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Hi Folks. I'm asking for some advice on best practice/process for upgrading.

I'm considering upgrading form Mountain Lion to El Capitan and also Pro tools 11 to 12.

I've done a bit of googling but haven't found a definitive checklist from the audio recording perspective.

This sort of thing gives me a few stomach butterflies

These are my system specs

early 2009 Mac Pro quad core

1 250 gig SSD drive for OS

1 250 gig SSD drive with East West Goliath and BFD3 drum samples

1 TB sata drive for audio

1 TB sata drive for complete system backup.

1 external drive


I use time machine to back up.

I'm not sure about booting from different drives.

Should I do a full backup on the external drive as well as the backup drive in the computer?

Should I do a clean install and reformat my OS Drive?

If I wiped my OS SSD drive to do a 'clean install' would I have to do anything in particular to the backup drive to boot from it?

OR.. should I create a USB boot drive?

Then when I boot does it give me the option of putting Mountain Lion back on the reformatted drive and then I upgrade to El Capitan?

I would then install Pro Tools and authorise it via Ilock and see how it works with the stock plugins.

Would I need to reinstall Goliath and the BFD samples?

Will I need to re-download the Play Instrument and the Waves plugins installer and run the drum program installer?

Should I add plugins and test in manufacturers batches.

!000 apologies for so many questions.

I feel like I'm about to jump off a cliff!!

Any snippets of advice will be gratefully appreciated.

Lester

Hello Lester,
These are indeed too many questions but let me try and clear things bit by bit.
The major concern when updating would definitely be hardware compatibility. Be sure that your audio interface is compatible with the running OS you intend to install.
Second major concern would be software compatibility. Pro Tools should be running smooth on El Capitan, but make sure those expensive plug-ins you've got are. (Mainly, check each manufacturer's website)
Last, third major concern would be your computer's speed issue. Make sure that your 2009 Mac can handle El Capitan without being to sloppy and slow.
The good old adage "If it ain't broke don't fix it " would apply best on these kind of situations, so do you really need that update?
Now if you're really going this way, first things first: BACKUP!
There are many alternatives out there, but I guess carbon copy cloner would be your best bet. You could back all your drive as is on another one, and you can make it bootable so just in case!
There are also threads on some forums about booting from an external drive. That could be a viable option, while keeping your actual drive intact. But you would be using one of your ports (Fire wire probably, since USB 3 was not on the 2009 mac yet)
For all your software licenses, I guess you should check with the different manufacturers.
I am guessing that you should deactivate your licenses before updating your system, and then re activating them on the new clean install.
Hope this helps,


PS.. I'm struggling myself with finding a good alternative to my iMac update.. torn between the good old mac pro and the not so interesting new one

Reasons to upgrade;
1. Security updates for internet use
2. Must have new features
3. Future software doesn't support OS and/or hardware

I'm not sure about booting from different drives.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204417

Then when I boot does it give me the option of putting Mountain Lion back on the reformatted drive and then I upgrade to El Capitan?

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/09/howto-do ... pitan-mac/

Should I do a full backup on the external drive as well as the backup drive in the computer?
Should I do a clean install and reformat my OS Drive?If I wiped my OS SSD drive to do a 'clean install' would I have to do anything in particular to the backup drive to boot from it?OR.. should I create a USB boot drive?

I wouldn't

Would I need to reinstall Goliath and the BFD samples? Will I need to re-download the Play Instrument and the Waves plugins installer and run the drum program installer?

You shouldn't have to reinstall samples, however, if you do a CLEAN install you will very likely need to reinstall the programs and reauthorize them unless the license is already on an ilok or e-licenser (dongles)

Hey Lester - Edmond had some good ideas. In addition I would say:

I'm considering upgrading form Mountain Lion to El Capitan and also Pro tools 11 to 12.

I am on 10.9.5 but have Pro Tools 12 (had 11 until late last year).

These are my system specs

early 2009 Mac Pro quad core

1 250 gig SSD drive for OS

1 250 gig SSD drive with East West Goliath and BFD3 drum samples

1 TB sata drive for audio

1 TB sata drive for complete system backup.

1 external drive

according to apple, your machine should have no issues with upgrading https://support.apple.com/kb/SP728?locale=en_US

I use time machine to back up.

time machine is fine, but as Edmond mentioned, Carbon Copy Cloner is an excellent backup utility, and I prefer it to time machine.

