Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

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centex

Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

I did a clean install of Mint 17 XFCE on a 20" iMac, model A1224. Everything worked except wireless.

I found that it uses a Broadcom BCM4321 chipset. I activated the wireless with: sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

Rebooted after install and the wireless worked. For bluetooth I installed Blueman and Cheese for the webcam. To improve music playback I installed Pulse Audio Equalizer. DVD's work as well.

The only feature that did not work is the eject key for cd's/dvd's on the Apple keyboard. One can eject by opening the cd/dvd icon on the desktop when the disc loads.

Really pleased how well everything works. This is like having a new computer. Next step will be adding a SSD and it should really fly. Boot-up takes a llittle over a minute with a standard hard drive. With a SSD it will be seconds to boot.

Congrats to the Mint team for such a great distro. Really surprised how easy it was to have Mint run on my iMac.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
ofb

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by ofb »

Good stuff. Hard to believe these are old already.

So I'm curious, how well does it does it do these?

- play Youtube HD at full screen

- play downloaded HD videos at full screen in a standalone player

- Google Earth

here's a youtube to save thinking about it. 'Brutal Legend - Official E3 Trailer [HD]'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxnho1yTjRo

EDIT: also Google Streetview. It bogs lesser system after a while. Here's a link to Geoguessr, which is a more entertaining way to spend several minutes in streetview to test as system.
https://geoguessr.com/
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

I was using Chrome as the browser. Youtube worked, Vimeo, etc.
Even played a DVD movie and it worked.
Rebel450
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Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by Rebel450 »

Hello,
so it is a 2.0 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo" processor iMac.
Can you pls tell
is the Superdrive supported
can you change screen resolution
is the built in cam working
is the sound in/out - put working
and
what did you use for installation;
32 or 64bit
how did you install
DVD or USB stick

Thx in advance for your reply

PS:
Why don't you use the latest OSX release, btw ...
Become a Linux Mint donor today
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

I cannot say about Superdrive. I don't have one. You could try a live DVD and see if you can read the Superdrive.

Loaded via DVD player. It seems that to load from a usb you have to use the usb ports in the back, does not want to boot from the keyboard usb ports.(I need to validate this.)

Yes camera works, I used Cheese. I have not tried to change screen resolution but I will check later.

Sound output works, will check input later for you. Seems with Mint there is not enough bass when playing music on the Mac. I loaded Pulse Audio Equalizer; that helped on the sound output.

I used the 32 bit distro.

I had the latest version of OSX but I really like linux. I can navigate better with linux than in the Mac enviroment. I could never find files. Also not easy to delete programs in the Mac.

I did not like being locked into the Apple universe. Was not flexible as compared to Google Play, etc. I like Open Source, I don't have to wait for Cupertino to come up with fixes etc.

Next week I am going to pull the hard drive and install a 120 gig SSD. That should really speed up the Mac.

For folks looking for a good machine I am going to recommend a used Mac, install Mint and at a later date put in an SSD. I saw a Mac like mine for sale for $150 and was working. Catch a SSD on sale and for about $225-$250 total you can have a first rate setup with a very good monitor.

My granddaughter is doing some research at this moment on the Mint Mac. She really likes it and was very pleased when she saw Mint on the Mac.
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

It does show the different screen resolutions. It nailed the correct resolution for the Mac monitor.
apemanx

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by apemanx »

Centex, I have a 2008 late aluminium Macbook here.
with lastest Mac Software.
How stable will you say your Mint is one the Mac?

I really want to put mint on it, BUT the Mac is the most stable and the most relaible piece of equipment in my house. Never fails on anyting I want it to do... but its old and new stuff just run so slow on it that it's not worth running?
Rebel450
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Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by Rebel450 »

apemanx wrote:Centex, I have a 2008 late aluminium Macbook here.
with lastest Mac Software.
How stable will you say your Mint is one the Mac?

I really want to put mint on it, BUT the Mac is the most stable and the most relaible piece of equipment in my house. Never fails on anyting I want it to do... but its old and new stuff just run so slow on it that it's not worth running?
Hi apemanx,
you can try an additional installation;
important:
The installer MUST ask you for an additional installation, because an existing Mac OS X already installed was found -
if that part is not appearing -
then cancel the Mint installation and
try on an external drive ...
Just to be sure, that your proper OS will be untouched - so you do not have any risc.
Kdrgds.
Become a Linux Mint donor today
Rebel450
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Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by Rebel450 »

centex wrote:I cannot say about Superdrive. I don't have one. You could try a live DVD and see if you can read the Superdrive.

Loaded via DVD player. It seems that to load from a usb you have to use the usb ports in the back, does not want to boot from the keyboard usb ports.(I need to validate this.)

Yes camera works, I used Cheese. I have not tried to change screen resolution but I will check later.

Sound output works, will check input later for you. Seems with Mint there is not enough bass when playing music on the Mac. I loaded Pulse Audio Equalizer; that helped on the sound output.

I used the 32 bit distro.

