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  #1  
Old 10-16-2018, 04:47 PM
Loudnoize Ent. Loudnoize Ent. is offline
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Default Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

Hey guys,

I was given an i7 3.4 GHz late 2012 iMac which is set up with a 1TB Fusion drive. From what I understand, there is a PCIe 128GB SSD that is attached to the logic board and a 3.5” 1TB 7200 rpm HHD.

Now, I completely understand that Fusion drives and Pro Tools is a big No-No and I don’t need the headaches either.

Can I completely disable, remove, unfuse, etc the PCIe 128 GB card and have Pro Tools work without issues? I'll also be replacing the HHD with a 500 GB SSD. Is there any OS drawbacks of doing it this way as well?

My main system is a Mac Pro and configured nicely so the iMac would be a second work station.

Thanks for your input.
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  #2  
Old 10-16-2018, 07:02 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

Yes you can separate the components into two drives. Use the SSD for an audio drive or if big enough for you as the boot drive. Make sure the HDD is really 7200 rpm. System report should have that info.

All this has been discussed previously on DUC and many other places. Searching with Google will find those, something as complex as Googling for "how to separate mac fusion drive".
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  #3  
Old 10-16-2018, 08:09 PM
Loudnoize Ent. Loudnoize Ent. is offline
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
Yes you can separate the components into two drives. Use the SSD for an audio drive or if big enough for you as the boot drive. Make sure the HDD is really 7200 rpm. System report should have that info.

All this has been discussed previously on DUC and many other places. Searching with Google will find those, something as complex as Googling for "how to separate mac fusion drive".
Thanks for your input, Darryl. A little confused though. I'm going to replace the HHD with an SSD no need for the HHD. The SSD replacement will be used for the OS, Pro Tools app, and all other apps. I'll be using an external SSD hard drive for PT audio files.

Will only separating the components, be enough for PT to work correctly or do I need to remove the card that's on the logic board? Maybe I'm making more of this than it is but I want to make 100% sure.

Also, I've also researched "how to separate fusion drive" so all good there.

Thanks!
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  #4  
Old 10-16-2018, 08:52 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

OK sorry I misunderstood your question. But if you do upgrade drives I would first look at just breaking the Fusion drive as I suggested above. That's likely a fix for \ immediate issues. Using the fast PCIe SSD, or if not big enough upgrade that, .. that PCIe drive is a lot faster than any SATA SSD. You can likely also run everything, boot, audio/sessions on one of those drives if you have space.

Folks like OWC sell M.2 like SSD kits for those iMacs. it’s Apple... so I am pretty sure standard M.2/NVMe or M.2/AHCI drives will not work.

Nothing here specific to Pro Tools so you should be able to find that all on-line. IFixit is the first place to look for tear down and drive replacement info.

You can replace the SATA HDD with a SATA SSD, I would use a recent model Samsung SATA SSD. Make sure you follow cautions about the temp sensor. But again, with all the hassle of getting into this computer I would be focused on upgrading the PCIe SSD card first.

Start by looking at an iFixit teardown and deciding if you even want to do this brain surgery. You can go with an external drive, but unfortunately you have both old Thunderbolt 1/2? and USB 3.0 (not 3.1 Gen 2). The USB SSD drive to get is the Samsung T5 and the high end Thunderbolt SSD probably the Sonnet Fusion (PCIe over Thunderbolt) SSD (stupid name, not related to Apple “fusion”), but you will give up a fraction of that drive performances on Thunderbolt 1/2.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 10-16-2018 at 09:27 PM.
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  #5  
Old 10-16-2018, 11:08 PM
Loudnoize Ent. Loudnoize Ent. is offline
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

It may be more trouble than I want it to be but getting the iMac for free gives me the incentive to invest a little into it... if it's worth it. Taking it apart is a little risky but I'm sure I'd be able to get around that and yes, I'm aware of the temp sensor. I did have my eye on Samsung SSD models, so good choice there.

When you mentioned "focusing on the PCIe SSD card first", this is the card that's attached to the logic board and you think a M.2 card would be a good replacement. Correct?

On a different note, I understand the iMac is older technology so I won't get the speeds of a more current one but do I need a PCIe card at all, despite the lack of speed? Can I just run a Samsung SATA SSD and forget the PCIe card and the trouble of getting to it, etc or does the iMac need to recognize a card on the logic board slot?

I really appreciate you answers. All makes sense to me. Thanks, Darryl.

