Anyone know how to disable Apple's S.M.A.R.T. drive utility in the BIOS? I have an old iMac 21" from late 2011 I want to install Linux on and can't get past the warning the drive is gonna fail. I know it's gonna fail, but I don't feel like replacing it right now (paint in the ass to do) and I just want to use the system for testing.

-BB

I found this let me know if it helps ya out.

You cannot disable S.M.A.R.T. status checks directly in the BIOS/EFI of a 2011 iMac, as Apple firmware does not provide that level of hardware control. The warning is generated by the drive itself reporting critical failure statistics.However, you can bypass this error to install Linux by using a few workarounds during the installation process.Method 1: The "External Drive" Bypass (Recommended)SMART errors are often reported by the internal SATA controller, but not always communicated through USB.Connect a temporary USB external hard drive or flash drive.Install Linux onto that external drive.Once Linux is installed, use it for testing, or use cloning tools within that Linux to clone the external drive back to the internal drive, ignoring the error.Method 2: Bypass via Installer TerminalIf the Linux installer (like Ubuntu) is getting hung up on the SMART error, try using the Terminal to erase the drive first:Boot the iMac with your Linux USB installer, holding Option.Open the Terminal within the installation environment.Type ls /dev/sd* or diskutil list to identify your internal drive.Use dd to write zeros to the first few MB of the drive, which can sometimes clear the "failing" state flag.Example: sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M count=10 (Be extremely careful to select the right drive).Restart the installation.Method 3: Use a Different InstallerThe dosdude1 patchers for macOS or certain, more permissive Linux distributions may ignore the S.M.A.R.T. flag during installation.Why You Can't Just Disable ItThe 2011 iMacs do not have a traditional BIOS menu with advanced settings, nor do they support flashing a custom BIOS to turn off these checks. The warning is meant to prevent data loss, but it stops you from using it for testing.Note: As this is a 2011 iMac, you may also need to boot with nomodeset in GRUB if you experience a black screen due to the old AMD GPU.How to revive your old Apple Macs (intel only) | nomodeset in ...Feb 28, 2025 Ä
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THANKS! I'll give it a go and see if it works :)

Let me know how it goes, and get back to me. I'd love to have any kind of mac. I don't care if it's retro.

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þ Synchronet þ Hobby Space - Express Yourself hobbyspc.synchro.net