Re: iMac Boot Issue

On Wed, 22 May 2024 13:38:15 -0400, Fishrrman wrote:

On 5/21/24 7:07 PM, Colour Sergeant Bourne wrote:

My 2019 21.5" Intel Time Machined iMac 8 GB memory, 1TB Fusion drive.
has developed a boot issue. From power-off, boots normally to lock
screen with proper wallpaper displayed.

 
I can only speak to what I would do.
 
I'd get a USB3.1 gen2 external SSD (either pre-packaged or make one
myself).
 
Then I'd set it up to be the new external boot drive.
 
Then... I'd boot and run that way, bypassing the fusion drive.
 
(luckily, I've never owned a Mac with a fusion drive...)

Once upon a time I was running an Intel iMac with a spinning rust (not
fusion) internal drive. When I updated to macOS Catalina it became clear
that the hardware was not happy. Running verrry slow. As an experiment I
attached a 1 TB Crucial SSD to the free Thunderbolt port, and made it the
boot drive. That got all the speed back, and then some. I relegated the
internal drive to Time Machine.

All that kept the iMac on the road for some more major updates. Eventually
the screen went black, and it was time to move on.

I chose the Crucial SSD because at the time it was touted as being faster
than other drives in the same price range. Nowadays a more economical
choice might be an NVMe stick in an external enclosure.

--
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Networking: What happens when, for as long as a moment, billions of
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