{"id":46675,"date":"2025-12-17T10:39:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=46675"},"modified":"2025-12-17T10:44:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:44:54","slug":"my-half-assed-imac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/12\/17\/my-half-assed-imac\/","title":{"rendered":"My Half-Assed iMac"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been tinkering with my <\/span>Mac Minty<\/a><\/strong><\/em> which I also refer to as my \u201cHalf-assed iMac.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a 2012 Mac mini<\/em> running Linux Mint<\/em>, bolted to the back of a 21.5″ Asus VS228H-P monitor with a $9 VESA mount adapter I grabbed off Amazon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally I had a small VGA monitor connected to this computer via an adapter. I got to thinking about upgrading this setup when I remembered that I had a bigger monitor with VGA, DVI and HDMI ports just sitting around. It was my son’s, and I thought the display was defective so I set it aside. It sat collecting dust until I tried it with the Minty<\/em>, and it’s perfectly fine. I’m not sure what the original problem was, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I got an upgrade and the price was right. I hooked it to the computer with a $5 HDMI cord from FiveBelow, and what can I say? It just works!<\/em><\/p>\n

This has become my everyday computer for email and the internet.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Screenshot of the Linux Mint Desktop.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been tinkering with my Mac Minty which I also refer to as my \u201cHalf-assed iMac.\u201d It\u2019s a 2012 Mac mini running Linux Mint, bolted to the back of a 21.5″ Asus VS228H-P monitor with a $9 VESA mount adapter … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":46679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[317,518],"tags":[6150,6230,6225,6231,6224,6185,6226,6151,6154,6149,6228,6232,6227,6229,6194],"class_list":["post-46675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers","category-joes-garage","tag-2012-mac-mini","tag-all-in-one-hack","tag-budget-setup","tag-desk-space-saving","tag-diy-imac","tag-frugal-computing","tag-half-assed-imac","tag-linux-mint","tag-linux-on-mac","tag-mac-mini","tag-mac-mini-behind-monitor","tag-minimalist-battlestation","tag-old-hardware-repurposing","tag-retro-mac","tag-vesa-mount"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/half-assed-imac.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-c8P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46525,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/11\/28\/the-mac-minty\/","url_meta":{"origin":46675,"position":0},"title":"The Mac Minty","author":"Joe","date":"November 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s Black Friday, and while the shoppers in the West are killing each other over disposable junk manufactured in dystopian hellholes, I\u2019m at home basking in my frugal nature with my 13-year-old Mac Mini brought back to useful life with an installation of a Linux Mint operating system. I call\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Mac-Minty-1.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Mac-Minty-1.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Mac-Minty-1.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46749,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/12\/30\/reviving-an-old-imac-elementary-my-dear-watson\/","url_meta":{"origin":46675,"position":1},"title":"Reviving an Old iMac? Elementary, My Dear Watson","author":"Joe","date":"December 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Similar to my Mac Minty which I have written about here and here, I have brought new life back to an otherwise ignored iMac in work with the installation of a Linux operating system. This time the Linux Distro I have chosen is Elementary. The 2013 iMac was a beast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elementary-screenshot-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elementary-screenshot-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elementary-screenshot-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elementary-screenshot-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elementary-screenshot-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47119,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/02\/19\/it-never-ends\/","url_meta":{"origin":46675,"position":2},"title":"It Never Ends!","author":"Joe","date":"February 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Mac minis dating from 2012 are pictured above. The one on the left has an Intel i5 processor and it was running happily with an installation of Linux Mint. The machine on the right is a new acquisition. It is a server version of the Mac mini and it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two 2012 Mac Mini Computers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55068101278_fdd6cfa24f_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55068101278_fdd6cfa24f_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55068101278_fdd6cfa24f_c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55068101278_fdd6cfa24f_c.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46385,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/11\/11\/a-minty-fresh-refresh\/","url_meta":{"origin":46675,"position":3},"title":"A Minty Fresh Refresh","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"November 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"How a 2012 Mac Mini dodged the landfill\u2014and Apple\u2019s planned obsolescence\u2014with Linux Mint.","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/old-mini-new-life.jpg?fit=800%2C686&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/old-mini-new-life.jpg?fit=800%2C686&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/old-mini-new-life.jpg?fit=800%2C686&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/old-mini-new-life.jpg?fit=800%2C686&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3360,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2011\/07\/20\/bad-caps-talking-bout-bad-caps\/","url_meta":{"origin":46675,"position":4},"title":"Bad Caps! Talking ‘Bout Bad Caps!","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"July 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I was given the task of hopefully resuscitating a 17\" G5 iMac that is roughly 6 years old, and, in classic fashion, was working just fine until something weird started to happen according to its user. The user is a graphic designer who got the Mac new and used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/back-off.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/back-off.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/back-off.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3441,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2011\/07\/27\/the-g5-imac-is-dead-long-live-the-g5-imac\/","url_meta":{"origin":46675,"position":5},"title":"The G5 iMac is DEAD! Long Live the G5 iMac!","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"July 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a followup to last week's article where I performed an autopsy on a six-year-old iMac that had a number of ruptured capacitors. Like a low-rent Frankenstein movie, I ended up transplanting the brains from one computer into the body of another, and I ended up learning something new!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/dirty-imac.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/dirty-imac.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/dirty-imac.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}