{"id":46749,"date":"2025-12-30T12:34:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T17:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=46749"},"modified":"2025-12-30T20:21:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T01:21:35","slug":"reviving-an-old-imac-elementary-my-dear-watson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/12\/30\/reviving-an-old-imac-elementary-my-dear-watson\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviving an Old iMac? Elementary, My Dear Watson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Similar to my Mac Minty which I have written about here<\/a> and here,<\/a> 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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

The 2013 iMac was a beast when it was bought new with a one terabyte drive, 24 gigabytes of RAM and a gorgeous 27-inch retina display. It was my main design and production machine in work, and I used it until it stopped taking updates. Sadly, in the printing industry, the printer has to stay abreast of the latest and greatest as far as desktop publishing software. Chances are customers will send in a project requiring that up to the minute update of a particular piece of software. It’s like an endless arms race. Computers get outdated fast which is the case with this particular iMac.<\/p>\n

The old mechanical hard drive buried under the glass of the iMac’s gorgeous display wasn’t doing it any favors. A number of updates and wear and tear have greatly slowed the computer down. It could be replaced with a newer and speedier drive, but that would require invasive surgery. In their pursuit of improbable industrial design standards, Apple has made their computers serviceable only by the brave, the bold or the foolhardy. Besides, the computer doesn’t belong to me, so I am not going to pursue a cure that very well may kill the patient.<\/p>\n

But there is a workaround!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Looking down the back of the iMac at the external hard drive atop a tiny shelf (also from Dan) attached to the computer’s foot.<\/p><\/div>\n

This Mac will boot from an external drive via USB or, even better, through this model’s Thunderbolt 2 port which is a lot faster. As it turns out, I got a Mercury-On-The-Go hard drive enclosure from the late, great Dan Love who bought it on impulse and decided to shed it as technology progressed. Like a lot of his discarded gear, I wound up with it. It has a Thunderbolt 2 port, and with a Samsung Solid State Drive, I was in business!<\/p>\n

\"\"

The external hard drive is plugged into one of two Thunderbolt 2 ports on the back of the iMac.<\/p><\/div>\n

Similar to my 2012 Mac mini which I have dubbed the Mac Minty, I decided to give this iMac a new lease on life with a Linux operating system. Unlike the Minty, I decided to leave the internal drive alone on this iMac. If needed, I can boot into the Mac OS or I can boot into a brand new, safe and secure operating system that is FAST just by holding option down on startup and selecting the external hard drive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As long as the iMac’s components hold out, I’ll have a machine that I can confidently use every day.<\/p>\n

No, it won’t run Adobe or Microsoft apps in the Linux OS, but there are substitutes that work fairly well, and the best part is they’re free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[317,120,518],"tags":[6153,6239,6243,6235,6236,6240,6241,6233,6238,6242,6234,6182,6244,6201,6237],"class_list":["post-46749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers","category-curious-clutter","category-joes-garage","tag-apple-obsolescence","tag-cheap-hardware-upgrade","tag-dual-boot-mac-linux","tag-elementary-os","tag-external-ssd-boot","tag-free-software-alternatives","tag-gimp-inkscape","tag-imac-revival","tag-late-2013-imac","tag-libreoffice","tag-linux-on-old-mac","tag-mac-minty","tag-owc-mercury-enclosure","tag-sustainable-computing","tag-thunderbolt-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-ca1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46675,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/12\/17\/my-half-assed-imac\/","url_meta":{"origin":46749,"position":0},"title":"My Half-Assed iMac","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"December 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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 I grabbed off Amazon. Originally I had a small VGA\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\/half-assed-imac.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/half-assed-imac.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/half-assed-imac.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/half-assed-imac.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&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":46749,"position":1},"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":46749,"position":2},"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":[]},{"id":46525,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/11\/28\/the-mac-minty\/","url_meta":{"origin":46749,"position":3},"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":47119,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/02\/19\/it-never-ends\/","url_meta":{"origin":46749,"position":4},"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":46893,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2026\/01\/20\/it-lives-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":46749,"position":5},"title":"It Lives Again!","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"January 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Wherein I rummage through the graveyard of my old computers and try to cobble together a monster that will serve me in this modern age.","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\/2026\/01\/ITS-ALIVE.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ITS-ALIVE.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ITS-ALIVE.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ITS-ALIVE.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/elementary-screenshot-2.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46749","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}