suggestion, ideas,possibilities with old Macs

[macpronoob]

Hello everyone. Long time since I visited this forum. I'm searching the web and this forum for any possible upgrades or hacks that I can try out with my old Mac stuff. Please excuse my noobness should I say something incorrect about tech stuff 😁

I have a MacBook black late 2008, still runs great (os 10.6.8 Snow leopard) I just added a 2nd ssd drive in optical bay drive.
Purchased from eBay aperture 2 downloaded and is working.
I use the old MacBook black for iTunes (6000+ songs), surf the web, read blogs and some light video editing.

Internet browsers is nearly obsolete with safari not able to run youtube and chrome is just about the same. Firefox runs ok but slow and I also use something called arctic fox that was running well but last I remember they stop working on that browser.

Question about Linux or other OS.
Is it possible to partition a SSD drive so that it may have 2 different OS?
I would like to keep snow leopard but also if possible add linux or ubuntu. I haven't touch or loaded any files to the 2nd SSD. The 2nd SSD was going to be used to store finished photos and videos.

As far as why I want linux or ubuntu is no specific reason other than to experiment and learn.

The next question is Power Mac 5 ( Mac Pro) Apple Mac Pro Quad Core 2.66 (original)
Serial No.686462D5UPZ

found this in the basement of my building that was about to be thrown out with other tech stuff.
I always wanted this computer when it first came out but could not afford. I've watched several youtube videos about this particular model and most say the max OS this can handle is Lion.

Who ever threw this out they remove a lot of parts mostly the HDD, Memory, optical bay I guess the stuff you would salvage or eBay for few bucks.

The casing is good, needs a good cleaning (cigarette smell ugh) but is this DIY project a waste of time?
I imagine I'm going to have to invest some money into this machine but I would start with the bare minimum just to see if this machine works. And if it does work, then what are the possibilities with this Power Mac G5.

I really enjoy DIY projects with computers, I've work on my MacBook black and Mac Pro 17 inch and taken good care of both.

Sorry for the long post but wanted to give enough information so that I may get the feed back I need. Any links or videos that you suggest is greatly appreciated.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I also use something called arctic fox that was running well but last I remember they stop working on that browser.

Nope, Arctic Fox is still be worked on.

There's also Spiderweb and InterWeb which work better on some sites. All from the same developer: https://randommacstuff.blogspot.com

 

[eyoungren]

The next question is Power Mac 5 ( Mac Pro) Apple Mac Pro Quad Core 2.66 (original)
Serial No.686462D5UPZ

And if it does work, then what are the possibilities with this Power Mac G5.

You do not have a PowerMac G5. PowerMac G5s have PowerPC processors and the maximum they ever reached was a Quad (two dual core processors) 2.5Ghz.

You are stating that this is a 2.66 Ghz Mac.

That makes it a MacPro because of what I said above.

You can verify that very easily by looking at the front. If there are two optical drive doors then you have a Mac Pro. If there is only one, you have a G5 and the Ghz speed you report is wrong.

That said, I own this model of MacPro (assuming you are correct about the processor speed).

You can upgrade it to a MacPro 5,1 through a firmware update. Install a Metal compatible GPU and you can run Mojave and Catalina.

 

[Amethyst1]

You can upgrade it to a MacPro 5,1 through a firmware update. Install a Metal compatible GPU and you can run Mojave and Catalina.

He has a 2006 MP (1,1) which tops out at Lion officially but can unofficially run El Capitan - provided the stock graphics card is replaced with something newer.

 

[macpronoob]

You do not have a PowerMac G5. PowerMac G5s have PowerPC processors and the maximum they ever reached was a Quad (two dual core processors) 2.5Ghz.

You are stating that this is a 2.66 Ghz Mac.

That makes it a MacPro because of what I said above.

You can verify that very easily by looking at the front. If there are two optical drive doors then you have a Mac Pro. If there is only one, you have a G5 and the Ghz speed you report is wrong.

That said, I own this model of MacPro (assuming you are correct about the processor speed).

You can upgrade it to a MacPro 5,1 through a firmware update. Install a Metal compatible GPU and you can run Mojave and Catalina.

Yes you are right. And it is a 2.66 Ghz Mac with 2 optical drive doors in the front.

As far as the upgrade is there a youtube video you can refer me to for the " Metal compatible GPU ". And how would I go about getting the firmware update?

Thanks again for the response.
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He has a 2006 MP (1,1) which tops out at Lion officially but can unofficially run El Capitan - provided the stock graphics card is replaced with something newer.

What stock graphics card would I need? And yes it is a 2006 MP (1,1). Thanks for the response.

 

[Amethyst1]

What stock graphics card would I need? And yes it is a 2006 MP (1,1). Thanks for the response.

ATI Radeon 2600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (prone to failure - avoid), NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. However, it has to be an Apple card for a Mac Pro, otherwise you'll not get boot screens (the grey screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel) and the monitor will only display something once the OS X login screen appears.
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As far as the upgrade is there a youtube video you can refer me to for the " Metal compatible GPU ". And how would I go about getting the firmware update?