I'm not sure about booting from different drives.

easy - from the Apple menu upper left corner of screen, select System Preferences > Startup disk. Any disks that are connected to the computer and turned on (if they are external) that have a bootable version of OSX will show up in that dialogue box. Select the one you want to boot from. Restart. Do whatever you need to do to your old startup disk (i.e. upgrade to El Cap) and then again visit System Preferrences > Startup disk - and again choose the upgraded drive as your startup drive. Restart. Now you are booting from the upgraded drive.

you might want to consider turning off the Time machine backup during this process - because you want your Time machine backup to be a complete and whole copy of your original Mountain Lion Startup disk so you can revert to it if needed.

Should I do a full backup on the external drive as well as the backup drive in the computer?

Your point about the extra external drive might come in handy here - make a complete copy of the Mountain Lion startup drive onto the extra external drive, and disconnect it from the computer for safe keeping. Then you can leave Time Machine enabled.

Should I do a clean install and reformat my OS Drive?

depends. If you have the time and don't need to get anything done for the next day or two, a clean install / format and then reinstalling all third party software will provide the most streamlined operation with the least wasted space.

if you have stuff to get done, the Migration assistant does work fine and it allows just installing the newer OS "on top" of whats already there.

If I wiped my OS SSD drive to do a 'clean install' would I have to do anything in particular to the backup drive to boot from it?

no just see above about System Pref > Startup disk

OR.. should I create a USB boot drive? Then when I boot does it give me the option of putting Mountain Lion back on the reformatted drive and then I upgrade to El Capitan?

that's up to you. I can't see the point. IDK about the second part.

I would then install Pro Tools and authorize it via Ilock and see how it works with the stock plugins.

you should have no issues. Thats the good thing about NOT being an "early adopter" - other people have suffered while the updates have been made available that actually work.

Would I need to reinstall Goliath and the BFD samples?

If its a clean install, you will have to reinstall PLAY and the BFD engine - and in each usually there is a way to install just the software and not the samples, and then when you startup Play or BFD you just point the software to look for where the samples are stored (on the sample SSD in your case). I have both PLAY / Goliath and BFD2 and have had no issues.

so no you will not need to reinstall the samples if they are all on the sample SSD separate from the system SSD.

Will I need to re-download the Play Instrument and the Waves plugins installer and run the drum program installer?

see above - for a clean install yes. And all other third party plugin installers, any free stuff you have, and any other third party software (MS Word etc.)

Should I add plugins and test in manufacturers batches.

if you want, but like I said, you aren't an early adopter. And Pro Tools is already qualified for use with El Cap. http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_U ... lity-Chart

I think I would only backtrack and wipe plugins and reinstall in batches if there was an issue with PT12 after all was installed. I don't think you should have any issue.

The most important thing for me:

on that extra external, make several partitions of 250 GB. Make a complete backup of the Mountain Lion startup drive. Then on a separate partition on that external, make a complete backup of the working El Cap startup drive once you have PT and all the third party stuff installed. Then disconnect it and put it in the closet. That's your safety net incase things go crazy.

I see Len911 posted while I was writing.

the issue there is whether or not to do a clean install. That's up to you. Recently I haven't bothered, but when I get around to working with El Cap i likely will.

I see Len911 posted while I was writing.

Quote:
Should I do a clean install and reformat my OS Drive?

depends. If you have the time and don't need to get anything done for the next day or two, a clean install / format and then reinstalling all third party software will provide the most streamlined operation with the least wasted space.

if you have stuff to get done, the Migration assistant does work fine and it allows just installing the newer OS "on top" of whats already there.

Reformat OS drive? 250GB does seem to be quite large for an OS that needs maybe 20GB max. However, I don't think you need to reformat it to be able to put something else in the unused space.
Because SSD's or Macs in general don't need de-fragmenting, I don't necessarily think that reformatting would be of any advantage.

Len911 wrote: Reformat OS drive? 250GB does seem to be quite large for an OS that needs maybe 20GB max. However, I don't think you need to reformat it to be able to put something else in the unused space.
Because SSD's or Macs in general don't need de-fragmenting, I don't necessarily think that reformatting would be of any advantage.

reformat to give a clean platform to start from. There is already the migration assistant which allows installing El Capitan on top of Mountain Lion and copying over any other things that are needed.

