MP 1,1-5,1 Complete Apple noob - cMP 2.1 - here's what I've managed so far

[DCBassman]

Yesterday, I spent my first day messing with a Mac. Ever. Have been using Windows since 286 days, so, at 69, this is a mad step into the unknown. So far, to quote another large American company, I'm lovin' it.

What I have done so far:
Swapped the hard disk for an SSD and successfully got it going.
Added an extra hard drive and set up a small RAID1, just because I can.
Added a 160GB IDE drive in the spare optical drive bay, and dedicated it to Time Machine.
Ordered a dedicated keyboard and mouse.
Ordered 32GB RAM. Not really needed, but hey, relatively cheap, so...

What I want/need to do next:
As the current and proposed RAM is non-standard, it gets HOT. So I need to figure out fan control a bit better. An extra bit of room heating never goes amiss in winter...
Find out why it refuses to run the upgrade to Lion, accusing the official download of being 'corrupt or tampered with'.
Get a decent graphics card, a 5770 seems a sweet spot for this rig. The try one of the seemingly endless routes to El Capitan.
EDIT: card ordered.
Maybe add a second monitor, although space is at a premium.

So, there we are. This is strictly for the hell of it for now. If I find I can make good use of such a machine as a daily driver, well and good. I'd certainly like to, it's an impressive and impressively-built beast, although only the second-largest of my computers. My main Windows box is huge and hugely over-powered for its normal daily use, so if the cMP works out well, maybe I'll move it on.
Any tips on cooling and fan control greatly appreciated!

 

[sfalatko]

Yestereday, I spent my first day messing with a Mac. Ever. Have been using Windows since 286 days, so, at 69, this is a mad step into the unknown. So far, to quote another large American company, I'm lovin' it.

What I have done so far:
Swapped the hard disk for an SSD and successfully got it going.
Added an extra hard drive and set up a small RAID1, just because I can.
Added a spare 160GB IDE drive in the spare optical drive bay, and dedicated it to Time Machine.
Ordered a dedicated keyboard and mouse.
Ordered 32GB RAM. Not really needed, but hey, relatively cheap, so...

What I want/need to do next:
As the current and proposed RAM is non-standard, it gets HOT. So I need to figure out fan control a bit better. An extra bit of room heating never goes amiss in winter...
Find out why it refuses to run the upgrade to Lion, accusing the official download of being 'corrupt or tampered with'.
Get a decent graphics card, a 5770 seems a sweet spot for this rig. The try one of the seemingly endless routes to El Capitan.
EDIT: card ordered.
Maybe add a second monitor, although space is at a premium.

So, there we are. This is strictly for the hell of it for now. If I find I can make good use of such a machine as a daily driver, well and good. I'd certainly like to, it's an impressive and impressively-built beast, although only the second-largest of my computers. My main Windows box is huge and hugely over-powered for its normal daily use, so if the cMP works out well, maybe I'll move it on.
Any tips on cooling and fan control greatly appreciated!

Take a look at this guide - The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-2012) Upgrade Guide - it combines a lot of advice you can find on this forum into one place.

Enjoy.

 

[Soba]

Find out why it refuses to run the upgrade to Lion, accusing the official download of being 'corrupt or tampered with'.

This part is likely because the installer has an expired certificate. This is a common problem with old macOS installers, unfortunately.

Try setting back the clock on your Mac to sometime in 2011 or 2012 to see if that allows the installer to run. Don't forget to reset your clock (and turn on automatic time synchronization) after the install completes.

 

[DCBassman]

This part is likely because the installer has an expired certificate. This is a common problem with old macOS installers, unfortunately.

Try setting back the clock on your Mac to sometime in 2011 or 2012 to see if that allows the installer to run. Don't forget to reset your clock (and turn on automatic time synchronization) after the install completes.

Aha, will try that.
In other news, my brand new Cherry keyboard died after about two hours' use. Rats.

 

[DCBassman]

Aha, will try that.

Didn't work....Need to figure out a clean install, I think.

 

[Soba]

Didn't work....Need to figure out a clean install, I think.

Can you explain where you got the Lion installer and what method you're using to install it?

 

[Dayo]

Can you explain where you got the Lion installer and what method you're using to install it?

Or how the date change was done. Best done from Terminal in the installer screen and not in Mac OS before starting the installation (which would typically reset it almost immediately).

 

[DCBassman]

Can you explain where you got the Lion installer and what method you're using to install it?

Lion installer direct from Apple site. In the absence of any other instructions, I double clicked the download. This then put an install program, with Lion pic, in Applications. Then ran that, which failed.

Or how the date change was done. Best done from Terminal in the installer screen and not in Mac OS before starting the installation (which would typically reset it almost immediately).

Date change done within MacOS, so that explains that. What I have signally failed to achieve is any kind of entry into recovery or similar, ie to try all this outside the main OS. I cannot make any of that work at all...

 

[Dayo]

There is access to Terminal from the installer but I suppose you are saying the installer fails without showing anything at all. You could physically disconnect the unit from the internet and then reset the date in Mac OS. That should stop a reset.

 

[DCBassman]

There is access to Terminal from the installer but I suppose you are saying the installer fails without showing anything at all. You could physically disconnect the unit from the internet and then reset the date in Mac OS. That should stop a reset.

Will give that a shot.

 

[DCBassman]

Typing from 10.7.5! Reset date and turned off Airport, and away it went. Done the software updates, and seems to be good to go.
Many thanks!

 

[DCBassman]

OK, that's it for now. Have dismantled the RAID so I can use the working space for the transition to El Capitan. Will wait for new RAM and the HD5770 before I start that.

 

[DCBassman]

Final things for today: buy and install Macs Fans Pro, successfully keeping the oddball RAM slot inline, it was getting to nearly 70 Celsius...
Have found a proper Apple mini Bluetooth keyboard nearby, pick up later in week.
Now to sell some other bits to offset the costs!

 

[DCBassman]

RAM up to 32GB...

 

[DCBassman]

32GB RAM installed. Running much cooler, it seems. However, Macs Fans is showing fewer sensor readings, so I'm guessing that the two gold-coloured 2GB DIMMs had sensors. Anyhow, good so far.

 

[DCBassman]

One other thing: There's some difference between the processor temps, even when idling. Does the team think it might be a good wheeze to renew the thermal paste? No guessing when it might last have been done, if ever!

 

[DCBassman]

Installed Radeon HD5770, all good. El Capitan next!

 

[DCBassman]

Now have a proper Mac Bluetooth keyboard. Other one I grabbed was a cheap plastic imitation which didn't play well with the Mac, but works really well on the Windows box, so two nice compact boards!
Needing the SSD for something else for a bit, so boot drive is back to a 7200rpm 500GB drive. Will upgrade to El Capitan sometime soon, then see about going back to the SSD if I've otherwise finished with it, or maybe buy another if pennies allow.
Have otherwise used the Mac to re-app an iPhone 4s and an iPad 3 cellular I was given a couple of days back.
Apple don't make things easy, do they?