This might be of interest to those running older Apple computers. After looking into various options for streaming and audio file playback (including Raspberry Pi), I've decided to give the Mac Mini another go.
One of my requirements is the ability to stream Tidal Max, the native Tidal macOS application does that. But the Tidal app requires macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or better, and the mid 2011 Mac Mini only supports up to macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). Enter OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP)...
However, the first attempt to upgrade the Mac Mini to macOS 14 (Sonoma) using OCLP was a failure, due to the extremely sluggish performance with the original hard drive.
I then installed a new 1TB SSD drive, and after 3 iterations of software installations and upgrades (see below), the machine is now running smoothly. The idea was to upgrade the RAM to 16GB as well, but that is no longer a priority. The native Tidal application works like a charm, and the sound is similar to streaming from the Macbook Pro (mid 2012), output in both instances is via USB to the DAC (Copland 215).
So, installing the SSD drive made all the difference. Next up is a smaller monitor (12-14"), I'm currently using a 20" Samsung.
OS X and macOS installations after installing the new SSD drive:
1) Booting from the built-in macOS Recovery System allows one to download and install the native OS X, which is Lion.
2) The next upgrade was then to High Sierra (to allow installation and use of OCLP).
3) Finally, Sonoma was installed using OCLP
macOS version history
One of my requirements is the ability to stream Tidal Max, the native Tidal macOS application does that. But the Tidal app requires macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or better, and the mid 2011 Mac Mini only supports up to macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). Enter OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP)...
However, the first attempt to upgrade the Mac Mini to macOS 14 (Sonoma) using OCLP was a failure, due to the extremely sluggish performance with the original hard drive.
I then installed a new 1TB SSD drive, and after 3 iterations of software installations and upgrades (see below), the machine is now running smoothly. The idea was to upgrade the RAM to 16GB as well, but that is no longer a priority. The native Tidal application works like a charm, and the sound is similar to streaming from the Macbook Pro (mid 2012), output in both instances is via USB to the DAC (Copland 215).
So, installing the SSD drive made all the difference. Next up is a smaller monitor (12-14"), I'm currently using a 20" Samsung.
OS X and macOS installations after installing the new SSD drive:
1) Booting from the built-in macOS Recovery System allows one to download and install the native OS X, which is Lion.
2) The next upgrade was then to High Sierra (to allow installation and use of OCLP).
3) Finally, Sonoma was installed using OCLP
macOS version history
I skip a monitor and use Screen Sharing instead 🙂 one less thing around...
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