I have a 250 GB startup drive that is 200 GB full.

Unless you are super careful where you put everything, its helpful to have that much space for downloads (which go to the startup drive), desktop, temp files, Logic samples (in my case because Apple decided it would be easier if you weren't able to decide where to put those) etc etc.

These days I would even go so far to say that 500 GB for a startup drive isn't unreasonable.

its only $$$

Edmond, Len and Andy

Thanks for being so generous with your time and supplying such detailed responses and links to my barrage of panic!!

I am still digesting and will move forward slowly.

First up I am checking that all hardware and plugins are compatible and my most valued ones are. Pro tools now works with El Capitan and my machine can run both as Andy pointed out.

I do like the idea of a clean install considering the "distance" between Mountain Lion and El Capitan.[ I need a fresh start, I'm currently painting the studio with better Feng Shui colours for me. Seriously!]

http://macs.about.com/od/OSXElCapitan/s ... .htm#step1

For now I will do some housekeeping - clear the desktop, update plugins and programs, get rid of unused old "stuff" run Disk Repair to look for and fix any errors and empty the trash.

I'll stick with time machine and practice booting from the internal backup drive. I'll create a partition on this drive to use later.

Waves and Ilok allow me to move licenses around between the cloud and different computers so there's no need to de-activate them. I might email East West and BFD and let them know what I am doing, or at least check their FAQ/support pages.

Then I'll disconnect unnecessary peripherals which I have to do anyway by taking the computer home for a better internet connection.
Put the full version of Mountain Lion and all my data onto a partition on the external Hard drive. Boot from the internal backup drive and point EL Capitan to the reformatted Mackintosh HD, the old OS SSD. [ I'll leave the other SSD with the samples as is.]
Then, all going well I'll run El Capitan and download Pro tools 12.

At this point I'll start backing up to the new partition on the internal back up drive.

I think I may be able to migrate some data over to the El Capitan drive using Migration Assistant but most software will need to be downloaded.

Once everything is up and running I'll put a full working version of El Capitan et all onto the external drive beside the Mountain Lion partition and pop it on the shelf.

That's the plan so far. Phew!

Thanks again for your time and sharing my problem. Great advice {as usual }. You have taken the "fear " out of it a bit and helped to clarify some key points for me.

I might implement all this in a week or so.

Let me know if you can see any flaws in this approach.

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upg ... l.1895374/

Feng Shui

http://fengshui-doctrine.com/index.php? ... uters.html

The feng shui five elements, water, wood, fire, earth and metal seem harmful imo to a proper functioning computer
At least a hope and a prayer is fairly safe.

I hear what your'e saying about the clean install Len. I might give it a miss and see how I go.

I had a couple of kernel panics a few months back but since I loaded more RAM into the machine they have gone.

Melodyne crashes Pro tools for me regularly if I ask it to do too much. It seems to get the clock all out of time and playback turns into a distorted babble. Quitting pro tools then re-opening and instantiating a new Melodyne gets me working again.

Clariphonic EQ is another one that crashes Pro tools for me if I push it too hard by clicking it on and off too quickly with the red button window closer.

Ive learned to treat these problem plugins with kid gloves and maybe an Upgrade might fix them or I might tackle them after upgrading. Apart from that the system seems very responsive and stable.

I rang a friend who has had more macs than some of us have had hot dinners. He uses them for audio and video as well as his retail business. He said he always upgrades and has never done a clean install.

Thanks for the computer Feng Shui tip.

According to Chinese astrology the red blue and green colours I used in the studio are anathema to an "earth pig" like me.
No wonder I've only got one forward and feel "stuck"
I've got the paint tin out now applying some more muted barnyard colours.
You've got to get your priorities right.

There are reasons not to use Time Machine, if you're a power user with a DAW on an older Mac; the main one being the overhead that you lose from TM constantly monitoring all your (selected) drives. This may not matter, if you never record multiple channels of live audio at vanishingly low latencies, but I do, which is why I invested in Carbon Copy Cloner; when it's live, the session comes first, and RAID is my safety net.