[SOLVED] Linux Mint on an old Apple iMac

[GA11]

Hello - this my first post in these forums!

I'm just an amateur computer user who last week was presented with a small Dell computer by my daughter - "dad, can you fix this"? It was running Windows 10 but only has 32GB RAM. There was less than 3GB of disk space free - the new Update from Microsoft said it needed 8GB to install it. Long story short, the laptop now has Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon installed and it's running like a dream. That was my learning curve!

My principal computer is now a new 27in Apple iMac. My 'old' 24in 2008 (model) iMac died and because it is now 'vintage' neither Apple nor appointed Apple authorised agents would touch it. A local computer shop diagnosed that the hard drive had failed but wanted much money to repair it. I decided to do the job myself! I've installed a brand new 1TB drive obtained from Western Digital through Amazon UK. However, I'm having great difficulty installing another operating system so checked my RAM with MemTest. Crucial are going to replace the RAM free of charge under their lifetime guarantee and I'm currently awaiting delivery of same.

In the meantime, I've had a 'play' with trying to put Mint on the machine (using the RAM which came with the iMac back in 2009). This I have done and have been able to 'surf' on the Internet!

However, after a few minutes, the image freezes and shortly thereafter the screen goes grey. The same thing happened when I tried to 'install' the software - I never achieved that. In both scenarios, the machine felt somewhat hotter than under normal operations previously.

Is there any practical reason why Linux will not install satisfactorily on Apple hardware?
Does anyone have any other idea of what else may be the problem?

Any help and/or advice will be much appreciated.

David

[HaveaMint]

CW started a link on light weight linux distributions for older machines which could be useful for you. I am sure one of the more knowledgeable volunteers will jump in and give you help soon.
Here is that link.. viewtopic.php?f=61&t=278526

[Pierre]

you did well to get rid of win-10 on that small Dell computer ..
- there is a strong trend towards using the new style eMMC HardCard for the diskdrive,
and the newest eMMC drives are now around 128 - 256Gb in size.

but, the real issue is that these type of PCs are custom designed for the Windows System,
and as such, are often tricky to install any Linux System onto them.


thus that new 27in Apple iMac is in the same category, as well,
as these machines, too are a custom designed system.

in both cases, to get to diagnose, exactly what hardware is installed into your machine,
in order to get any Linux System working correctly:
inxi -Fxz
can be typed into Terminal - in order to determine, just what hardware is involved.
- on a working Linux System - that is, even if that is just a Newly Booted Live Environment.

[HaveaMint]

When you do as Pierre suggested paste it in the above </> to make it easier to read.

Code: Select all

Like this

[GA11]

Having a practice on my daughter's little Dell laptop!

lizzie@lizzie-Inspiron-11-3168:~$ inxi Fxz
CPU~Dual core Intel Celeron N3060 (-MCP-) speed/max~513/2480 MHz Kernel~4.15.0-20-generic x86_64 Up~1 day Mem~831.7/1891.9MB HDD~NA(-) Procs~208 Client~Shell inxi~2.3.56

It works!

Thanks.

[Moem]

No, that's inxi Fxz. You were asked for inxi -Fxz. There is a difference, you'll see!

[GA11]

Oops! Sorry about that!

Here's what you were after I believe:-

Code: Select all

lizzie@lizzie-Inspiron-11-3168:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: lizzie-Inspiron-11-3168 Kernel: 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64
           bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
           Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: portable System: Dell product: Inspiron 11-3168 v: 1.0.7 serial: N/A
           Mobo: Dell model: 0RV7G6 v: A00 serial: N/A
           UEFI: Dell v: 1.0.7 date: 08/18/2016
Battery    BAT0: charge: 32.0 Wh 111.4% condition: 28.7/32.0 Wh (90%)
           model: SMP-SDI4.2 DELL 8NWF35C status: Full
CPU:       Dual core Intel Celeron N3060 (-MCP-) 
           arch: Airmont rev.4 cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 6400
           clock speeds: max: 2480 MHz 1: 945 MHz 2: 496 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.05hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 400 (Braswell)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series High Def. Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-20-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath9k bus-ID: 01:00.0
           IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Atheros usb-ID: 001-017
           IF: null-if-id state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-)
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: N/A size: 31.3GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 26G used: 17G (67%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
           ID-2: /boot size: 705M used: 152M (24%)
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 2.04GB used: 0.03GB (2%)
           fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 26.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 266 Uptime: 1 day Memory: 925.6/1891.9MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56

==

I'll do my best to carry out the same exercise on my old iMac before it locks up. If successful, I'll post the data here!

