Logic Pro 9 Logic Studio new install on MacBook Pro

Hi all,

I am new to Logic Studio, having used Digital Performer for awhile. I am setting up a new MacBook Pro with Logic Studio, & would appreciate hints about the common wisdom when installing such a great amount of programs & content.

- I intend to install everything included in the Logic Studio bundle
- MBPro has a new 500 GB hard drive
- I read on another thread that the apps need to be in the Apps folder of the System hard drive in order to be updated automatically, which I intend to do
- Given the amount of content, is it wise to install some of it on a separate hard drive? I'd rather have everything on my system drive, & maybe have a separate FireWire hard drive to do live recordings, if that is even needed.
- If everything is installed on the System hard drive, is it recommended that I partition my new System hard drive before I start adding the additional contents?

Any other hints will be appreciated, or a link if this has already been discussed.

Thanks in advance.
 
I have a 500 GB drive in my Mac Book Pro (I replaced the old 100 GB drive that came with the Mac in 2006), and have Logic Studio installed with all content on the internal drive. It works well for me.

kind regards

Mark
 
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I also have Logic's content on the internal drive of my MBP : )

I use a couple of Rocstor drives, one for Time Machine and one for recording and additional data (samples etc...)

I use a Sonnet ExpressCard Adapter to get extra firewire ports to plug the external drives into (my first generation 15" still came with the Express Card slot...)

My system is really very stable : )
 
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I have a MBP with a 500 as well and run all of the Logic Libraries off the internal. Makes traveling much easier and makes the installation much easier too. Works great for me.
 
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> Hi Eduardo, welcome!
> > - I intend to install everything included in the Logic Studio bundle
> > - MBPro has a new 500 GB hard drive
>
> Do so! I have several installation configuration with loops and samples on external drives, but faster is the system drive. And You have everything on board while traveling or recording live. Partitioning is a matter of taste, I partitioned my 500GB drive of the MacBook Pro in two 250Gb partitions (one for the system, the other for documents) and learned the hard way: You can't make a Bootcamp partition after it. You have to have ONE partition if You plan to install Bootcamp. But You can make a third partition later. google for instructions, there are a lot of them, if plan to go Winblows too.
>
> > - I read on another thread that the apps need to be in the Apps folder of the System hard drive in order to be updated automatically, which I intend to do
>
> Not neccessarily so, I have all apps in different folders and symlinks (made invisible with good old Filebuddy) in the Applications folder, it works with auto updates.
>
> > - Given the amount of content, is it wise to install some of it on a separate hard drive? I'd rather have everything on my system drive, & maybe have a separate FireWire hard drive to do live recordings, if that is even needed.
>
> As I said, keep all Logic stuff on the system drive. It depends on the number of tracks, you will record simultaneously, I record 16 tracks live and sometimes Logic said disc too slow, but that seems to be a Logic bug from 9.0 never occured from 9.1 on. But I didn't know that when it happened and bought a 500GB Power over eSata Drive and a expresscard which is as fast as the internal drive (around 120GB/sec). But as I said, I record on the internal drive again since version 9.1
>
> Diskspace becomes a problem when you intend to go for the likes of BFD/Stylus/Trilian/Omnisphere, I have all those on external drives an use them only at home in my studio, so I can switch them between my MacBook Pro and my 27" i7 iMac.
>
> > - If everything is installed on the System hard drive, is it recommended that I partition my new System hard drive before I start adding the additional contents?
>
> As I said it's a matter of taste, some people like to have their system and user data seperated in case of a bad system crash, you just re-install the stuff and it's more easy to make back ups only with Your user stuff. But anyway you should keep back ups of everything! I have an external 1,5GB eSata/USB drive just for backups of EVERYTHING.
> When You have to re-install 250 GB of apps and stuff you'll bite your ass in case of a really bad crash;-)
>
> Good Luck!
> Hartmut
 
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Thanks Hartmut. Especially interesting about Boot Camp & not partitioning the system drive. I do intend to use Boot Camp, so this is great to know.

Backups are always good, too :)
 
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You may want to think about partitioning, though. No idea about how you're working, but I prefer to not spend too much time on system backups. That's why I like to keep my system partition as small as it gets. I mean, what's the point in backing up some sample libraries (or other Logic content) when you have them on DVD anyway? IMO there's no point in that. Gets even worse in case you're using more sample libraries, but still backing up the entire drive.
Personally, on my 500GB internal drive, I have 150GB reserved for the system, the rest is "data only". A full system backup (which I do around once a month, depending on how much stuff I install) takes around 1-2 hours, using SuperDuper (I don't use Time Machine). Stuff from the data partition gets backed up manually. Easy to keep track off, I simply copy all project folders I'm working on to an external drive. Everything once a week or so, somewhat more important stuff as soon as I'm done for the day.
The sample libraries I'm using only get backed up once, straight after they're installed from DVD, simply because in case I had to reinstall them it'd go a LOT faster from another HDD than from DVD. Otherwise I just leave them alone and they're not part of any backup schedule at all. Ah well, exept my own stuff (sampled on my own or derived from existing libraries), but I save that stuff in just one location, which obviously is part of a regular backup.

