What have you done with an early Intel recently?

[mslilyelise]

I work as a teacher at my former middle school. Yesterday I came into possession of the old band teacher's 15" 2010 MBP, a fantastically beat up base model! Many, many miles and battle scars on this machine but she still works beautifully. I took it home, completely gutted it to clean every nook and cranny, refreshed the thermal paste, installed new feet, put in an SSD and 8GB of RAM and it's running High Sierra like a champ! I may play around with upgrading it later using OCLP but I'm really loving how HS runs on this first-gen i5

Even the original battery is holding up great at around 500 cycles and 80% health, not too shabby for a battery that hit its 13th birthday this summer!

Hey congrats on the find! These little machines are amazing. I had a 2010 unibody MacBook for a time I was doing the same with and it was hanging in there pretty well.

If you do decide to make the jump to OCLP, one thing to note. If your machine doesn’t support Metal, a lot of apps aren’t going to work. Safari and Pages/Numbers/Keynote and most system utilities are fine, but Maps, AppleTV, Find My, and others won’t work properly. High Sierra despite its EOL status may still be the most complete functional experience, but it depends what you want to do with the machine.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Hey congrats on the find! These little machines are amazing. I had a 2010 unibody MacBook for a time I was doing the same with and it was hanging in there pretty well.

If you do decide to make the jump to OCLP, one thing to note. If your machine doesn’t support Metal, a lot of apps aren’t going to work. Safari and Pages/Numbers/Keynote and most system utilities are fine, but Maps, AppleTV, Find My, and others won’t work properly. High Sierra despite its EOL status may still be the most complete functional experience, but it depends what you want to do with the machine.

Yeah, I actually use OCLP on a number of my Macs these days. I tend not to use it on non-metal machines unless I know what specific use I’m going to use the machine for. For example I have Ventura on my 2011 15” MBP because all I use it for is a web browser and screen sharing sessions and I value the up to date experience over losing metal-dependent apps that I don’t need on it.

I’ve used HS for years as my go-to OS for more focused creative writing computers, which is likely what I’ll use this machine for. I’ve been using my 2009 13” MBP for this for a while now and it’ll be nice to have the bigger screen and a bit more performance to tote around ^_^

 

[swamprock]

Got my pile of Macbooks today, except they were (2) 2,1 (1) 3,1, and (1) 4,1, and not what the seller described them as (5,2s). I got the 4,1 (a 2.1ghz model) to work, but the others are dead. Oh well. I'm not out very much (less than $50), and I didn't have to pay shipping, so I'll keep them for parts and just not leave any feedback. At least the keyboards *look* nice (who knows if they work but they aren't chipped at all) and there are other parts I can use...

 

[avz]

I always thought that in that promo video where Jony Ive talks about manufacturing process of the first Late 2008 aluminum unibody MacBooks Apple should have used the Terminator original opening credits musical score as a background music.

Late 2008 unibody is still fighting against evil AI to save humanity.

 

[theMarble]

but I'm really loving how HS runs on this first-gen i5

I wonder how it would run on Snow Leopard. It's not as fast as Sandy Bridge (which feels just as snappy on SL as an M1/M2 would on Ventura), but still has major IPC/single-core improvments over Penryn, which was getting old back then.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Got my pile of Macbooks today, except they were (2) 2,1 (1) 3,1, and (1) 4,1, and not what the seller described them as (5,2s). I got the 4,1 (a 2.1ghz model) to work, but the others are dead. Oh well. I'm not out very much (less than $50), and I didn't have to pay shipping, so I'll keep them for parts and just not leave any feedback. At least the keyboards *look* nice (who knows if they work but they aren't chipped at all) and there are other parts I can use...

From experience, I really think it's worth contacting the seller and confronting them with the evidence that they misdescribed the items and see what they say. You might receive a partial refund. Is there any chance that you'll share images of the pile for us to see please?

I always thought that in that promo video where Jony Ive talks about manufacturing process of the first Late 2008 aluminum unibody MacBooks...

This one?

Apple should have used the Terminator original opening credits musical score as a background music.

This wouldn't be hard for someone adept with iMovie/FCP/Premiere to accomplish.

Late 2008 unibody is still fighting against evil AI to save humanity.

