In 2026 they still make low power dual core machines. My comment has still aged well. Lol
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What have you done with an early Intel recently?
- Thread starter Project Alice
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
2017 MBA that still works well. Talk about future proofing back in the day... 9 years old. Replaced it with a new M5 24gb 1tb MBA only for the reason that the old Intel cannot get security updates now and I am uncomfortable taking it to the coffee shop or other public WIFI venue.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
Hey kids, DON'T try this at home!
On Tuesday I had two devices connected to BT, my Magic Trackpad and my headset. Streaming music was breaking up while the trackpad was connected. After some troubleshooting, I came up with the brilliant plan to turn off my BT device and restart.
Cue an entire day of trying to get the Mac back to normal. I won't go into everything I did to get things back, but briefly…
This morning, I reverted an NVRAM option I'd set for the Mac to only use USB BT dongles. I reverted shutting off the WiFi as well (which I'd already done before, but did again).
I then rebuilt OpenCore on my main drive and had it set to inject NVIDIA Keplar for PC cards. I am now back to normal, minus BT.
That's okay. I have a multitude of iPhones (and iPads) sitting on my desk. I'll use those.
Not exactly sure HOW I got things back to normal, but guess what? I'm now on the latest update of Sonoma! 🙄
On Tuesday I had two devices connected to BT, my Magic Trackpad and my headset. Streaming music was breaking up while the trackpad was connected. After some troubleshooting, I came up with the brilliant plan to turn off my BT device and restart.
Cue an entire day of trying to get the Mac back to normal. I won't go into everything I did to get things back, but briefly…
This morning, I reverted an NVRAM option I'd set for the Mac to only use USB BT dongles. I reverted shutting off the WiFi as well (which I'd already done before, but did again).
I then rebuilt OpenCore on my main drive and had it set to inject NVIDIA Keplar for PC cards. I am now back to normal, minus BT.
That's okay. I have a multitude of iPhones (and iPads) sitting on my desk. I'll use those.
Not exactly sure HOW I got things back to normal, but guess what? I'm now on the latest update of Sonoma! 🙄
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
So, no bluetooth audio and I have removed my two USB speakers. Here's how I'm handling this…
Pixel 3a XL is connected via BT to my soundbar and to any of my headsets I may wish to use. I can switch audio between these devices.
I have Airfoil, and it is routing ALL audio on the Mac to Airfoil Satellite, which is running in the background on the Pixel. Since the pixel is connected to my BT devices, the sound from the Mac is coming out there.
Still allows me to play audio from my MP to either a speaker or my headset. Just the Pixel is standing inbetween. I'm cool with that as it means not having to fudge with BT on the Mac and I can leave the soundbar connected to the Pixel.
Pixel 3a XL is connected via BT to my soundbar and to any of my headsets I may wish to use. I can switch audio between these devices.
I have Airfoil, and it is routing ALL audio on the Mac to Airfoil Satellite, which is running in the background on the Pixel. Since the pixel is connected to my BT devices, the sound from the Mac is coming out there.
Still allows me to play audio from my MP to either a speaker or my headset. Just the Pixel is standing inbetween. I'm cool with that as it means not having to fudge with BT on the Mac and I can leave the soundbar connected to the Pixel.
Gloomy
macrumors regular
Gone for nostalgia on the recycled unibody 2012 and downloaded 10.8! I noticed in newer versions of macOS and Windows that the temperatures were getting nuts, going 60-70c at idle and reaching 99c while browsing simple websites. So I opened her up and repasted the heatsink/CPU/GPU dies (the original paste was basically sand at this point!)
The new temperatures in ML are a huge improvement! Windows still gets to ~70c under load but thats par for the course with Boot Camp. Now do I stay on ML or do I put Mojave back on? 🤔
The new temperatures in ML are a huge improvement! Windows still gets to ~70c under load but thats par for the course with Boot Camp. Now do I stay on ML or do I put Mojave back on? 🤔
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
If 90% of a "modern" Mac OS weren't given over to data-harvesting, tracking, and spamming the user, the machines they're on might actually seem faster.
I hear ya. Possibly a better option would be a Walmart laptop. I have had absolutely no experience with Windows since XP, but as I understand, Win11 laptops are built like a battleship, don't spy on you, don't stick ads in your face, and the OS is solid as a rock and almost immune to malware. And customer support from Microsoft is unequaled by any, supposedly.
