Question on hardware upgrading

[stwkan]

All,

I've a perfectly working triple boot (OSX 10.9.1, Windows7 & Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS) setup on following hardware: -

1) Mobo - GA-H55M-USB3,
2) LGA1156 i3-540,
3) Default boot OSX on 250GB Samsung SSD 840,
4) Windows7 & Ubuntu were installed on different partitions of a 1TB hard drive,

This rig was put together back in 2010. Since then, Intel has rolled out Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge & now Haswell CPUs. I'm tempted to upgrade the mobo & CPU to GA-H87-D3H & i5-4440.

Here is my question: -
Will it be a mess to make the 3 OS to recognise the new mobo & CPU?

Anyone else has gone though this kind of "upgrade"?

Any input will be appreciated.

 

[ashman70]

What are you doing on the rig that you think the upgrade will benefit you?

I would imagine with Windows you'll have to reinstall and same with OSX, Ubuntu, I don't know.

If its working perfectly now, why break it?


My 2 cents.

 

[Adrian B]

Complete fresh installation of all three operating systems would be the best thing to do. It is certainly the only real solution I suspect for Mavericks. If you only have OEM Windows licence then you will need to purchase a new licence. I would be inclined to keep the existing system running and buy new SSDs/HDDs for the new build.

Adrian B

 

[stwkan]

What are you doing on the rig that you think the upgrade will benefit you?

I would imagine with Windows you'll have to reinstall and same with OSX, Ubuntu, I don't know.

If its working perfectly now, why break it?


My 2 cents.

Good question!

The idea of upgrading came from helping a friend who wanted me to refresh his PC with low cost parts. He uses it for simple tasks such as surfing the net as well as burning few DVDs occasionally. He has a IDE DVD drive!

It turns out my H55M-USB3 board has IDE ports too. So I may take this opportunity to upgrade to Haswell. Move the H55M-USB3 & i3-540 CPU to a low cost build for my friend.

 

[stwkan]

Complete fresh installation of all three operating systems would be the best thing to do. It is certainly the only real solution I suspect for Mavericks. If you only have OEM Windows licence then you will need to purchase a new licence. I would be inclined to keep the existing system running and buy new SSDs/HDDs for the new build.

Adrian B

I have an extra SSD & hard disk. Here is my plan: -

1) CarbonCopyClone the current SSD boot to "test" SSD drive. Make it bootable with Chimera & MultiBeast.
2) Once "test" SSD is bootable in existing setup, remove & keep original boot SSD & 1TB multi-boot hard disk.
3) Remove /extra/DSDT.aml & change system definition,
4) Swap in new mobo & i5 CPU,
5) Boot with "test' SSD,
6) If it can successfully boot, make same change in original boot SSD. At this point OSX is okay!
7) Put back 1TB multi-boot hard disk. Try to boot into Windows7 in safe mode.
8) Do similar task for Ubuntu boot.

What do you think? Worth a try!?

 

[Adrian B]

Can you create a Mavericks UniBeast drive with your existing build. It would make sense to do that now as Mavericks will need a minimum of 10.8.5 to run. Snow Leopard retail disk will boot but only with the assistance of iBoot Haswell (it acts as life support and does not give full working power of Haswell system)

You might be able to pull files off the original installation by using an external USB enclosure once you are booted into Mavericks. Either that or pull you files from the other working computer over your network. Make sure that important files have been backed up.

Adrian B

 

[oswaldm]

I'd recommend a slightly different approach in terms of Mavericks and Windows.

Make a Time Machine backup of your OSX drive on the spare SSD you have. Prepare a Unibeast stick to install a fresh copy of Mavericks. Swap your hardware with the fresh n' funky new stuff. Install Mavericks from scratch and use migrate assistant to restore your apps, sestinas etc from the Time Machine backup. This can all be done "inline" with the installation process. Then you do the usual stuff: boot once more with the USB, install the boot loader and voila. Mavericks all setup and ready to go with your previous Time Machine snapshot.

Now for Windows you will absolutely need to reinstall it from scratch. It's a driver thing - new platform is going to mess up your current installation and there is no way to prevent future problems. Even if you use some fancy windows tools to "migrate" your current installation. This is not debatable. It's Microsoft.

Now for the Linux part I have nothing to say as I had a run with it 10 years ago and haven't touch the stuff since.

Best of luck.

 

[stwkan]

Can you create a Mavericks UniBeast drive with your existing build. It would make sense to do that now as Mavericks will need a minimum of 10.8.5 to run. Snow Leopard retail disk will boot but only with the assistance of iBoot Haswell (it acts as life support and does not give full working power of Haswell system)

You might be able to pull files off the original installation by using an external USB enclosure once you are booted into Mavericks. Either that or pull you files from the other working computer over your network. Make sure that important files have been backed up.

Adrian B

Hi Adrian,

Thank you for the suggestion! I appreciate it.

I've already had a working 10.9.0 UniBeast thumb drive. I'm downloading 10.9.1 from Apple Store to make another UniBeast drive. Never have too many "backup"...!

I also have a TimeMachine backup into a separate 1TB hard drive.

 

[Adrian B]

Mavericks will need a minimum of 10.8.5 to run should read Haswell hardware will need a minimum of 10.8.5 to run.
You seem to be on top of things - good luck.

Adrian B

 

[stwkan]

I'd recommend a slightly different approach in terms of Mavericks and Windows.

Make a Time Machine backup of your OSX drive on the spare SSD you have. Prepare a Unibeast stick to install a fresh copy of Mavericks. Swap your hardware with the fresh n' funky new stuff. Install Mavericks from scratch and use migrate assistant to restore your apps, sestinas etc from the Time Machine backup. This can all be done "inline" with the installation process. Then you do the usual stuff: boot once more with the USB, install the boot loader and voila. Mavericks all setup and ready to go with your previous Time Machine snapshot.

Now for Windows you will absolutely need to reinstall it from scratch. It's a driver thing - new platform is going to mess up your current installation and there is no way to prevent future problems. Even if you use some fancy windows tools to "migrate" your current installation. This is not debatable. It's Microsoft.

Now for the Linux part I have nothing to say as I had a run with it 10 years ago and haven't touch the stuff since.

Best of luck.

Hi oswaldm,

Thanks for the suggestion! Your approach makes sense & it sounds cleaner.

If I understand correctly, I need 2 TimeMachine backups - 1) full system & data backup & 2) OSX drive backup.

I just need a clarification since I never use "Migrate Assistant". Can I selectively restore apps only from TimeMachine backup without restoring system files?

After using OSX since 2010, reinstalling Windows7 & Ubuntu has become secondary! In the last 3 years, I seldom boot into them anyway...!