Can you help me out with my new (second hand) M1 Mac mini

Mac
#1

Hi Everyone.

I have just received my new (second hand) M1 Mac mini.

Upon starting it up for the first time there seemed something a bit odd about it. Most things seem to work fine but there are a few quirks. Anyway, to cut a long story short, it’s running Mac OS Monterey 12.1 Beta (21C5045a). Why you would sell a computer, second hand, running beta software without letting the buyer know, I have no idea.

Anyway, I would like to keep this. It’s in great condition and I paid a really good price for it. I have done some searches about how to release this machine from the beta program in software update but none of this is available on mine. If I try to reinstall from Recovery mode - same thing. Will only reinstall the beta version. I’m sure there is a simple solution to this but I haven’t been able to find it.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance…

#2
  • Go to “System Preferences” > “Software Update.”
  • Select “Details…” in the bottom-left corner of the window, underneath the message “This Mac is enrolled in the Apple Beta Software Program.”
  • Select “Restore Defaults” to unenroll your Mac from the beta.
    Should now have option to install 12.1 release version.
#3

Thanks for your reply but that option is not available to me for some reason.

I will be trying this: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/apple-configurator-2/apdd5f3c75ad/mac
This afternoon.

Wish me luck…

#4

Because it was enrolled into the beta program by a different user, you might find that it just keeps pulling the beta version down when you reinstall macOS.
You might yourself need to go through the steps of enrolling it (even though it’s already enrolled) and then unenrolling it.

#5

All restored and sorted out now…

#6

Glad you were able to resolve it!

#7

Thanks. It wasn’t as hard as I thought. But if you didn’t have access to another Mac it would be a pain.

#8

:slight_smile: Not typically a problem in my house… But - have to say, it’s been incredibly annoying installing non-current OS’s onto the SSD’s I’ve been upgrading my older Macs with. Go to instal the OS, but if it’s older than the current OS, it wont even let you try.

In my day, you could still run the OS Instal app, and choose which HDD to perform the instal. At that point, the Instal App could say “NO” if needed.

I did read there was some kind of work around… but for now - I just have to scurry around to find a Mac with a lesser advanced OS, in order to then instal the older OS…

#9

Yes, it was certainly much easier back in the day.

My next project is to resurrect my old PowerBook G3 2000 Pismo.

#10

SNAP! Actually not, as I’ve no plans to resurrect mine… (nor sell it for now) My Pismo has kind of been my OS 9 machine, but now that’s what the Cube is meant to become…

#11

I bought mine brand new. I think it will still run but I will probably have to disconnect the PRAM battery. I had a replacement main battery for it but I don’t know what condition that will be in. If I get it running I will probably refurbish both the batteries myself. I recently did a Ryobi cordless drill battery & it was easier than I thought.

I have seen some good Pismo videos on YouTube. There is a good one on installing a cheap SSD & one on a PCMCIA Bluetooth card (which I have already bought). Also there is some sort of hybrid version of OS X out which is supposed to run better on older Macs. I will most likely use it mainly for OS 9 too but have also seen a few videos about installing OS 9.2 on Apple silicon…

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