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I’ve managed to keep my Intel iMac running by giving it a memory transplant and exorcising its “Fusion Drive,” repurposing the internal rotating platter drive to house one of my Time Machine backups.
But now there are new, smaller footprint Mac Minis, and I’m wondering if I can repurpose the iMac screen to be a monitor for the Mini. I also have another monitor that has multiple inputs, and I currently use both with the iMac. However, the iMac itself, of course, cannot run the current macOS, so I’m hoping I could extend its life a bit just acting as a screen.
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Jim Robertson
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On Nov 11, 2024, at 4:06 PM, jimrobertson via groups.io <jimrobertson@...> wrote:
I’m wondering if I can repurpose the iMac screen to be a monitor for the Mini. This comes up all the time. Only a very few models of iMac can be used as an external monitor. For all of the rest, you can use Luna Display to do the job. See: Use your iMac as a display with target display mode Use your iMac as an external monitor Want to use an iMac as an external monitor? You need an old version of macOS Using 27-inch iMac As Monitor Requires Very Specific Cable Luna Display ($80) allows you to use iMacs that otherwise can't be used as an external display as one See: __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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On Nov 11, 2024, at 10:57?PM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
Only a very few models of iMac can be used as an external monitor.
For all of the rest, you can use Luna Display to do the job.
Randy, Thanks SO much for your response and the links it contains.
THIS link:
contained the most information, but almost terrified me, because I’ve “been there, done [almost] that once before on my 2017 21.5” iMac (disabling the internal “Fusion Drive” by replacing the tiny–in physical size AND RAM capacity–Processor Direct card, replacing it with a 1 TB NVMe.2 card, populating IT with my previous environment from a fresh Time Machine backup, and repurposing the internal rotating platter 1 TB drive as new repository for those Time Machine backups. In the course of doing so, I almost killed the usefulness of the machine by bending one of the 2 tiny wires in the BT cable socketon the periphery of the iMac’s case (I was able to bend it back with a tiny jeweler’s screwdriver, and the iMac still runs macOS 10.15.7 acceptably, but of course cannot do any of the things freshly announced this year that require an Apple Silicon processor.
The above link is describes a project that is at once much more AND much less than what I did. It involves exenterating almost the entire contents of a 2014 (logic board, power supply, speakers, etc.) 5K iMac, to create pretty much the screen equivalent of a Mac Studio display, but with no speakers, a replacement web cam, etc., so that the iMac no longer functions as a computer. Literally HUNDREDS of comments to that video celebrate it as a great way to save money yet have a gorgeous 5K display panel. It wasn’t clear to me whether all that component removal left the remnants of the iMac still capable as receiving input from BT devices such as a wireless keyboard and pointing device; I expect not.
The troubling element of the discussion is that those comments include some that pronounce “Luna Display didn’t work” as the reason the commenters advanced to that project themselves.
I almost never use my iMac any more, and I suspect that once I begin using Apple Intelligence features I’ll not use it at ALL. That got me to wondering whether I could use a refurbed or used M1 iMac with Luna Display to recreate a large-screen environment, as well as one capable of functioning as a modern macOS computer, and for THAT I guess I’ll need to learn more about Luna Display.
So, I’d be grateful for comments from others who’ve discovered and used Luna Display…
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Jim Robertson
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On Nov 12, 2024, at 9:27 AM, jimrobertson via groups.io <jimrobertson@...> wrote:
The above link is describes a project that is at once much more AND much less than what I did. It involves exenterating almost the entire contents of a 2014 (logic board, power supply, speakers, etc.) 5K iMac, to create pretty much the screen equivalent of a Mac Studio display… Of all the people who have contacted me and asked how to use their iMac as a monitor for another Mac, I don’t think that anyone found it worthwhile to attempt. However you accomplish it, it will be a kludge. And it might not work well, or at all. For about $250 my son went out and got a 43-inch 4K Samsung television. It mates up with his Macintosh perfectly, and it not only gives him a huge amount of working area, but it allows him to watch movies that he downloads that look breathtaking. Also, it’s a fully functioning television, complete with stereo speakers built-in. More impressive? My wife wanted to mate her new MacBook Pro with an external monitor for while at home. My son picked out a very favorably reviewed Hisense 43-inch television, that was even cheaper than his Samsung television, (Hisense monitors are usually cheap POS’s, but apparently they make some good stuff too) and she uses it as a monitor, and it too looks amazing. My wife is thrilled with it. __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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On Nov 12, 2024, at 10:27?AM, JAMES ROBERTSON <jimrobertson@...> wrote:
That got me to wondering whether I could use a refurbed or used M1 iMac with Luna Display to recreate a large-screen environment, as well as one capable of functioning as a modern macOS computer, and for THAT I guess I’ll need to learn more about Luna Display.
