Tag: blog
This weekend turned into an unexpected tech adventure when I decided to breathe new life into my old iMac (2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256MB). What started as a simple browser upgrade spiraled into a full system overhaul - and I learned quite a bit along the way. The macOS Struggle It all began with trying to get a modern browser running on OS X El Capitan. First hurdle? The Terms and Conditions screen that wouldn’t budge. After some digging, I found a workaround - go back, skip the Apple ID setup, then return. Simple, yet not obvious. Then came the Homebrew saga. Hours spent watching terminal outputs like this:
bash /bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
Endless certificate errors, failed downloads, and progress bars that seemed frozen in time. El Capitan’s age was showing - modern Homebrew just wasn’t having it. The Linux Mint Decision After accepting that El Capitan was too outdated for modern web browsing, I decided to try Linux Mint. This meant diving into the depths of my house to find an old USB drive (found it buried in a drawer under a pile of old cables - we all have that drawer, right?). Enter Balena Etcher - the unsung hero of this story. Creating the bootable drive was surprisingly straightforward, though watching that progress bar felt like waiting for paint to dry. The Great WiFi Adventure Oh, the WiFi situation. Installing Broadcom drivers seemed simple enough:
bash sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install –reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source
But no dice. Then came a parade of commands:
bash sudo modprobe -r b43 bcma sudo modprobe wl sudo rfkill list all sudo rfkill unblock all sudo service network-manager restart
Still nothing. The breakthrough? An SMC reset - that magical combination of:
Shutting down
Unplugging the power cord
Holding the power button for 30 seconds (feels like an eternity)
Plugging back in and restarting
Suddenly, WiFi sprang to life. Sometimes the old “turn it off and on again” really is the answer! The Dual-Boot Dream Attempting to set up rEFInd for easy dual-booting:
bash sudo ./refind-install
Each step was a mix of anticipation and mild anxiety - would this be the command that finally breaks something? Looking Back What started as a frustrated attempt to browse modern websites turned into a weekend of learning, troubleshooting, and ultimately succeeding. My trusty old iMac now runs both OS X El Capitan and Linux Mint, proving that sometimes limitations lead to better solutions. The machine that Apple had seemingly forgotten about now has a second life. Sure, it’s not going to win any speed records, but it’s perfectly capable of handling everyday tasks. Plus, there’s something satisfying about keeping old hardware useful instead of adding to the e-waste pile. Next up? I’m thinking of exploring some lightweight Linux apps to really make the most of this setup. Maybe even set up a small home server? The possibilities are endless!