New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

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New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Pitch Black » Fri Dec 17, 2021 5:48 am

Hi All, as a Mac user for the last 25 years I’ve always used Migration Assistant when moving to new hardware, and I can honestly say I’ve never detected a problem going this route.

Now with yet another new chipset/architecture requiring new, native versions of software and plugins in order to run with maximum efficiency I’m seeing advice that this is the time to clean install everything from scratch - a seriously daunting prospect given the amount of plugins/libraries/dependencies I have accumulated over the years.

So… folks who’ve recently made the jump to M1, what say ye?

FWIW, I’m going to be holding on to my 2015 retina MBP with Mojave because as a working professional I have to maintain access to the last 15 years or so of client work.
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Machinesworking » Fri Dec 17, 2021 7:52 am

Clean instal, new chip architecture is the only time this is a super good idea, but yeah. The idea of some extension squeezing by and causing big issues, but you're confused by which one it is, is a bigger nightmare than a clean instal. Plus a clean instal means everything that is already M1 native gets installed as M1 native VS Rosetta. I didn't even think of running Live in Rosetta, using the M1 beta. :)

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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Tarekith » Fri Dec 17, 2021 2:46 pm

Another vote for clean install, especially with the new chip architecture. Good time to make sure you’re only installing the correct version of ARM supported apps.
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by [jur] » Fri Dec 17, 2021 2:50 pm

Clean install without a doubt.
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Pitch Black » Sun Dec 19, 2021 9:48 pm

Thanks for your replies!

Soooo... I've hit upon a hybrid look-see approach. My M1 arrives on Jan 8. Between now and then I'm going to install the latest Monterey on an external SSD and Migration Assistant my world to that. I'll update everything as far as I can to be Monterey-compatible. On Jan 8 I'll boot off this external SSD and get some idea of the functionality (or otherwise) of my world. I know its not the same as running off the internal super-fast SSD but it'll give me an insight into the carnage (or otherwise) of what works and what doesn't. Monterey-compatible isn't the same as M1-compatible, granted.

Yah, I know, I'm probably just wiggling painfully on the hook here looking for excuses to avoid a clean install (read: armageddon).
I mean, look at my Dock FFS! :oops: Yeah, I use all of these on the reg.

Image
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Tarekith » Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:10 am

That's the biggest dock I've ever seen. 8O

Personally in your case I would just restore from a Time Machine back up first or use Migration Assistant to give yourself a week or two to try everything out and make sure it's working ok. Once you know that's all good, erase the HD and do a clean install with only the latest versions. Heads up that since Catalina erasing a HD with Disk Utility is a little different due to AFPS containers now, so maybe take a quick look at that process first so you know what to expect.
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Pitch Black » Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:19 am

Tarekith wrote:
Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:10 am
That's the biggest dock I've ever seen. 8O
Please do not use language like this on the forum, thanks.



Tarekith wrote:
Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:10 am
Personally in your case I would just restore from a Time Machine back up first or use Migration Assistant to give yourself a week or two to try everything out and make sure it's working ok. Once you know that's all good, erase the HD and do a clean install with only the latest versions. Heads up that since Catalina erasing a HD with Disk Utility is a little different due to AFPS containers now, so maybe take a quick look at that process first so you know what to expect.
I've been doing more research on the things to be aware of when moving via a clean install, and I'm feeling a lot happier about it. Clean Install it is! It's not so much the apps n plugins that was daunting me, it was more all the little libraries of presets and settings and tweaks that everything relies on, they're so scattered everywhere across my HD. Thank FUUUUUUU I will still have the old mac to refer to and copy from.
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Machinesworking » Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:32 am

Pitch Black wrote:
Mon Dec 20, 2021 12:19 am
Please do not use language like this on the forum, thanks.
Hey you're the one posting your dock all over the forums willy nilly, with such a big dock we're not supposed to comment on it? :x
I've been doing more research on the things to be aware of when moving via a clean install, and I'm feeling a lot happier about it. Clean Install it is! It's not so much the apps n plugins that was daunting me, it was more all the little libraries of presets and settings and tweaks that everything relies on, they're so scattered everywhere across my HD. Thank FUUUUUUU I will still have the old mac to refer to and copy from.
Yeah, I love third party plug ins, but I hate that they store presets and user settings all over the computer, there's absolutely no order to it whatsoever... :x


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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Pitch Black » Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:11 am

steko wrote:
Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:05 am
A freakin' bible
Thank you so much!!!! I saw their name come up, but didn't pursue.

