iM 4,1-14,4 Diary of a freebie A1224 iMac7,1: a project to improve it to its outer limits

[3166792]

Set up as a kitchen computer where it really seems to be a perfect fit. I also paired a spare Magic Keyboard and just need to get another mouse for a full wireless setup.

On to my first question: to install an SSD, I’ll need an adapter sled for the 3.5 inch slot. What about the thermal sensor? Does that require any kind of modification or will it “just work”?

 

[MultiFinder17]

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Set up as a kitchen computer where it really seems to be a perfect fit. I also paired a spare Magic Keyboard and just need to get another mouse for a full wireless setup.

On to my first question: to install an SSD, I’ll need an adapter sled for the 3.5 inch slot. What about the thermal sensor? Does that require any kind of modification or will it “just work”?

I'll be honest, in all the old iMacs that I've upgraded to SSDs, I've never used an adapter sled. I usually just double-sided tape it to the back of the iMac which has always worked well enough. It's a desktop, it doesn't move too much

The 2008s don't use a thermal sensor built into the hard drives like the later iMacs, so you'll be fine. Enjoy your 24" iMac! I used one of these for years in my classroom as my main Mac, then as my announcement machine by the door. I still have it around as a drop-in spare should anything ever happen to one of my other machines.

 

[3166792]

Picked up a secondhand Magic Mouse 2 from Craigslist so I’ve got a proper clean set up now.

 

[MultiFinder17]

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Picked up a secondhand Magic Mouse 2 from Craigslist so I’ve got a proper clean set up now.

For what it's worth, these machines run High Sierra beautifully using the Dosdude1 patcher found here. I've been running HS on my 2008 24" for years now, and other than the APFS patch at startup you'd be hard pressed to tell that it wasn't natively supported.

 

[3166792]

For what it's worth, these machines run High Sierra beautifully using the Dosdude1 patcher found here. I've been running HS on my 2008 24" for years now, and other than the APFS patch at startup you'd be hard pressed to tell that it wasn't natively supported.

I had previously patched a Mac mini up to Catalina with a dosdude1 patcher. Considering that most software today is High Sierra minimum, maybe I should consider patching this.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I had previously patched a Mac mini up to Catalina with a dosdude1 patcher. Considering that most software today is High Sierra minimum, maybe I should consider patching this.

Go for it! I’ve used the Mojave and Catalina patchers before as well, and they’re a bit iffier of an experience compared to the High Sierra patcher I’ve found. They work well enough but with some clear compromises, none of which I’ve found with the high Sierra patcher.

 

[B S Magnet]

For what it's worth, these machines run High Sierra beautifully using the Dosdude1 patcher found here. I've been running HS on my 2008 24" for years now, and other than the APFS patch at startup you'd be hard pressed to tell that it wasn't natively supported.

(As I haven’t gotten this far yet with my A1224,) Is the AFPS patch part of the dosdude1 OCLP and/or High Sierra patcher, or is it a separate thing entirely?

 

[MultiFinder17]

(As I haven’t gotten this far yet with my A1224,) Is the AFPS patch part of the dosdude1 OCLP and/or High Sierra patcher, or is it a separate thing entirely?

It's installed by the Dosdude1 patcher automatically on machines that don't natively support APFS booting. His tools are fantastic!

 

[3166792]

Go for it! I’ve used the Mojave and Catalina patchers before as well, and they’re a bit iffier of an experience compared to the High Sierra patcher I’ve found. They work well enough but with some clear compromises, none of which I’ve found with the high Sierra patcher.

That's exactly what I'd be looking for with this iMac. As close to an official release as is possible. I definitely found that the Catalina patcher for the 2011 mini was pretty finicky and felt a bit hacky.

Great suggestion!

 

[B S Magnet]

It's installed by the Dosdude1 patcher automatically on machines that don't natively support APFS booting. His tools are fantastic!

He is, without question, a wizard, the bane of Apple. I hope he doesn’t read this remark because I really don’t want this going to his head (and I really, really hope Apple don’t try to poach him to halt his community tinkering).

