I might try GG on an external drive... does it have to specifically be an SSD or will any memory stick do the job?

Never mind... I read the instructions again (properly this time!) and it seems that as long as it looks like a drive and can be formatted appropriately it will work.

Edited by billford (Thu 29-Oct-26 10:35:15)

because I was having pains in my left chest and arm.

Well take it easy Adrian.
The above were the only brief symptoms I had prior to my heart attack four days later.
Take it as a warning shot across your bows.

In reply to a post by ian72:

The problem with AI is the people that are using it. AI is a helpful tool. It needs a human to review the output to make sure it is correct and edit anything that isn't. AI can significantly speed up workflows but so many people miss the step where you check the output and fix any issues so that is why there are so many issues. Responsible use of AI is great, just using AI to capture a load of speech and not checking it got it correct is irresponsible.

However, could you please put a word in for me at Saints as it sounds like a decent job - well, half decent, I could do without the heavy cages but the rest of it sounds intriguing.

You would have thought they would have checked it, but seems not. LOL.

In reply to a post by billford:

I might try GG on an external drive... does it have to specifically be an SSD or will any memory stick do the job?

Never mind... I read the instructions again (properly this time!) and it seems that as long as it looks like a drive and can be formatted appropriately it will work.

Not being on the internal drive it is going to be a bit slower, but it is not too bad, yes any USB storage devices will work, but speed of that device will be the problem. Mine is a drive in a dock under my Mac. I have not used Golden gate for a few days, it is wasting space really, but at the moment, I am not using the space. I don;t know what happens if you are booting from it and decide to unplug it before changing the mac back to boot from he internal, I presume it will come up with a screen, I may try it, just to see.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Well take it easy Adrian.
The above were the only brief symptoms I had prior to my heart attack four days later.
Take it as a warning shot across your bows.

Cheers, i hope you are doing okay now.

All tests came back okay, blood tests and ECG, apart from a extra beat or two, which explains why I have had times when i feel like i am going to faint. The pain in my arms, chest and shoulder seems to be muscular, no doubt cause be moving those heavy cages over the years. Also think I have GORD, which explains why IO have been having trouble swallowing and getting a lot of indigestion over the last few years.

Good fun it is.

Found a couple of cautionary notes on an Apple support page:

On a Mac with Apple silicon, starting up from an external storage device requires a working built-in startup disk. If your built-in startup disk is experiencing a hardware failure, you can’t use an external startup disk instead.

If your built-in startup disk has a different major version of macOS than your external startup disk, be aware that a more recent macOS version on one disk can install changes designed to keep your Mac secure, and these changes can affect your computer's ability to use a significantly earlier version of macOS on the other disk.

The first isn't really an issue (not what I'm using it for), but the second is potentially problematic- depends what they mean by "significantly earlier".... not keen that the Neo could get bricked (even as a remote possibility) just because I'm trying out a newer OS on an external drive

(Yes, I realise that booting into recovery mode would probably still work, but on a risk/benefit balance it's risking a lot of faff just to satisfy a mild curiosity )

Edited by billford (Sat 31-Oct-26 10:45:12)

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Also think I have GORD, which explains why IO have been having trouble swallowing and getting a lot of indigestion over the last few years.

I didn't know what GORD stood for so I looked it up... difficulty swallowing is one of the symptoms where it's recommended you get it looked at. Up to you of course.

In reply to a post by billford:

Found a couple of cautionary notes on an Apple support page:

On a Mac with Apple silicon, starting up from an external storage device requires a working built-in startup disk. If your built-in startup disk is experiencing a hardware failure, you can’t use an external startup disk instead.

If your built-in startup disk has a different major version of macOS than your external startup disk, be aware that a more recent macOS version on one disk can install changes designed to keep your Mac secure, and these changes can affect your computer's ability to use a significantly earlier version of macOS on the other disk.

The first isn't really an issue (not what I'm using it for), but the second is potentially problematic- depends what they mean by "significantly earlier".... not keen that the Neo could get bricked (even as a remote possibility) just because I'm trying out a newer OS on an external drive

(Yes, I realise that booting into recovery mode would probably still work, but on a risk/benefit balance it's risking a lot of faff just to satisfy a mild curiosity )

I presume the security thing is the firmware update that a newer OS would update the Mac to, this is one of the things I was a bit worried about when changing to a Mac. Never had it on windows, I updated the bios, when i wanted to and it certainly did not bother about going back from 11 to 10 or even 8 if I wanted to.

I realise the Neo uses a different CPU than other Macs, not sure how much different it is to the M chips.

I changed my Mac to boot from he external hub drive, turned the Mac off and disconnected the hub. Turned the Mac back on and eventually recovery mode popped up and gave me the choice to boot from the internal drive./
Turned it back off, connected up the hub and now using GG on the external drive.

I doubt installing GG to a external drive will brick your computer, but it is your choice, it is fine on my M2 pro. I installed GG on the external drive and then at some point went from Tahoe to Sequoia on the internal drive. Still fine. Now back to Tahoe on the internal.

I also did a bit of checking to what version of the OS the recovery mode would want to reinstall and it turns out it depends on what drive I boot up with. If i boot up with the external with GG, then it would reinstall GG, if the internal with Tahoe, it would reinstall Tahoe. So it seems the recovery mode goes by what is installed. Not sure what would happen if I wiped the drives, but not going to do that, certainly not the internal one.

I am using GG on the external drive now, , it is okay, just a bit slow, reminds me of my PC

As I said it is your choice. the firmware version of my Mac is 20457.41.3

In reply to a post by billford:

I didn't know what GORD stood for so I looked it up... difficulty swallowing is one of the symptoms where it's recommended you get it looked at. Up to you of course.

I did not know what it was either, I looked it up, well the doctor will get the same notes, so we will see.
If not I will have a word when I next see them.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I presume the security thing is the firmware update that a newer OS would update the Mac to

Yes, that was my concern. I'll agree that "bricking" was probably a bit OTT, but it could leave you in a difficult position for recovery.

Time Machine would be no help, it doesn't back up firmware. If the incumbent OS can't handle the changes then there's probably no point in trying to re-install it. I wouldn't even know where to start in trying to revert to an earlier firmware version, so about the only option is to properly install the OS you'd just been investigating... which you might not want to do.

I've always been somewhat risk-averse so maybe I'm overthinking it, but I think I'll just let the idea stew around in the old subconcious for a while