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Released on July 21, 2011. Core i5 or Core i7 Processor. Thunderbolt. This unit is also used to run the Mac mini Server configuration.

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SSD will not show up after installing

I bought the second HD kit just after purchasing the Mac in 2011 and installed a 1TB second drive. Ended up removing that drive and the stock drive as well and installing an 80GB SDD that worked perfectly until I ran out of space due to the data files for a massive iTunes library stored on a 4TB external drive. I installed a second 80GB SSD as a user drive to solve the space problem and used the drive utility to combine the original 80GB back into one partition. When I installed the OS the new drive would not show up in any utility or the terminal. I finally installed the OS on the new SSD and both drives were available, however the online reinstall would only install lion not mountain lion. When I upgraded to mountain lion I would get a grey screen only able to safe boot. On safe boot all drives are available. I switched back to installing the OS on the original drive but again lost the new SDD.

Sorry for the long winded description as I saw no other problem here that exactly matched this.

Also the 2 SDD and one external HDD is the configuration I plan to use so please no answers suggesting different drives or configurations unless you know my configuration will not work.

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Mountain Lion offered Fusion Drive services, is it possible the OS installer is confused as it was expecting an HD - SSD Vs SSD - SSD setup.

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I have read a dozen articles on replacing the internal HD with two SSD's. It appears there is a specific procedure but no one says why you need to follow them. I may have found out why. Is it that the Mac was not built with two SSD's and having issues with recognizing them? How do I fix my problem if that is the case?

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I do think the OS installer is the issue here as I'm sure Apple never thought to test it with a double SSD setup. You really need to talk with a Genius at an Apple Store to push this up the food chain (they won't charge you for this).

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FYI - You're not the only one having issues with a dual SSD setup Two SSD drive Raid 0

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Yesterday I had a chance to speak with our corporate Apple rep. He'll put in a call to his advanced support contact in Apple HQ. I'll let you know what I find out.

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I would recommend going to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store and ask them if they know of any issues with a dual SSD setup with Mountain Lion. As you do have Lion working maybe you'll need to stick with that until Mavericks comes out.

I would make sure the EFI is up to date in any case: EFI & SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs.

Please let us know what you find out.

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Good thought Dan; Mountain Lion is compatible with Fusion as I set up my dual drive (SSD HDD) as one in my iMac but it is by no means an automatic process. When I check, I see no indication that the Fusion configuration is in effect, however I have never tried the dual SDD before internally on a Mac.

All firmware and software are up to date.

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Are you able to get to an Apple Store to put the problem to them?

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Make sure the new drive is initialized. Sometimes they aren't and until it is nothing will see the drive. Not much of an Apple guy but I know from lot's of experience with Western Digital I would have to hook the drive up to a windows machine with Hard Drive USB reader and use the Disc Management app to initialize the partition on the drive. May be the case you are facing here. Once done I then had no issue installing to the drive etc.

I know you mention that the OS was able to see the drive at one point. I would just make sure that the drive is showing up correctly and that the partition is fully initialized. Can be done with a $25 hard drive reader and any computer system. Plus it is just a handy thing to have.

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Thanks Jack; I thought of this and did format the drive before switching to the new drive for the OS. It still would not show up. In fact I was very surprised when I went to install the OS on the new drive and saw the both SSD's.

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I read up on the Genius aspect and called the support dest at the local Apple Store, theire reply was the same as the web site that they do not support other then apple installed drives in the Mac Mini.

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I am not sure what you are trying to do, but I think from what I read, you are trying to build a 2 drive RAID. OS X 10.6 was the last version that will install on a RAID. If I remember correctly, I think it had to do with the new hidden recovery partition they started using with OS X 10.7.

Basically, you get your OS X 10.6 installer and boot from the installer (DVD or Thumb drive). Once you're booted up, you can switch to Disk Utility and create your RAID 0 or 1. Quit Disk Utility and install OS X 10.6 normally onto your newly created RAID volume.

Once you're done, you can boot up and copy OS X 10.7 installer into the Applications Folder and double click to update to 10.7. You will not have the hidden recovery partition doing this. You can continue on with OS X 10.8 the same way. I am assuming OS X 10.9 will update as well.

I have been running Mac Pros in my office and my personal Macbook Pro this way with dual SSDs. I didn't trust Time Machine back in the days, so the office Mac Pros had a mirrored RAID set which worked great. My Macbook Pro had a striped RAID set with dual SSDs, but I was using Time Machine to backup.

Also, if I remember correctly, running any current version of OS X 10.7 or newer on a RAID volume will not allow you to use some of the features of iCloud because they require the hidden recovery partition. I think the features were Back to My Mac and Find My Mac. You will have to check this because its been a while since I looked at it.

I just picked up one last non-retina Macbook Pro and I will be RAIDing the dual SSDs this weekend. Hopefully to OS X 10.9. ;)

I will be setting up the striped RAID between two SSDs and then installing OS X 10.6. I will try to update directly to OS X 10.9 and see if it will go. It will save a lot of time if it works. I think Fusion Drive was supposed to replace RAID support to allow for the hidden recovery partition. New technology and more storage for cheap.

Hope this helps.

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We have a few RAID 0 and 1 systems which we haven't had any issues after upgrading to Lion. These are Mac Pros and Mini's with external HD's (some with the OS on them). Western Digital has just posted a note about people loosing their data and they suspect the WD manager program could be the cause (best to remove it for now). It's to soon to say what is the cause is, but you do raise a good point on the recovery partition. In any case Apple will need to deal with it with the new Mac Pro coming out next month as I'm sure people will still want that level of protection (even if I/O speed aspect is so much better with the PCIe SSD's).

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