First Mac-Mini

[eyoungren]

So, the slow but steady pace of bringing Intel into the house continues. First Mac Mini I've ever owned: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Working-Ap...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

(MODS, NOT MY AUCTION, I JUST BOUGHT THIS!)

A1283, 2.0Ghz, 320GB HD, 2GB ram. Looks like it never got upgraded as it's running Leopard. Comes with a mouse, display adapter and power supply.

Going to go in the garage where it will serve as my game server. As it's a mini I can hide it out there while still having it connected to a display and keyboard. I've got my wireless Mighty Mouse out there as well and since this thing has WiFi no issues connecting to the home network. With BT, I can connect it to my BT loudspeaker (already out there) so I can stream music.

Now, just need to get the insulation in the garage door (bought this spring) so it doesn't suffer from temp extremes.

 

[weckart]

Cool. I got one of those (late 2009 edition) recently, now running Snow Leopard and Catalina. There should be a firmware update for the one you have if it hasn't been applied yet.

 

[eyoungren]

Cool. I got one of those (late 2009 edition) recently, now running Snow Leopard and Catalina. There should be a firmware update for the one you have if it hasn't been applied yet.

Considering that this Mini is still on Leopard and the seller's claim that he was cleaning out his parent's house - I doubt that firmware has been applied.

I am looking to apply it as it means I can update this Mac to 8GB ram, vs 4GB without it.

 

[AphoticD]

Considering that this Mini is still on Leopard and the seller's claim that he was cleaning out his parent's house - I doubt that firmware has been applied.

I am looking to apply it as it means I can update this Mac to 8GB ram, vs 4GB without it.

The A1283 is a great little Mac. I have a Late 2009 2.26GHz, which I purchased as non-working for a song and got upright by replacing a few missing parts (Audio I/O ribbon, Wifi/BT antennae and a 7200rpm HDD). I had it running El Capitan and OS X Server, but have since installed Leopard on it, which is technically unsupported. It has 4GB of RAM installed and runs 10.5.8 as slick as a Quad G5. The onboard Nvidia 9400m GPU is very capable of driving an UHDTV at full resolution (3840×2160) over miniDP -> HDMI. I haven't encountered any issues with Leopard on this Mac.

I have another A1283 (Early 2009) 2.0GHz which I also bought for cheap a couple of months back as a parts machine. It was simply missing some screws and the HDD thermal sensor. I picked up the sensor for a few bucks on eBay, shipped from China and installed to have another perfectly working mini. This one also has 4GB of RAM, however is notably slower in El Capitan than the Late 2009 model, but that is likely just the 5400rpm HDD slowing things down. The Early 2009 officially supported 10.5.6, but as far as I can see, the only difference between the two minis is the clock speed.

I love that this model looks almost identical to the original G4 mini, but packs some very capable hardware under the hood.

Here are my A1283 minis stacked on a 1.42GHz G4 mini with my DC G5 and cMP, along with some eSATA external storage.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm intending to install Yosemite on this Mini. I know that CS4 still runs in Yosemite. I use CS4 on my PowerPC Macs and want to be able to edit it on either the Intels or PowerPC so that means CS4.

Planning on moving things around in Dropbox, but the main files I need will still be accessible via my Thinkpad for my PowerPC Macs. Since the Mini will be able to run Dropbox I can access these files directly in the garage where I plan on doing most of my editing (once I get the place cleaned up finally).

I got one of those big-screen rear projection TVs this spring for free. HDMI and composite RGB ports and so on. So, will eventually use the Mini to connect to that as a second display.

Then need to find some gaming software that will display roving RPG maps. Only modern software for this has been released for Intel and there is nothing for PowerPC. Hence, getting an Intel that can run this. And I can install Parallels if I need PC applications. I also want to run the Intel versions of Office (which the format is still compatible with PowerPC Office versions).

