Upgrade to Leopard on Mac Mini

I want to upgrade from 10.4.2 to Leopard 10.5.2. Install failed saying cannot install this software on my computer

Sounds like you might have the grey discs from another Mac. You need to get the retail version. The one I have has a big purple X on it.

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Need help installing snow leopard on mac mini 10.5.8 intel based

I need help need help installing snow leopard on mac mini 10.5.8 intel based so if u kno how pls message me thanks
<Email Edited by Host>

You need to purchase the upgrade disk (it is a DVD). Then just put it in and run the installer. When it was first released it was $29 USD, do not know if the price has changed or not.
The usual precautions about backing up your data apply. In fact I would recommend either making a Disk Image of your current boot drive or using something like Carbon Copy Cloner to copy it to an external drive. I upgraded 5 machines from Leopard to Snow Leopard without any issues, but better to be safe than sorry.

Can't install Snow Leopard on Mac Mini with 10.5.8.

I'm trying to install an upgrade copy of Snow Leopard from Apple on my Mac Mini running 10.5.8. I bought this system used and the volume says ";" and the error log code is 21. Seems it can't find valid softward ID to continue or the path is different. Not sure where to go with this.

If your mini meets the specifications for Snow Leopard (an intel processor and 1GB or more of memory)
then go here to buy snow leopard
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A
It's possible that the upgrade disk you have is specific to particular Mac models.

Snow Leopard with Mac mini?

I'm about to purchase my 2nd Mac mini, Today is June 1st, do you think it's a good day to buy or should I wait for a few days until Snow Leopard comes out?

buy now...apple will upgrade you to snow leopard for free in a couple days when it comes out.
obvious sarcasm here...there is no release date for snow leopard, so if you need a computer today then buy one, if you can wait...then wait.

Convert Snow Leopard server mac-mini to basic Snow Leopard Mac-Mini?

I have recently purchased a Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Server installed. I have decided not to use it as a server and just maximise its capacity by using it just with Snow Leopard. How do I reformat to install basic Snow Leopard software? Thanks

Without an optical drive of its own, a Mini Server model would require the use of an external optical drive capable of supporting OS X installation and booting. This could include another Mac capable of supporting Target Disk Mode and the use of the second computer's optical drive. Or a supported external optical drive.
Another question may arise in the fact you would not be able to use an older OS X install disc older than the version shipped with the computer; the date of the Snow Leopard version's retail install disc would have to be newer than the SN OS X 10.6.x install DVD the machine shipped with in order to use it.
There may be a way to do a Custom installation from the Snow Leopard Server version DVD you have. This would likely be the best bet if possible. Given the higher level tools and processes available to the Server version of OS X Snow Leopard, being able to use that is a better preference overall than Client version.
You may be able to upgrade an internal hard disk drive to a larger capacity unit, or get and use a supported externally enclosed hard disk drive capable of supporting OS X booting and clones; these options could expand the basic use of the computer no matter what version of OS X you have running within it. Later on should you decide to experiment, a second drive for dual booting 10.6. & 10.7 could be a way to go forward.
The accessory use of a more dedicated external optical drive for the Mini Server edition is recommended; as well as the use of an external enclosure for an additional hard disk drive for backup purposes.
Depending on the version of standard retail Snow Leopard install DVD you may have, the ability to perform an Archive and Install should be available to you. Or perhaps a custom installation to nullify some of the more advanced parts of the Server version may be a possibility to investigate. I'd read up on what advantages a Server version of OS X can provide you, before leaving it.
When Lion 10.7 arrives, if your computer is supported, it should be relatively easy to upgrade & install the standard version (vs Server) via an upgrade where you keep user account settings etc from the previous OS.
Anyway hopefully this helps...
Good luck & happy computing!

