Upgraded MacMini 1.2 to 2.1 - how to upgrade OS?

[Giuanniello]

I took the chance to upgrade my old MacMini v1.1 from a CoreDuo 1.83 to a CoreDuo2 2.33, installed I have 10.6 and would like to upgrade to 10.7, it seems no easy task, did anybody ever try and/or has suggestions on how to proceed?

Thank you

 

[Buggyflayer]

Yes, it can run 10.7 but as I recall it won't let it install. The easy way is to install 10.7 onto its HDD using a Mac that supports 10.7. You then tweak the platformsupport.plist read more here

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/mac_mini_core_2_duo_swaps.html

 

[Giuanniello]

Hmmmm, I see, I should use the Mini in Target mode and install through another Mac, I see, problem is that my other Mac using a FW port is either the MBPro which has a FW800 or the old PowerMacG4 which, of course, doesn't support 10.7...

Maybe install it to an external drive from whatever any Mac and then tweak the plist and then copy onto the Mini but, again, I need to access it in Target mode...

 

[stroked]

Hmmmm, I see, I should use the Mini in Target mode and install through another Mac, I see, problem is that my other Mac using a FW port is either the MBPro which has a FW800 or the old PowerMacG4 which, of course, doesn't support 10.7...

Maybe install it to an external drive from whatever any Mac and then tweak the plist and then copy onto the Mini but, again, I need to access it in Target mode...

You can get a FW cord with 400 on one end and 800 on the other end.

 

[Giuanniello]

Or I can maybe connect the two with a FW drive in between which has both FW800 and FW400 plugs so I don't have to buy a cable on purpose

 

[Buggyflayer]

Or I can maybe connect the two with a FW drive in between which has both FW800 and FW400 plugs so I don't have to buy a cable on purpose

I don't really understand what you mean and suspect that it won't work.

If you have more time available than access to FW cables you could pull the HDD's out of both the Mini & The Macbook Pro, put the Mini's HDD into the Pro and install Lion there. Add the Mini to the platformsupport.plist before you pull it back out of the Pro & put it back to the Mini.
You'll need to be careful and patient with the Mini & its old connectors!

 

[Giuanniello]

No way, am not going to open it again nor I want to open the MacBookPro, I gotta find an alternative way to upgrade the OS, thanks for your suggestion

 

[stroked]

No way, am not going to open it again nor I want to open the MacBookPro, I gotta find an alternative way to upgrade the OS, thanks for your suggestion

Do you have 7 bucks?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-FT-9-to-6...rk=3&rkt=6&sd=300430556019&afsrc=1&rmvSB=true

 

[DeltaMac]

That is not the correct cable. shows a 9-pin to 4-pin
This is it - 1 dollar more for the 9-pin to 6-pin

 

[stroked]

That is not the correct cable. shows a 9-pin to 4-pin
This is it - 1 dollar more for the 9-pin to 6-pin

Thanks I was being lazy. I edited my post.

 

[Giuanniello]

Hello everybody,

I got the cable to put the Mini in Target mode through FireWire but my MBPro with Yosemite doesn't want, obviously, to start the Lion installer...

I found various descriptions on how to install through an external USB dongle partitioning the drive (which is by the way a small 120GB which I plan to upgrade if it all goes smooth, I wish I can move my music library on the Mini as to use it as a sort of remote streaming media center for at least music and movies through the in house wi-fi network), I don't want to go through backup, partitioning etc, I'd rather leave all as it is, too much of a hassle and I don't even know how much am gonna gain in flexibility by switching to 10.7.5 over 10.6.x

Any other method to upgrade?

Thank you

 

[hwojtek]

Use an older version of DiskMaker X to create a bootable USB with Lion. Follow the appropriate thread to install Lion on an unsupported machine (two files on the USB will need editing, if I remember correctly).