Having established the lowest 64-bit CPU as the Celeron M 520, does that also make it the very slowest CPU that could potentially boot into Big Sur / Monterey, provided you've done all the other hacks?
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Mm 1,1-6,2 Maxing out the mini - 1,1/2,1 Mac mini CPU Upgrade Guide
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Oh, didn't know about that. But Core 2 Duos can go up to Monterey right? Hrutkay did it on a 2007 iMac with GPU mod.
Only 45nm (“Penryn”) Core 2 Duos can. 65nm (“Merom”) Core 2 Duos can’t.
You can upgrade a 2007 iMac (Socket P) to a 45nm CPUs, but not a 2006 iMac or Mac mini (Socket M). There are no 45nm CPUs for Socket M.
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Fair enough. Well in that case, I'd still love to see someone try El Capitan on a Celeron!
The only way that could be done is with MacPostFactor. So, yes it would El Cap but since there is zero graphics acceleration performance would be abysmal.
This is what also limits the Mac Pro 1,1/2,1 to El Capitan as well?
I'd presume so. Every other component is fully supported on Sierra, unless you have the 7300 GT which I don't think runs on El Cap either.
This is an interesting thread about attempts to bypass the Mac Pro 1,1/2,1 limitation with posts as recent as October. I'll post there or create a new thread rather than derail yours.
Had a quick read of it, seems like some definite progress is being made. Might be helpful to see if a Clovertown could at least post on a 3,1, but I'll leave that discussion to the MP forum.
Yup. There are both Merom and Penryn Core 2 Duos for Socket P.
Yup.
Wouldn't installing a newer supported operating system classify as "maxing out the mini" also?
I installed Windows 10 (I know, ewwww) on my 2,1 after maxing out the CPU with a T7600 CPU and it worked, although it was slow. I dual booted with Mac OS Lion on that machine. I later installed an SSD into the same mini and transferred the Lion OS but haven't figured out how to transfer the Windows installation from the old hard drive to the new SSD (Windows always is a pain in the ass isn't it).
Anyways, my 2 cents...
Fun Thread!
I installed Windows 10 (I know, ewwww) on my 2,1 after maxing out the CPU with a T7600 CPU and it worked, although it was slow. I dual booted with Mac OS Lion on that machine. I later installed an SSD into the same mini and transferred the Lion OS but haven't figured out how to transfer the Windows installation from the old hard drive to the new SSD (Windows always is a pain in the ass isn't it).
Anyways, my 2 cents...
Fun Thread!
Usually, maxing out a computer only implies hardware upgrades.
<irony>And installing Linux, which is the best upgrade you can do to a computer.</irony>
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In the past Norton Ghost always came up trumps whenever I needed to image a Windows installation but its been discontinued since 2013 and appears that compatibility with newer versions of Windows is problematic.
I've seen mentions of Winclone but have no personal experience with it.
I've got a question. First the intro:
Recently I've bought a defective Mac mini mid-2007 2.0GHz (listed as "parts only" and the PSU, the harddisk not included) for $12 shipping included. (I usually buy such cheap & defective Mac minis for fun & profit) When I got it, its parts were dismantled like this:
![mac-mini-2007.jpg]( "mac-mini-2007.jpg")
I've installed a Leopard 10.5.8 harddisk and 2GB DDR2 RAM and powered it on. It powered on but no chime sound came. I did a hard shutdown and it did hard shutdown so the logic board must have been fine. I assumed it must have been either a bad GPU or CPU preventing the chime sound. Bad GPU is a quite common occurance but abad CPU? You don't hear bad CPU often. Nonetheless, I decided to replace the Intel T7200 CPU with the T2300 which had been lying around in my drawer for a decade! Before removing the heat sink, I took a look at it from its side.
![cpu.jpg]( "cpu.jpg")
It's quite hard to photograph that section using a cellphone so it's a bit blurry. Whops! The pins of the CPU are seen from the side. The CPU seemed not fitted in the socket, it seemed angled to the right.
I removed the heat sink and I saw the CPU locking screw was close but not at the lock position. I rotated the lock screw to relieve the CPU from its angled position, put it back right into socket and rotated the lock screw to its lock position. Powered the Mac mini on again and wow! the chime sound came out and it booted without any issues. So the culprit was definitely that misfitted CPU.
The question is: How could that CPU have come to that angled/miplaced position at the first place? Did anybody ever see such misplaced CPU before?
Recently I've bought a defective Mac mini mid-2007 2.0GHz (listed as "parts only" and the PSU, the harddisk not included) for $12 shipping included. (I usually buy such cheap & defective Mac minis for fun & profit) When I got it, its parts were dismantled like this:
I've installed a Leopard 10.5.8 harddisk and 2GB DDR2 RAM and powered it on. It powered on but no chime sound came. I did a hard shutdown and it did hard shutdown so the logic board must have been fine. I assumed it must have been either a bad GPU or CPU preventing the chime sound. Bad GPU is a quite common occurance but abad CPU? You don't hear bad CPU often. Nonetheless, I decided to replace the Intel T7200 CPU with the T2300 which had been lying around in my drawer for a decade! Before removing the heat sink, I took a look at it from its side.
It's quite hard to photograph that section using a cellphone so it's a bit blurry. Whops! The pins of the CPU are seen from the side. The CPU seemed not fitted in the socket, it seemed angled to the right.
I removed the heat sink and I saw the CPU locking screw was close but not at the lock position. I rotated the lock screw to relieve the CPU from its angled position, put it back right into socket and rotated the lock screw to its lock position. Powered the Mac mini on again and wow! the chime sound came out and it booted without any issues. So the culprit was definitely that misfitted CPU.
The question is: How could that CPU have come to that angled/miplaced position at the first place? Did anybody ever see such misplaced CPU before?
No idea. The only things I can think of is the heatsink was/is too loose or the socket retention clip isn't working properly.
Also, the mini would not have booted up with the T2300 in it, as the 2007 mini requires a firmware patch to run Yonah-based CPUs.
Without the firmware patch, the 2007 (2,1) mini is locked to Merom chips and the 2006 mini (1,1) is locked to Yonah chips. No boot screen, nothing displayed on a monitor, no post codes, no diag sounds.