I had the latest version of OSX but I really like linux. I can navigate better with linux than in the Mac enviroment. I could never find files. Also not easy to delete programs in the Mac.
I did not like being locked into the Apple universe. Was not flexible as compared to Google Play, etc. I like Open Source, I don't have to wait for Cupertino to come up with fixes etc.
Next week I am going to pull the hard drive and install a 120 gig SSD. That should really speed up the Mac.
For folks looking for a good machine I am going to recommend a used Mac, install Mint and at a later date put in an SSD. I saw a Mac like mine for sale for $150 and was working. Catch a SSD on sale and for about $225-$250 total you can have a first rate setup with a very good monitor.
My granddaughter is doing some research at this moment on the Mint Mac. She really likes it and was very pleased when she saw Mint on the Mac.
:-) thx for prompt answer and your efforts to reply to all my questions; it was helpful in any case...
PS: Your granddaughter is on the right way °°°°
... since Steve Jobs has gone, Apple is not the same anymore - even Maverick (+Yosemite, too) sucks,
they are driving on a very commercial road nowadays :-(
Become a Linux Mint donor today
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

Apemanx

It is rock solid stable on my iMac. You might download then burn an iso file and run a live DVD on your system. That way you can see if there are any hang-ups. My wireless was a Broadcom B43 series. Don't know if your system has a Broadcom chipset. If it does then the wireless might not work. I have in the first post the command for installing the Broadcom B43 drivers: you input that command in terminal. You could Google the linux command for checking your wireless chipset. Then you will input command in the terminal window in Mint(like dos in windows).

The only other thing was I loaded Pulse Audio Equalizer to improve the sound in the iMac.

With a standard HD takes about a minute to boot. Once up it is fast, to me faster than when I was running the Apple OS.
As I stated on an earlier post, I like the open source approach. No more being at the mercy of whatever Apple decides. This next release of the OS will obsolete a lot of good Intel based Mac products.

Another neat thing is the way you can customize your desktop. You might Google, "custom linux desktops". Check out Compiz and the desktops that you can setup in Compiz.

My regular desktop has a Samsung SSD runing Mint 17 XFCE. It flies. Next week I will put a SSD in the iMac; that should make it fly compared to the standard HD.

Again try a live DVD and test your system to your satisfaction.

Centex
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

Rebel450

Have not had a chance to input audio from another source. Will check out the built in mic and hook-up an external audio source. Will post the results.
apemanx

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by apemanx »

Thanks guys! This is very good news....
I've been eyeing the Mac and the LM17 Xfce dvd...
I'll of course try the live CD thoroughly!..

But so far with Mint and 17 (and LMDE (after breaking it completely through and through)) i'm very comfortable with them... now its just the DO!
:D
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

apemanx

The line in and line out for audio works. Checked it out this morning.

I will post the results in improvement after I install the SSD next week.

Centex
Rebel450
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Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by Rebel450 »

... so all in all good news :P
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centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

I checked the built in mic. It works. I had to go to Pulse Audio Volume Control, then "Input Devices" and change port to microphone. Works like a champ. Was testing on Google with the "Ok Google" command. Worked. You can set the volume sensitivity with the microphone volume slider.

This is working so well I am going to see if I can get a used Intel iMac off of Craigslist and convert it to Linux Mint. I have a granddaughter that would be able to get a lot of use out of a Minty Mac for school work. Now to see about getting one for a good price.

This has been fun seeing what can be done with Mint on an Apple product.
Rebel450
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Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by Rebel450 »

centex wrote:This has been fun seeing what can be done with Mint on an Apple product.
Thx again for coming back to my former questions;
so, means: Everything is working under Mint on the core duo intel iMac !

just by the way:
Here is running Mint17 Qiana Cinnamon 64bit on an Acer Notebook, model: Aspire 5750G ... Perfect, too
Am very happy that I kicked the dam Windows away from this (now very fast) computer - and ban it out of the house forever ;-)

Now my several old world Macs are waiting for an up to date OS; yep - I have some (fun making) work to do on them ...

Kdrgds :mrgreen:
Become a Linux Mint donor today
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

Rebel450
Keep us posted on your results with your Macs.

Context for my
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

The eject key does not work on the Apple keyboad. The other keyboard commands did not work that Apple recommends for OSX.

This works: open terminal and type eject and then return. The disc pops right out.

Oh, I played with the remote. The up(+) increases volume, down (-) deccreases volume. Left arrow, sometimes will load the last page on the web. The menu button did not work.

The play/button worked for DVD's and CD's in VLC; it did not in Banshee and Clemintine.
ofb

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by ofb »

I'm amazed at how well everything works. Great thread.
The eject key does not work on the Apple keyboad.
In Mate there is a Menu application called Keyboard Shortcuts. Eject ought to be mappable.

EDIT: possible known bug
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... bug=669285
and possibly it gets more interesting
http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/MacB ... ey_problem
centex

Re: Mint 17 XFCE on iMac, IT WORKS

Post by centex »

That was my next step is to map the keyboard, i.e. eject key. The keyboard is the aluminum, wired, Apple keyboard. Maybe someone else has done this and can provide the command to make the change.
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