Mac Mini Saga

[Ringel05]

Before I learned more about macs I had bought a late 2014 Mac Mini (Intel chip). I used OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install the latest OS version on it (Sonoma). It worked but was pretty slow even being on an SSD. I decided to revert it back to the last version it is compatible with (Monterey). To do that I had to delete EFI (OpenCore) which is simple enough per the instructions. Unfortunately EFI would not mount so I could delete it.
Okay, bright idea, install Fedora which would wipe everything then reinstall Monterey..........
I tried off and on for a week to reinstall macOS without any luck and of course my initial attempt wiped Fedora.
Finally replaced the SSD with a 1TB new SSD I had bought a while ago and found a Ventura ISO on a flash drive I had made (and forgot about) and now it is up and working. Apparently Apple puts earlier versions on the ISOs so even though it was a Ventura thumb drive it automatically installed Monterey. Pretty cool.
Will probably use it as a Plex server.
The 256GB ssd that was in it is now my backup drive for my Mac Mini M1. Installed it in a dedicated Hub the Mini sits on, was able to see it in Disk Utilty and properly format it.
Yup, even YouTube can be useful on occasion with all the different "how to" videos.

 

[BULLDOG]

I used to do all that kind of stuff until I realized it was cheaper and quicker for me to just hire it done. No more frustrating nights wondering WTF step I missed this time. Your mileage may vary.