 

[MultiFinder17]

That's exactly what I'd be looking for with this iMac. As close to an official release as is possible. I definitely found that the Catalina patcher for the 2011 mini was pretty finicky and felt a bit hacky.

Great suggestion!

Good luck! If you need any help with it, let me know - I've been running Dosdude1'd High Sierra macs for years now and would love to help another person show Apple what for with their old Macs

 

[MultiFinder17]

He is, without question, a wizard, the bane of Apple. I hope he doesn’t read this remark because I really don’t want this going to his head (and I really, really hope Apple don’t try to poach him to halt his community tinkering).

Hehehe, IDK, even if it goes to his head I think he deserves to think highly of himself and his work for the old-ass Mac community

 

[Amethyst1]

[…] and I really, really hope Apple don’t try to poach him to halt his community tinkering).

They might employ him, as they did with ALS.

 

[3166792]

Went swimmingly! So far, so good. This thing definitely needs an SSD, though...

 

[3166792]

Done! Easy install and it was good to clean out all the dust which had built up since 2008.

Before:

After:

With an SSD it's downright zippy!

 

[MultiFinder17]

Done! Easy install and it was good to clean out all the dust which had built up since 2008.

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Before:
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After:
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With an SSD it's downright zippy!

Those iMacs are great to work on, and as you’ve found out for yourself now, quite peppy with an SSD! So many of these older machines are held back so severely by their spinning disks and can be brought up to respectable usability with a cheap SSD.

As I’ve often said, most normal people don’t care about how powerful a computer is, just how fast it feels.

 

[3166792]

The funny thing is that I built a desktop with very similar specs back in 2008 and I sold it years ago because it was just bordering on unusable. It had a Core 2 Quad, 8 GB of RAM, a SATA III SSD and a gaming GPU and despite all that, this 'lesser' spec iMac with its dual core, 4 GB and only SATA II manages to be usable even in 2023.

Apologies to @B S Magnet for hijacking your thread

 

[3166792]

So far I can report that most everything works pretty well with one exception: the microphone is a bit hit-or-miss. I have definitely had it working before but more often than not it doesn't. I guess this is a bug. I have seen the iSight camera/microphone listed as a bug with the Mojave patcher but not High Sierra. I suppose it's the same bug?

 

[B S Magnet]

The funny thing is that I built a desktop with very similar specs back in 2008 and I sold it years ago because it was just bordering on unusable. It had a Core 2 Quad, 8 GB of RAM, a SATA III SSD and a gaming GPU and despite all that, this 'lesser' spec iMac with its dual core, 4 GB and only SATA II manages to be usable even in 2023.

Apologies to @B S Magnet for hijacking your thread

Nah, it’s totally okay. I’d prefer to keep this thread open to everyone upgrading and modifying hardware/firmware stuff on their iMac7,1.

(Besides, I’m doing my upgrades on the slooooow cycle of when I have spare time and spare coin to do everything I have in mind for mine.)

So far I can report that most everything works pretty well with one exception: the microphone is a bit hit-or-miss. I have definitely had it working before but more often than not it doesn't. I guess this is a bug. I have seen the iSight camera/microphone listed as a bug with the Mojave patcher but not High Sierra. I suppose it's the same bug?

Hard to know, to be honest, unless someone’s already reported running into this same issue in HS on the 7,1 before you (it could be buried somewhere on a stackexchange thread, for all we know). There are a couple of people on this forum who might have a more concrete hunch (dosdude1 and LightBulbFun are my perennial “they probably know what’s up” folks for really unusual/rare issues/quirks like this).

 

[3166792]

An update: microphone issue was completely my doing. I took the frame off and adjusted the microphone cable, making sure it was plugged in correctly and not twisted when I put the case back on. All fine now on High Sierra.

I also after much pain and gnashing of teeth managed to get the latest supported versions of Pages and Numbers installed from the App Store.