But I have already spent my budget on this M5 air. Hope I don't regret it. You know, not changing to windows, I mean.
alex_free
macrumors 65816
I feel like a goddamn mad scientist. I have
FreeBSD (EFI)
Fedora (EFI)
Mac OS 10.12
Shared 32GB ExFat partition between all
And I’m pretty sure I can STILL do a hybrid MBR and install windows 7 if my SSD wasn’t 256GBs, and that would see the shared partition too (whole point of hybrid MBR).
And… it wasn’t even that hard! Mac mini Late 2012 for the win. Gonna see how well FreeBSD runs on it and then nuke everything to document it (the joys of having all your data on externals and basically nothing to backup). If I make every partition smaller, they should all fit.
FreeBSD (EFI)
Fedora (EFI)
Mac OS 10.12
Shared 32GB ExFat partition between all
And I’m pretty sure I can STILL do a hybrid MBR and install windows 7 if my SSD wasn’t 256GBs, and that would see the shared partition too (whole point of hybrid MBR).
And… it wasn’t even that hard! Mac mini Late 2012 for the win. Gonna see how well FreeBSD runs on it and then nuke everything to document it (the joys of having all your data on externals and basically nothing to backup). If I make every partition smaller, they should all fit.
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
In an attempt to bolster this straw-man false-alternative thesis you're working on, perhaps you could link to anything nice I've had to say recently regarding the Windows operating system, Microsoft as a corporation, or PC hardware in general.
Gotta have those "advanced Neural Accelerators for AI". <jerk-it emoji>
Last edited:
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
Of curiosity, why MacOS (non-High) Sierra? (Apologies if I've already asked that question on a previous page, as I dimly recall maybe doing.) --Also, can your brother with the peg-leg locate a working copy of discontinued Parallels for Mac? (Mojave in APFS running lots of linux VMs in P18 is the best way to collapse wasted partition space on small SSDs. And it's definitely much easier to shift a few VM files to external media when you temporarily need more space.)
Last edited:
alex_free
macrumors 65816
I hate AI just slightly less now. This actually worked. There were about 20+ other prompts over the past few days that did not go this well, and no there is nothing really online and it helped me understand how FreeBSD handles audio better as I haven't used it much. it also didn't just cite any non-existant source, and had me run various tools, check the output with me, then finally test out 3 possible solutions. So now I have
* Working HDMI/Speaker/Headphone, maybe Display Port (can't test rn) audio.
* GPU accel. XFCE + X11
* Ethernet.
* Fan speed control
* Multi-boot with Linux and Mac OS on same SSD.
I haven't gotten to WiFi yet, but even if that doesn't pan out what a win...
sysrc -f /etc/rc.conf kld_list+="i915kms"
printf 'hint.hdaa.1.nid5.config="as=1 seq=0 device=Digital-out conn=HDMI ctype=Digital loc=Onboard"\nhint.hdaa.1.nid6.config="as=2 seq=0 device=Digital-out conn=HDMI ctype=Digital loc=Onboard"\nhint.hdaa.1.nid7.config="as=3 seq=0 device=Digital-out conn=HDMI ctype=Digital loc=Onboard"\n' >> /boot/loader.conf
echo "hw.snd.default_unit=5" >> /etc/sysctl.conf
* Working HDMI/Speaker/Headphone, maybe Display Port (can't test rn) audio.
* GPU accel. XFCE + X11
* Ethernet.
* Fan speed control
* Multi-boot with Linux and Mac OS on same SSD.
I haven't gotten to WiFi yet, but even if that doesn't pan out what a win...
sysrc -f /etc/rc.conf kld_list+="i915kms"
printf 'hint.hdaa.1.nid5.config="as=1 seq=0 device=Digital-out conn=HDMI ctype=Digital loc=Onboard"\nhint.hdaa.1.nid6.config="as=2 seq=0 device=Digital-out conn=HDMI ctype=Digital loc=Onboard"\nhint.hdaa.1.nid7.config="as=3 seq=0 device=Digital-out conn=HDMI ctype=Digital loc=Onboard"\n' >> /boot/loader.conf
echo "hw.snd.default_unit=5" >> /etc/sysctl.conf
Gloomy
macrumors regular
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
I'll actually help with this, right now: Yesterday I'm with a client, and he drags out this ancient, much-loved once-top-of-the-line laptop still running Windows 7 (released 2009, same year as Snow Leopard). --I'd forgotten how beautiful that OS was (especially with a parade of Office 2003 icons on the taskbar) before Microsoft leached the color out of everything. (To this day, I install OpenShell on every PC to get back the Windows 7 start-menu.)
