Catalina on 2013 iMac

[Nighthawk4]

It is an iMac so not really upgradable.

Mojave refused to update unless I changed the drive to APFS, but it did not seem at all slow running Mojave. However, Catalina is desperately slow.

I suspect the problem is the hardware rather than Catalina itself, with an i5, a traditional hard drive and Intel graphics.

I am hoping that the method I used to upgrade Mojave may be successful - boot onto external drive, wipe and SuperDuper! back again.


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[Nighthawk4]

Just a thought. As I have Mojave fully updated on the clones, would it be better if I don’t stay with APFS?

If that is the case, what do I choose instead please?


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[harryb2448]

For mine always do an erase and clean install, then use Migration Assistant to backup from one of my external SSD's. mUpgrade after upgrade can cause problems imho.

 

[Nighthawk4]

Harry, that is what I am planning. However, should I stick with APFS on my traditional hard drive or go back to the older format, since I assume I will be staying with Mojave due to the age and rubbish graphics and drive on my iMac?


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[IWT]

@Nighthawk

I'm prepared to be proven wrong, but I'm almost certain that macOS Mojave requires the Mac's HD to be formatted APFS - SSD, Fusion or Spinner.

APFS started with macOS High Sierra; but only for Macs with an SSD. With macOS Mojave, all Internal HDs needed to be formatted as such.

So, if you want to "go back" to macOS Mojave, you're stuck with APFS as far as I know. See this link and look under "Support": Apple File System - Wikipedia

Ian

 

[Nighthawk4]

Thanks Ian. I had a feeling that was the case, but very useful to have that confirmed before I start.

Something to do later this evening


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[Nighthawk4]

Now copying back from the clone with SuperDuper.

One question - it has created a volume inside a container on the internal disk. It appears to be working so far and copying into the volume.

However I don’t remember seeing that last time I created an APFS Drive.


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[MacInWin]

That is how it works. If you don't remember it, you might want to look into vitamin supplements to help that memory!

 

[Nighthawk4]

Hehe


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[Nighthawk4]

Successfully back to Mojave. Initial tests seem good.

Thanks for the help again.


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[Howard Brazee]

I have one application that I need which I'm waiting for it to be converted to 64 bit. So I bought a LaCee iTB SSD and installed Mojave on it. I kind of wish I had bought 2TB, but the 1TB was there, and I have lots of free space on it. My iMac only has Thunderbolt-1, but this came with a Thunderbolt-3 cord and a USB-3 cord. When I boot up to Mojave it seems to boot up *faster* than when I boot up to Catalina on my fusion drive!!! I tested it out on my wife's iMac using Thunderbolt-3 and it works there too. (I also told my main computer's Time Machine to see this drive).

At any rate, that drive could be useful enough when you're done testing that you could decide to cloning to it and testing results with two copies of your computer.

 

[Nighthawk4]

Thanks.

I have tried WD and Seagate but never tried a LaCie.

I will see what I can find.

I did try Catalina on an external drive. I think it was a Seagate. That did not seem slow, although I did very little testing. It may be that I just have a rather slow internal drive. Not something I would risk trying to change on an iMac.


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[Slydude]

The actual drive body might be from someone else and not LaCie. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to put their name brand on drives actually made by someone else. In spinning drives for example there are only about three manufacturers left but several different brands,

If you go with the LaCie name sure to register it almost immediately. Unless their policy has changed, if you wait too long to register the warranty isn't any good. I got bitten by that once when I bought one of their backup drives and did not use it for a few months. When I finally connected it the thing died in a very short time. The warranty was no good because it exceeded the registration period (90 days I think).

 

[Nighthawk4]

Sorry if this should be on a separate thread.

I am trying to decide whether or not to upgrade my MacBook Air to Catalina, given the issues I had with the iMac.

This is a 13” 2017 model, 2.2 GHz Intel i7.

Would this be more successful running Catalina than the iMac, or will this also be slowed by upgrading please?


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[Lifeisabeach]

Sorry if this should be on a separate thread.

I am trying to decide whether or not to upgrade my MacBook Air to Catalina, given the issues I had with the iMac.

This is a 13” 2017 model, 2.2 GHz Intel i7.

Would this be more successful running Catalina than the iMac, or will this also be slowed by upgrading please?


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Since that comes standard with 8GB RAM and an SSD, then as long as you have sufficient free space, it should do well. As always, make a backup first (full clone recommended). I personally don't recommend simply upgrading to Catalina. After making your backup, wipe the internal drive and reinstall Catalina clean using a bootable installer, then migrate your user data and apps back over from the clone.

Use Diskmaker X to make a bootable installer.
Downloads

You can also review this guide on doing a clean install, but ignore their instructions on making a bootable installer... use Diskmaker.
How to Perform a Clean Installation of macOS 10.15 Catalina - MacRumors

 

[Nighthawk4]

Thanks for the advice.

Getting the machine ready, then backup, then I will give it a try with Catalina.

I was planning to wipe and install plus restore.

Fingers crossed


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[Nighthawk4]

Waiting for Diskmaker to finish, then the Backup.

Then Catalina


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[Rod]

I have a 2015 MBP r 13" which works very well with Catalina so I think you will be happy with performance and I think you may find Sidecar will work with that model MBA.


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[Nighthawk4]

Finished updating. Now doing a post-update backup, before I break anything.

One odd thing. As I am old, my bed is in the living room. There is a TV near the bed and another one where I sit. I have plugged the MB Air into the one near the bed. The display works well and I now have the display on the laptop screen and the TV.

Unfortunately, the display is on the other TV as well, which is not as helpful.

How do I make it display on only one TV please?


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[MacInWin]

How is the unwanted TV attached to the MBA? Are the two TVs connected by anything? Do you have an Apple TV that is maybe involved?