Mac Mini / Intel NUC shock

[MacUser2525]

Videos all over YouTube. Looks very easy compared to hackintosh.

The "difficult" install of a hackintosh if you already have a mac. Clone your existing install to an external drive, look to what people using the NUC you wish to install to are using for the drivers most will have install pack in their post if it is a guide, Install bootloader to external drive, mount the EFI partition to load the drivers into the proper place to be loaded at boot and confirm the config.plist is right if using Clover to load the OS. Plug drive into NUC using the F12 key if Gigabyte board to load the UEFI entry for your external to boot from confirm it boots play around with things to confirm it is working reverse the cloning process to an internal drive and that is the extent of it.

Edit: left out EFI/BIOS set drives to ahci, turn off vt-d, efi only booting no CSM enabled and I think that is about it for there.

Edit2: Now I think about it couple of USB handoffs need to be set and the aperture size of the on-board graphics if using it.

 

[Cape Dave]

Videos all over YouTube. Looks very easy compared to hackintosh.

It does seem like it would be so much easier, which is precisely why I am shocked that I never saw on this forum anyone who could not give up their precious MacOS and did not want to go hackintosh speaking out and doing it the VMWare way Headed to the tube now.

By George, you are right! Looks super easy. I will be checking this out for sure.

 

[bigbird888]

I have never heard of anyone ever using MacOS in a VMware type of thing. Is it possible? Seems if it was, I would have heard of at least one person who had done it?

It is really easy. I clean installed Sierra from the iso using VMPlayer and run the Server on it. The VM is as solid as the physical macmini that it replaced before it stopped booting.

 

[EightyTwenty]

It is really easy. I clean installed Sierra from the iso using VMPlayer and run the Server on it. The VM is as solid as the physical macmini that it replaced before it stopped booting.

That's good to hear. You use this as your main computer?

A VM running Sierra would be indistinguishable from a mac mini?

I'm tempted to buy a new NUC and run macOS is VM. Way cheaper than the mini, way better specs, can upgrade anytime I want, smaller, and the best part is that it actually exists (unlike the new mini... which is almost certainly coming).

 

[dogslobber]

Oh. I have a good idea. I understand RAM compression and it can still be fubared. The more headroom you give engineers, the less they care about resources until they start to run out.
I love the implementation of memory compression, but I have been in this business far too long to not have a cynical view of "future proofing".

Now we get compressed memory leaks. There's nothing more wonderful than a compressed memory leak, folks! It's a beautiful thing.

 

[bigbird888]

That's good to hear. You use this as your main computer?

A VM running Sierra would be indistinguishable from a mac mini?

I'm tempted to buy a new NUC and run macOS is VM. Way cheaper than the mini, way better specs, can upgrade anytime I want, smaller, and the best part is that it actually exists (unlike the new mini... which is almost certainly coming).

The 2011 mac mini was my main machine until I got tired of waiting and bought a NUC5i7RYH in 2015. The mac mini became a server, in particular as a time machine. I have been playing around with the other server functions but most were experimental. By the way I have also a very old ac time capsule. My wife and two sons have a mac notebook each. These will backup to the two time machines.

The macmini refused to boot up about 6 months ago. That was when I started playing with VMs. First was with Virtualbox but that did not go very well. I had a much better experience with VMPlayer. It could do everything that the physical mac mini was doing for me. It has been very stable.