Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Impreza31

macrumors newbie
Oct 15, 2011
2
0
No, you can't run it. Core Solo/Duo minis upgraded with Core 2 Duos can after some hacking, but since your processor can't be replaced you're stuck on Snow Leopard indefinitely.

That's a shame. I was under the impression you could from reading the thread. I didn't realise it was a hack for upgraded machines, and not for those standard ones also.

Hmm, time for a new Mac then :rolleyes:
 

weckart

macrumors 603
Nov 7, 2004
5,836
3,515
You'll need to backup before installing, and then replace your Platformsupport.plist file after installing, and before restarting. Don't use software update but instead download the update from the web and install it manually.

Software update is perfectly fine. No need to go around the houses. You will just have to delete that plist after updating for it to boot up. Every major point update will recreate it, unfortunately.

For those that feel adventurous, you can also flash the firmware to 2,1. Details also via Macbidouille linked above. The hardware in Mac Mini 1,1 and 2,1 are pretty much identical save for the cpu. Updating the firmware allows you to install more than 2GB of RAM, which will help with Lion. I did this on mine with very little effort. Unfortunately, one of my memory banks had already died months ago so I can't test the memory side of things but other posters to that forum confirm that it works. This upgrade is also reversible.

If you want to try, read post 86 onwards.
 

TyShawn

macrumors 6502
Jul 17, 2010
262
8
Software update is perfectly fine. No need to go around the houses. You will just have to delete that plist after updating for it to boot up. Every major point update will recreate it, unfortunately.

For those that feel adventurous, you can also flash the firmware to 2,1. Details also via Macbidouille linked above. The hardware in Mac Mini 1,1 and 2,1 are pretty much identical save for the cpu. Updating the firmware allows you to install more than 2GB of RAM, which will help with Lion. I did this on mine with very little effort. Unfortunately, one of my memory banks had already died months ago so I can't test the memory side of things but other posters to that forum confirm that it works. This upgrade is also reversible.

If you want to try, read post 86 onwards.

Site looks to be in French.
 

niewiesznic

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2009
117
6
Internet
Edit: I have done flashing. Everything is OK. I could put 4GB of RAM. My mac mini 1.1 flashed to 2.1 and upgraded to C2Duo 2,16GHz is screaming with 4GB of RAM. I have made my machine last another year or more :)
I have not upgraded to 10.7.2 yet, so I don't know if the combo update is recognising 2.1 or 1.1. I have heard it is recognising 1.1 :(
 
Last edited:

habi00

macrumors newbie
Apr 6, 2010
6
0
Edit: I have done flashing. Everything is OK. I could put 4GB of RAM. My mac mini 1.1 flashed to 2.1 and upgraded to C2Duo 2,16GHz is screaming with 4GB of RAM. I have made my machine last another year or more :)
I have not upgraded to 10.7.2 yet, so I don't know if the combo update is recognising 2.1 or 1.1. I have heard it is recognising 1.1 :(

What if you made an empty file by that plist name and made it read only? would the system still overwrite it? If that doesnt work maybe you could make the directory a link instead to a RO small partition?
 

niewiesznic

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2009
117
6
Internet
I have updated to 10.7.2, so it looks like you have to delete plist file every time you update system to higher version.
It works anyway :)
 

shoebobs

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2008
241
105
FYI I updated to 10.7.2, but before performing the update, I backed up my modified plist file. After updating to 10.7.2, I was getting the boot error, so I booted from a different drive and overwrote the plist file again. That fixed it.

So if you plan on updating to 10.7.2, back up your modified plist file ahead of time, or plan on deleting the new one created afterwards.

Everything seems to be working fine.

Side note - I have an SSD in mine and it runs amazing for a 6 year old Mac. I would suggest upgrading to SSD if you can.
 

Hexley

Suspended
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
I have a Early 2006 Macbook Pro 1.83GHz Core Duo with 2GB of RAM and I was wondering if it is worth the effort of hacking Lion to work on this machine. I have newer machines but I would want it to also run Lion.

I am thinking of doing the following

- Boot the 2006 Mac into Target Disk mode
- Install Lion via FW400 from a late 2011 Macbook Pro
- Edit the plist as described in the thread to allow Core Duo machines to run Lion
- Done

Is the procedure sound or am I doing it wrong?

Lion does not have the PPC overhead so does Lion 10.7.2 perform better than Snow Leopard 10.6.8?
 
Last edited:

nicklad

macrumors 6502
Jun 13, 2007
258
3
Nottingham, UK
I have a Early 2006 Macbook Pro 1.83GHz Core Duo with 2GB of RAM and I was wondering if it is worth the effort of hacking Lion to work on this machine. I have newer machines but I would want it to also run Lion.

I am thinking of doing the following

- Boot the 2006 Mac into Target Disk mode
- Install Lion via FW400 from a late 2011 Macbook Pro
- Edit the plist as described in the thread to allow Core Duo machines to run Lion
- Done

Is the procedure sound or am I doing it wrong?

Lion does not have the PPC overhead so does Lion 10.7.2 perform better than Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

You would need to unsolder the Core Duo processor from the motherboard and then successfully solder a compatible Core 2 Duo back. Good luck with that! You would need access to a BGA Rework Station and the knowledge of how to use one, or somebody who does.

