Stu

Anyone au fait with #linux on older Intel #Apple hardware?

I see some for sale locally (surplus store) and I think they would make excellent family "just need to do some odds and ends browsing" sort of machines. Maybe as the "family computer" in the dining room.

Obviously, even if it shipped macOS, it's going to be hilariously out of date. But will they run Linux OK? Nothing fancy, just Mint or something.

They are 27" A1419 iMacs, with 7th gen i5 and 8gb of memory, if that helps.

Apr 7 at 3:17pmWeb
Show threadTheIPW1d ago
@tehstu I've just finished a Linux install on my sister's MacBook, those A1419 iMacs are perfect candidates for a similar revival. The 7th gen i5 and 8GB RAM will fly on a lightweight distro like Mint or XFCE compared to bloated modern macOS. You should watch out for the Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers which often need a manual nudge after the first boot. It makes a brilliant privacy-respecting family browser once you've cleared the EFI hurdles. Drop me a mention if you get stuck on the driver firmware.
Show threadStu1d ago

@unknownuniverse Oh awesome, thank you!

They have a few models and I'm just waiting to see what they typically go for, first.

edit - perhaps this is a hurdle, I genuinely don't know enough about Macs to comment: "The iMac says support.apple.com/mac/startup when you turn it on and we don't know if there is an issue with the item. "

I see from the photos on the auction that the screen does indeed show this, so it powers up at least.

Show threadHowitzer105mm1d ago
@unknownuniverse @tehstu I installed Fedora 43 on a Mac Pro "Trashcan". The Broadcom drivers are in the non-free repository. That said, they are listed by the OS as "unmaintained". In their current state they also require booting the kernel with a flag that rolls back a security change. I didn't get these warnings from Linux Mint. I assume it's only a matter of time before LM spouts the same message.
I happened to have a wired enet close so I use that instead.
Show threadStu1d ago
@Howitzer105mm @unknownuniverse That's definitely good to know, cheers. I try to wire everything I can.
Show threadAndreas (82MHz)1d ago
@tehstu I don't know about iMacs, but I run Linux on a 2014 Macbook Air with a 4th gen i7 mobile cpu and it runs perfectly. So just in terms of specs, your 7th gen i5 is way more powerful than that. How it is with drivers though I don't know for this generation...
Show threadmatthew - retroedge.tech1d ago
I have installed Linux Mint and Linux Mint Debian Edition on quite a few MacBooks, Mac Minis and done live boots on iMacs.

Doing a Linux install on a Mac Mini today, in fact.

I am guessing that everything will "just work" on an iMac with 7th gen Intel processor.

#Linux #MacMini #Apple #hardware #iMac
Show threadDM541d ago
@matthew @tehstu before lucking into some dell laptops, I was eying off buying an old imac to muck around on. Reddit appeared to flag sound issues on imacs from 2015 and prior? I have no idea if this is actually the case. Anyone have experience with that? I am still semi curious because I love the screen and all in one idea.
Show threadmatthew - retroedge.tech1d ago
I have a few iMacs in my possession that I could test.

My idea was to turn them into retro gaming systems with Batocera Linux, as the iMac screen is good and they have a full size SD card slot.

Sound would definitely have to work for that application.

https://batocera.org/

#iMac #Linux #Batocera
batocera.linux

Only Cores That Matter

Show threadDM541d ago
@matthew @tehstu ooooh, batocera looks cool.