Advice needed: Upgrading Mac OS + PT for first time in years

[hxcdelivery]

Hello all,

I currently run Pro Tools 10.0 for Institutions on a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro i7 2.9 GHz with 8 GB of Ram on Mac OS 10.9.5. I have an ILOK and own the license for Pro Tools.

I was trying to fend off the mac updates for as long as possible since I own Pro Tools and wanted to keep operating how I always have.

My issue is that other programs I need are no longer supported by my OS now. I need to reinstall Photoshop, and Adobe discontinued every CC product that my OS can support. Even my google drive computer backup app will no longer work.

Because of this, I am biting the bullet and upgrading my Mac OS to a more current and supported version. I know if i do this, I can no longer use my Pro Tools 10. I will give in since I can have the latest pro tools for 9.99 a month if I surrender my license.

Here's my biggest issue: I am in the middle of recording an album, its about 25 percent recorded with detailed sessions.

My plan is to upgrade my ram to 16 GB (while not officially supported by apple, sources say my computer will accept it, I have ordered the suggested RAM), install a newer version of mac, and surrender my license / start anew with pro tools 2020.

My main question is: in your opinion, does this sound like something that I will be able to undergo smoothly? I want to be able to open my PT10 sessions and get right back to work once I update my computer and switch to PT2020 on a new Mac OS. I can't suffer much downtime and can't have the new pro tools altering my sessions in any way.

Does anyone have any advice for me as to how to maintain my rather small library of plugins and if I might run in to any trouble on that front? I mostly use plugins that were all provided to me by Avid with PT10.

Please bear with me as I am not the most technologically savvy. I know this may be a minimum RAM requirement, I will not be using many virtual instruments, etc. My mac with 8GB of RAM never had any issues running PT10 with plenty of plugins.

Please let me know if you have any input, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

[Darryl Ramm]

Hi welcome to DUC

Whether this is likely to be smooth or not is mostly dependent on you being organized and approaching this in a sensible way.

You've got that you need more memory.

But the complexities here are often software, including what macOS you plan to run. Your computer won't run the latest Catalina, but you'll have to look up what is supported on it. That will set what versions of Pro Tools are supported.

Since you are on Pro Tools 10 you may still be relying on RTAS plugins. they are no longer supported so you need to make sure you can get any needed third party plugins in AAX-64 format. And you need to also make sure *all* the third party plugins you need are available and compatible with the macOS and Pro Tools versions you expect to install.

You also need to check that a driver is available for the interface you are using on the macOS version you want to run. There is a lot to check. Creating a spreadsheet helps.

See my post in this thread http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=410776 for how you should *not* be doing an upgrade to macOS and instead should be doing a clean install.

What exact drive do you have?

If you have a HDD internally (or small SSD) I would be tempted to replace that with an internal SATA SSD like a Samsung 860 Evo (https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-500GB.../dp/B0786QNSBD). And I'd start by connecting that SSD in an temporary external USB to SATA dock, loading the new macOS and everything else onto that there, testing stuff and only if it all works then physically swap that SSD with your current internal HDD. Pop that HDD into the USB dock as a backup drive. Change one thing at a time, e.g. upgrade the memory, make sure that works OK with the current OS install. Then later swap the drives.

And if you are not making lots of backups already then buy some more drives and get everything important backed up more than once before doing doing any of this brain surgery.

I would not rush to surrender your licenses. You can get a free 30 day eval of Pro Tools 2020 Ultimate (I think the eval is up to 2020.5... hopefully OK for your macOS version). Test with that before buying a license... and I'm guessing that because you have an institutional license and want to buy a personal one you might not get the bundled Pro Tools 10/11/12 license back like I think still applies with standard upgrades. So running tests on the demo sure seem a good idea.

[JFreak]

Why not install new SSD and keep the old drive in external enclosure for backup? If there is a memory upgrade there would just as well be drive swap. Also if you find a reseller that still has old stock of "reinstatement" codes you can upgrade your PT10 perpetual license to current version. Avid stopped selling those last year but some dealer may still have codes available.

[Stephen Bond]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Why not install new SSD and keep the old drive in external enclosure for backup?

Agreed. I do that will all my old drives. You can always hook them up if you need something or indeed boot from them as required. You will want to keep PT 10 if you need to open older Sessions, especially those with SD2 files rather than WAV/AIFFs. You can also use this version to convert to WAV Sessions to be opened in the newer versions. You can obviously only boot the drive on a compatible system i.e. not run an old OS on a new Mac.

Stephen

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

But the complexities here are often software, including what macOS you plan to run. Your computer won't run the latest Catalina, but you'll have to look up what is supported on it. That will set what versions of Pro Tools are supported.

Actually according to the Mactracker utility the op's MBP will support Catalina up to revision 10.15.5 and possibly later as well.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Actually according to the Mactracker utility the op's MBP will support Catalina up to revision 10.15.5 and possibly later as well.

Right you are, it’s the oldest MacBook Pro officially listed as compatible by Apple so I expect it to be compatible with all Catalina upgrades. Still the OP needs to work out what macOS version he wants to be on.

[hxcdelivery]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Actually according to the Mactracker utility the op's MBP will support Catalina up to revision 10.15.5 and possibly later as well.

Yes, this seems to be correct, my mac will be able to run the latest OS.

I appreciate all of the advice above.

I do have a HDD in my mac.

