Making bootable backup before Mac HDD replacement

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Geektastic

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Topic # 189122 17-Dec-2015 17:17

I have to make a bootable clone of my disk as tomorrow the Mac is in the shop for a HDD replacement at Apple's expense following a recall.

Is it OK to use a portable WD My Passport Pro that is a Thunderbolt connected RAID unit containing two discs set to RAID 1 to make the clone on?

tardtasticx

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Reply # 1452419 17-Dec-2015 17:44

What software are you using to make the clone?

I've used TimeMachine to do this before and found the USB disk was bootable on another Mac. I imagine the same would apply to your thunderbolt drive setup but perhaps try it before sending in your Mac?

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timmmay

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Reply # 1452421 17-Dec-2015 17:50

Did you try Google?

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Geektastic

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Reply # 1452452 17-Dec-2015 18:21

Yes but Google offers me no advice - merely the unsubstantiated ramblings of the masses.

Here I get people who understand these things! I know HOW to clone it, what I need to know is whether a RAID 1 set can be used as the basis of the bootable disk.

Chronosync is what I am using.

scetoaux

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Reply # 1452469 17-Dec-2015 18:46

If the WD Passport is handling the RAID array in hardware then I can't see any issue at all with using it to clone your internal drive. It would be presented to the OS as one volume rather than two.

If the RAID is handled in software however (WD's own drivers installed on your Mac for example, or OS X's own software RAID), then you would be likely to experience issues.

Geektastic

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Reply # 1452480 17-Dec-2015 18:57

scetoaux: If the WD Passport is handling the RAID array in hardware then I can't see any issue at all with using it to clone your internal drive. It would be presented to the OS as one volume rather than two.

If the RAID is handled in software however (WD's own drivers installed on your Mac for example, or OS X's own software RAID), then you would be likely to experience issues.

The unit can either be a 2Tb RAID 1 as it is now, or a 4Tb RAID 0. The settings are made in WD's app Drive Utilities.

It shows up at present as 'My Passport Pro' in Finder, so assume that means OS is seeing it as one volume?

granada29

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Reply # 1452577 17-Dec-2015 19:42

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Get a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner from https://bombich.com

Use it to clone the drive and then to copy the data back again when your new drive is installed. It will make an exact bootable replica of your drive.

scetoaux

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Reply # 1452611 17-Dec-2015 20:24

The unit can either be a 2Tb RAID 1 as it is now, or a 4Tb RAID 0. The settings are made in WD's app Drive Utilities.

It shows up at present as 'My Passport Pro' in Finder, so assume that means OS is seeing it as one volume?

I've just had a quick look at the specs for these drives and I'd expect you'll be able to boot from them without any issues. It looks like it is a hardware RAID setup, so the OS will simply see it as a single volume without having to do anything itself.

You should be all good to go.

hyperman

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Reply # 1452693 17-Dec-2015 21:42

granada29: Get a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner from https://bombich.com

Use it to clone the drive and then to copy the data back again when your new drive is installed. It will make an exact bootable replica of your drive.

why reinvent the wheel? just use disk utility .......

http://nyacomputing.com/how-to-create-a-bootable-clone-of-your-mac-hard-drive/

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BTR

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Reply # 1452900 18-Dec-2015 11:29

Geektastic: I have to make a bootable clone of my disk as tomorrow the Mac is in the shop for a HDD replacement at Apple's expense following a recall.

Is it OK to use a portable WD My Passport Pro that is a Thunderbolt connected RAID unit containing two discs set to RAID 1 to make the clone on?

Yes that hardware configuration will work and use Carbon copy cloner which is made by bombich. You can clone as is to another drive or clone to a disk image.

Also where are you located maybe there is a Mac geek that could help you out.

littleheaven

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Reply # 1453137 18-Dec-2015 16:50

I used Carbon Copy Cloner when I swapped out my boot drive for a SSD. Cloned the entire boot drive to the SSD, then set the system to boot from that and use the old drive as a backup. Carbon Copy Cloner backs up to it continually so that if my main drive dies, I can just boot from the backup and carry on working.

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