Upgrade plan for elderly mac mini

Hi All,
I have a couple of questions; I'm finally planning to get brave and crack open the shell of my mac mini and upgrade both RAM and hard disk.
Firstly, Crucial inform me that the maximum supported memory in my model of Mini is 2gb (2*1). This is obviously the most that they will guarantee, but is there any benefit to be gained from trying say 2*2gb or will that cause problems? Currently I'm on Tiger but would upgrade once the new memory is in all the way up to 10.6.
This brings me onto my next question. I believe that in order to move from 10.4 to 10.6 you have to buy the Box Set (http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC680Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5Mw&mco=MTM3NDgxODU#over view). Do we think that if bought during the black Friday sales it would be in the time period to qualify for a rebate on Lion when it comes out in the summer of 2011?
Finally I just want to double check that there is no problem in upgrading the hard disk up to the realms of 750gb (u.f.), I can't think of one but would love to know of people's experiences with this.
Thanks a lot!

You can put 2 x 2GB sticks in it - I believe the OS will see about 3.2GB of that, but it won't cause you any problems.
You can put a 7200rpm disk in - some claim it will run hotter and/or noisier ("a problem"), but I'm sure others have done the switch and had no problems.
Certainly, a BIGGER disk is always much faster anyway, and a 500GB drive (even 5400rpm) will perform much faster than what you have now. Many people feel 500GB/5400rpm is the "sweet spot" for size/speed/low-heat/low-noise/low-price compromise. Just don't use Seagate - many have failed (including mine) - go for WD. IMHO!
Actually, you'd better tell us just how elderly your mini is! If it's a PowerPC G4 mini, you won't get past Leopard, as Snow Leopard is (and Lion will be) Intel-only.

Install snow leopard on mac mini with broken DVD Drive

I want to upgrade the OS on my mac mini but the hard drive keeps kicking out the disk - I read that I "might" be able to fix this by using a DVD cleaner but I am not overly optimistic about this fix. I have an external USB drive and a Windows PC to work with so I am wondering if I can use the DVD drive of the PC to copy the install disks to the external drive and then perform the instal from the external drive. I have been reading posts and can find advice on how to copy the Leopard install discs using another Mac or by using the remote disk feature - but since I don't have another Mac, these are not currently options.
Thanks

1. Clean your drive and reset the > PRAM, then try upgrading with the Mac Mini's drive.
2. Try out that external USB DVD drive, some will work if they are not OS X compatible.
3. Your PC might work, see > DVD or CD sharing: Using Remote Disc

Need to upgrade memory in ppc mac mini

Does anyone know of a step by step guide with pictures to installing memory in a ppc mac mini? Need to upgrade to a gig to use some graphics software. Thanks,
Steve

In sleep mode (STR) the RAM has to be refreshed to
keep the memory content, so the more you got the more
power will be consumed on this.
Having less ram will therefore benefit battery life
in sleep mode.
This is only of concern to portable users of course, and the additional RAM has barely any impact on power demand whether from mains-power or battery. Some admittedly, but not much. Nor would it be all that easy to tell what drain it caused since there are other variables involved with battery drain rates too, such as ambient temperature.
There is still room for improvement in whatever
algorithm it is that determines when "inactive"
memory is released. Paging frequently happens after
copying large files since all memory is in use and
"recently" so, even if this use is one where the
content is NOT likely to be needed again.
The much hyped idea that "old" inactive memory is
being released when more is needed I find it
difficult to confirm, or paging would not be needed.
Simply caching EVERYTHING does not in my mind count
as an "intelligent" algorithm..
As much as this may be valid, there is no way the user is able to change the algorithm - it's part of the operating system. As such, the user can really only take such steps as may be possible to improve the working of the system - one significant such step being adding RAM.
This can be cleared up by running "repair
permissions" in DU, since it seems to release much of
the inactive RAM. It would be much better to have a
small utility to do this, though, if making the OS
more intelligent is not an option.
Running disk utility may be an effective method of resolving memory allocations etc, but it then places the onus on the user to monitor the system and manually activate a process. Part of the appeal of MacOS to many people is that it removes much of the onus users of other operating systems feel is placed on them to keep tuning the system - activities which detract from the use of the system.
Ultimately, I have to say that I have never found the need to do anything of that sort. I do use MenuMeters (a very neat little app to place system monitoring tools in the menu bar and which uses barely any CPU overhead to do so) to watch the status of my system, but only as an occasional troubleshooting aid when I'm testing software or experimenting with the system. That is about as far as I go with anything other than using the system. Certainly, I've not found any need to perform the sort of tasks that are often being recommended, and even the systems I run 24/7 remain efficient in operation.
I can say that while my G4 was running off a 5400rpm drive, increasing RAM from 768Mb to 1.5Gb quite dramatically improved performance of both 10.4 and 10.2 but had little benefit in OS9 (all booting from separate drives). The effects were rather less noticeable after swapping out to 7200 drives instead.

