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SSD to NVMe : how to migrate ? Clone or fresh install ?

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trucmuche2005

trucmuche2005

Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Messages
32
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 Designare
CPU
i9-9900K
Graphics
RX 580
Hello,

In my hackintosh, I'm going to change my principal boot disk (on which MacOS is installed) from Crucial M550 512G SSD to a WD BLACK SN850 2 To NVMe Gaming M.2 2280 / PCIe Gen4 > 7000 Mo/s.

Can I simply "clone" Crucial content (and how ?) to my new SN850 or will I have to run a fresh install ?
What would you advise ?

specs : Gigabyte Z390 Designare, i9-9900K @ 3.6Ghz, AMD Radeon RX 580, Crucial CT512M550SSD1
running : OpenCore 0.8.3, Monterey 12.1

Thank you very much for your help !

T.
 
Depends on the following:
  1. The version of macOS you are using, as standard cloning software has issues with Monterey.
  2. Do you have a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner?
    1. How good are you at following instructions?
  3. Have you any issues on your current setup that could be helped by a clean installation of macOS?
  4. Do you have all the installation apps/dmg's etc. for the software on your current SSD?
Also you do know that your Z390 motherboard only has PCIe 3.0 connectors, so you won't get the 7000 Mb/s speed available from newer PCIe 4.0 systems. Probably half that speed on a PCIe 3.0 system like yours.

If you haven't bought the SN850 you might want to see if you can get an SN750 drive of the same capacity 2TB. As it will work just as well as the SN850 on your PCIe 3.0 system. Probably cost a bit less too.
 
I'm using Monterey and it's 12.1 for now (I don't know if I can update without any risk so I don't ;-)).
I don't have Carbon Copy Cloner but I can download its trial version for 30 days.
I'm really good at following precise instructions, no problem :)
I don't have issues for now, except some instability on ethernet connexion but I changed the kext today and I have to try...
I can easily get DMG's to install every app I need ; I just did it with my new MacBook Pro.
I already bought the SN850 2To (for 257eur - I think I had a very good price). The SN750 2To I can see are about 280eur at least, actually.
 
Ah my bad, the 2TB SN770 is £40 less expensive than the 2TB SN850 in the UK. The 2TB SN750 is more expensive than both the others, must be less of them available or they are more in demand.

If you have the apps and can reinstall macOS without any issues, I would recommend a clean installation on the NVME drive. Doesn't sound like you will need any instruction if you have just undertaken a clean install on your MPB.
 
Well, I was asking that because the first time for me to start a hackintosh, it took me 2 days (or 3, I can't remember) to read and follow the entire Opencore guide, precisely, step by step... So I'm afraid of running again all those steps... but now, I have an EFI which seems to work with 12.1 so... Maybe it will be faster for me ? What are the steps for a clean install of latest MacOS version, considering that I already have a working 12.1 EFI on that computer ? Could you help me ?
Many thanks for your help, Edhawk...
 
If you have a working EFI folder then you have done the hard part already. Using the existing EFI, as long as it works well would be logical and a big timesaver.

Which version of OpenCore did you use to create the existing EFI folder? Presumably it is newer than OC 0.7.4, as that was the first version to support Monterey.

Which version of Monterey are you looking to install, 12.5?
  • If that is the case then simply download the full installer from Apple on your existing macOS install.
  • Restore the Installer to a spare 16GB USB pen drive.
    • Make sure the USB has been formatted HFS+.
    • Name the USB 'Untitled',
    • Use the CreateInstallMedia terminal command below.
      • sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled
  • When completed mount the EFI partition on the USB.
  • Then copy your OC EFI folder to the EFI partition.
You will then have a Monterey 12.5 installation USB drive, that can be used on your system, or on another system with a different OC EFI folder.
 
Hello @Edhawk ! and big thank you for your help !

Yes : if it would be cleaner to make a clean install, I would like to install latest version of Monterey (12.5).
Now, I run Monterey 12.1 and I use OpenCore 0.8.3. I updated OpenCore and Kexts some days ago :)

Your install process seems very easy and I didn't think that I would simply have to copy my existing EFI folder to the EFI partition of the USB installation pen drive !! Very nice :) So I will give that a try, removing my existing SSD to install that newer MacOS on my brand new nvme... I will let you know :)

Thanks again !!
 
@Edhawk i followed your instructions to prepare usb pen drive for installation. Everything went fine except the step where I am supposed to mount the EFI partition of my pen drive and copy into my existing EFI folder. A « diskutil list » shows that EFI partition was not created on the pen drive. There is only an apple_hfs partition named « Install macOS Monterey » on that drive, but no EFI.
I read multiple times your instructions to check and Îm sure to have followed your instructions…

Could you help me please ?
 
If you formatted the pen drive in macOS using Disk Utility it will have automatically created an EFI partition. This will by default be hidden/unmounted when the drive is inserted.

You need to mount the EFI partition so you can copy the EFI folder to the EFI partition. I use Hackintool > Disks tab to do this, as all it takes is a simple click of the mouse and then to enter my user password.

Screenshot 2022-08-18 at 18.13.14.png Hackintool > Disks Tab - Mount icon highlighted

You need to select the Up/Down arrow icon for the USB pen drive, this will allow you to mount the EFI partition for your installation drive.

Screenshot 2022-08-18 at 18.13.41.png Password required for the app to mount the EFI partition.

Screenshot 2022-08-18 at 18.13.57.png EFI partition mounted on Desktop.

This can be opened and the EFI folder can be copied to the partition.
 
Thanks ! I got it. Actually, I formatted the partition and not the pendrive itself because "show all devices" was not selected in the Disk Utility... So the EFI partition wasn't created.
I managed to install Monterey and everything works fine, and quickly ! :) I'm very happy :)
Thank you very much for your valuable help, @Edhawk !!
 
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