Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibility

Posted on
Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:06 pm
sparker offline
Posts: 155
Joined: Oct 30, 2003
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibility

I have a headless 2011 MacMini with Indigo that has been running my house for over a decade, and I fear I'm going to have to replace the Mini relatively soon. My primary interface is a 2018 PowerLinc 2413U driving a non-trivial amount of Insteon devices (~40) including Lights, appliance, water sensors, water valve control, thermostat plugin (non-google NEST connection), a couple cameras, and more. I used to have an Insteon Hub until the whole Insteon implosion, but with Indigo, was able to keep all the old devices active without the new paid hub account.

I have two basic questions:

1) If I have to buy a new Mini soon, should I be able to keep going with The PowerLinc 2413U, and stay operational with the devices I have, and
2) Is there a "indigo recommended migration" to another interface I should be focusing on. From what I see in the forum, Z-Wave is where most of the discussions are leading.

If #1 is a no-go (meaning a replacement Mini with modern hardware/OS will no longer work) the answer to #2 will be critical to whether I preemptively replace the Mini and all devices to minimize downtime, or whether I replace the Mini when (if) the old one fails, knowing I can buy it's replacement "spur of the moment" and stay operational while I slowly migrate away from Insteon.

I know this is one of those "what kind of car should I buy" type questions, but I'm just looking for basic advice on whether a new Mac mini with the latest version of Insteon will be able to run all that old Insteon hardware (without an Insteon Hub). Is anybody out there in the community running a new (2019+) Mini with Insteon hardware and no paid hub?

TIA for any advice.

Steve

--
Steve Parker
X10 user from the early 80's
Fully converted to Insteon in 2013 (looking to migrate away now)
Proud Indigo owner since the beginning... :)

Posted on
Sun Nov 27, 2022 9:40 am
Different Computers offline
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Location: East Coast

Re: Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibil

All I can really say about this is my PowerLinc works just fine with my M1 Mini running Monterey.

The only issues I had when upgrading from a similarly old Mac had to do with Python scripts and plugins that needed upgrades.

Oh, and Costco has a special on M1 Minis right now.

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

Posted on
Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:51 am
sparker offline
Posts: 155
Joined: Oct 30, 2003
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibil

Thanks. I know way back when were some issues with upgrading, both OS and Hardware. If you've got one running now, I should be able to get mine running. I already paid the Python3 price/effort, but that wasn't too bad for me.

I appreciate your feedback!

Steve

--
Steve Parker
X10 user from the early 80's
Fully converted to Insteon in 2013 (looking to migrate away now)
Proud Indigo owner since the beginning... :)

Posted on
Sun Jan 01, 2023 5:28 pm
bedelman0731 offline
Posts: 2
Joined: Mar 13, 2018

Re: Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibil

I’m glad i found this thread! I have a similar situation - but I have a mid-2012 Mini (macMini 6,2) currently running Indigo 7.5 also with the PowerLinc 2413U. If I recall correctly, there was an issue with the driver that handled the USB connection - which is one reason why I “froze” the version of macOS on the Mini at macOS High Sierra version 10.13.3

Am I to understand that I should be able to successfully upgrade to a more current version of Indigo as well as macOS?

I’d likely perform a full backup of the boot drive just in case seeing as reversing a macOS upgrade is not something that is easily done.
Last edited by bedelman0731 on Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Posted on
Mon Jan 02, 2023 9:17 am
Different Computers offline
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Location: East Coast

Re: Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibil

I can only say that I had no problem. But I wasn't on hardware as old as that, or a version of Indigo that old.

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

Posted on
Mon Jan 02, 2023 9:49 am
sparker offline
Posts: 155
Joined: Oct 30, 2003
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: Need to upgrade MacMini soon, concerned about compatibil

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Updates on my OP: The computer upgrade was almost trivially easy.

I had more problems trying to move my media and photo backups from an old Drobo Model 2 (Firewire 800) to a new OWC Ministack (where I had to resort to hooking up both drive devices on the old Mac and letting the copy to the new drive run over 5 days..

For the Indigo change, I had been running the latest Indigo on the old hardware already, so I'd already "paid the price" (in effort) for converting Python scripts, upgrading plugins, etc. Basically, I moved everything over, restored my account data, and was running almost immediately with very little effort.

In hindsight, I probably should not have copied my account, starting with a clean OS and new account, and reinstall only what I needed (like I do when upgrade my daily driver MacBook Pro). But since this really only runs the house, I don't have a lot of historical cruft floating around, and the new OS is "relatively clean".

Here's to a prosperous 2023!!!

Steve

--
Steve Parker
X10 user from the early 80's
Fully converted to Insteon in 2013 (looking to migrate away now)
Proud Indigo owner since the beginning... :)

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