Installing Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server

I recently purchased a 1Tb 4Gb Mac Mini Server, running Snow Leopard Server. I want to use it as a central repository for my other macs: storing music, movies, backup, screen sharing (it's hooked up to my 32-inch TV) but I also want to be able to run Logic Pro, Ableton Live, etc. I also have a Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard Client, which contains all of my programs, plugins, data, etc. I realize that Snow Leopard Server does not have migration assistant, so I have tried to install a retail copy of Snow Leopard onto the secondary drive, but when it gets to the restart stage it crashes every time. I think this is a firmware issue, because the Mac Mini has a different hardware configuration to other macs. I do not have access to the mid-2010 Snow Leopard Client for Mac Mini which would allow me to install Client and use migration assistant from there. What I would like to know is:
1/ Can I manually migrate my plugins/settings/programs to the server? If so, how? What is most crucial (and what I don't understand) is copying my audio units and audio programs (e.g. Logic Pro, Pro Tools). Because of the firmware issue, it seems more difficult than cloning my MacBook Pro to a time machine HDD and running from there... I would really like to purely clone my MacBook Pro, because I am very happy with the way it is set up.
2/ Should I just wait for OSX Lion (July/August) which seems to be a combined server/client os, install that on both machines and run migration assistant from there?
3/ Is there another method I can use? Something I am overlooking?
Thanks in Advance.

Thanks for your reply. I talked to the Apple Support again and they told me the server edition could only be used on that OS and if I wanted to use it as something else I could chose not to use the server applications, or buy a regular Mac mini. And that was all they said. Interesting since it was one of their sales persons who told me I could install Snow Leopard.
Anyway, I got hold of a client disc and it all worked like a charm.

Can't connect iMac/Leopard with Mac Mini/Tiger and vice versa

This one has got me tearing my hair out.
I have an Intel iMac running Leopard and a Mac Mini running Tiger on the same Ethernet network. Both run (adjacent) fixed IP addresses with common subnet mask and gateway. Both access the Internet fine through a single router. But can I share files between the two?
Neither has firewall turned on while file sharing is enabled. I can see each Mac from the other but when I try connecting first I get 'The server may not exist or is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and your network connection and try again.' Then on clicking OK I get 'This file server is running on your machine. Please access the volumes and files locally.'
If I try connecting from Finder using Go - Connect To Server I get this error message 'The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "afp://MacMininame" could not be read or written.'
Although I'm running Leopard on the iMac now, this also used to happen when I ran Tiger too.
Many thanks - GeoffT.

Fixed it!
I have Parallels installed on the iMac and it creates two virtual network adapters (Guest-Host and NAT) in System Preferences/Network. For some reason I'd foolishly contrived to manually configure the Nat adapter to the same IP address as the Mac Mini, hence the point-back to the iMac every time.
Guess we're all allowed the occasional foul up.....
GeoffT.

RAM Upgrade for Late 2009 Mac Mini -- anyone tried 16gb?

