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You just need to tackle that weird disappearing mouse -thing you had. I've never personally experienced it even though I have installed Mint to various Macs manymany times.
Indeed. What's more weird is it only happens once Mint is installed. I couldn't reproduce it in a live environment. Haven't tried Mint on the 2011 yet, something for later today.
 
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OK, Mint off the menu for the 2011 iMac. Mouse cursor be damned, it was far worse than that, Jim. Mint will not, in any way shape or form, talk to a Magic Mouse or Keyboard. Really annoying. So, next on the list is Manjaro. Absolutely no problem whatever, so that is what that machine will run. At this point I am getting it sorted and updated, then I will clone the spinner onto an SSD ready for the surgery required to install it.
Once that is done, it will be time to start messing with the 27" 2009 again.
 
Not bad all MBP+NevBolt
It doesn't allow me to edit 4K videos, but it runs smoothly.
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APPLE RUINED DISK UTILITY AND RENDERED IT USELESS!

d3141b6667966166c0a57c49b25aeffde1def5c7.gif


Earlier today I attempted to set up a new HDD in a USB 3.0 enclosure using Disk Utility on my 2011 MBP and High Sierra. The erasure and partitioning process repeatedly failed, so I switched to my 2010 MBA and Catalina where I received the -69874 error message. Something told me to try a much older version of macOS and I rebooted the MBA into Snow Leopard to see what would happen.

vyET20y.png


Exactly as I suspected, the newer versions of Disk Utility were the cause of my difficulties. As you can see, 10.6 DU allowed me to format the drive...

DSjGQy8.png


...and then partition it into 4x 1TB portions.

uATsDJk.png


Early Intel macOS to the rescue. :)

This is a ridiculous state of affairs. It's unbelievable that later versions of the operating system are unable to carry out a task as simple as formatting a hard drive and that I'm forced to use a release from 2009 as a solution. (Though it appears Yosemite is the last incarnation of macOS that isn't crippled in this manner.) Imagine if I'd abandoned Snow Leopard or just concluded that the HDD was faulty?

If anyone has suggestions as to a GUI based program that I could use with High Sierra and beyond to facilitate what was once possible with Disk Utility, please share!
 
APPLE RUINED DISK UTILITY AND RENDERED IT USELESS!

d3141b6667966166c0a57c49b25aeffde1def5c7.gif


Earlier today I attempted to set up a new HDD in a USB 3.0 enclosure using Disk Utility on my 2011 MBP and High Sierra. The erasure and partitioning process repeatedly failed, so I switched to my 2010 MBA and Catalina where I received the -69874 error message. Something told me to try a much older version of macOS and I rebooted the MBA into Snow Leopard to see what would happen.

vyET20y.png


Exactly as I suspected, the newer versions of Disk Utility were the cause of my difficulties. As you can see, 10.6 DU allowed me to format the drive...

DSjGQy8.png


...and then partition it into 4x 1TB portions.

uATsDJk.png


Early Intel macOS to the rescue. :)

This is a ridiculous state of affairs. It's unbelievable that later versions of the operating system are unable to carry out a task as simple as formatting a hard drive and that I'm forced to use a release from 2009 as a solution. (Though it appears Yosemite is the last incarnation of macOS that isn't crippled in this manner.) Imagine if I'd abandoned Snow Leopard or just concluded that the HDD was faulty?

If anyone has suggestions as to a GUI based program that I could use with High Sierra and beyond to facilitate what was once possible with Disk Utility, please share!

Snow Leopard is undefeated.
 
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APPLE RUINED DISK UTILITY AND RENDERED IT USELESS!

d3141b6667966166c0a57c49b25aeffde1def5c7.gif


Earlier today I attempted to set up a new HDD in a USB 3.0 enclosure using Disk Utility on my 2011 MBP and High Sierra. The erasure and partitioning process repeatedly failed, so I switched to my 2010 MBA and Catalina where I received the -69874 error message. Something told me to try a much older version of macOS and I rebooted the MBA into Snow Leopard to see what would happen.

vyET20y.png


Exactly as I suspected, the newer versions of Disk Utility were the cause of my difficulties. As you can see, 10.6 DU allowed me to format the drive...

DSjGQy8.png


...and then partition it into 4x 1TB portions.

uATsDJk.png


Early Intel macOS to the rescue. :)

This is a ridiculous state of affairs. It's unbelievable that later versions of the operating system are unable to carry out a task as simple as formatting a hard drive and that I'm forced to use a release from 2009 as a solution. (Though it appears Yosemite is the last incarnation of macOS that isn't crippled in this manner.) Imagine if I'd abandoned Snow Leopard or just concluded that the HDD was faulty?

If anyone has suggestions as to a GUI based program that I could use with High Sierra and beyond to facilitate what was once possible with Disk Utility, please share!
I’ve warned people that while the intel era had it’s issues near the end it is an era I will miss dearly.

For me it was my favorite stretch of the mac. My first mac was the iMac G3 tangerine and while I loved it the lack of software support on PowerPC macs just never improved.

