Beta’s obligatory thread

[BetaC]

I would say that everything before macOS 10.14 could be considered "old" at this point, with 10.14 and 10.15 being in a sort of transitional phase. macOS 11 and up, while still somewhat similar in basic form, look and feel quite different than anything that came before it, and this is only the beginning of the changeover, relatively speaking.

c

You really could argue that Mavericks and older is old, really. It's there that it started really started looking more like iOS, even though the iOS 4 look was present already in Lion.

 

[CC_333]

You really could argue that Mavericks and older is old, really.

Yeah, good point.

It was released in 2013, the same year the new flat look first debuted in iOS 7, so I suppose that year could represent the last gasp of what I will call the "Forstall era), and the beginning of the "Ive era".

I kind of wonder what would've happened if Jony Ive hadn't replaced Scott Forstall. Would iOS, for instance, still have a UI that more closely resembles the early, skeuomorphic design as seen on iOS 1-6, rather than the current flat and nearly "contrast-less" one we ended up with in iOS 7-present? (granted, there have been some incremental refinements and improvements since the initial iOS 7 release, but it's still flat; the main improvements were better transparency and blur effects).

Who knows....

c

 

[BetaC]

Well today's find only cost labor. The recycler I volunteer at ended up just letting me take home a PDQ Powerbook G3 that I had built out of two complementary not-working models. The screen of one was destroyed, the hinge of the other wasn't and so on. Physically it could use some touch ups, but I am not going to complain otherwise. Now to just figure out an SSD solution, and find a charger that isn't as damn expensive as the borrowed iBook charger I am using. I even have a spare 20x CD drive in case the DVD dies, and a spare processor with 64MB of RAM.

 

[BetaC]

Well I got lucky today. Managed to snag a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 for $20, complete with 2TB worth of 500GB drives, 48GB of RAM, and an RX460. It's currently running 10.14.6 off of a 500GB SSD in the second DVD slot, and is only lacking the latest firmware thanks to me not having a very specific card when the OS was installed.

 

[Durosity]

$20

Dang!

 

[CC_333]

Dang!

No kidding!

I think I spent something like $1,500 for mine (granted, this was back in 2015 when they were still vaguely current), and I needed to do all the work to upgrade it! (including replacing the whole CPU tray because I goofed one of the CPU sockets while attempting to upgrade them, which killed a RAM slot).

It's been a few years since I've usedf it, so I don't recall what its specs are, but I do know that they're likely not half as good as yours!

c

 

[BetaC]

Dang!

Yeah, I couldn't pass this up lol.

No kidding!

I think I spent something like $1,500 for mine (granted, this was back in 2015 when they were still vaguely current), and I needed to do all the work to upgrade it! (including replacing the whole CPU tray because I goofed one of the CPU sockets while attempting to upgrade them, which killed a RAM slot).

It's been a few years since I've usedf it, so I don't recall what its specs are, but I do know that they're likely not half as good as yours!

c

I may, eventually, start doing more intense upgrades. But for now, Mojave is running with the latest firmware.

 

[BetaC]

Quick update, the 460 took a dump so now it's a big paperweight until I can find a replacement.

 

[BetaC]

And then a second update: I've managed to find an R9 270X for $5 locally, and have it in the system now. This limits me to High Sierra, but that's the price I'll pay for avoiding $70 for an RX 460. I also had to manually re-pin the PCIe power cable that I purchased from OWC, as it was shorting out the entire system when in use.

 

[CC_333]

The 2010-2012 Mac Pro is a good High Sierra machine. Mojave is good if you have the right GPU, but for $25, you've got a very fine system as is.

Is it possible to (inexpensively) repair the 460 GPU that died?

c

 

[BetaC]

The 2010-2012 Mac Pro is a good High Sierra machine. Mojave is good if you have the right GPU, but for $25, you've got a very fine system as is.

Is it possible to (inexpensively) repair the 460 GPU that died?

c

Sadly no, as in the repair attempt one of those tiny little SMDs that you can barely see left its spot, never to be seen again. And it's not the worst thing if I'm stuck on High Sierra. Mojave was only a target because night mode is just how I use MacOS nowadays.

In other news, I still don't know what's up with the Powerbook G3. It just freaks out when the mere concept of networking is approached, leaving me unable to change a lot of settings in OS 9, let alone start installing OSX.

 

[CC_333]

I see. Oh, well. For $20, who cares anyway? GPUs can be replaced, and you still easily got 10x your money's worth just in the Mac Pro itself.

High Sierra is still a fine OS, but Mojave does have slightly better software support, and it did get an extra year of security updates.

c

 

[BetaC]

I see. Oh, well. For $20, who cares anyway? GPUs can be replaced, and you still easily got 10x your money's worth just in the Mac Pro itself.

High Sierra is still a fine OS, but Mojave does have slightly better software support, and it did get an extra year of security updates.

c

As it seems, I can actually get Mojave up and running.

 

[CC_333]

Interesting.

Is it usable?

c

 

[BetaC]

Interesting.

Is it usable?

c

Yes, it seems so. I was able to run Uningine's valley bench without issue, and it doesn't struggle to run my 165Hz monitor over Display Port.

 

[BetaC]

While not exactly anything new, I decided that I should do a "Family Photo" of sorts with all of my Apple Hardware. And, outside of lacking a monitor to use with my 7100 and a reason to plug in my Mini, everything was all on at once.

 

[BetaC]

Today I managed to spend $6 on something worth quite a bit more. I'm not going to say no to a matching keyboard for my IIGS. An early model at that.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Hardly yellowed too! Great find, is it ALPS?

 

[BetaC]

Hardly yellowed too! Great find, is it ALPS?

Oranges.

 

[BetaC]

Well, today was substantial. Not extremely so, but still awesome.


I managed to snag a probably Rev A Beige G3 Minitower, complete with the stock AV card. according to Free Geek, the CD and zip drive aren't working, and there's some plastic on the PowerPC badge's side that is being held on by the visible tape, but I can't otherwise complain. 128 MB and a HDD running 8.5 came with it.


Once I'm home, I'll be able to more properly test it.