Just a stupid question.. I've got a Mac Mini server (late 2009) that came with 4Gb of RAM.. The machine has never been speedy by any means and after finally getting some time to look into why, I think I know mostly why.. I've got the machine setup handling DNS, email (with Amavis, spam handling,etc), both MySQL and Postgres databases, Apache+WebDAV+iCAL and of course handling 2-3 user accounts being logged in at all times (using iTunes, Safari, etc). if I pull up Activity Monitor or use the "MemoryStick" utility, I see that my RAM usage is typically (almost always) at about 96% used with 7 swap files running.. I've never seen it below about 95% used. I know that this machine is capable of being outfitted with 8Gb of RAM (although Apple does not necessarily endorse that config). So, this leads to my next question -- has anyone taken some 8Gb RAM modules such as these : http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/1333DDR3S32S/ and tried plopping two of them in to see if they're recognized as 8Gb modules and used or not? I also have a brand-new 15" MBP (2011 model) that seems to occasionally suffer from the same fate -- it's also got 4GB of RAM and last night for quite a while it was at the 90% utilization level for RAM as well while importing some videos in iMovie '11..
I'll have to admit that I'm wondering whether 8Gb is going to be enough RAM for my purposes on the mini.. I suspect I'm probably asking it to do too much -- all of this used to be done on an older model HP Proliant server (quad CPU, hot-swap drives, redundant power supplies,etc) -- but it cost about $40+ per month in power alone..
Anyone?

Thx.. I've actually upgraded to a new 2011 Mac Mini which can still take those same 8Gb ram sticks.. Interestingly enough the new Mac Mini server still comes with a measly 4gb of RAM which just doesn't cut it with OSX Lion -- I'm constantly at 1% free RAM when I've got Mail.app running.. Ugg.. Hopefully once I put 12Gb or 16Gb in, it'll hum along..

Can I startup with Leopard from Mac Mini using iMac G5 as display?

I'm considering a mac mini purchase after the release of leopard. I have a iMac G5 that is not cutting it for film rendering. I would like to use it as a display for my Mac mini. Can I use Startup disk and work in the Mac Mini's OS?

No, you can't use a G5 iMac as if it were the mini's boot drive and display, and even if you could, that's an incredibly expensive drive and display. It would make far more sense to sell it and use the money to purchase a fast external drive and good quality monitor for the mini.
The nearest solution allowing you to continue to use the iMac and output the mini to it is to use the iMac to control the mini using one of the many flavors of VNC. That will allow you to display the mini's output, in effect in a window on the iMac. However, while this would allow you to take advantage of the mini's processing power, performance of the network connection is likely to influence the efficiency of possible use for applications such as video project development which rely heavily on continuously streaming data.
I find it curious that the G5 iMac is so woefully ineffective in this use that you would be considering this. What specification is the iMac, what video software are you using, and in what way do you find it problematic?

Upgrading office machines to Mac Minis?

Hello all. I work for a small design office (5 total, 3 designers) that is way behind the times in terms of upgrading. My boss has been researching it for some time now as he continues to suck as much life out of his old Macs as possible. Anyhow, because we are small, we have a bit of a budget. I saw the Mac Mini intel upgrade news and am wondering if this is a reasonable option for our office. The cost per unit is significantly less than the full G5's or G4's we've been looking at. I'm wondering, however, if the minis can handle the programs we'll need to run (and usually simultaneously): Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Quark, Word, Entourage (sp?), Dreamweaver, Stopwatch. This is a list of what I usually have open (except for InDesign, Dreamweaver and Entourage they'll be new additions to our program list) on my machine at one time, while also saving imagery and project files.
Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Really old Mac OS 9.2.x Need to upgrade

