IMac G5 (iSight) First Impressions

Well, I got my iMac G5 (iSight) from Apple yesterday. It really looks unbelievable. I'm surprised at how they can get all that power into such an elegant look and design.
Ok, here is what I think so far.
When I got it out of the box, hooked it up in no time. I have one thing to note about the audio in/out ports. It seems that the connector will "click in" all the way into the port, and make a good connection, but the shaft of the input cable is a bit visible, which could make one think it's not in all the way, and maybe damage the port by trying to push it in more. Once, in, if you move the cable, you will hear some static, but I don't know if that has anything to do with the shaft no going all the way flush to the back of the unit. Anyway, the cables won't be moving, so static won't be a problem with normal use.
The display brightness. The guys at Apple have a few settings. Bright, Brighter, Brighter Still, and Insane! This display is sooooo bright. Even with the brightness turned down all the way (BTW Apple, when brightness is turned down/off, it should actually get "less bright"), it's still too bright. So you'll want to calibrate on a lower brightness. I had a 20" Cinema, so I know they are bright, but this seems REALLY bright.
Unlock keychain error. After setting up the Mac and going through the setup program, after launching OS X, I got this box that said to input a password to unlock keychain for airport for system. I tried my password, but that wouldn't work. I just cancelled. All appeard fine, but it showed up again. I did get this fixed, the solution will be later.
Unable to verify disk using 10.4.3. As you know in 10.4.3, you can now do a verify disk while the boot volume is mounted. However, I kept on getting an error message that said could not unmount volume, and it wouldn't let me. I also solved this, solution in a minute.
The only thing I can think of for these problems, is that there was a problem with the factory install. So I did a clean install using the factory discs, then set all my preferences. I had no problems after that. I ended up wasting like 6 hours in the process, as I moved all of my music (16,000+) songs over before I knew of the problems, as well as installing all of my software and changes preferences within each piece of software. I was a bit mad to say the least.
In terms of the hardware working, it's really quiet and I've experienced no problems yet. It's definitley a step up from my mini (which I have on eBay right now, along with my 20" ACD which just sold for $660.00, the mini is up to $781.00). Along with some other stuff I'm selling, I won't pay anything out of pocket for the iMac, so that was a pretty good upgrade.
Front Row, in theory is a great idea, but since I have 16,000+ songs, with hundreds of artists, it really isn't too practical right now. Maybe if they add an index, where you can jump to artist/song by letter, that might help. Or have some menu options you can scroll through on the bottom of each screen. Right now, it just takes too long to get to where I want to go, so iTunes is much faster. The album art and interface is nicely done, but again, it's just too time consuming to get what I want.
I would buy this iMac again, and getting $100.00 off buying last Friday was a great deal. Aside from the software problems initially, I've had nothing but quiet, problem-free use. After having the mini, which was almost completely silent, this computer is still almost silent. Of course in the natrual seated position, if all is quiet, you can hear a fan, but it's not a whirring loud sound, just a faint fan sound. I have read some complaints about noise issues, but I don't hear anything like that. It's really, really quite. My PC, now that was noisy. I'll post if I hear different.
Bryan

Hello hPad and welcome to the wonderful world of Apple!
Just a few things to bear in mind when you search on eBay:
1. £500 sounds too much to me. They only cost £1000 new (they were last made in 2006) and as the G5 is officially obsolete it is probably only worth around £300 or so.
2. Make absolutely certain that any secondhand Mac you may buy comes with the original install disks. There are maintenance tasks that are impossible without them. If the vendor cannot offer these, don't buy from him.
3. OS Leopard 10.5.x is as high as a G5 can go. From new, it had Tiger 10.4.x installed, so you may also have to buy Leopard. If so, make sure you are getting a black retail disk, not somebody's cast-off updater.
4. The G5 iMac has only one slot for adding memory (RAM), so the maximum you can install is 2GB, making 2.5GB in all. As you can see below, my G5 iMac has a total of 1.5GB of RAM, which has proved sufficient. If you want to buy additional RAM stick to either Crucial or Kingston. Both offer a lifetime warranty.
Feel free to post back with any additional questions. Happy hunting!

Similar Messages

FCP will not open on my new iMac G5 (iSight)

I have i have FCP 4.5 and just recently accquired a new 20" iMac G5 (iSight). I installed FCP on my new mac and it doesn't want to start up. I get a message that says "Configuration error: This software requires hardware or software which is missing. AGP graphics card."
Has anyone else heard of this problem and if so how can you fix it?
I greatly appreciate in advance to any and all help.

Well I found the Final Cut Pro 4 'info.plist' (Made a copy of it first) and opened it and found 'AGP' and replaced it with and typed in 'PCI'.
(The 'info.plist' file opened up in some software called 'Omni Outliner', any idea what this is?)
Clicked on Final Cut Pro 4 and now it works!
No idea how it has worked but Im impressed and very pleased that it has! Thank again for that link.

IMAC G5(ISight) Photo Booth wont open!

Isight is currently being used by another application"...Oh no it isn't!!! There is nothing else running?
I seem to get this error when opening photobooth and thus can't use it. This happened after fixing permissions and installing adium. I'm sure i'm not the only person to get this problem. Help!!! i love my shiny new g5....P.S For everyone complaning about the noise on these machines, mine is quiet as a mouse.