Thanks again!
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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by steko » Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:13 am

8)
Rahad Jackson wrote:My Awesome Mix Tape #6

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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by annadyne » Sun Dec 26, 2021 12:26 am

Grateful to have found this post as I'm looking at adding an M1 mini or lappie in next few months.
Currently on special rebuilt 2013 Retina 13" Macbook Pro w 16GB RAM, still going quite strong, pleasingly.

Been debating dedicating new M1_ to only video editing or maybe plowing forward with both audio and video.
Feels like it's gonna be tricky bc I've got super new vid soft but ancient VSTs n AUs.
And yes, !dangit! - plugin preset locations are all over the place from dev to dev.
It's gonna be days of installing, checking, peeking, poking. Sigh.

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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by fishmonkey » Mon Dec 27, 2021 6:34 am

clean install would unfortunately be the way to go. it took me about 3 days to do my last clean install about 7 years ago. when i upgrade to M1 next year i will bite the bullet and do it again. i'm going to be ruthless though and get rid of any plugins that i don't really need. life is too short and precious!

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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Machinesworking » Mon Dec 27, 2021 8:19 am

fishmonkey wrote:
Mon Dec 27, 2021 6:34 am
clean install would unfortunately be the way to go. it took me about 3 days to do my last clean install about 7 years ago. when i upgrade to M1 next year i will bite the bullet and do it again. i'm going to be ruthless though and get rid of any plugins that i don't really need. life is too short and precious!
That's been my take, I'm dumping a bunch of plug ins soon. Ones with weird call back copy protection, ones I don't really use.

I'm also prioritizing developers that actually ported to native M1, I've waited around too many times for things to "improve", Live gives me the basics and more, paid plug ins are supposed to be icing.

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Re: New M1 MacBook Pro - clean install everything or Migration Assistant?

Post by Pitch Black » Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:19 am

UPDATE...

So the M1 Max machine arrived, and I thought I'd try out a Migration Assistant with the intention of seeing what worked / what didn't, with the idea that I can always go do a clean install if things were too horrendous... and I have to say I'm blown away! As expected, I lost a bunch of 32bit apps and plugins (this is a macOS issue, rather than an M1 issue - 32bit support got dropped after Mojave). After migration, I updated my apps and plugins to Apple Sillicon-native versions where possible.

And here's the thing... I'm sticking with this Migrated system.

I'm seeing absolutely no problems running Live Beta 11.1 in M1-native mode and having the occasional plugin get translated by Rosetta on-the-fly. I've been keeping an eye in Activity Monitor for the CPU hit introduced by the Rosetta AUHostingCompatibilityService, and it's negligible for my needs. I've thrown my most mission-critical existing projects at it - the live showloads for three different artists - and it all feels rock-solid.

Coming from a 2015 RMBP the M1 Max is just eating everything up with headroom to spare in all departments. Even my most demanding showload, which also has Live triggering Full HD video clips in Modul8 using MIDI sent from Live to Modul8 via the IAC Bus.

I've stripped out all the cruft I can find on my system: all the 32bit apps/plugins etc are gone gone gone. I found the techniques in this video very helpful in tracking down outdated software on the new mac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqr9qjNS2kU
(The info gets most relevant at 5:22)

So that's the decision I've come to. Is this the right decision for everybody? Not necessarily: the apps and plugins you use might not be as happy working under Rosetta as the ones I use, but the mission-critical ones for me (Intel-only Stutter Edit 1 for live shows!!!) seem to be just fine. I have my first live gigs with this new machine starting on Feb 15, so the drill now is to keep working and watch the system like a hawk for any weirdness...

You are cordially invited to
READ MY UPDATED SIG AND WEEP, MORTALS!!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :wink:





We'll see if pride cometh before the fall....
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