Install OpenCore Legacy Patcher on iMac 21.5" 2011

[antoniomac]

Hi, I have a 2011 iMac 27" with HD 6670
My only needs are
- Gimp
- Darktable for raw files
- Google Chrome
- Youtube
-VLC
The important thing is to overcome the obstacle of the high sierra

Is it recommended to install the opencore legacy patcher without replacing the video card?

thank you so much for your time

 

[james55]

Hi, I have a 2011 iMac 27" with HD 6670
My only needs are
- Gimp
- Darktable for raw files
- Google Chrome
- Youtube
-VLC
The important thing is to overcome the obstacle of the high sierra

Is it recommended to install the opencore legacy patcher without replacing the video card?

thank you so much for your time

I have installed OCLP on my 2011 iMac 12,1 and am now running Sonoma. It works pretty smoothly, even with my non-Metal graphics card, but please note that I had replaced the original hard drive with two SSDs and have 32GB of RAM. I can't comment on most of the software you are planning to use, though. I do know that Photos has issues when I click on an image or video (the library itself is fine). I have heard about people upgrading the video card for Metal, but I have no personal experience with this.

 

[antoniomac]

I have installed OCLP on my 2011 iMac 12,1 and am now running Sonoma. It works pretty smoothly, even with my non-Metal graphics card, but please note that I had replaced the original hard drive with two SSDs and have 32GB of RAM. I can't comment on most of the software you are planning to use, though. I do know that Photos has issues when I click on an image or video (the library itself is fine). I have heard about people upgrading the video card for Metal, but I have no personal experience with this.

Sonoma would be too much for me. Monterey would be optimal
If you watch a video do you find it fluid?
Having trouble opening a photo with the Finder?

 

[ToniCH]

If you watch a video do you find it fluid?
Having trouble opening a photo with the Finder?

I prefer Monterey over Sonoma and Ventura in vintage Macs.

My daily main machine is iMac 27" 2011 i7 + OCLP Monterey, 32GB RAM, SSD, original Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GPU. And my other iMac 27" runs the same but it has a i5 processor, 16GB RAM, SSD and maybe the Radeon HD 6770M 512MB? I used to run High Sierra in both but moved to OCLP Monterey and have stayed. Did try Sonoma in my other iMac but went back to Monterey there too.

- videos are fluid, youtube 1080P videos run without drops
- photos open in finder exactly like they do in any previous OS versions
- there are some apps that do not work as they require Metal, for example Maps. Not sure if Apple Photos is one too as I do not use it but remember somebody say something about it.
- VLC works fine
- I don't use Chrome but I use Brave. They are both Chromium based so I assume Chrome works too. Firefox obviously works as does Safari.

One place where I personally see the lack of Metal GPU is GIMP. The acceleration does not work so tool movement is jerky. But I only rotate, crop and do some other minor adjustments with it so it doesn't bother me.

 

[antoniomac]

One place where I personally see the lack of Metal GPU is GIMP. The acceleration does not work so tool movement is jerky. But I only rotate, crop and do some other minor adjustments with it so it doesn't bother me.

Monterey and Brave are bestsellers for me.
My main work is this:
I convert the NEF image to TIFF and then process it
Specifically this:
- Processing of colors and tones
- Crop parts of the image that I don't need
- Orientation of the sides of the image
Doable with GIMP or other software?
Thank you very much for your time

 

[ToniCH]

Doable with GIMP or other software?

I do not have experience with NEF and GIMP, even though I am Nikon and GIMP user.

But: https://thegimptutorials.com/how-to-open-nef-files/

I found GIMPs use logic a little confusing after using PS for decades (just like long time ago moving from Freehand to Illustrator or Pagemaker/Quark to InDesign) but once you learn it its not that bad. And considering the price its great! And nowadays I only do minor adjustments only so it's alright.

Like I said only when you move a tool it does not move smoothly but this applies to things like brushes etc. Not to crop tool etc.

Another possibility is of course Affinity Photo. I did buy it (the whole suite actually) recently but have not started to learn it. Maybe on my summer holiday... Note about NEF-files: Click (read the discussion, not just the title).

PS. and there is also the option to upgrade the GPU to Metal compatible. Not free though and installation difficulty depends on how much you have done earlier - for more experienced it might feel easy and for novices it might appear quite difficult.

 

[antoniomac]

Thanks for the feedback
I'll try it this weekend and let you know
Last question. Do Wifi and Bluetooth work well?

 

[ToniCH]

Last question. Do Wifi and Bluetooth work well?

Yes, they do.

And the Wifi/BT -hardware can be upgraded also, if you want some functionality they do not support originally. For example wifi does not support ac and BT does not support all that newer machines do. I only use kbd and mouse so I do not know the BT specifics. Maybe Airdrop or something?

Do backups and even drive cloning to external drive before you start though. That way you have a easy path to revert back in case you run into trouble.

 

[antoniomac]

I read that for airdrop you have to change the hardware.
I'm interested in the simple wifi connection with hotspot

 

[antoniomac]

Yes, they do.

And the Wifi/BT -hardware can be upgraded also, if you want some functionality they do not support originally. For example wifi does not support ac and BT does not support all that newer machines do. I only use kbd and mouse so I do not know the BT specifics. Maybe Airdrop or something?

Do backups and even drive cloning to external drive before you start though. That way you have a easy path to revert back in case you run into trouble.

Not for me!
I installed everything but it's really difficult to work with. I am back to 10.13.6 and will consider purchasing a GPU. Thank you for your support

 

[ToniCH]

Sometimes you need to do pram reset after full installation of OCLP + MacOS to enable BT, maybe wifi too. I've had to do it with Sonoma but others have worked without it for me this far.