And, one of the first things that comes to mind is that if I’m using my current iMac’s display with Luna Display and my laptop closed in “clamshell closed” mode with Luna Display but the CPU being the laptop, whether I’ll be able to use the iMac’s mouse and keyboard and an extended desktop that includes the external display that’s connected to my iMac (I have NO idea what kind of cable I now have connecting the iMac to the external display, and shudder to think about the viper’s nest of cables that’s coiled impossibly behind my desk. ` Jim Robertson
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On Nov 12, 2024, at 11:05?AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
Of all the people who have contacted me and asked how to use their iMac as a monitor for another Mac, I don’t think that anyone found it worthwhile to attempt. ?However you accomplish it, it will be a kludge. And it might not work well, or at all.
Two reasons I’m trying: - Back in the days that Target Display Mode did work, it worked perfectly.
- The iMac is already sitting on my desk.
I guess I’ll confirm the return policy for Luna Display. On the other hand, I’ve never SEEN so many positive comments on a “rip open your iMac” how-to-do-this” YouTube video as from the link you sent me, but the guy WAS pretty proficient (for example, 3D printing a bracket to guide two cables that now needed to exit the back of the exenterated iMac). I don’t have the heart to wander inside the iMac again myself, but if I’m reassured the Luna Display interface will work with my iMac I’ll at least give it a try and report back. Certainly it wouldn’t make economic sense to spring for a refurbed M1 iMac, but if it enables limited Apple Intelligence manipulations of photos on screens bigger than my 11” iPad Pro or 14” M3 MacBook Pro for an investment of just about $100 (with the laptop doing the processing), I think it’s worth the attempt.
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Jim Robertson
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I read your message with interest, Jim!
I very much look forward to learn just how you get on with Lunar Display.
I have my original 2017 iMac on my desk and just love the display quality. I KNOW that it will fail eventually so, as an interim measure (without “wandering inside the iMac” - I just love that phrase!) I have set up my operating system on an external 1TB SSD. I can choose to boot from either my internal 2TB Fusion Drive or from my External 1TB SSD.
I hope to be guided by your experience and save gambling with MY $100! ?
Kind regards,
— David?
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On 13 Nov 2024, at 03:25, jimrobertson via groups.io <jimrobertson@...> wrote:
On Nov 12, 2024, at 11:05?AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
Of all the people who have contacted me and asked how to use their iMac as a monitor for another Mac, I don’t think that anyone found it worthwhile to attempt. ?However you accomplish it, it will be a kludge. And it might not work well, or at all.
Two reasons I’m trying: - Back in the days that Target Display Mode did work, it worked perfectly.
- The iMac is already sitting on my desk.
I guess I’ll confirm the return policy for Luna Display. On the other hand, I’ve never SEEN so many positive comments on a “rip open your iMac” how-to-do-this” YouTube video as from the link you sent me, but the guy WAS pretty proficient (for example, 3D printing a bracket to guide two cables that now needed to exit the back of the exenterated iMac). I don’t have the heart to wander inside the iMac again myself, but if I’m reassured the Luna Display interface will work with my iMac I’ll at least give it a try and report back. Certainly it wouldn’t make economic sense to spring for a refurbed M1 iMac, but if it enables limited Apple Intelligence manipulations of photos on screens bigger than my 11” iPad Pro or 14” M3 MacBook Pro for an investment of just about $100 (with the laptop doing the processing), I think it’s worth the attempt.
--?
Jim Robertson
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On Nov 13, 2024, at 2:14?AM, David G Brooks via groups.io <davidandtrishab@...> wrote:
I hope to be guided by your experience and save gambling with MY $100!?
Whether or not you go spelunking inside your iMac may depend on how fast you want the computer to run. OWC sells an NVMe.2 card that replaces the tiny SSD in the 2017 iMac with a 1 or 2 TB INTERNAL SSD which is DRAMATICALLY faster than the Fusion Drive. You can install all the stuff from your external drive, including the OS itself, on that internal SSD and turn the internal rotating platter drive into your Time Machine backups repository. OWC also has free videos (as does iFixIt) that show all the steps involved. You’re still stuck on an older operating system, but you have all the ports on the back of the iMac and you can connect a Thunderbolt Dock from OWC if you need more.