The idea being that I can use the Mini to control that while gaming (traditional roleplaying games like Rolemaster/AD&D, etc). All the players will need to do is watch the screen. They'll also be able to access documents on the Mini. Probably make separate folders for them. Be useful to toss other stuff up as well. Since the Mini can also handle Skype, then I can use that too (probably have to find a cam or a way to connect a FW400 iSight).

Being this small it'll be out of the way in the garage. Looking forward to this.

Nice setup you have BTW!

 

[Amethyst1]

The Early 2009 officially supported 10.5.6, but as far as I can see, the only difference between the two minis is the clock speed.

Indeed, which is why Leopard runs on the Late 2009 as well.

I love that this model looks almost identical to the original G4 mini, but packs some very capable hardware under the hood.

It's a sleeper. I love that. I always thought the 2010 and later minis look a little weird (as if an elephant had accidentally sat down on them).
[automerge]1577388457[/automerge]

The onboard Nvidia 9400m GPU is very capable of driving an UHDTV at full resolution (3840×2160) over miniDP -> HDMI.

At 30 Hz, that is.

If you get around to trying this, I'd be interested in knowing whether the 9400M can do more at 3840×2160. Theoretically, since the pixel clock limit of DisplayPort 1.0/1.1 is the same as dual-link DVI (330 MHz), 37.5 Hz should be attainable using CVT-RB timings. It would be nice to know the 9400M's actual limit (and/or that one of the adapter you're using). Unfortunately, I don't have any 9400M hardware at the moment and can't check myself.

# 3840x2160x37.48 @ 82.375kHz
 Modeline "3840x2160x37.48"  329.500000  3840 3888 3920 4000  2160 2163 2167 2198  +HSync -VSync

 

[timidpimpin]

Cool. I got one of those (late 2009 edition) recently, now running Snow Leopard and Catalina. There should be a firmware update for the one you have if it hasn't been applied yet.

That's actually an early 09 Mini. The late 09 mini started at 2.26GHz, which was the faster chip in the early 09.

 

[eyoungren]

That's actually an early 09 Mini. The late 09 mini started at 2.26GHz, which was the faster chip in the early 09.

There were a couple of late 2009 A1283s available, but more expensive. I went for the 2.0 because while I'm looking for Intel for a specific set of reasons I'm not needing a faster processor. Also, the more expensive ones I saw had smaller hard drives, did not come with the power supply and none of them had the video adapter.

The seller of the one I got had all that plus the mouse. Worth $60 I think.

 

[retta283]

These early Mac Minis were excellent computers. I'm thinking of picking one up soon, mostly to tinker with. Pretty cheap machines too. Perhaps I can even use it as an HTPC...

 

[AphoticD]

At 30 Hz, that is.

If you get around to trying this, I'd be interested in knowing whether the 9400M can do more at 3840×2160. Theoretically, since the pixel clock limit of DisplayPort 1.0/1.1 is the same as dual-link DVI (330 MHz), 37.5 Hz should be attainable using CVT-RB timings. It would be nice to know the 9400M's actual limit (and/or that one of the adapter you're using). Unfortunately, I don't have any 9400M hardware at the moment and can't check myself.

# 3840x2160x37.48 @ 82.375kHz
Modeline "3840x2160x37.48"  329.500000  3840 3888 3920 4000  2160 2163 2167 2198  +HSync -VSync

@Amethyst1 How do I try this?

@eyoungren another plus for this model is that, unlike earlier minis, it is capable of driving dual displays using both the Mini DisplayPort and Mini-DVI ports. Which can be easily adapted to DVI or HDMI.

 

[timidpimpin]

Any of the 09 mini's are still more than capable of being a daily driver system for a non-professional. They're also the first ones that could game at a decent level. I can even play a few modern Steam games. The 9400 is no powerhouse, but it's way more capable than any GPU the mini's had before.

Mine has an SSD and 8GB RAM. It runs El Cap, High Sierra and Mojave all very well.