The Mac Pro 1,1 cannot run Mojave so you don't need a Metal-compatible GPU. El Capitan will run fine with older GPUs (exception: ATI X1x00, NVIDIA 7x00/FX4500).

As for the firmware update, you can flash your 1,1 to a 2,1.

Mac Pro 1,1 Firmware upgrade issues

Hello, I recently acquired an old Mac Pro 1,1 and have been trying to update it to version 2,1 in order to facilitate better processors, but after trying nearly everything I can think of I am still unable to perform the update. As I have done so much it will be neater if I post it in bullets...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[macpronoob]

ATI Radeon 2600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (prone to failure - avoid), NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. However, it has to be an Apple card for a Mac Pro, otherwise you'll not get boot screens (the grey screen with the Apple logo and spinning wheel) and the monitor will only display something once the OS X login screen appears.
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The Mac Pro 1,1 cannot run Mojave so you don't need a Metal-compatible GPU. El Capitan will run fine with older GPUs (exception: ATI X1x00, NVIDIA 7x00/FX4500).

As for the firmware update, you can flash your 1,1 to a 2,1.

Mac Pro 1,1 Firmware upgrade issues

Hello, I recently acquired an old Mac Pro 1,1 and have been trying to update it to version 2,1 in order to facilitate better processors, but after trying nearly everything I can think of I am still unable to perform the update. As I have done so much it will be neater if I post it in bullets...

forums.macrumors.com

Okay so eyoungren says you can run Mojave or Catalina. Amethyst1 says it only runs El Captain.

This is the type of information I need because often I look at youtube videos and I'm amaze at what people do to push old tech to the limit to get it to work.

But me on the other I want a sure thing that will work since I'm going to invest in this project, though I want it all (highest upgrade in OS and hardware parts) I'll be happy to get it to work.

I found this video and the youtubers reason for using this old Mac Pro is inline with what I would like to use it for which is video editing

Again thanks for your responses I hope to get all the information before taking on this project.

 

[Amethyst1]

As far as OS X is concerned, the 1,1 cannot go past El Capitan.

 

[eyoungren]

Okay so eyoungren says you can run Mojave or Catalina. Amethyst1 says it only runs El Captain.

I said that because I made an assumption about your model of Mac. A MP 4,1 can be upgraded to a 5,1 and therefore run Mojave. My assumption was that this was your model.

It's not, you have a 1,1 so @Amethyst1 is correct.

 

[r6mile]

This is a great guide if you are looking to upgrade a Mac Pro - http://blog.greggant.com/posts/2018/05/07/definitive-mac-pro-upgrade-guide.html
(I have a 3,1 MP myself now so have found this helpful).

I wouldn't spend too much money on a 1,1 myself though - they are much more limited than the later Mac Pros, and do not hold their resale value very well. Once you upgrade the firmware to 2,1, and install El Capitan, your value upgrade options probably are (this is eBay UK prices, may differ where you are):

- a pair of X5355 2.66Ghz quad-core CPUs for about £20
- a somewhat newer GPU: I recently got a GT120 for £25 (so I can get a bootscreen when I need it)
- some cheap PC2-5300F RAM: you can get 32GB for only £25
- a SATA SSD (any will do, but an MX500 250GB is only £35 these days).

You may be able to recoup some of the cost of these by selling your existing GPU, CPU, RAM, etc. But this is probably as far as I'd go with this machine.

 

[Amethyst1]

Just go all in with a pair of X5365s, 64 GB RAM, a GPU that can do 4K at 60 Hz (e. g. GTX 980 Ti anyone?) and a PCIe SSD

 

[r6mile]

Probably overkill for a 1,1
Depends on how much you want to spend!

 

[Amethyst1]

Depends on how much you want to spend!

I want it all (highest upgrade in OS and hardware parts)

 

[1042686]

I enjoy my Mac Pro 1,1. It's one of two macs that I daily (the other is a macbook a1278) I am running El Cap on. Work great.

Luckily for me when I got it, it had 32gb ram and runs dual 3Ghz dualcore Xeons. I dropped some loose drives I had (unlike all of my PPCs I have not upgraded this box to a SDD as its quite zippy as is. The GPU was upgraded to Geforce GT240 that I had for years collecting dust from an old gaming PC build, so no boot splash screen but who needs that anyways

I think these would be pretty great linux or BSD boxes. Ive been meaning to try this for years but just no time to indulge personal hobbies at the moment. Still for free, what a great box

 

[Amethyst1]

Still for free, what a great box

Lucky you Still, even if not free, 1,1s are excellent machines and dare I say gateway drugs.

 

[1042686]

Lucky you Still, even if not free, 1,1s are excellent machines and dare I say gateway drugs.

Oh, mine wasn’t free but a great price none the less. I was referring to ops free one. For that price you can build up a pretty sweet box.