The only overhead was running PPC software on an Intel Mac with Rosetta, not the other way around.
 

Hexley

Suspended
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
You would need to unsolder the Core Duo processor from the motherboard and then successfully solder a compatible Core 2 Duo back. Good luck with that! You would need access to a BGA Rework Station and the knowledge of how to use one, or somebody who does.

The only overhead was running PPC software on an Intel Mac with Rosetta, not the other way around.

Not interested with doing any hardware modifications. Just willing to do plist editing.

Is this posiible as the thread has 12 pages of various hardware.
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,800
The Black Country, England
Lion does not have the PPC overhead so does Lion 10.7.2 perform better than Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

My 2.4 C2D iMac with 4GB RAM ran great with Snow Leopard but often feels sluggish with Lion. I've also got exactly the same MBP as you and there's no way I'd attempt to run Lion on it, even if it was just an simple hack to install it.
 

nicklad

macrumors 6502
Jun 13, 2007
258
3
Nottingham, UK
Not interested with doing any hardware modifications. Just willing to do plist editing.

Is this posiible as the thread has 12 pages of various hardware.

No, it's not possible with a Core Solo or Core Duo as they're both 32-bit processors. Lion requires a 64-bit processor. Many aspects of it are compiled for 64-bit only. There is no way to make it run without changing the hardware.
 

Hexley

Suspended
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
No, it's not possible with a Core Solo or Core Duo as it's a 32-bit processor. Lion requires a 64-bit processor. Many aspects of it are compiled for 64-bit only. There is no way to make it run.

Great! Thanks Will upgrade it from Leopard to Snow Leopard. :D
 

nicklad

macrumors 6502
Jun 13, 2007
258
3
Nottingham, UK
My 2.4 C2D iMac with 4GB RAM ran great with Snow Leopard but often feels sluggish with Lion. I've also got exactly the same MBP as you and there's no way I'd attempt to run Lion on it, even if it was just an simple hack to install it.

Have you considered doing a clean install of Lion on your iMac?
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,800
The Black Country, England
Have you considered doing a clean install of Lion on your iMac?

Lion's a bit of a resource hog and my iMac is getting on. I suppose I could clone the HD and try a fresh install but I don't think it would make that much difference.

Anyway, if I was going to put myself through the hassle of a clean install I think I'd be tempted to just put Snow Leopard back on. :D
 

Hexley

Suspended
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
Lion's a bit of a resource hog and my iMac is getting on. I suppose I could clone the HD and try a fresh install but I don't think it would make that much difference.

Anyway, if I was going to put myself through the hassle of a clean install I think I'd be tempted to just put Snow Leopard back on. :D

What I normally is this

- Time machine backup of the Mac
- Clean install of Lion
- Restore from time machine of only User files
- Manually install the apps one by one. Chances are most of them are out of date
 

OverSpun

macrumors 65816
Sep 12, 2006
1,121
82
California
I never decided to attempt upgrading my 1.66 intel core but I thought it was just a bit too old to handle lion. Its still doing its job from SL since its just a little media center minus that the optical is broken and the FW400 doesnt work anymore either... I rarely used the optical and I'm shocked how it broke, especially that the genius bar wouldnt replace it while it was under warranty and I didn't have time to take it back 10x. :rolleyes:
 

niewiesznic

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2009
117
6
Internet
I have mac mini 1.1 flashed to 2.1 with changed cpu to 2.16 C2D. I have installed succesfully 10.7.2. I just wonder if 10.7.3 works.
 

BurningSnowman

macrumors newbie
Oct 13, 2011
3
0
I have mac mini 1.1 flashed to 2.1 with changed cpu to 2.16 C2D. I have installed succesfully 10.7.2. I just wonder if 10.7.3 works.
Working for me. My overzealous auto-update routine had already run the update and I think had also rebooted without issue - although I moved PlatformSupport.plist before doing a further reboot just in case.
 

shoebobs

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2008
241
105
I have mac mini 1.1 flashed to 2.1 with changed cpu to 2.16 C2D. I have installed succesfully 10.7.2. I just wonder if 10.7.3 works.

Can anybody point me to instructions on how to flash my 1.1 mini to 2.1? I've read I need to do this in order for it to recognize 3GB of RAM, but can't find instructions...

Thanks
 

niewiesznic

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2009
117
6
Internet
10.7.4 also works, but removal of plist file is needed (when used COMBO file). I have heard that when using auto-update no other moves are needed.
 

EpiV1988

macrumors newbie
Jun 27, 2012
23
0
Benton, AR
iTunes

Is there any way to install iTunes 10.6.3 without the error message? I'm running IOS 6 Dev Preview :D, and i would like to actually use this install primarily. iTunes is a necessity.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2012-06-27 at 1.14.45 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2012-06-27 at 1.14.45 PM.png
    680.7 KB · Views: 272
  • Screen Shot 2012-06-27 at 1.07.20 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2012-06-27 at 1.07.20 PM.png
    94.8 KB · Views: 259
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.