The first run of intel MacBooks had their fair share of problems, but you could see things changing quickly. You could boot into windows/Linux if you couldn’t get a specific piece of software on macOS. Upgrading components was super simple all the way up to 2012 on MacBooks. The Mac Pro truly felt like an all metal box full of potential.

As time went on you could see Apple going back to its old stubborn ways. Closing off upgrade paths, even tighter controls of macOS over time. The amount of prompts when attempting to do something on Ventura is quite different than what I’m used to and I don’t see that changing.

My hope is that our fears is having software installs strictly limited to what is offered on the Mac App Store never comes. Luckily what we are seeing out of Europe is giving me hope that governments are actually looking out for the consumers based on what we’ve been seeing on the iPhone.
 
The first run of intel MacBooks had their fair share of problems, but you could see things changing quickly.
My first-ever Mac was a mid 2007 white MacBook and that thing lasted me about 6 years before I finally upgraded to something else (namely a 2010 white MB). I think by the time I stopped using it as my daily I had maxed out the RAM to 3 GB and stuck a 500 gig HDD in it. I do miss those days when you could remove the battery and the only things stopping you from upgrading the RAM and storage were three captive screws and a metal bracket.

...though I will say I don't miss the plastic case as it was looking pretty haggard by the time I stopped using it LOL
 
APPLE RUINED DISK UTILITY AND RENDERED IT USELESS!

d3141b6667966166c0a57c49b25aeffde1def5c7.gif


Earlier today I attempted to set up a new HDD in a USB 3.0 enclosure using Disk Utility on my 2011 MBP and High Sierra. The erasure and partitioning process repeatedly failed, so I switched to my 2010 MBA and Catalina where I received the -69874 error message. Something told me to try a much older version of macOS and I rebooted the MBA into Snow Leopard to see what would happen.

vyET20y.png


Exactly as I suspected, the newer versions of Disk Utility were the cause of my difficulties. As you can see, 10.6 DU allowed me to format the drive...

DSjGQy8.png


...and then partition it into 4x 1TB portions.

uATsDJk.png


Early Intel macOS to the rescue. :)

This is a ridiculous state of affairs. It's unbelievable that later versions of the operating system are unable to carry out a task as simple as formatting a hard drive and that I'm forced to use a release from 2009 as a solution. (Though it appears Yosemite is the last incarnation of macOS that isn't crippled in this manner.) Imagine if I'd abandoned Snow Leopard or just concluded that the HDD was faulty?

If anyone has suggestions as to a GUI based program that I could use with High Sierra and beyond to facilitate what was once possible with Disk Utility, please share!
No suggestions, unfortunately, but just sitting here thinking about it, I tend to agree. My first forays into macOS were with Lion, and once I'd got my head around the GUI, it worked fine. Using DU in High Sierra has been much more problematic.
 
No suggestions, unfortunately, but just sitting here thinking about it, I tend to agree. My first forays into macOS were with Lion, and once I'd got my head around the GUI, it worked fine. Using DU in High Sierra has been much more problematic.

I've found a solution. :)

A while ago I bought NTFS for Mac because it was recommended by this community as the best choice for creating NTFS partitions under macOS but as I was reminded during a web search for alternatives to Disk Utility, you can use NTFS for Mac to create other types of partitions. As a test, I chose an empty partition on my newly established USB 3.0 4TB HDD.

k9gFNMV.png

8jjf0Ae.png


The result? Success!

X78aVWe.png


The partition is recognised by High Sierra and works normally with all the expectations of functionality.

ochQDS0.png


So, there we have it. NTFS for Mac operates as an auxiliary version of Disk Utility but unlike Apple's program it actually works properly. It's flabbergasting to discover that a third party product provides the functionality that's broken within a basic (and crucial!) feature of the manufacturer's operating system. That Apple never bothered to correct this is indicative of a steep decline in the quality control of their software but when you're releasing a new version of the OS on an annual basis, how attentive can you really be?

I'm going to install it on every machine I use which runs High Sierra or later and hopefully this info will be of help to others who are struggling similarly due to Apple dropping the ball.
 
I recently had similar problem with an USB3.x external case, suddenly I could not format a new ssd with it. I finally solved it by swapping the SSD disk to another USB3.x -case. Maybe USB3.x specification is not a standard etched in stone and some use wider spec than what is supported by MacOS? As Apple drops and adds support to various things in every OS-version support might vary between them. Then some third party software might not rely on MacOS driver support alone but load their own drivers additionally and thus offer better support?
 
My first-ever Mac was a mid 2007 white MacBook and that thing lasted me about 6 years before I finally upgraded to something else (namely a 2010 white MB). I think by the time I stopped using it as my daily I had maxed out the RAM to 3 GB and stuck a 500 gig HDD in it. I do miss those days when you could remove the battery and the only things stopping you from upgrading the RAM and storage were three captive screws and a metal bracket.

...though I will say I don't miss the plastic case as it was looking pretty haggard by the time I stopped using it LOL
I still own at least a dozen whitebooks. Maybe 5 of them are from 2006, which were the most problematic starting out. From 2007 till 2015 Apple was on an incredible run with their laptops. Getting incrementally better with each iteration despite closing off all user upgrades.