 

[AL1630]

I love my MP 1,1. It runs El Capitan very well and Windows faster than computers that are a decade newer. Mine has 16GB RAM (Might get more just because old RAM is so cheap), dual quad core Xeons, a Radeon 5770, and a 256GB SSD. Paired with an Apple cinema display, it's a great performer and looks awesome too. Considering the price you got it for, you can have less than 100USD into this thing and get a perfectly capable computer.

For graphics card, definitely avoid the 8800GT. I used to have one and the thing hit the 90 degree mark under load all the time. It's not a surprise that the fail easily.

 

[macpronoob]

Lucky you Still, even if not free, 1,1s are excellent machines and dare I say gateway drugs.

I'm going to guess once you successfully fix an old machine, you go looking for another machine to fix
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Today I was searching the web to get familiar with the parts to the Mac Pro 1,1. I came across this site macpartsonline.com that looks like a good start. I often shop for tech stuff at OWC website always happy with every purchased I've made.

What websites do you guys like to check out for parts when working on old computers?

 

[1042686]

Craigslist, letgo, shopgoodwill, eBay, here.

 

[Amethyst1]

I'm going to guess once you successfully fix an old machine, you go looking for another machine to fix

Yep. Or get a newer Mac Pro to overcome the 1,1's limitations.

 

[macpronoob]

Hey guys just following up on this old thread. I finally got around to working on this project. (I know, it's over a year lol )
So I upgraded the chips, Upgrade the graphics card. Did the flash. The old mac is now a 2,1 with quad cores.

Now the issue I have is the fans. Prior to the upgrades I gave it a test run just to see if it power on and works ok. Turns out this Mac Pro the last owner left the Harddrive 1 TB and memory ( 32 GB) . Save me a few dollars in that area. Works fine so I began the upgrades.

I erase the hard drive and reinstall Lion. Did the EFI. Everything is working fine but now the fans run at max speed and thats without opening any applications.

I google suggestions for this fix , follow instructions in regards to resetting SMC and still no good.

The last thing I want to do is open it up and take it apart as suggested by someone who said that the processor chips may not be seated properly or it could be a bad memory stick. Also I don't want to install El Capitan till this issue is resolved.

I want to see this to the end and use this machine. I gave it a good cleaning getting all the dust out and I have some extra hard drives laying around to bring it up to 3 hard drives for total of 3 TB.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance everyone.


*********quick update********

After posting this, I went ahead and open up the Mac Pro to check the cables. I removed the front fan and seeing the all the cables are attached. I then removed the memory and noticed the heat sink cable was not connected. After reconnecting I noticed it doesn't sit secured like the other heat sink cable so I applied some scotch tape to keep it from slipping out.

Turn on power and the fans did not roar like a jet engine. I experimented with the SMCFan Control and the fans responded to the different fan settings. So it looks like I'm ready to upgrade to El Capitan but for now I'll monitor for the next few days before making that next move.

 

[macpronoob]

Mission accomplished. Thanks to everyone for the information. This was a great learning experience.

I have another Macpro 1,1 I'm thinking of giving it away to a friend that does music. Not as good with parts like the one I worked on ( 1 TB HDD and 32 GB included) but no sense holding on to it for its taking up space. Though I am tempted on another DIY project. As mentioned before by Amethyst1 "... 1,1s are excellent machines and dare I say gateway drugs." 😁

I already begun transferring video footage I'm going to work on with Final Cut/ iMovie .

Next project is cleaning out my gaming consoles and replacing battery for iPhone 5s.

One last question for everyone. Though the Macpro is clearly outdated , I imagine there are some websites that preserve legacy apps that is compatible for different OS.

Any suggestions? I've been searching for an Adobe Premiere that would work for El Capitan and other apps as well. No luck thus far but I continue on.

 

[Amethyst1]

I've been searching for an Adobe Premiere that would work for El Capitan […]

The Macintosh Garden has Premiere Pro CS4. It’s a universal binary. Worth a try on El Cap I guess…

 

[eyoungren]

The Macintosh Garden has Premiere Pro CS4. It’s a universal binary. Worth a try on El Cap I guess…

I think El Cap is probably the highest that anything CS4 will work on. CS4 apps will load in High Sierra, but all you get is blank palettes. I've never used Sierra (10.12) so I don't know if it will work on that OS.

 

[B S Magnet]

I think El Cap is probably the highest that anything CS4 will work on. CS4 apps will load in High Sierra, but all you get is blank palettes. I've never used Sierra (10.12) so I don't know if it will work on that OS.

CS4 applications — at least the design series — will open in High Sierra, but the initialization time for, say, Photoshop CS4, is slower than the same when launching Photoshop CS6 — enough so at times that I launch CS6 even though I move fastest in CS4. (By contrast, Photoshop CS4 opens quickly in either of Snow Leopard or Leopard.)

I haven’t attempted running Premiere CS4 or any of the A/V suites side by side (that which exist in both CS4 and CS6, at least, such as OnLocation or After Effects), so I can’t really speak to those.