2012 i7 Mac Mini running El Cap?

[Nibiru]

Hello all!

I've read many posts regarding El Cap...just wondering if anyone with a 2012 Mac Mini i7 2.6 SSD has taken the plunge in updating to El Cap? What about the whole dropped support for FireWire? I still use the 800 port...what other pitfalls does one need to think about before updating? Aside from plugin compatibility? Any input is greatly appreciated!

[zuul-studios]

Hello -

I "took the plunge" and updated my happy 2012 MacMini to El Capitan. I also use the Firewire 800 port for my also-happy MOTU 828 MK3 audio device. At least for me, all remains well. The same for my 2009/2010 Mac Pro which I also upgraded to El Capitan (see signature below). I have 1 external HDD (that I use for my back-up) and one CD/DVD/BluRay burner, and both are attached to the Firewire 800 ports of my 2009/2010 MacPro. Everything seems to function as intended.

It is good to see that you're doing your research before upgrading to El Capitan. I thought I did, too! It wasn't until AFTER I did the upgrade to both computers that I've been reading about El Capitan and Firewire Ports. There are individuals on this bulletin board who are very knowledgable about all things related to computers and MOTU. Hopefully they can give you a much more informed commentary regarding the 2012 i7 Mac Mini, Firewire Ports and El Capitan. I'm just giving you my experience. And for me? So far, so good.

[cuttime]

All good here, too. The Firewire support is more a function of third parties deciding not to update their drivers. This is an issue with Apogee products in particular. MOTU has made it clear that their FW drivers work just fine, and the only issues they had were with USB drivers, which, to the best of my knowledge, have been resolved.

[mikehalloran]

There are no known FW issues with OS 10.11.

Apogee and UAD not updating the drivers for their FW devices is not the same thing — they switched support to Thunderbolt awhile back and haven't updated their FW drivers in awhile.

[Nibiru]

Hello -

I "took the plunge" and updated my happy 2012 MacMini to El Capitan. I also use the Firewire 800 port for my also-happy MOTU 828 MK3 audio device. At least for me, all remains well. The same for my 2009/2010 Mac Pro which I also upgraded to El Capitan (see signature below). I have 1 external HDD (that I use for my back-up) and one CD/DVD/BluRay burner, and both are attached to the Firewire 800 ports of my 2009/2010 MacPro. Everything seems to function as intended.

It is good to see that you're doing your research before upgrading to El Capitan. I thought I did, too! It wasn't until AFTER I did the upgrade to both computers that I've been reading about El Capitan and Firewire Ports. There are individuals on this bulletin board who are very knowledgable about all things related to computers and MOTU. Hopefully they can give you a much more informed commentary regarding the 2012 i7 Mac Mini, Firewire Ports and El Capitan. I'm just giving you my experience. And for me? So far, so good.

I really appreciate your feedback! Your experience gives me hope! Thank you!

[Nibiru]

All good here, too. The Firewire support is more a function of third parties deciding not to update their drivers. This is an issue with Apogee products in particular. MOTU has made it clear that their FW drivers work just fine, and the only issues they had were with USB drivers, which, to the best of my knowledge, have been resolved.

And thank you too, cuttime. I really appreciate your wisdom as I check this forum often and know who the 'wicked smaht' people are.

I do use Apogee products via firewire 400>800 cable and wonder exactly what this means if I update. Am I waiting for Apogee to update their drivers?

Thanks again!

[Nibiru]

There are no known FW issues with OS 10.11.

Apogee and UAD not updating the drivers for their FW devices is not the same thing — they switched support to Thunderbolt awhile back and haven't updated their FW drivers in awhile.

Great to know there are no known issues. Lord knows I trust your wisdom as well, Sir Halloran, and I really appreciate all you do here. Thank you.

However, this sounds like a potential situation where I'll update, everything will be great, then who knows how long down the road, something completely baffling will happen that will force me to reinstall everything, only to run into the same situation. This has been my luck in the past so please forgive my cynicism.

[cuttime]

I do use Apogee products via firewire 400>800 cable and wonder exactly what this means if I update. Am I waiting for Apogee to update their drivers?

Only Apogee can answer that. Why not write them and let us all know their response? In the meantime if I were you I'd hold off on El Cap:
http://www.apogeedigital.com/blog/apoge ... el-capitan

[Nibiru]

Thanks for this link. It leads me to think they most certainly won't be updating for my legacy products if they aren't updating for the Ensemble. I'll email them and see if they respond. Thanks again!