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upgrading my late 2012 mac mini

In addition to a late 2012 I7 2.3, I also have a 2020 M1 Mac Mini 256gb SSD (couldn't resist a recent military store sale). But I would have been perfectly happy with just the late 2012. It's a shame what we were able to do is now impossible with the recent (everything soldered) Mac Minis.
 
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for this said:
From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

The conditions to be able to download are:

- You are the admin
- Use the link in Safari in macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise

You don’t even have to sign in to the App Store.

BTW, the link leads to the App Store and it is downloaded via Software Update.

View attachment 1815152
Click to expand...
ya, when i try that it opens up a update window runs through and wants me to update to Catalina
Im running Mojave10.14.6 now on a 2012 mini
all im trying to do is "TRY" to make up 2 install disks
1-Sierra or High Sierra
2-Mojave "NOT" the 10.14.6
I figure if i go back down to sierra i can get the high sierra app in my applications
then get Mojave into my applications
maybe im just all wet and dreaming

called alot of computer repair folk around me
NO-ONE will make me up a thumbdrive boot disk they just want me to pay then to do the install
 
OK i dont know how i ended up doing this, BUT somehow maybe through my time machine backups and dragging over files?
my SSD hard drive in my mac mini 2012 thinks its a macbook pro?
when i opened up the termanal window
it says
,
Last login: Fri Aug 6 02:49:58 on console
Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ john$
,
im so, so, so confused

but when i look in (about this Mac) its telling me im on a 2012 mini
 
heres the finished
terminal
,

Last login: Fri Aug 6 02:49:58 on console
Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ john$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MacInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app --nointeraction &&say Done
Password:
Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...
Copying installer files to disk...
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable...
Copying boot files...
Copy complete.
Done.
Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ john$ Last login: Fri Aug 6 02:49:58 on console
john console Fri Aug 6 02:49 still logged in
john console Thu Aug 5 19:02 - 19:25 (00:23)
john console Thu Aug 5 14:03 - 16:31 (02:28)
john console Thu Aug 5 02:23 - 13:55 (11:32)
john console Wed Aug 4 13:45 - 16:16 (02:30)
john console Wed Aug 4 11:25 - 12:37 (01:11)
john console Wed Aug 4 11:14 - 11:15 (00:00)
john console Wed Aug 4 11:13 - 11:13 (00:00)
john console Wed Aug 4 05:55 - 08:36 (02:40)
john console Wed Aug 4 05:45 - 05:54 (00:08)

wtmp begins Wed Aug 4 05:43
Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ john$ Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ john$
 
endoftheroad said:
ya, when i try that it opens up a update window runs through and wants me to update to Catalina
Im running Mojave10.14.6 now on a 2012 mini
all im trying to do is "TRY" to make up 2 install disks
1-Sierra or High Sierra
2-Mojave "NOT" the 10.14.6
I figure if i go back down to sierra i can get the high sierra app in my applications
then get Mojave into my applications
maybe im just all wet and dreaming

called alot of computer repair folk around me
NO-ONE will make me up a thumbdrive boot disk they just want me to pay then to do the install
Click to expand...
I made the High Sierra installer on April 14. Just after learning that Apple did something special: allowing users to download older macOS's without having to have them in your App Store account's download history.

I was on 10.14.6. I clicked the link from Safari and it led me to the App Store's High Sierra download page. I clicked Get and it got downloaded via Software Update. After downloading was finished, it automatically started to install. I quitted the System Preferences and restarted to abort the installation. Then I followed the method described on the Apple's support page to create the installer. It's now a 5.3GB sparseimage file on my backup drives.

I don't know why it didn't work for you.
 