David

[GA11]

Hey!

I managed to get a photograph before the iMac locked-up and before the screen went grey!

Old iMac info from Terminal (Linux) 2.jpg

There's a much better resolution image here: https://i.postimg.cc/wTM0PydZ/Old_i_Mac ... _Linux.jpg

Does anything untoward 'jump out' to anyone?

Any clues/advice welcomed.

David

[GA11]

When you do as Pierre suggested paste it in the above </> to make it easier to read.

Code: Select all

Like this

I really appreciate your post, 'HaveaMint'. Sadly, though, I don't understand what you wanted me to do.

D.

[HaveaMint]

Selection_004.jpg

When you select </> in your reply you can insert your code in it which allows large code entries to be put in a scrollable box.
Sorry if I was as clear as mud.

[GA11]

I have never used same anywhere before! I'd not even noticed it if I'm totally honest.

Will you give me an example of how it could/should be used?

I'm still just a little confused (but thank you for clarifying! )

D.

[Moem]

Will you give me an example of how it could/should be used?

I've edited your inxi report by adding the code tags. That's one of the most frequent uses.

[GA11]

Will you give me an example of how it could/should be used?

I've edited your inxi report by adding the code tags. That's one of the most frequent uses.

WOW! Thank you! I now understand.

Do you have any idea of what one needs to type into Terminal on an Apple machine to get similar information? ('Your' code didn't 'work'!)


D.

[GA11]

Just in case anyone is mildly interested, here's the article I read which prompted me to test the RAM in my old iMac:-

https://www.macworld.com/article/236204 ... ix-it.html

I did also ask for help and assistance here:-

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8556174/url

Sadly, there was no response, but folk here might enjoy watching the video to discover how one Apple user solved a similar problem to mine!

Before seriously considering taking similar action, I will wait for my new, replacement, RAM to arrive from Crucial, install it and see if it makes ANY difference to the current situation. All this is quite fun when one has other computers with which to play - but that wasn't always the case; faults which prevented me from 'computing' used to drive me nuts!

David

[GA11]

you did well to get rid of win-10 on that small Dell computer ..
- there is a strong trend towards using the new style eMMC HardCard for the diskdrive,
and the newest eMMC drives are now around 128 - 256Gb in size.

but, the real issue is that these type of PCs are custom designed for the Windows System,
and as such, are often tricky to install any Linux System onto them.

thus that new 27in Apple iMac is in the same category, as well,
as these machines, too are a custom designed system.

in both cases, to get to diagnose, exactly what hardware is installed into your machine,
in order to get any Linux System working correctly:
inxi -Fxz
can be typed into Terminal - in order to determine, just what hardware is involved.
- on a working Linux System - that is, even if that is just a Newly Booted Live Environment.

Thank you so much for your input, Pierre.

Just in case you, or anybody else reading this thread is interested in my previous attempt to elicit expert views on this matter, here's a link to my discussion on the Apple Support Communities (ASC) forums:-

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8544819/

It's all been a good learning experience!

David

[Moem]

Do you have any idea of what one needs to type into Terminal on an Apple machine to get similar information?

Nope, sorry... never used one of those. But your favourite search engine might be able to cough something up.

[GA11]

Do you have any idea of what one needs to type into Terminal on an Apple machine to get similar information?

Nope, sorry... never used one of those. But your favourite search engine might be able to cough something up.

You were right, Moem!

I found this: https://www.itechlounge.net/2013/09/mac ... -terminal/

Amazingly comprehensive data found!

Thank you.

[Moem]

That looks like a great find, well done!

[GA11]

Hello again!

My new RAM arrived today and is now installed in my old iMac.

I used my thumb drive containing Linux Mint to boot my machine. This time the machine did not get hot and the 'picture' remained 'on screen'. So I decided to attempt to INSTALL Linux Mint - and install it did! It's 'up and running' with a very long Ethernet cable connecting to my router in the next room. I confirm that the computer is 'on-line'!

Can anyone reading here help me to get this old iMac, now running Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon, to connect wirelessly to my router?

David

Note: I may still have a problem when I shut down the machine and then want to start up again. Last time, I got the quick flash of something like @£*& boot /&%@ and I had to reinstall again.