierra install. And the latest 2020.11 or whatever installed on Catalina... the last macOS version you can run. That way you get two things, 1. High Sierra gets you stable APFS support, both macOS versions will work nicely with APFS on that one SSD. and 2. know you are not likely to need to upgrade the Catalina install, and it will be compatible for the longest time with future Pro Tools releases. You'll want to be on a late version of Pro Tools 12.x to support High Sierra.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 11-30-2020 at 09:59 PM.
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