The problem with using the Command-F1 or Fn-Command-F1 at boot is I also need to use the Option key. I have the panel off the iMac so that I can have a fan constantly blowing on the system board and GPU while I try installing an OD on the machine. Pretty much everything I've tried hangs between 20-60% of the way into the install (various MacOS versions, as well as Fedora 39 & 40). I had managed to install Linux Mint LMDE6 on it, which ran for about three hours until the system hung. After that when I'd reboot the machine would run for a couple minutes and hang again. Now that was with a fan constantly blowing on the back, cooling off the aluminum shell.
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The problem with using the Command-F1 or Fn-Command-F1 at boot is I also need to use the Option key. I have the panel off the iMac so that I can have a fan constantly blowing on the system board and GPU while I try installing an OS on the machine. Pretty much everything I've tried hangs between 20-60% of the way into the install (various MacOS versions, as well as Fedora 39 & 40). I had managed to install Linux Mint LMDE6 on it, which ran for about three hours until the system hung. After that when I'd reboot the machine would run for a couple minutes and hang again. Now that was with a fan constantly blowing on the back, cooling off the aluminum shell.
Thus why I'm trying to run with the display off, to directly cool the components (the internal fans are definitely working, and I've already cleaned out the cooling fins and put on new thermal paste). I'd do the conversion to a monitor-only, but I already have too many projects and not enough time, and I had wanted to set this up for my daughter to use (it's a more powerful machine than the Dell AiO she has now).
The problem with using the Command-F1 or Fn-Command-F1 at boot is I also need to use the Option key. I have the panel off the iMac so that I can have a fan constantly blowing on the system board and GPU while I try installing an OD on the machine. Pretty much everything I've tried hangs between 20-60% of the way into the install (various MacOS versions, as well as Fedora 39 & 40). I had managed to install Linux Mint LMDE6 on it, which ran for about three hours until the system hung. After that when I'd reboot the machine would run for a couple minutes and hang again. Now that was with a fan constantly blowing on the back, cooling off the aluminum shell.
Thus why I'm trying to run with the display off, to directly cool the components (the internal fans are definitely working, and I've already cleaned out the cooling fins and put on new thermal paste). I'd do the conversion to a monitor-only, but I already have too many projects and not enough time, and I had wanted to set this up for my daughter to use (it's a more powerful machine than the Dell AiO she has now).