Repurposing Old 17” MacBook Pro (late 2011)

[PStark]

I recently upgraded my laptop to a new MacBook Pro and instead of just throwing away or recycling (at least at this point) a good MacBook Pro, I want to experiment with TrueNAS to see if I can still use the computer in some way. I have it set up now with a drive plugged in via a USB port. It works OK I guess but I want to speed it up a little by utilizing the thunderbolt port (TB1) and potentially creating a raid. This computer wont be storing anything essential but I want to see how it compares to my QNAP NAS I already have. If I can get this setup and working at a decent speed, I would like to use it to store computer backups for all my computers in my home.

 

[jgreco]

I doubt anyone here has any insight for you, beyond this:

USB-attached, and most likely Thunderbolt-attached, disks are likely to be somewhat problematic for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they have a tendency to do flaky things under load.

Additionally, FreeNAS really wants a ton of resources, though perhaps your MacBook has 8GB or more of RAM and some decent CPU.

Even a Windows PC is generally not advisable, and relatively little actual experience with such exists in the forums. You're one step beyond that. It could work, but be careful.

 

[awasb]

Get OpenCore Legacy Patcher and install Big Sur or Monterey. It's the best, you can do.

 

[Rivolta]

PStark: Did you manage to pull this off in the end ? I happen to be in the same situation. I know what I plan to do sounds crazy, but here's how it will go: use both internal SATA connection for 2TB HDDs, and install TrueNAS onto an external SSD connected via USB. I haven't got the HDDs but I'll come back if you're interested in my results.

jgreco: What does TrueNAS do with all the system ressources ? Also why is USB bad ? (Sorry if these questions are stupid, I'm really a newbie).

awasb: Installing macOS on these 2011 MBPs is the worst thing anyone could do, they have a GPU defect and they die, it would be wiser to repurposing them for some headless tasks.