While I fixed his minor problems, I looked up and discovered that w7 had an update in 2019 and paid extended-support as late as 2023. --Can you image Apple doing anything like this for a cat-name OS?)
His Firefox was stuck at v56 or some such with ads out the arse, so I searched "windows 7" + "modern browser", and found a fork named R3dfox*, and had him set up with the latest uBlockOrigin, Sponsorblock, and FB Purity in ten minutes. Ran gooseshit-slick in 3gb total ram, and all the Mozilla "suggested" crap and telemetry was already hacked out.
(* https://eclipse.cx/projects/r3dfox )
Last edited:
alex_free
macrumors 65816
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
Well…
For approximately the last two weeks, starting a few days before I posted about my issues with BT on my Mac Pro, I have been dealing with system freezes. It happened again this morning.
I won't belabor all that I did, except for the last bit. We will see what happens now.
When I got my additional 30" Cinemas last year, the person who gave them to me also took the opportunity to offload a bunch of video cards and other items. But the most important part was a MacPro 4,1. It is the EXACT same Mac as the one I have and so at that time I swapped processor trays.
Essentially, I swapped the processor tray back into that gifted Mac and then swapped in my video cards and drives. This Mac has the usual handles beat to heck, but as a backup Mac I am glad to have it. I strongly suspect that the logicboard on my old Mac is dying.
But, this is why I say we will see what happens now. The Mac sits underneath the desk, so it's not being admired. I will take working Mac with beat handles over a non-functional Mac any day. The issue was that I stupidly ran cables through the handles. Had to figure out where all that was going.
Of course, because I am operating on a later version of MacOS, I had to relogin to my Apple ID, turn location services back on, blah, blah, blah.
Ugh. Anyway, at least I'm back up.
For approximately the last two weeks, starting a few days before I posted about my issues with BT on my Mac Pro, I have been dealing with system freezes. It happened again this morning.
I won't belabor all that I did, except for the last bit. We will see what happens now.
When I got my additional 30" Cinemas last year, the person who gave them to me also took the opportunity to offload a bunch of video cards and other items. But the most important part was a MacPro 4,1. It is the EXACT same Mac as the one I have and so at that time I swapped processor trays.
Essentially, I swapped the processor tray back into that gifted Mac and then swapped in my video cards and drives. This Mac has the usual handles beat to heck, but as a backup Mac I am glad to have it. I strongly suspect that the logicboard on my old Mac is dying.
But, this is why I say we will see what happens now. The Mac sits underneath the desk, so it's not being admired. I will take working Mac with beat handles over a non-functional Mac any day. The issue was that I stupidly ran cables through the handles. Had to figure out where all that was going.
Of course, because I am operating on a later version of MacOS, I had to relogin to my Apple ID, turn location services back on, blah, blah, blah.
Ugh. Anyway, at least I'm back up.
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
R3dfox goes back to XP too, and has the virtue of not being a Chrome browser.
Gloomy
macrumors regular
Today I have continued tinkering with the recycled 2012 15" Unibody. Dual boot setup of OS X Mavericks (courtesy of MavericksForever.com from @Wowfunhappy ) and a Boot Camp partition with Windows 7. Since this is a spare Mac, I can dedicate it to help test out browsers on these legacy OS's. Currently testing Momiji on Mavericks and r3dfox on Windows 7 (thanks for the tip @Minghold!)
boswald
macrumors 68040
God, Windows 7 was the pinnacle of Windows for me. It was slick, beautiful, and ran great. Then, as with most things, en********ation happened and we wound up with Windows 8. My second favorite was Windows 2000!
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
I had a soft spot for Windows Millennium: it was just as pretty as Vista, without all the headaches. (Well, at least I didn't have so many.) --But the deathblow for older Windows versions is the insane driver-hunts and consequent general inapplicability to external sneaker-net use. On that note....
