Time to upgrade to OSX10.9 or 10.10?

[jchuzi]

QUOTE(Raven @ May 11 2015, 01:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I will partition the Seagate EHD into 2 or 3.
Don't understand why you suggest a Clone of my new 10.10?
Isn't that what the two partitions for TM and CCC will do as back-up and archival purposes?
My other EHD is already a CCC device.

And the 3rd partition is for a clone of my current 10.6.8 working files with its OS? So, I can work on my Freehand files, if needed, as they only work in 10.6.8.
Is there any way to find and just save FH files in this partition? There are 1000s scattered in countless folders.

As to suggesting that you clone 10.10, I'm paranoid enough to want two backups for everything, meaning one TM and one clone. Each has its advantages: You can boot from a clone and run your computer from it but it only has the files that you last cloned. You can't boot from TM but you can access older versions of files.

As to finding FH files on the 10.6 partition, you can set Spotlight to index it.

[Raven]

jchuzi,
I'm getting confused here, so let me get this clarified. Here's what I am setting up based on suggestions from TS people, as I upgrade from 10.6.8 to 10.10...

My existing EHD #1, 500 gb. It has 380 gb used so far with Carbon Copy Cloner which will soon clone 10.10 files.

New EHD #2, 3 Tb. Partitioned into...

Partition #1 - 1.5 gb for Time Machine
Partition #2 - 0.5 gb for cloning my current OSX10.6.8 so I can open my Freehand MX files in the future.

Xairbusdriver suggested a Partition #3 for cloning 10.10. Why? Doesn't my EHD#1 do that already?
So, do I need 2 or 3 partitions on my EHD #2?

Hope my explanation makes sense. Thanks!

[jchuzi]

QUOTE(Raven @ May 11 2015, 11:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

jchuzi,
I'm getting confused here, so let me get this clarified. Here's what I am setting up based on suggestions from TS people, as I upgrade from 10.6.8 to 10.10...

My existing EHD #1, 500 gb. It has 380 gb used so far with Carbon Copy Cloner which will soon clone 10.10 files.

New EHD #2, 3 Tb. Partitioned into...

Partition #1 - 1.5 gb for Time Machine
Partition #2 - 0.5 gb for cloning my current OSX10.6.8 so I can open my Freehand MX files in the future.

Xairbusdriver suggested a Partition #3 for cloning 10.10. Why? Doesn't my EHD#1 do that already?
So, do I need 2 or 3 partitions on my EHD #2?

Hope my explanation makes sense. Thanks!

Let me assume that I'm in your place and planning my next moves.

The internal hard drive has 10.6.8 installed, correct? When ready to install 10.10, I would make sure that the clone is up to date and then run the 10.10 installer on the internal drive. That will upgrade everything while keeping all your accounts, files, etc. intact. You will have an installation that looks like the old one except that it is using 10.10. (Programs that cannot run in 10.10 will still be there but they won't launch.) The external clone will remain untouched. If, heaven forbid, something goes wrong, you can always boot from the clone, erase the internal and start over.

To use your old system, you can keep the 10.6.8 clone as is and boot from it when necessary.

Once you're up and running, I would maintain a TM backup of the 10.10 installation as well as a clone. I would also clone the 10.6.8 system regularly to another partition for this reason: If the drive that has 10.6.8 fails, you may not be able to recover it.

If any of my assumptions are false, or if anything isn't clear, post back.

[Raven]

jchuzi,

Loud and clear now. Much THANKS!    

Now I've increased my RAM to maximum 8 gb on my 24" iMac.
I've repaired my internal disk using Disk Utility.
I've repaired permissions using DU.
My internal hard drive is cloned, as mentioned.

Anything else to do before I install 10.10?
I'm guessing I will find what apps and peripherals don't work thereafter?

[jchuzi]

You seem to have covered all the bases. For a heads-up about app compatibility, visit http://roaringapps.com

Good luck and let us know how it goes.  

[Raven]

Wow! Just read some of the comments on Yosemite. It has double the number of ONE star rating compared to FIVE Star.
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/os-x-yosemi...915041082?mt=12

Maybe I just upgrade to 10.9 instead? For now. Where do I find that 10.9?

[jchuzi]

QUOTE(Raven @ May 11 2015, 07:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow! Just read some of the comments on Yosemite. It has double the number of ONE star rating compared to FIVE Star.
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/os-x-yosemi...915041082?mt=12

Maybe I just upgrade to 10.9 instead? For now. Where do I find that 10.9?

See this TS thread. I suggest that you send a PM to Xairbusdriver if you want 10.9. For what it's worth, I am having no problems with 10.10 but then, I never used 10.9 so I can't compare them. I went directly from 10.6.8 to 10.10.

Whatever you do, here are some suggestions:

Buy the appropriate Missing Manual book (David Pogue, author) about that OS. You can get it from Amazon. I bought the Yosemite book well in advance of upgrading so I had a pretty good idea what to expect. The Mavericks book should still be available also.

Don't assume that all your preferences will be preserved when you upgrade. Individual apps, likely, but not system preferences. The first thing that I did was to go through all the preference panes in System Preferences to customize my system.

Check the App Store for updates. Starting with 10.9, Software Update no longer exists. You have to go to the Apple menu and launch App Store. Then, click the Updates tab.

I suspect that the slowness reported by some people is the result of having too little RAM. Since you have 8 GB, that ought to be more than enough (Apple recommends 2 GB minimum). I can't speak about Photo vs. iPhoto because I don't use either, being a longtime Photoshop user.

EDIT: One more thing. You have Office 2008, as do I. It works fine in Yosemite with one annoyance. Read annoying "accept incoming network connection" message. I no longer get a spinning beachball when clicking Allow because I uninstalled MS Messenger (which I never use anyway). I live with this issue but it's not a real problem for me. I don't know if this occurs with Mavericks.

[Raven]

Are either one of these sites an option to download 10.9 so, I can try it for a while before going to 10.10?
http://download.cnet.com/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Ma...4-76018588.html

http://en.softonic.com/s/mac-os-x-10.9-download:mac


I just tried doing a Time Machine back up to my new EHD partition (1.5 gb) and it failed.  It took a looooong time! Bummer. Do I just try again?

[Raven]

Haven't solved Problem #1 above, yet!

Now, Problem #2...
I tried to erase my new Time Machine EHD to change the partition sizes. There was no data on the drive yet.
But the Erasing failed: "Disk Erase failed with the error: Could not unmount disk"

Tried erasing the whole disk, and a single partition. Same error message. What gives??

That's why I hate these upgrades. Always something goes wrong! :-(

[Xairbusdriver]

That's is usually because the OS thinks something is trying to use the drive. Just quit all apps and make sure you tell TM to stop using the drive and even turn it off. Also make sure Spotlight is not indexing that drive, that would not be advisable, anyway. You can also start up in <Safe Mode,> which should stop any non-Apple apps or Startup items from running. It might prevent that drive from mounting, however. If so, just restart normally.

There may be other problems, so let us know if the above steps don't help.

[Raven]

I'm starting a new thread on a separate topic because my External Hard Drive is not working properly.

This is a Pain in the you know where! :-(

[Xairbusdriver]

Details: Brand, model, connection method, hardware details, problem details, trouble shooting attempted, frequency of problem, etc.. <"Just the facts, ma'am.">