- Sascha
 
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Hi Sascha,

Thanks for your thoughts. I have worked in a very similar way with my previous Mac systems, so your workflow/system makes sense to me. I am now looking at automating the backup of my data files too, different from my past workflow, where I manually backed them up. As a matter of fact, that first backup happened last night to a new 2TB external hard drive.
 
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Oh, I just read that you plan to use Bootcamp. In that case, make sure to stay away from any partitioning but for one extra Bootcamp partition. Apple doesn't support any other partitions in that case, and while there are some workarounds (such as hardmood mentioned), they'll cause you more headaches than any pleasure. Believe me, I've been there - got it to work (1 system, 1 Bootcamp, 1 data partition), but when I switched the internal HDD and tried to mirror the current installation, there's been *no* chance. Unfortunately, Windows also still refuses to run from any external drive (regardless whether it's USB or FW - for whatever reasons it always detects that it's not the internal drive, even on Macs), and while there's a hack/tweak (such as editing the boot.ini), I defenitely cannot recommend using anything like that on a computer that you want to work with in a more or less professional way.
Anyway, if I may ask: Why do you need a bootcamped Windows? If it's only for the occasional program (right now I mainly use it for Wavelab) and no serious realtime use, something such as Parallels will suit you a lot better, as you don't have to boot between the systems, and this will also keep your Windows "partition" (or virtual machine, as they're called) as small as possible, simply because the required space is allocated dynamically - in opposite to Bootcamp, for which you have to predefine an amount of space for your Windows installation.
Otherwise, as said, if you really want Bootcamp, do yourself the favour and don't go for whatever hack to add another partition or so. It's really not worth it.
(I'm still wondering why Apple isn't allowing further partitions in case BC is installed, though - that's a rather stupid and needless limitation)

Cheers
Sascha
 
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Hi Sascha,

My use of Windows is infrequent & only when necessary. I have a semi-custom music keyboard called the Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (only a MIDI controller; uses the whole number ratios of the Pythagorean Lambdoma matrix) that connects with a Windows-only application called Fractal Tune Smithy (FTS), to generate the sounds.

So yes, I am also looking at possibly using Parallels or VMWare for that purpose, besides considering Boot Camp. The only other app that I use frequently & that is Windows-only is Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a speech-recognition app, & a company I currently consult for. That should also work with Parallels, even though it is unsupported in this virtual mode.

Thanks again, as you are helping me think through some additional things.
 
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Hi Eduardo,

My use of Windows is infrequent & only when necessary. I have a semi-custom music keyboard called the Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (only a MIDI controller; uses the whole number ratios of the Pythagorean Lambdoma matrix) that connects with a Windows-only application called Fractal Tune Smithy (FTS), to generate the sounds.

Hm, so that's more or less supposed to run in realtime? In that case, you may not have too much luck using Parallels or something. These virtual systems aren't exactly great for any realtime things, let alone audio under low latencies.

- Sascha
 
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Hi Eduardo,

My use of Windows is infrequent & only when necessary. I have a semi-custom music keyboard called the Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (only a MIDI controller; uses the whole number ratios of the Pythagorean Lambdoma matrix) that connects with a Windows-only application called Fractal Tune Smithy (FTS), to generate the sounds.

Hm, so that's more or less supposed to run in realtime? In that case, you may not have too much luck using Parallels or something. These virtual systems aren't exactly great for any realtime things, let alone audio under low latencies.

- Sascha

I rarely use the Lambdoma in realtime situations, mostly to generate certain whole number ratio sounds that I then use in a recording, but thanks for the alert about Parallels maybe not being real-time enough, if I need that.
 
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I mean, what's the point in backing up some sample libraries (or other Logic content) when you have them on DVD anyway? IMO there's no point in that. Gets even worse in case you're using more sample libraries, but still backing up the entire drive.

- Sascha

Hey Sascha,

if you have 450GB of loops and samples and your drive will go down someday, you'd be happy to restore it within some hours leaving your mac alone, instead of sitting in front of it, putting one DVD after the other into your drive and watching the progress bar. IMHO it's wise to spend 100 bucks for a 1,5TB drive being able to restore my whole system within a day.
 
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