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im running Mojave 10.14.6 now,
and cant get beyond the Catalina update,
Im thinking if i go back down to High Sierra it wiil let me do the Mojave
,
I just got High sierra to work on a thumb drive install, its doing its thing on my dads macbook pro
,
ill erase this disk after my backups done, and do the High sierra and then try the upgrade to Mojave
crazy i know but i want my own install disks on each of them

took me 4 times to get the dang thumdrive formatted right to accept the update info
but i got it done :). feel good about that as using the Terminal scarts me
when i was in collage 1985 i put there main frame computer into a continuous loop in my fortran class
the lesson,,how many years old is a dog, if the 1st year is "1" and all others are "7"
ya i can do the math in my head, but doing it on a keyboard LMAO the dean kicked me out of collage
it took the guru guys a week to fix my mistake,,they done wornt happy
went back to a normal life, pounding nails
 
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If you want to create a Mojave installer drive, you can use this: http://dosdude1.com/mojave/

Yes, this is for creating a patched Mojave installer to run on unsupported Macs, but here's the crucial bit: Tools > Download macOS Mojave from the menu bar will just download Mojave from Apple's servers (and put the install app in the Applications folder IIRC). From there, you can try creating an installer drive. I've used this method for creating installer drives myself. :)
 
thank you,
ive now got high sierra and Catalina on thumbs
once my time machine finishes
im going to go down to sierra

need to buy another thumb drive in the morning :)
 
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ordered ssd and memory for my dads laptop to install and a duel hard drive attachment for my 2012 so i can back up to that internally
i LOVE tinkering :)
 
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my stuffs supposed to be here today :)
I did get it (2012 Mini) updated to the Catalina, and DID finally get my thumbdrives with the boots for High sierra, Mojave ,And Catalina all working, YAAAAAAAA,,for a dummy like me
AND
I dun Orded a 2018 Mini off OWC's website,--thats where ive been buying parts and watchin vids :)
it should be here maybe by friday
then ill be ordering mor memory :)

going to make up a Mount for both of them and have them sucking air through a filter system, as my poor 2012
looked perdy bad when i opened it up, as its in my cave, also my wood shop where i build custom knives
so lots of fine dust I should have taken a picture of what 6yrs of dust looks like in a mini :) its a wonder the fan could even spin

itl be beans and hotdogs for me and the mutt till next month :)

cheers
john
 
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writing now on my 2018 Mac Mini :)
id say its faster than my 2012 :)
going to be buying port adapters for it though
 
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I bought 4 of these from OWC when I purchased my refurbished 2018 Mac mini:

1628795074661.png



They work great and match the Mac mini's space gray color.
 
Boyd01 said:
Most thumb drives are REALLY slow
Click to expand...
I have found an exception, SanDisk Extreme Pro 3.0 (I have 64&128gb versions).
Black magic showed 200MBps write and 250 read.
Reviews said it was faster than the 3.1 version.
Boyd01 said:
A USB 3.0 external SSD will give you about 400MB/sec transfer speed on your 2012 Mini
Click to expand...
I have a 6Gbps SSD in a SATA external case and get about the same (250). Perhaps all SATA SSD drives are not created equal like the thumb drives.
 
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sfphoto said:
I have found an exception, SanDisk Extreme Pro 3.0 (I have 64&128gb versions).
Black magic showed 200MBps write and 250 read.
Reviews said it was faster than the 3.1 version.

I have a 6Gbps SSD in a SATA external case and get about the same (250). Perhaps all SATA SSD drives are not created equal like the thumb drives.
Click to expand...
Yes, those c usb thumb drives are great, the silver one gets hot while the blue plastic one stays cooler
Samsum makes a nice one but wont vend to a hidden email adress.
 
My 2012 quad Mini still plays an important role in my computer setup!

miniCat.jpg


It's also a headless fileserver and time machine destination. 😺

Still running Catalina, don't see any benefit in upgrading. It's already out-lasted another 2012 and two 2014 Mini's, so its days are probably numbered. Just replaced the 2014 media server with a base 2024 m4 Mini on Black Friday, should probably move everything to it.
 
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My m4 is behind closed doors in the stereo cabinet. Yesterday, I lost connection while watching a movie on my iPad. Turned out the ethernet cable had pulled out. Would like to blame it on the cats exploring, because they could get inside from the rear. More likely, I just didn't seat it fully during setup last week. 🤣
 
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