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2009 iMac woes...

Short version, get all the files onto an SSD in a caddy, restart (boot) from that, erase the original HDD (which had become useless), use SuperDuper to get all the files back on to the erased HDD to see if it was broken or suffering from a surfeit of broken links/corruption, eject the SSD and restart from the HDD, et voila.
 
Sounds good however bear in mind its a13 year old drive, a drive has two states failed or about to fail. if you are determined to retain the mac then the 2009 models really are not that hard to get into (compared to other anyhow) and you could stick that SSD in there.
 
I’ve emailed an independent repairer nearby to see what they’ll charge me. Getting the SSD in there while everything works is definitely the smart move.
 
It’s ready for the next failure but for daily use, crucially the 2009 iMac only supports USB2 so an HDD connected inside (SATA?) is much quicker than a SSD via USB.
 
to install High Sierra (now a security liability online)

I’ve only just remembered I read this. Why a security liability? I’d assumed High Sierra was an established, albeit superseded OS in wide usage.
 
I’ve only just remembered I read this. Why a security liability? I’d assumed High Sierra was an established, albeit superseded OS in wide usage.
High Sierra end of life 31st Jan 2021 thus no more security updates. Its expected that EOL for Mojave at end of this year.

Cheers,

DV
 
You could run from ht e internal HDD, but regularly clone to the external SSD as you've done already. Incremental clones take much less time, so you could probably do it as regularly as your new/updated user files dictate - daily, weekly etc.

If it were me I'd not invest any significant sum into this machine unless I needed to, I'd be thinking along the lines of - nurse it for as long as it'll continue to meet my needs whilst planning for its replacement - new or less old 2nd hand. Obviously if the internal HDD fails then you'd have the option to swap in the SSD at that point, if a replacement machine wasn't needed or on the cards.
 
It’s ready for the next failure but for daily use, crucially the 2009 iMac only supports USB2 so an HDD connected inside (SATA?) is much quicker than a SSD via USB.
Your iMac should have a Firewire 800 port that runs at 6Gbps and that will be more than enough to allow full SSD speeds. For example this SATA enclosure at £60 supports Firewire 800 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AR9ZYYQ/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21 and for around half the price you can get a Firewire 400 enclosure and that may be enough. May be less hassle than replacing the internal drive and possibly faster too as I believe this iMac has a SATA 2 interface that only supports up to 3Gbps. Then there is the temperature sensor thing so its not as straight forward as would initially appear.

"Unfortunately, taking the computer apart -- which is challenging enough -- is not the only obstacle to upgrading the hard drive in these Macs.

OWC also discovered that the "Late 2009" -- and subsequently introduced "Mid-2010" -- models use a "connector that seems to use the drive's internal sensors" rather than an external sensor like earlier 20-Inch and 24-Inch Aluminum iMac models.

Originally, this meant that the most straightforward way to upgrade the hard drive was to "replace the drive with another model from the same manufacturer that [OWC or another third-party has] confirmed works properly with this thermal sensor cable". OWC provides a list of compatible drives. Readers also shared reports that taping an external temperature sensor to a hard drive or SSD that does not have an internal sensor will work in these models, but this method is risky.
"

Cheers,

DV
 
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I’ve only just remembered I read this. Why a security liability? I’d assumed High Sierra was an established, albeit superseded OS in wide usage.

What DV posted above ...

Each Mac OS receives regular security updates - basically patches to fix exploitable vulnerabilities, etc. When Apple cease issuing these the OS is no longer secure.
Doesn't mean you will immediately be hacked, just that you are more vulnerable. Also the OS may become more prone to failure, slowdowns, etc.

Add to this that the OS and infrastructure may no longer accept updated apps; browsers, email, etc.... adding to vulnerabilities.

All in all - a potential PITA :(

Pretty much why I went over to Win 10 on my old Macs which Microsoft are apparently supporting til 2025.
 
High Sierra end of life 31st Jan 2021 thus no more security updates. Its expected that EOL for Mojave at end of this year.

Cheers,

DV

I am occasionally running one Mac (MM2012) with Mojave - from all reports, support ceased end Nov 2021 in line with Apple policy (certainly not had a whiff of updates for a while now)
 
nurse it for as long as it'll continue to meet my needs whilst planning for its replacement

This sums up my (very first world) ‘problem’. We’re very light users of a daily computer and I can’t get myself beyond seeing all that metal, glass and engineering go to waste. If I was wired differently I’d have chucked it in the bin last week and could have bought a replacement twice over. I just feel a responsibility to keep it running if I can, not at any cost but £50-£100 here and there and some effort seems worth it.
 
This sums up my (very first world) ‘problem’. We’re very light users of a daily computer and I can’t get myself beyond seeing all that metal, glass and engineering go to waste. If I was wired differently I’d have chucked it in the bin last week and could have bought a replacement twice over. I just feel a responsibility to keep it running if I can, not at any cost but £50-£100 here and there and some effort seems worth it.

Sell it & replace it with an iPad maybe (unless you can't do on an iPad what you need to do on your Mac)?

That's what my wifes folks have just done; they had a 2017 iMac, boots from an external SSD as its much faster but used the 1TB HDD for storage etc).

They hardly used it and their iPad Air was dying a slow death; so that got given to charity, iMac sold and they've got last years iPad Pro 12.9" 128GB and I've got them a Trackpad and Bluetooth keyboard and they have it on a stand for their office when they need to use it as a 'Mac' etc...

Worth a thought maybe?
 
Sell it & replace it with an iPad maybe

I’ve thought on this and I’m going to do nothing. A local artisan will swap in the SSD for just £60, about the same price as a FireWire 800 caddy. But @miktec ’s post about support for High Sierra made me sit up and see the bigger picture - why pour ANY money into it? If I sense I’m under attack I might have a try with e.g. Linux Mint (although i’m not really a faffer) but more likely find someone who wants it for spares (that local artisan?) then jump forward 10 years. There’s a dribble of nice items pop up on this site.
 
Mine is a year older than yours & will only run El Capitan. The only version of Safari it will run is very out of date & won't let me onto an increasing number of sites, so I have to use alternatives such as Opera. The screen has some burn in as well. It's given me 12 years of flawless service so It's time to retire it. I'll be getting a new one sometime this year, hopefully the rumoured 27" won't be insanely expensive. The SSD will be removed & put into a caddy as a backup. The keyboard & trackpad kept as spares while the carcass will go to the local recycling centre.
 
I’ve thought on this and I’m going to do nothing. A local artisan will swap in the SSD for just £60, about the same price as a FireWire 800 caddy. But @miktec ’s post about support for High Sierra made me sit up and see the bigger picture - why pour ANY money into it? If I sense I’m under attack I might have a try with e.g. Linux Mint (although i’m not really a faffer) but more likely find someone who wants it for spares (that local artisan?) then jump forward 10 years. There’s a dribble of nice items pop up on this site.

Someone will have it off you; there is always someone that'll get the use out of it; or fix it and sell it on for a profit etc
 


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