 

[eyoungren]

@eyoungren another plus for this model is that, unlike earlier minis, it is capable of driving dual displays using both the Mini DisplayPort and Mini-DVI ports. Which can be easily adapted to DVI or HDMI.

Right.

I'm going to have one port going to a regular monitor and another port going to this TV.



I'll have to get another picture later on because this was taken in March and the layout in the garage has completely changed, with the exception of the TV.

 

[timidpimpin]

I forgot to add the most important modern benchmark... YouTube. My 2.26GHz late 09 running the newest Firefox can play up to 1440p smoothly at up to 30 FPS, and up to 720p smoothly at 60 FPS.

1080p 30FPS only uses about 40% of the C2D, but 60 FPS at the same res maxes it out and drops frames.

And when I had Netflix it played all 3 quality settings just fine.

 

[Amethyst1]

@Amethyst1 How do I try this?

Install SwitchResX and add a custom resolution for the TV, select "easy/simple configuration" (or something like that) and CVT-RB, enter 3840 pixels as horizontal, 2160 pixels as vertical resolution and punch in the desired refresh rate (31 to 37.5 Hz), letting SwitchResX figure out the rest. Save, reboot and try to switch to the custom resolution. If it shows up as "Invalid" in SRX after reboot, it's either unsupported or SwitchResX can't enable it (had that issue a couple of times but could never figure out what caused it exactly).

@eyoungren another plus for this model is that, unlike earlier minis, it is capable of driving dual displays using both the Mini DisplayPort and Mini-DVI ports. Which can be easily adapted to DVI or HDMI.

With two Matrox TripleHead2Go boxes, SIX screens may be possible according to their site. The Analog Edition would run three screens at 1280×1024 each (which the Mac would see as one giant 3840×1024 one) off the Mini-DVI port with a VGA adapter, and the DP Edition would run three more screens at 1360×768 each, seen as one 4080×768 one. Never underestimate the powers of this diminutive Mac, coupled with Matrox magic @eyoungren: Interested?

Even a G4 Mini can run two screens at 1280×1024 each using one of these boxes (yes, I've tried it).

 

[eyoungren]

Interested?

I may test that in the years to come. Certainly adding more monitors to display different RPG game information would be useful.

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks to @dez, 8GB ram on the way for the Mini.

 

[timidpimpin]

Thanks to @dez, 8GB ram on the way for the Mini.

Now you just need to add a 120GB Kingston A400 SSD for an OS drive, and you'll be set. They're only $20-25 new.

 

[eyoungren]

Now you just need to add a 120GB Kingston A400 SSD for an OS drive, and you'll be set. They're only $20-25 new.

I have a rule when I replace drives. The replacement must equal or exceed the capacity of the drive being replaced. The Mini is coming with a 320GB drive so any SSD I replace it with needs to be 320 or better.

This is how I upgrade and max stuff out over time.

Unless you're saying this Mini will support two drives?

I do intend to put an SSD in it, but not right away. What I'm going to use it for means it doesn't need to have a fast drive right now.

 

[timidpimpin]

I have a rule when I replace drives. The replacement must equal or exceed the capacity of the drive being replaced. The Mini is coming with a 320GB drive so any SSD I replace it with needs to be 320 or better.

This is how I upgrade and max stuff out over time.

Unless you're saying this Mini will support two drives?

I do intend to put an SSD in it, but not right away. What I'm going to use it for means it doesn't need to have a fast drive right now.

It will support 2 drives with an OWC data doubler bracket/SATA port adapter. As for SSD capacity... those Kingston A400's are availible in 120, 240, 480 and 960 GB sizes. They're a perfect SSD for the 09 mini's, because they are a bit slower than other SSD, but that's irrelevant since the 09 mini's have SATA 2 anyway, which will only allow them to run at about half the speed they can on SATA 3. The point is that with more expensive SSD you'll be just wasting money.

