using a Mac mini (Mid 2007) as network boot device?

[fatboynate2]

so i have a old Mac mini (Mid 2007) and a few old pcs that could be hooked up to other screens around the house, they dont have any storage of their own so i was curious if i had them connected via a switch to the the mini i could use that as boot drive for al 3 of them since my disabled mum would love to be able to stream her tv shows in the kitchen while cooking or while shes in the bath since i have a bunch of 19inch portable monitors that could just be put up with a couple screws.

 

kinda like they all boot from and load the os via network but then use their own hardware to actually run it.

[mtz_federico]

On 5/12/2019 at 12:40 PM, fatboynate2 said:

so i have a old Mac mini (Mid 2007) and a few old pcs that could be hooked up to other screens around the house, they dont have any storage of their own so i was curious if i had them connected via a switch to the the mini i could use that as boot drive for al 3 of them since my disabled mum would love to be able to stream her tv shows in the kitchen while cooking or while shes in the bath since i have a bunch of 19inch portable monitors that could just be put up with a couple screws.

 

kinda like they all boot from and load the os via network but then use their own hardware to actually run it.

You could. I only know how to do it in ubuntu but its possible. You would just need to create an iso that has all of the apps that you need ready to be booted and used.

[fatboynate2]

On 5/13/2019 at 8:14 PM, mtz_federico said:

You could. I only know how to do it in ubuntu but its possible. You would just need to create an iso that has all of the apps that you need ready to be booted and used.

i have ubuntu ready for it, and i still used dvds and cds for disposable data since my thumb drives are loaded with oses most of the time. ho wdo i go abou tsetting this up as i can shove a 1tb ssd in the mac mini.

[mtz_federico]

I followed this tutorial

https://www.ostechnix.com/how-to-install-pxe-server-on-ubuntu-16-04/

Just change the iso to an ubuntu desktop or something else that is able to get the job done.

I also forgot to mention that your dhcp server has to support setting a network boot server, In this tutorial it also shows how to setup a dhcp server in ubuntu and how to set the netboot part

[Jay Deah]

You can but it’s not trivial and honestly I wouldn’t bother just grab yourself some cheap android TV sticks and use that. Super simple.

 

run plex server on the mac and plex for android on the TVs and you’ll have a great experience. 

[fatboynate2]

On 5/17/2019 at 4:12 PM, Jay Deah said:

You can but it’s not trivial and honestly I wouldn’t bother just grab yourself some cheap android TV sticks and use that. Super simple.

 

run plex server on the mac and plex for android on the TVs and you’ll have a great experience. 

i actualy just bought a bunch of chromecasts since casting to the monitors was just easier and i named the monitors by the room they're in, and so casting chrome to them is so simple.