Unfortunately at this time I cannot afford to be buying new hard drives and hard drive docks, nor am I very knowledgeable when it comes to making boot drives and stuff. I'm sure I could learn it, but due to a few factors / constraints here I would prefer to leave the rest of the inside of my computer alone other than the RAM. I run a fairly simple setup and would like to try to keep it that way for now. My computer is well backed up - my best bet with creating a "boot drive" would be with an external SSD or a large flash drive, if that would be possible.

Some things to note here:

Since you are on Pro Tools 10 you may still be relying on RTAS plugins. they are no longer supported...

....if you need to open older Sessions, especially those with SD2 files rather than WAV/AIFFs

-I'm positive that I do not use any RTAS plugins or sessions with SD2 files. So I should be fine there.

You will want to keep PT 10 if you need to open older Sessions, especially those with SD2 files rather than WAV/AIFFs. You can also use this version to convert to WAV Sessions to be opened in the newer versions

- Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would need to purchase the new pro tools and install it on a new separate hard drive to "Keep" pro tools 10 / my old OS on my old drive? Unfortunately this is a bit complex and expensive for me. I would like to just upgrade to PT2020 by surrendering my license, therefor I will not be able to keep PT10. But as mentioned above, it doesnt look like any of the compatibility issues brought up here will be a problem for me.

You can get a free 30 day eval of Pro Tools 2020 Ultimate (I think the eval is up to 2020.5... hopefully OK for your macOS version). Test with that before buying a license...

Could I potentially install Catalina onto a large flash drive as a "boot drive" and then a pt2020 trial to the same boot drive as well and attempt to open one of my PT10 sessions on it? I'm iffy when it comes to this area of computers / drives but if this is possible this seems like the most feasible thing for me to attempt to make sure I'm safe moving forward.

You also need to check that a driver is available for the interface you are using on the macOS version you want to run.

I'm all good here.

I'm sorry if I'm coming off as helpless or unwilling in terms of my refusal to be purchasing / swapping multiple hard drives here, I run a simple operation for my band and we are constrained by time and money at this moment. we must keep chugging ahead with this project and must update the OS to have access to other programs ASAP. I know i might get grilled along the lines of "if your sessions are really important..."

[hxcdelivery]

- Yes, my mac should be able to work with the latest Mac OS, and my audio interface is compatible with it as well.

- AFAIK I do not use any RTAS plugins or any sessions with SD2 files, so I should be fine compatibility wise there.

- I should note that my computer is well backed up.

You will want to keep PT 10 if you need to open older Sessions...

-I unfortunately cannot do this unless I pay full price for a new pro tools system, buy new hard drives, etc, which is not viable for us right now. As mentioned I am looking to surrender my license so that I can run pro tools on an updated OS.

-As sort of mentioned just above, I am looking to do this as quickly and as cheaply as possible, our band has some time and money constraints at the moment. I know that sounds like a cop out, and may get grilled along the lines of "if your sessions are important to you...".

- While I have not dabbled in multiple hard drives and different boot disks, its something I could probably figure out. I run a fairly simple setup and I would like to try to keep it that way for now. I am thinking that my best option to test out that this all would work is to download Catalina 10.15.3 on to my large flash drive as a Boot drive, download the protools 2020 trial on to that drive as as well, and try to open a PT10 session on this drive with PT2020 and see what my results are. If that goes well I can assume that I should be OK to update and upgrade? I know this sounds rather brute compared to the opinions displayed here (which i greatly appreciate) but I gotta work with what we have at the moment. Does this sound viable?

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by hxcdelivery

- Yes, my mac should be able to work with the latest Mac OS, and my audio interface is compatible with it as well.

- AFAIK I do not use any RTAS plugins or any sessions with SD2 files, so I should be fine compatibility wise there.

- I should note that my computer is well backed up.


-I unfortunately cannot do this unless I pay full price for a new pro tools system, buy new hard drives, etc, which is not viable for us right now. As mentioned I am looking to surrender my license so that I can run pro tools on an updated OS.

-As sort of mentioned just above, I am looking to do this as quickly and as cheaply as possible, our band has some time and money constraints at the moment. I know that sounds like a cop out, and may get grilled along the lines of "if your sessions are important to you...".

- While I have not dabbled in multiple hard drives and different boot disks, its something I could probably figure out. I run a fairly simple setup and I would like to try to keep it that way for now. I am thinking that my best option to test out that this all would work is to download Catalina 10.15.3 on to my large flash drive as a Boot drive, download the protools 2020 trial on to that drive as as well, and try to open a PT10 session on this drive with PT2020 and see what my results are. If that goes well I can assume that I should be OK to update and upgrade? I know this sounds rather brute compared to the opinions displayed here (which i greatly appreciate) but I gotta work with what we have at the moment. Does this sound viable?

Have you looked at getting a resintatement plan? Sweetwater still has them for $299. This will allow you to keep PT10 as well as get the latest PT versions.

[hxcdelivery]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Have you looked at getting a resintatement plan? Sweetwater still has them for $299. This will allow you to keep PT10 as well as get the latest PT versions.

I am confused on what this means. I am trying to look up exactly what all this means. I would like to stress this point though: I am only upgrading my pro tools because I MUST update my OS to run other programs, and my PT10, which I own, will reportedly not run if I upgrade my OS.

That being said, if I purchase a reinstatement, will I be able to run PT10 on a newer OS then?