Yet Another Mac

Discussion
1

Hey team, I imagine our cup runneth over with macs at the moment but I’ve got a mid 2011 IMac that I’ve been tasked with rehoming. I’ve wiped the 1 TB hard drive but trying to reinstall the OS proved a disproportionate hassle so I’ve installed Linux instead (latest PopOS distro). It has an i5-2400 cpu and a dated but not totally garbage Radeon HD 6970m GPU. If memory serves it has a wimpy 4 GB DDR3 memory, but the memory doors are really accessible so an easy upgrade if desired.

If there is any use for it in the space I am happy to donate. If not, happy to give it to someone else. I can bring it in tomorrow and leave it for pick up.

2

@CNCtechs could we use that machine for the big cnc or is it incompatible with the super box?

Also wondering if these macs are less prone of dusting up in the wood shop

3

I don’t like Apple, but besides that personal note… I don’t think vcarve run on mac… We need to check… If it does, why not…

1 Like
4

Its pc only… plus we are sharing the screen there to save space… any issues with the current setup?

5

I thought for the Linux cnc machine. The Mac has Linux installed as i understood so you wouldn’t have to suffer a superior operating system @Federico :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

@asander1 No issues, only the concern I heard of the current Linux machine needing to be boxed up because of the dust it sucks in.

1 Like
6

Gotcha, yeah probably not good for Linux CNC, this needs very low latency, not sure if the Mac qualifies or not… We should blow the dust out of the pcs regularly, or put some shielding, as long as it doesn’t cause overheating…

7

The enclosure is in the list of things to do, we haven’t reached the point yet

2 Likes
8

Yea no worries! Lets blow it out with air, but otherwise seems to be okay!

1 Like
9

imacs absolutelly hate dust.

I think i might upgraded the cpu on the imac in the space to an i7, perhaps I can do the same with this one if needed?

what screen size is it?

as a reminder, the laser pc it’s absolutelly ancient, it’s probably the slowest computer at the space, but that’s up to @lasertechs really.

2 Likes
10

I agree it could go to laser cutter

11

As said… Macs are the “diva” of the computers… :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like
12

For what it’s worth, I don’t think there is anything stopping us from installing windows on it as it is an intel based mac.

13

second time is the start of a tradition

1 Like
14

Worth noting that the CPU is not supported in Windows 11 - https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/Intel-Core-i5-2400-not-compatibile-Win-11/m-p/1293533

15

Ruby/Job Control doesn’t support macOS - so would have to be running Windows.

Providing there weren’t any weird driver issues might be good for the laser station?

16

We’re looking at options for the laser PC - we’d prefer a computer that has a CPU supported by Windows 11 so we’ll be less likely to hit the road-bump we have recently with the current PC.

1 Like
17

We could get a Framework Motherboard for £299 and 3D print a case.

18

https://frame.work/gb/en/products/mainboard-11th-gen-intel-core?v=FRANFG000B