Cheers!
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  #6  
Old 10-16-2018, 11:30 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

To me it hardly seems worth opening up one of these to just put a SATA SSD in it, with all that work I'd want to upgrade the PCIe SSD to as large as it goes (1TB?). You have to check with OWC or others if they have a PCIe SSD that works for that. And being old it will likely be a 4 x PCIe 2.0 or 2 x PCIe 3.0 but not the 4 x PCI 3.0 on modern drives... but that's still much faster than SATA. The SATA one is trivial in comparison and sure I'd replace the SATA HDD if the iMac is open.

I'd just get the iMac running and see how it goes with Pro Tools before doing brain surgery. Before cracking the iMac open upgrade DRAM if needed, split the fusion drive, do a full clean macOS install on the HDD or SSD if you have enough space there, and use external drives if needed, the models I already mentioned. Velcro them to the back of the iMac....

.
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  #7  
Old 10-16-2018, 11:49 PM
Loudnoize Ent. Loudnoize Ent. is offline
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

Excellent advice, Darryl. I'll check with OWC and see what I can put together but first I will split the fusion drive and see how PT performs. If all is well, I'll prolly go with 2 SSD's, PCIe & SATA, set them up, keep them unfused as well.

Thanks for your time and it's really appreciated! :)
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  #8  
Old 10-17-2018, 12:15 AM
VRW VRW is offline
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
To me it hardly seems worth opening up one of these to just put a SATA SSD in it, with all that work ....
In addition to all the great advice from Darryl let me recommend you to not open your iMac as long as the built in drives are in decent condition. It will be kinda complex work to do and simply not necessary if the drives are still ok.

Just go ahead and split your Fusion drive (read through this arcticle carefully and you will be able to do that in a few minutes):
https://www.macworld.com/article/201...ion-drive.html

Following your description you have this particular iMac model:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/i...012-specs.html

Again, given it is in good condition, that is a nice, powerful machine which will run Pro Tools very well for sure.
As the internal HHD obviously is a 7200rpm drive everything should be fine anyway.

If you do want some additional (faster) drives for the use with Pro Tools you might get any external SSD(s) and connect it to one of the 4 USB 3 ports or one of the 2 Thunderbolt ports of this iMac.

I would rather invest the money in some nice, fast additional external drive solution instead of opening and replacing the original drives (as long these are working properly).

The original 128GB SSD will be absolutely enough for your system and Pro Tools. The built in 7200rpm HDD you might use for your libraries, samples etc. and get an additional external SSD with a decent amount of storage space for your Pro Tools audio files (if you can afford it go with a Thunderbolt drive, if you don't run huge projects with tons of tracks USB 3 should be ok though).

Just as an additional idea.

It would save you a lot of difficult DIY (opening and reclosing an iMac is kinda sophisticated work) at the end of the day.

Anyway.

The best of success to you.
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  #9  
Old 10-17-2018, 12:23 AM
VRW VRW is offline
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

...well, make sure it´s got 16GB Ram memory at least. If not, replacing the memory will be an easy job and still affordable with those iMacs.

If it has 16GB already you are good to go anyway.
If it only comes with 8GB you could invest in even more than 16GB on replacing the memory. Maybe max out the iMac with 32GB Ram...

Anyway. You will need 16GB Ram memory for a decent Pro Tools performance at the least.

Cheers.
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  #10  
Old 10-17-2018, 01:49 AM
Loudnoize Ent. Loudnoize Ent. is offline
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Default Re: Can I do this to a late 2012 iMac?

Quote:
Originally Posted by VRW View Post
...well, make sure it´s got 16GB Ram memory at least. If not, replacing the memory will be an easy job and still affordable with those iMacs.

If it has 16GB already you are good to go anyway.
If it only comes with 8GB you could invest in even more than 16GB on replacing the memory. Maybe max out the iMac with 32GB Ram...

Anyway. You will need 16GB Ram memory for a decent Pro Tools performance at the least.

Cheers.
Thanks, VRW. Like Darryl, your advice and info is equally appreciated.

The iMac was recently given to me and there is a slight chance I may need to replace the main 7200 HD. I'm not entirely sure yet as I need to get more info from my friends wife, who owned it. I've not had much time to look into it, asked questions, etc. I was mainly enquiring about this particular iMac and its reliability with Pro Tools, assuming I split the fusion drive. You've both answers yes so this is good.

Initially, what I wanted to do is carbon clone my SSD from my Mac Pro, onto another SSD, which requires it to be at least 480GB. The 128 seems rather limited.

Assuming the HHD in the iMac is failing, I thought adding a SSD would be a good choice but all this means having to rip the iMac apart of which I can prolly do but not looking forward too, lol.

The iMac already holds 24GB of ram so this will do the job just fine.

Cheers!
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