Install to external

[Fsiwtfrr]

I can't believe I'm saying this but after many many years of Mac I may have no choice but to switch to Winblow. I have several Macs, laptops, etc.. My main one is a Mac Mini 2018. I'm out of space and I can't afford $500 plus disk to upgrade internal storage. I have a thunderbolt ssd I can use but when I try to restore to it I get errors re: Couldn't set up partitions on the target device - operation AddAPFSVolumeToContainer, Line #5482 Resource busy. The operation couldn't be completed (OSStatus error 49153).
I tried booting and choosing the install media and installing to the external (which is partitioned to APFS) but even though I'm holding down the Alt key it won't come up with the option. It DID work one time but when I selected the install thumb the it doesn't bring up an install option, just an option to select the boot disk. I really may have no choice but to switch to a Winblows system I use for gaming. IT has a 1TB and a 2TB disk, and I can do what I need to do on it but I don't like that OS anymore. Any help would be appreciated. I used to have a clone app but it no longer works since Apple's OS perms have changed. I searched the errors online but didn't find any useful responses, just stuff like "Pay Apple to fix it" or "Get a bigger internal". If I COULD afford it I would buy a new system. Unfortunately my income is down about 80% due to a health issue caused by something that was made almost mandatory.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

So you have an external drive available? If so, move most of the stuff from the internal drive of the Mac Mini to it so that you can continue using the Mac.

There's no need to upgrade the drive or anything, just use an external SSD to keep the bulk of your data and your internal drive for the OS and applications, problem solved.

 

[Fsiwtfrr]

So you have an external drive available? If so, move most of the stuff from the internal drive of the Mac Mini to it so that you can continue using the Mac.

There's no need to upgrade the drive or anything, just use an external SSD to keep the bulk of your data and your internal drive for the OS and applications, problem solved.

The problem is there are programs that automatically download to my user dir, programs that run from the boot disk, etc...

 

[Raz0rEdge]

And what are these programs? You aren't experiencing something unique that no-one else has.

Most folks with smaller internal drives (128GB for example) have ways of dealing with this. It just means you have to proactive about where you store stuff. Folks that don't want to deal with this opt for larger internal drives based on their normal usage.

 

[IWT]

@Fsiwtfrr

Obviously, the choice is yours; but before you change direction and go for Windows, why not rest for a moment and consider other options.

Our Moderator, Ashwin, has given you the options. I'm, in a sense, repeating them; but they are inexpensive and work for most of the rest of us.

It's no one's fault that your Mac's Drive is close to full. At the time you purchased your Mac, there were far fewer apps and suchlike that demanded high degrees of storage and/or your finances may not have allowed additional expenditure.

That's fine. Happens to all of us.

The two options are: get a new Mac with bigger internal storage - not a serious consideration for you, I understand, because of the financial loss.

Okay; much cheaper and much easier is to buy an External Hard Drive (EHD) of, say, 1TB. Not sure where you reside, but Amazon (UK) has a large range of 1TB Drives from £40 to £70. The price difference is largely related to the integrity/reputation of the supplier.

My point is that these prices, in any currency, are way short of buying a new, or refurbished, Mac or Windows computer.

If you buy one, all you have to do is attach it by cable (supplied) to your Mac and transfer as much data as you can to that EHD. Once established that the data on the EHD is secure, delete the data from the Mac.

Things that take up a lot of space tend to be Photos Library; Music Library; Documents; and miscellaneous others. Libraries can be moved to the EHD and accessed from your Mac as long as the EHD is attached. This goes for all the data transferred, of course.

If your purse can extend to buying a second EHD, then you can use Apple's Time Machine to back up your data on the first Drive - See here:

How to make sure Time Machine backs up external drives

A reader wants to shift his Photos and iTunes libraries to an external drive and ensure they're backed up by Time Machine.

www.macworld.com

Does all the above not sound reasonable?

Ian

 

[pm-r]

The problem is there are programs that automatically download to my user dir, programs that run from the boot disk, etc...

I would be very surprised if any of those are Mac applications if they don't have an option or preference somewhere you could use to change the settings for your downloads and where or how you want them to go.


Let us know what the applicable applications are if you need help changing any settings or preferences.



- Patrick
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[Randy B. Singer]

...I'm out of space ...

Your timing is fortuitous. TidBits published this article just yesterday:

Follow These Steps to Clear Space on Your Mac
https://tidbits.com/2024/03/18/follow-these-steps-to-clear-space-on-your-mac/

If you are lucky, this article will allow you to clear off a very significant amount of space from your internal hard drive.

 

[IWT]

Yes, Randy; I saw that too. I read it and clicked on the Link which was the background to that article - namely by Howard Oakley.

His message was thorough, ending by saying that clearing space was much more complex than folks realised and that the results, although often arithmetically accurate, did not reflect the "actual/true" situation.

For anybody interested, this is Howard's piece:

The Finder confuses with wildly inaccurate figures for available space

Good space management doesn’t bring new emoji, but it makes a big difference when the Finder doesn’t give completely inaccurate figures for Available space. A practical demonstration of…

eclecticlight.co

Ian