Those A400 SSD will get about 280MB/sec read, and about 230MB/sec write on these mini's. And my faster Samsung performed at the same speed because of the SATA 2.

 

[weckart]

Now you just need to add a 120GB Kingston A400 SSD for an OS drive, and you'll be set. They're only $20-25 new.

Just picked up an Integral P 240GB for £18 in the UK. Prices are dropping all the time. Might be worth waiting a few months if you're not in hurry. DRAMless 480GB SSDs will soon be below £30/$35 and they are fine for this Mini.

 

[timidpimpin]

Here is a habit you need with SSD, that you really don't need with a spinner. Keeping as much off it as possible. At least when it's an OS drive. The more empty an SSD is the faster and healthier it will be.

So I always get an SSD of 250GB or smaller, and only put my OS and apps on it. Nothing else. So if I were you I would rethink the upgrade drive always having to be larger rule you have. All you really need is a 120GB, as the main point of an SSD is to speedup the system overall, not put all your files on it.

Think about it...

 

[macgeek18]

Nice! I just got this 2012 max config with 16GB RAM and 500GB SSD and two monitors for free. IT networking is awesome.

 

[weckart]

Nice! I just got this 2012 max config with 16GB RAM and 500GB SSD and two monitors for free. IT networking is awesome.

Lovely. Did you get the base 2.5GHz i5 or the 2.3GHz i7?

 

[z970]

@eyoungren, I stumbled onto this thread today. It may be useful to you.

OSX beyond 10.10 best suited for Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom 6?

Which version of OSX from 10.10 Yosemite and up to 10.14 (Mojave) allows you to run Photoshop CS4 (possibly other CS4 apps as well) and Adobe Lightroom 6? And among those OSX versions, which one would you recommend for best stability, usefulness and enjoyment in general? I've been happy with...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[iluvmacs99]

I have a rule when I replace drives. The replacement must equal or exceed the capacity of the drive being replaced. The Mini is coming with a 320GB drive so any SSD I replace it with needs to be 320 or better.

This is how I upgrade and max stuff out over time.

Unless you're saying this Mini will support two drives?

I do intend to put an SSD in it, but not right away. What I'm going to use it for means it doesn't need to have a fast drive right now.

Personally I think SSD is a bit of a waste when installed on a SATA 2 09 Mac Mini or a SATA 1 port on my PowerMac G5, when all of the newer SSD supports SATA 3 ports. The better approach would be to buy either a hybrid drive (known as SSHD/Solid State Hard Drive) or a Velociraptor drive which spins at 10,000 RPM as opposed to the normal 7200rpm drives or the slower 5400 rpm drives. Basically what the SSD provides is both almost zero latency and high transfer speeds. You will benefit from the lower latency with both SSHD and the Velociraptor drives on both the SATA 1 and SATA 2 ports. SSD will begin to shine while using SATA 3 ports and they will rock when you RAID those SSDs on SATA 3 to become an array.

On my PowerMac G5, my Seagate Momentus XT 750Gb drive cost me only $15 used and gives me the same response speed as a Kingston A400 SSD, except it has 6x the storage capacity. On my dad's Macbook 4,1 (Core 2 Duo), it has a Momentus XT 500Gb and has dual boot between Snow Leopard and Ubuntu and that laptop is super fast to boot as well. The Momentus XT has a 8Gb SSD drive and that's enough for the OS and the rest I can store music files which I use to edit with my G5. Seagate's latest Momentus XT re-incarnation is the Seagate Firecuda. The 1Tb version is half the price of a Samsung Evo 1Tb SSD plus it has I believe a 32Gb SSD built-in. With the Velociraptor drives, you can get a 500Gb one for like $20 and gives a latency of a cheap Kingston A400 drive. I have the A400 and is a slow SSD drive; definitely not in the class of the Samsung EVO or the Sandisk Extreme in my higher perfomance Windows 10 laptop. The more expensive SSDs all have DRAM and they help in buffering the xfer speeds on slower SATA ports.