To El Cap or not to El Cap (Mac Pro 1,1)

[tpivette89]

So, I have the possibility of acquiring a Mac Pro 1,1. This will NOT be my main machine (I have a DP 2009 flashed to 5,1 for that). As everyone knows, these machines can normally only run OSX 10.7 Lion. However, there are hacks that can get this older hardware to run up to 10.11.6 El Capitan. Upon searching, I found a thread containing no less than 166 PAGES of information regarding this modification.

Whew... that's a lot of reading. Workarounds, etc, detailing up to the security updates for Meltdown/Spectre, etc... I guess what I'm asking is: it worth it to do this hack to run a more modern version of OSX on older hardware if you already have a few machines that run it natively? Or should I just keep it a Snow Leopard/Lion machine and install Windows 10 (the wife likes using Windows as that's what she uses at work).

Suggestions from those whom have done the hacks and have been living with them for the last few years?

 

[mikas]

I can't answer if it is worth it to you, but for me it's been quite worth it.

I've got a 1,1 upgraded to 2,1 and just after that I upped processors to 2x4-core 2,66GHz xeon's, and it's configured with 32GB of RAM now, and a 500GB SSD as a startup disk. And it's been worth it. I too have a lot of other machines in my household/work, a couple of Mac Pro 4,1, 2x 2012 Minis, a iMacs etc. with both Sierra and High Sierra.

Mac Pro is a good 10.6 machine, I know. It's just that almost no new software works anymore with 10.6 or even with 10.7. For example;
- I can run Mac Pro 1,1(2,1) as a rendering node for the latest cinema 4D R19 because of El Capitan.
- DropBox does not work in Snow Leopard and earlier anymore, so that's another bonus with El Capitan.
- I can use ArchiCAD 21 on it, not supported by 10.9 or earlier systems

I dont think it is worth it if you don't intend to upgrade RAM to a reasonable amount first, and put an SSD in. Without these it would become a step back, actually. Processor upgrade is not necessary, but it helps to utilize the machine even further. They (til.ex. X5355) don't cost much anymore, merely euros or possibly ~20€ a pair, I believe.

 

[tpivette89]

I can't answer if it is worth it to you, but for me it's been quite worth it.

I've got a 1,1 upgraded to 2,1 and just after that I upped processors to 2x4-core 2,66GHz xeon's, and it's configured with 32GB of RAM now, and a 500GB SSD as a startup disk. And it's been worth it. I too have a lot of other machines in my household/work, a couple of Mac Pro 4,1, 2x 2012 Minis, a iMacs etc. with both Sierra and High Sierra.

Mac Pro is a good 10.6 machine, I know. It's just that almost no new software works anymore with 10.6 or even with 10.7. For example;
- I can run Mac Pro 1,1(2,1) as a rendering node for the latest cinema 4D R19 because of El Capitan.
- DropBox does not work in Snow Leopard and earlier anymore, so that's another bonus with El Capitan.
- I can use ArchiCAD 21 on it, not supported by 10.9 or earlier systems

I dont think it is worth it if you don't intend to upgrade RAM to a reasonable amount first, and put an SSD in. Without these it would become a step back, actually. Processor upgrade is not necessary, but it helps to utilize the machine even further. They (til.ex. X5355) don't cost much anymore, merely euros or possibly ~20€ a pair, I believe.

Thats where I'm at... OSX 10.7 (Lion) just isn't supported anymore. I like using OSX, but don't know if constantly updating the hacks or performing workarounds with each new security update is worth it.

If I got this Mac Pro 1,1, I would have either 8GB (8 x 1GB sticks) of 800mhz RAM, or 16GB (8 x 2GB 1066 RAM) to install in it. Plus a 120GB PNY SSD. This would be my wife's main machine, replacing a early 2009 iMac that she currently uses.