As PPC7410 mentioned, there will be a considerable amount of software upgrading to do when Universal Binaries are out. However, it will be as much as 18 months before Adobe releases UB's of the CS suite. And from the tests that have been done by Macworld and others, the CS2 suite is not real speedy running under Rosetta. While it may be ok for the occasional user, designers using the apps for professional work will probably find them too slow while running under Rosetta.
Again, as PPC7410 mentioned, there are G4 Mini's available still. But they can only hold 1GB RAM. While having all the apps that you mentioned open at once may not be a problem, actually trying to use one of them such as Photoshop may prove to be problematic. Photoshop loves memory.
Running older Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign apps via Classic may not be good enough for pro work. I'm assuming you are using the OS 9 versions of the apps. I've had no trouble with Illustrator 8 or 9 via Classic but Photoshop gave me some issues. I can't remember what they were as it has been a while since I tried it. And I should reiterate that Classic is NOT available on the Intel Macs.
The Mini I have has 1GB RAM. I just opened the CS1 versions of Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. I also opened the MS Office 2004 versions of Word and Entourage. Since I don't have Dreamweaver, I opened the CS1 version of GoLive. I don't have Qurk Xpress or Stopwatch. I also have Safari open as well as Activity Monitor. I can already tell I'm having memory issues just typing this post. And a quick look at Activity Monitor is showing my Page outs are increasing. So I would say that the Mini may not be the right machines for your group.
Eric S.
Mini 1.25, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.5) G4 DA 533MHz DP w/Giga dual 1.8GHz upgrade, 1.5GB RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB

Upgrade 2009 base line Mac Mini with aftermarket RAM and SSD!

Hello people,
I'm looking to buy a 2009 Mac Mini (base line, 120GB hdd and 1GB of RAM) and was looking to upgrade it with aftermarket RAM (http://corsair.com/products/mac/default.aspx ) to 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair and with an Intel X25-M SSD, most probably an 80GB drive.
And now comes my question: Based on your experience do you know a better match of aftermarket memmory and SSDs with the Mac Mini?!
Also i've read that using an Intel SSD X-25M to hook up an Windows XP machine (either bootcamp or VM) is impossible since Windows XP doesn't recognize the SSD. Is this correct? (I need XP in VMware to access an old app that's windows based only, and NO wine sadly doesn't work).
Thank you,
Andrei

Well, the big drawback on the Minis is Intel integrated Graphics.
iMacs & Minis run far too hot in my Opinion, Apple likely tested them in a 68° F. air conditioned room.
I myself would be looking into an older iMac, or Widows PC!
iMac "Core i5" 2.5 21.5-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 7241/7970
iMac "Core i5" 2.7 27-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 7844/8565
iMac "Core i5" 2.7 21.5-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 7890/8647
iMac "Core i7" 2.8 21.5-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 10248/10690
Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.66 (2009/Nehalem)... Geekbench: 8269/9237
iMac "Core i5" 2.9 27-Inch (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 9225/10271
Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008)... Geekbench: 9162/10564
Mac Pro "Quad Core" 3.2 (2010/Nehalem).. Geekbench: 9850/10440
MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.5 27" Late 2011... Geekbench: 10706/11699
Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 11367/12807
iMac "Core i7" 3.4 27-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 11648/12651
Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.26 (2009/Nehalem)... Geekbench: 11864/13363
Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.66 (2009/Nehalem)... Geekbench: 14317/16093
Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.93 (2009/Nehalem)... Geekbench: 15572/17619
Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 2.66 (2010/Westmere)... Geekbench: 20294/22605
iMac "Core i5" 2.7 21.5-Inch (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 8068/9145
Mac mini "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 10626/11825
iMac "Core i7" 3.1 21.5-Inch (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 12490/14143
iMac "Core i7" 3.4 27-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 11648/12651... Geekbench: 12857/13772

Upgrade a mid 2010 Mac Mini or buy a new one?

I have a mid 2010 Mac Mini with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB SDRAM DDR3, and a 320 GB HDD. I use it primarily as a way to watch movies, TV, and internet videos on my TV. However, lately it has become excruciatingly slow with choppy video playback. I realize upgrading the RAM and/or the HDD to a SSD would offer an improvement. But my question is, would it be better to upgrade a computer that's getting close to 5 years old now, or buy a new Mac Mini, despite the complaints I've heard about the inability to upgrade RAM and/or hard drive.
Thanks

For your use going to the max of 8 GB of memory and an SSD will be fine.

Upgrade to Leopard on Mac Mini

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