They lost their way in 2016 with that ridiculous 12” MacBook and the keyboard problems, but since 2020 have started finding their stride again.

Gently cleaning the white MacBooks with magic erasers dipped in a warm water-pine sol solution works wonders.
 
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Stripped out the 21.5" 2011 iMac to install i5-2500S and SSD. What a PITA...
Took it nice and easy, iFixit up on the 27" to follow, got the logic board out and did the change.
Getting it back in? Took twice as long. Went over it again and again until it all went together properly.
Connected screen, secured it with just a couple of screws, just in case, and fired it up. Ooops, no RAM... Fired it up again, bingo! Nice quick boot, logged in, mouse and keyboard connected, all good. Logged out, shut down.
Fitted remaining screen screws, cleaned, cleaned the glass, installed it.
Dead as a dodo.
:mad::mad::mad:
 
If Craig Federighi gets his way and no regulatory enforcement manages to stop the company from heading in that direction…
I personally won't accept that. In many ways we've given Apple a pass for their actions on the iPhone because of the head start they had. If they do this on the mac it is no longer an open, personal computer. At that point remove terminal access as well as far as I'm concerned.

Windows/Linux can be frustrating, but with enough tinkering you can get things pretty stable.
 
Stripped out the 21.5" 2011 iMac to install i5-2500S and SSD. What a PITA...
Took it nice and easy, iFixit up on the 27" to follow, got the logic board out and did the change.
Getting it back in? Took twice as long. Went over it again and again until it all went together properly.
Connected screen, secured it with just a couple of screws, just in case, and fired it up. Ooops, no RAM... Fired it up again, bingo! Nice quick boot, logged in, mouse and keyboard connected, all good. Logged out, shut down.
Fitted remaining screen screws, cleaned, cleaned the glass, installed it.
Dead as a dodo.
:mad::mad::mad:
I haven't opened an iMac in many years because of how difficult it has become to service them. With it not being as popular as their other computers it's tough justifying the time spent on those these days.

They are still incredibly nice to use, but man what a pain.
 
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I haven't opened an iMac in many years because of how difficult it has become to service them. With it not being as popular as their other computers it's tough justifying the time spent on those these days.

They are still incredibly nice to use, but man what a pain.
Understood. At least I'm wasting no-one's time but my own. But I'll tell you this: I am not going inside again! I have some work to do on the 27", but there's a bit more room to wave your elbows about in that.
Anyhow, turned out that I'd somehow managed to unseat the power button connector. So all back together and running well now.
 
Windows/Linux can be frustrating, but with enough tinkering you can get things pretty stable.
Unless you fiddle unnecessarily, the days of unstable Windows is decades past, and there's plenty of Linux distros that 'just work'. MacOS has no leadership on any aspect of operating systems. If you like it, great. If you like something else, great.
These days, it's merely a choice. There are no leaders in the field at all. If anything, the way macOS needs ever-more-powerful hardware to run speaks volumes about either its inefficiency or it being as tied into the planned-obsolescence model. No other system has this limitation.
 
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Understood. At least I'm wasting no-one's time but my own. But I'll tell you this: I am not going inside again! I have some work to do on the 27", but there's a bit more room to wave your elbows about in that.
Anyhow, turned out that I'd somehow managed to unseat the power button connector. So all back together and running well now.
I've been toying with the idea of grabbing 2 small iMacs or other all-in ones to replace my old 1080P monitors in my work area. Do I need the extra functionality? Nope, but that's never stopped me from doing things. It's incredible how bad the navigation is on some of these smart televisions are till this day...
 
Unless you fiddle unnecessarily, the days of unstable Windows is decades past, and there's plenty of Linux distros that 'just work'. MacOS has no leadership on any aspect of operating systems. If you like it, great. If you like something else, great.
These days, it's merely a choice. There are no leaders in the field at all. If anything, the way macOS needs ever-more-powerful hardware to run speaks volumes about either its inefficiency or it being as tied into the planned-obsolescence model. No other system has this limitation.
This is true, Apple really has me locked with the smallest of features tightly integrated to work great across macOS/iOS. The simple copy/paste and notes are always being used.

I even placed a direct browser based shortcut to apple notes on a windows desktop and that slightly different experience got me to delete it within days after fiddling around with it.
 
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This is true, Apple really has me locked with the smallest of features tightly integrated to work great across macOS/iOS. The simple copy/paste and notes are always being used.

I even placed a direct browser based shortcut to apple notes on a windows desktop and that slightly different experience got me to delete it within days after fiddling around with it.
That's the thing, if you're used to it, and like it, great! It works for you. I'm quite new to macOS, so plainly I find it harder at the moment, but I'm definitely getting more familiar with it. Doubtless it can be a tremendous boon to have the whole ecosystem properly synced. I'm lucky enough to be retired, and these things are literally toys. I can afford time to become obsessed, or I can sit back and try to be objective.

I want that 21.5 to be my daily driver, but I cannot yet let go of my oh-so-familiar Windows 10 box!
I'll get there.
 
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