Assuming you still have some space on that drive, I can offer a "Mojo" (Mojave-optimized) + Parallels18 archive to dink around with. Toss in a Win7 VM too.
boswald
macrumors 68040
Man, that's one thing I don't miss from Windows: driver hunting. You can always get decent ones from Windows Update, but I think they're generally old(er) and lack features, so you're off to the web to hunt them down. I just like to sit down and go!
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
It would appear that one of my displays (30") is not getting enough power. I finally troubleshot that today as it has a habit of just shutting off. Testing it with an extension cord directly to a single outlet proved my hypothesis (insufficient power).
But of course, I can't leave that extension cord in the way as people will trip over it. So, off to Walmart to get a new powerstrip with a 8 foot length. I have two spare outlets that have recently come back into play (a shelf blocking them got replaced), so that's where this is going.
So far so good.
EDIT: So that's two displays rerouted for power to this new powerstrip. That's fine, it's all working. My cable management however is beyond the pale in ugly.
But of course, I can't leave that extension cord in the way as people will trip over it. So, off to Walmart to get a new powerstrip with a 8 foot length. I have two spare outlets that have recently come back into play (a shelf blocking them got replaced), so that's where this is going.
So far so good.
EDIT: So that's two displays rerouted for power to this new powerstrip. That's fine, it's all working. My cable management however is beyond the pale in ugly.
Last edited:
GMShadow
macrumors 68030
When I was using a Early 2008 white MacBook on Windows 8.1, the WinUpdate provided wireless driver capped speeds in the kilobits, you always had to force it back to the Win 7 driver. Doubt that was ever fixed, wonder if I have that driver somewhere still.
boswald
macrumors 68040
Gloomy
macrumors regular
That's my new 24" iMac M4! 😀 Indeed it has a gorgeous 4.5K display.
My beloved Late 2013 27" iMac died a month ago (Power supply blew, RIP) so I needed a new daily driver and got a great deal on this higher-end M4 with the 2 extra CPU/GPU cores and 2 extra Thunderbolt ports.
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
These days, as far as I'm concerned, this thread is basically anything pre-T2 chip, ie you can significantly mess with it. After all, two years from now, there will be ZERO supported Intel Macs, hardware or OS. And I can't imagine it will be long before the apps revert solely to Apple Silicon.
Given that, I'll talk about all my Intel Macs, so...
2015 11" MBA 8GB - taken to Sonoma with OCLP in order to try out software that requires later MacOS. Changing wallpaper to something static helps reduce the load, I find. Running well, or well enough.
2011 13" MBP 16GB - OCLPd to Big Sur, for the same reasons. Might try and push it to Monterey.
2013 13" MBA 8GB - now transferred to my wife, runs Linux Mint 22.3.
2013 Mac Pro 32GB - OCLPd to Sequoia, and running fine.
2009 Mac Mini 8GB - 256+512GB SSDs installed via the specific OWC Data Doubler. Running MX Linux 25.2
2012 Mac Mini 16GB - Catalina, but used exclusively for Windows via Bootcamp. This my daily driver when at home. My two actual Windows machines are currently mothballed.
Most, if not all, of the remaining Macs will be sold off. Already have a buyer for all the PowerPC stuff.
I *might* keep a mid-2010 Unibody white Macbook with SSD and 16GB RAM, and use it as a ridiculously quick Snow Leopard machine, just for hoots. Or Mavericks Forever. We'll see...
Given that, I'll talk about all my Intel Macs, so...
2015 11" MBA 8GB - taken to Sonoma with OCLP in order to try out software that requires later MacOS. Changing wallpaper to something static helps reduce the load, I find. Running well, or well enough.
2011 13" MBP 16GB - OCLPd to Big Sur, for the same reasons. Might try and push it to Monterey.
2013 13" MBA 8GB - now transferred to my wife, runs Linux Mint 22.3.
2013 Mac Pro 32GB - OCLPd to Sequoia, and running fine.
2009 Mac Mini 8GB - 256+512GB SSDs installed via the specific OWC Data Doubler. Running MX Linux 25.2
2012 Mac Mini 16GB - Catalina, but used exclusively for Windows via Bootcamp. This my daily driver when at home. My two actual Windows machines are currently mothballed.
Most, if not all, of the remaining Macs will be sold off. Already have a buyer for all the PowerPC stuff.
I *might* keep a mid-2010 Unibody white Macbook with SSD and 16GB RAM, and use it as a ridiculously quick Snow Leopard machine, just for hoots. Or Mavericks Forever. We'll see...