Apparently there was a Quadra 840AV prototype that played the drum pattern from Fiedel's track instead of the Mac chime.

 

[avz]

From experience, I really think it's worth contacting the seller and confronting them with the evidence that they misdescribed the items and see what they say. You might receive a partial refund. Is there any chance that you'll share images of the pile for us to see please?



This one?

This wouldn't be hard for someone adept with iMovie/FCP/Premiere to accomplish.



Apparently there was a Quadra 840AV prototype that played the drum pattern from Fiedel's track instead of the Mac chime.

Yes. Fiedel's track is great and captures the mood of an uncertain robotic future perfectly well.

 

[Tratkazir_the_1st]

Anybody played games "Terminator: Future Shock" & "Terminator: SkyNet" ? It was funny to play by LAN, especially if you choose Terminator skin\model.

 

[swamprock]

From experience, I really think it's worth contacting the seller and confronting them with the evidence that they misdescribed the items and see what they say. You might receive a partial refund. Is there any chance that you'll share images of the pile for us to see please?

These were supposed to be the last of the white polycarbonate, non-unibody Macbooks with the Geforce 9400M graphics chip; at least that's how the seller had listed them using eBay's description form. I'm not going to worry about it, as they do have many usable parts for my other Macbooks (such as unchipped top cases/keybaords, all of which I tested and are working fine, displays, and other smaller parts), and I didn't pay very much.

 

[DCBassman]

Ok, today I'm expecting suction cups to be delivered, so it's SSD time for the 27" C2D iMac. It will also, I don't doubt, need a jolly good clean...
As the optical drive is somewhat iffy, I may plonk another SSD in there as well. Mind you, I suspect the optical drive is iffy because it's full of fluff!
If I can contain my excitement, I'll take some photos.

 

[ToniCH]

You don't actually need the suction cups but they do make the job easier.

Do you have some adapters for the SSD's so they will sit in their place properly? I find the duct tape -method a bit too brutal to my taste.

Ps. be careful with the screen flat cable socket on the mb, its fragile. Trust me, I know.

 

[DCBassman]

Do you have some adapters for the SSD

No adaptor, here's what I did. Left the optical drive alone for now.
First off, got the big bits off and had a look inside. Yuk!

Next (after a good hoovering), removed HDD and took the bracket and pins off. I then used a screw of the correct thread and length to do this:

That's it, just the one screw. It's light enough that I'm happy it will stay put. the anti-vibration pad helps too.
Refitted all bar the glass (more cleaning to do), and a fresh install of High Sierra is running well. Now to clean the display and front glass, and I'm done.

 

[ToniCH]

Yeah, these things really suck dust in but do not blow it out. They need cleaning every few years to keep cooling at top efficiency.

You'll need the Macs Fan Control now that you no longer have the HD heat sensor working. I think the fan will otherwise blow at full speed.

Some time ago I took my old late 2009 C2D iMac 27" and started upgrading it, but then I broke the display connector. Machine is only worth about 50€ so I didn't even try to source a new connector. I sold the GPU and powersupply boards for 100€ and rest is still waiting for somebody in need for a display panel or glass.

 

[DCBassman]

You'll need the Macs Fan Control now that you no longer have the HD heat sensor working. I think the fan will otherwise blow at full speed.

Not needed for this. It's not a sensor, but a trigger from the hard drive. No hard drive = no trigger = no problem! Just needs shorting out, job done.

 

[ToniCH]

Not needed for this. It's not a sensor, but a trigger from the hard drive. No hard drive = no trigger = no problem! Just needs shorting out, job done.

I don't know how a trigger controls fan speed and reports drive temp to the system - unless its a sensor? You know, like internal temp sensor within the drive. OWC, iFixit and probably others sell aftermarket temp sensors for late 2009 iMacs to use when not using Apple HDD. I think using the optical drive sensor with the SSDs is also a working solution. I cannot remember what I used years ago when I upgraded to SSD in my late 2009 (i5 version) but for sure I didn't buy the aftermarket one. Shorting some pins -thing was around back then too but I think I didn't find instructions on how to do it so I probably installed the sensor from optical drive.