I’m far less adventuresome inside my Macs than I once was. I had original 128 K RAM, then 512 K RAM “fat” Macs, then a Mac Plus in which one could increase the RAM by desoldering a resistor on the motherboard.
Once the Mac evolved to Intel Processors, I experimented on my Mac Pro and managed to Install a “Bare Metal” version of Windows Small Business Server 2008 OS on it to make sure I could run a Windows Outlook and document host for our business (my only experiences with Windows until Boot Camp and then virtualization software that permitted one to run BOTH the macOS and Window came along).
I’m waiting to hear from the Luna Display folks whether I can use the iMac’s ports, keyboard, and mouse with Luna Display. If not, I won’t go down that road.
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Jim Robertson
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Thank you for your helpful response, Jim! ?I look forward to learning what progress you make!
Do you know of some easy and straight-forward way of testing the speed of my current arrangement(s).
I have used this facility, available from the Apple App Store:-
That result from my Fusion Drive.
Here’s the result when running macOS Ventura from my 1TB external SSD:-  On 13 Nov 2024, at 14:32,? I’m not 100% sure what I’m reviewing!?
For the things I do, the iMac seems quite fast enough!
Kind regards,
- - David
jimrobertson via groups.io <jimrobertson@...> wrote:
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On Nov 13, 2024, at 2:14?AM, David G Brooks via groups.io <davidandtrishab@...> wrote:
I hope to be guided by your experience and save gambling with MY $100!?
Whether or not you go spelunking inside your iMac may depend on how fast you want the computer to run. OWC sells an NVMe.2 card that replaces the tiny SSD in the 2017 iMac with a 1 or 2 TB INTERNAL SSD which is DRAMATICALLY faster than the Fusion Drive. You can install all the stuff from your external drive, including the OS itself, on that internal SSD and turn the internal rotating platter drive into your Time Machine backups repository. OWC also has free videos (as does iFixIt) that show all the steps involved. You’re still stuck on an older operating system, but you have all the ports on the back of the iMac and you can connect a Thunderbolt Dock from OWC if you need more.
I’m far less adventuresome inside my Macs than I once was. I had original 128 K RAM, then 512 K RAM “fat” Macs, then a Mac Plus in which one could increase the RAM by desoldering a resistor on the motherboard.
Once the Mac evolved to Intel Processors, I experimented on my Mac Pro and managed to Install a “Bare Metal” version of Windows Small Business Server 2008 OS on it to make sure I could run a Windows Outlook and document host for our business (my only experiences with Windows until Boot Camp and then virtualization software that permitted one to run BOTH the macOS and Window came along).
I’m waiting to hear from the Luna Display folks whether I can use the iMac’s ports, keyboard, and mouse with Luna Display. If not, I won’t go down that road.
--?
Jim Robertson
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On Nov 13, 2024, at 6:57 AM, David G Brooks via groups.io <davidandtrishab@...> wrote:
Do you know of some easy and straight-forward way of testing the speed of my current arrangement(s). Top 5 benchmark apps for Mac performance tests Mac Benchmarks __________________________________________________ Randy B. Singer Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice __________________________________________________
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Thank you so much, Randy.
For some reason, the folk on the Apple Support Communities forums frown on the use of ‘CleanMyMac’.
I have tried it myself and thought that it did a good job!
—
David
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On 13 Nov 2024, at 15:41, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:
On Nov 13, 2024, at 6:57 AM, David G Brooks via groups.io <davidandtrishab@...> wrote:
Do you know of some easy and straight-forward way of testing the speed of my current arrangement(s).
Top 5 benchmark apps for Mac performance tests
Mac Benchmarks
__________________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice
__________________________________________________
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On Nov 13, 2024, at 7:57?AM, David G Brooks via groups.io <davidandtrishab@...> wrote:
Thank you for your helpful response, Jim! ?I look forward to learning what progress you make!
The crudest test I did before and after discarding the Fusion Drive in favor of having my entire OS and data storage environment on that 1 TB stick in the Processor Direct Slot was just to clock the boot time to desktop. It was about a quarter as long as it used to be once configured with the latter.
Randy has given you good recommendation for more detailed assessment, and if the computer seems slow, there’s always the Activity Monitor app that might suggest what’s slowing things down.
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Jim Robertson
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David G Brooks