- Unisyn-MacMini Screenshare.jpg (195.69 KiB) Viewed 387 times
Replacing my iBook G4
Some of you may have been following my saga in another thread. I have been using my old iBook G4 to run Unisyn and controlling it over screen sharing with my Mac Studio (currently on Sonoma 14.4.1) I also used this USB switch (with a convenient wired remote) to choose which Mac was connected to my MIDI Express XT. For sequencing, it would be on the "1" for my Mac Studio. If I need to do some sysex operations, press "2" and it switched to my iBook G4.
This worked pretty flawlessly and then my iBook G4 died.
The Intel Mac Mini / Snow Leopard Fail
So, then I decided to get a 2009 Intel Mac Mini, install a solid-state drive and then install Snow Leopard with the Rosetta option so I could run a PowerPC app like Unisyn. The SSD, I reasoned, would allow it to boot faster and last longer (the original spinner was pretty old). In theory it should have all worked like a champ. Well it did and it didn't.
I soon discovered that now large system exclusive dumps were unstable. I'd get error messages in Unisyn that data had been dropped or incomplete messages. I tried different MOTU MIDI Installers hoping one would be stable. No luck. My working theory at this point is that somehow the timing or whatever of these sysex exchanges was not accurate enough when running Unisyn in Rosetta on an Intel processor. I gave up on this for a while...
The $40 G4 Mac Mini
Then the opportunity to test the theory arose. There was a very old 2005 G4 Mac Mini for sale locally via Facebook Marketplace. Seller wanted $60 for just the box and the power supply.. Being the ruthless negotiator I am, I offered $40. Made sense for me... I had a reason for seeking out a Mac this old. I'm sure he was glad it didn't become a doorstop.
So it was preinstalled with Leopard 10.5 and has a 80GB spinning hard drive. That's kinda scary. Who knows how long it will last, but can't run Leopard on an SSD as far as I know so it is what it is.
First issue: I got it home. It already had a user/admin account. It booted up, but I couldn't install the MOTU MIDI software without knowing the password. Called the seller, he didn't know the password. Oh great! I'm thinking what a nightmare! How to make a bootable Leopard installer?? I was about to buy an old Installer DVD from eBay but then I found THIS! The second answer was the one that worked:
Honestly, I was amazed this actually worked. Rebooted and got the sign on screen and entered the password I entered in Step 4 above and I was in! So if you come across a really old Mac at a garage sale and the seller is locked out, you might not need to track down an installer disk. Good to have, for sure. But not necessary. The only weird issue I found is when you subsequently change your user name, the user directory doesn't change. It remains what it was before, but it doesn't seem to affect anything.
- Hold command-S on startup.
- Run mount -uw / to modify (-u) the status of the root filesystem (/) to make it writable (-w). fsck -fy is not necessary.
- Run launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.Apple.DirectoryServices.plist in 10.6 or earlier, or launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.directoryd.plist in 10.7 or later.
- Run dscl . -passwd /Users/username password, where username is replaced with the username of the account and password is replaced with the new password.
- Run reboot .
Setting up the G4 Mac Mini for Unisyn
After making sure to connect it to my WiFi network, I ran Software Update and installed all updates. Each time the update was done and the Mac Mini rebooted, I checked again, and had to do this 2-3 times till it was completely "current." I then went to MOTU's site and downloaded the oldest MOTU MIDI Installer I could find which was at the bottom of this page: Version: 1.6.49190 (110806) Release Date: Nov. 10, 2011. I installed that... then installed Unisyn and put in my Keycode. Had to do the usual Audio MIDI Setup and then choosing profiles in Unisyn. Then of course going into the Sharing prefs and enabling File Sharing and Screen Sharing. (Honestly, it's amazing to me that a modern Mac Studio can do this with a Mac that's 19 years old!)
I've set it up to be "headless." I power it up, there's a setting to turn off its checking for a Bluetooth mouse. The Unisyn is a log in item so it launches automatically. So if I turn it on, in a minute or two it appears on the local network and I can start Screen Sharing. It's connected via Ethernet to a switch connected to my Mac Studio. I also have my Avid S3 connected to the switch and it all works fine.
Another Leopard quirk: if you do not have a monitor physically connected to it, when you screen share you do not see a wallpaper. You get a generic blue background even if the wallpaper is set on the Mac. I think this is a Leopard issue. I actually ordered a DVI dummy load on Amazon. If I plug that in the back, I should see my wallpaper and also get some additional resolution choices.
A final odd issue: the little light on the front of my Mac Mini does not go out even when it is fully shut down. I will be looking into that. I even unplugged the power supply and it's still lit up so I'm guessing some capacitor or whatever is causing it to stay lit. I may need to hook up a monitor and keyboard to it to trouble shoot. I think resetting some things might fix that.
The Results?
I'm pleased to report that my theory was true. Sysex dumps are indeed completely stable/reliable on a Mac with a G4 processor. For whatever reason, I could not achieve this with the old Intel Mac Mini emulating Power PC with Rosetta. Who knows why? So for now... I'm good to go. I might try to find a NOS replacement drive for this Mac MIni, or if I'm crazy enough find another cheap G4 Mac Mini and mess with Sorbet Leopard and installing an SSD, but not sure about that.
So that's the state of my dedicated "Unisyn box."
- UnisynBox.jpg (144.02 KiB) Viewed 378 times
I was in such a hurry I just used a plain old kitchen knife and got it done quickly. It was a relief when it started working and I'm was happy that my theory about connecting a dummy DVI load was correct. This is a Leopard issue apparently. Doesn't happen with OSes earlier and later.