Nowadays I just use the Macs Fans Control when doing SSD swaps.

 

[DCBassman]

Nowadays I just use the Macs Fans Control when doing SSD swaps.

The only problem with that solution, if I'd needed it, is that most of the time, the machine doesn't run MacOS, but Linux. I'll do some research into fan control software on that platform.
As for the trigger/sensor thing, the HDDs are not modified for Apple, so far as I'm aware. And even those with a proper (external) sensor - there's no specific HDD fan, so the trigger/sensor merely feeds an input into the overall fan control system.
This particular machine has only once wound up its fans to audibility, and that was certainly due to being full of dust!
To further reduce worries about the mod, changing to SSD removes a significant heat source, always a plus.

 

[ToniCH]

Oh, yes - Linux. I missed that, sorry. Take a look at the answers to this question. Mint is based on Ubuntu so it should apply.

The article I linked above said that every hdd Apple installed to those iMacs had a custom thermal sensor lead for the specific hdd as there was no standard for the internal sensor wiring/connector. So, the external sensor is easier solution.

there's no specific HDD fan, so the trigger/sensor merely feeds an input into the overall fan control system.

But there is. The iMac late 2009 has 3 fans, optical, CPU and a HDD fan.

Here are mine, straight out of my broken Late 2009 iMac 27" C2D 3.06GHz:

 

[DCBassman]

Aha! Every day is a school day! Thanks for that, filled a hole in my knowledge. I may then, at some point, get hold of an external sensor and install it, just for completeness. I have to go back in at some point to strip and clean the optical drive, replace the PRAM cell, E8600 cpu, etc, etc, so I'll add the sensor to the shopping list!

 

[ToniCH]

Like you said the SATA SDD doesn't get hot much, so the software solution is probably good option here.

I am running a 2011 iMac here and both my HDD and optical fans are now running at 1200+rpm and I they are almost totally silent. The hdd fan max speed is 5500rpm, listening to that would not be fun.

 

[FNH15]

Repatriated my aunt's old Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 13". I've upgraded it over the years, so it has a 480GB Crucial SSD and 10 GB of RAM.
Has a replacement Apple battery from 2014 with 93% health. Forgot how nice the keyboard was...

Was so jealous of this machine back in the day - I was on a 2008 MacBook (white) which is archaic in comparison. It's pretty fast on HS!
Set it up to dual-boot Windows 7 so I can run some BMW diagnostic software on it and Need For Speed: Most Wanted

 

[coolrock1]

Repatriated my aunt's old Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 13". I've upgraded it over the years, so it has a 480GB Crucial SSD and 10 GB of RAM.
Has a replacement Apple battery from 2014 with 93% health. Forgot how nice the keyboard was...

Was so jealous of this machine back in the day - I was on a 2008 MacBook (white) which is archaic in comparison. It's pretty fast on HS!
Set it up to dual-boot Windows 7 so I can run some BMW diagnostic software on it and Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Did you have to use 32 bit Windows 7?

 

[theMarble]

Did you have to use 32 bit Windows 7?

Not the OP, but no. You can install and use 64-bit Windows 7 without trouble if you've got a Mac with a 64-bit EFI, so 2007 MBP or later. I've got Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit dual-booting on my 2009 MBP which I installed from the DVD. Works great.

 

[avz]

I have found that when you use an active mini Displayport to HDMI adapter cable you have to unplug and let it rest for awhile. I don't know if it is just a static build up but it does not like to be on 24/7. There is no such issue with a passive mini Displayport to HDMI adapter cable.

 

[ToniCH]

I am in process of installing updates to my MacBook Pro i7 2.5GHz 27" curved display special.

 

[DCBassman]

The past couple of days playing with operating systems for the iMac 10,1 27":
There appears to be a problem in Linux, various flavours, where the mouse cursor disappears, usually when doing things in browsers. This is not apparently hardware-specific. Anyhow, it got old fast. Went from Mint 21.2 to 21.1 and no difference. Went completely sideways to MX Linux, which i like, but dammit, Jim, the bug is still there. Sod it. Re-installed High Sierra. Then patched it up, properly this time, to Catalina, and it's working well. So of course, I'll try and break it by OCLP to Big Sur...
Downloading as I type.