If you have ALL the suggestions already offered without result, I have three other ideas.
First idea, consider the suggestion from the Troubleshooting section of your iMac's User's Guide (Pages 55-58) such as using the Apple Hardware Test CD, reinstalling software, restoring your iMac's OS, etc. (0) If you decide to reinstall or restore software applications, I suggest you do maintenance before and after the restore as explained in How I Update My Mac OS X.
(1) If you decide to reinstall your entire OS, consider the suggestions in Reinstalling Mac OS X (Rarely Necessary).
(2) If you have not already done so, you might even consider an erase and clean install for a known good starting point as explained in Macintosh System Stability.
Second idea, since your problem may be peculiar to an iMac G5 (iSight) iSight or to the Photo Booth app that is bundled with it, try the iMac Discussions area or the "Chat with a support agent" option avialable there.
Third idea, talk with your retailer or return your iMac and him ask to make your new Mac work for you or exchange it for one that does.

IMac G5 iSight won't shut down, won't install updates

Hi all,
My iMac G5 (iSight) is giving me some grief.
First, some details:
OSX 10.5.7
I have been trying to update this machine and have successfully updated a few things, such as iTunes, iLife, etc. Updates that don't require a restart seem to go just fine. I am unable to install updates to QT7, Safari because the installer hangs up while "Configuring Installation" and won't go any further, no matter how long you leave it.
This iMac also will not shut down. The finder icons disappear, the desktop image remains, and the grey spinning wheel goes on and it will simply not shut down until forced using the power button.
It is starting and functioning otherwise with no problems.
I have disconnected it from drives and and the network in case there was something on the network keeping it, but no luck. I have run Disk Utility and repaired permissions, reset the PRAM and the SMU, as well. No joy. Incidentally, my partner's MacBook Air is also having the exact same problem as this iMac (I posted as well in the MBA forums), but my own laptop, the one I'm using now (details below) is having no problem at all and all updates have taken.
Has anyone any suggestions about anything else I can try to clear this issue before I ring Applecare tomorrow?
Many thanks!

Hi Miriam,
I've just tried to run a Hardware Test but the disk is clearly from an older iMac I once had (pre-iSight) because it doesn't want to know about it. I have doubts about it being a logic board problem, however, because I'm having the same problems with a MacBook Air (but not my MacBook Pro) and it only started after a recent round of updates. Worrying, yes, but apart from not installing updates that require a restart or simply shutting down both machines seem to be performing perfectly. It's a bit confusing.
Thanks!

Tightening a loose hinge for an iMac G5 iSight?

I'm working on a friend's iMac G5 iSight that had a couple of problems. I took care of the first one, but can't find anything dealing with stand/hinge problems except that it's not intended to be removed by the consumer on this particular model.
Since I had to address an issue with the CPU fan, all of the guts are out of the computer and I can clearly see the hinge for the stand. I'm wondering if anyone has tried to tighten it with sucess, rather than replacing the stand and hinge. If I can save my friend some money, I'd like to do so.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your help.
For future reference, the stand is attached to the hinge by 6 T6 Torx screws. You'll have to remove some tape and an aluminum cover under the logic board. The hinge is attached to the back casing by 4 T10 Torx screws. After removing the base from the hinge and hinge from the casing, there are two nuts you can tighten on either side to create proper tension in the hinge. And yes, after 6 years of use it will need to be replaced soon as tightening could only do so much.

IMac G5 iSight won't boot from external optical drive . . . FW or USB

Hello, all. I have an iMac G5 iSight with a busted optical drive. Every six months or so, OS 10.4 eats itself (directory structure goes corrupt), and I need to reinstall.
The issue I'm having is that the computer won't boot off of my external optical drive. It's not shown as a choice in the Startup Manager, whether it's connected via USB or FireWire. Any ideas?

Okay, sorry this took so long . . .
Reset the SMU, NVRAM, and PRAM, no luck. Tried different FireWire port on the iMac, no luck. Tried different FireWire port on optical drive--LUCK.
Ah.
Wipe and reinstall got underway, and finished the first part. Unfortunately, my OS 10.4 Disc 2 turned out to be scratched, and wiping the hard drive didn't get rid of the logic board error either.
Took it to Apple retail store, and it was BOA (bricked on arrival). Astoundingly, it would not power, POST, turn on the fans, nothing. They then replaced the power supply, so they could troubleshoot the hard drive/fan/whatever issue.
Now the computer POSTs, and they finished the reinstall, and said it passes their advanced diagnostics. I asked them to run the diags on the install CD, so they could see they fan error, and they agreed. That was around 7:00 last night.
Now, it's still at the store, and I'm eagerly awaiting word on what might REALLY be wrong. Thanks for your help so far!

New Hard drive - not seen in imac g5 isight

I have installed a 1TB hard drive in my Imac G5 isight - checked all fittings and cables - get to the grey screen - and if I input the leopard disc (legal version) i get to the install where section - but the HD is not recognized - all the data I read (4hrs) tells me i NEED TO FORMAT- however how do you format ?
I have a spare - G4 laptop with leopard
I have a macbook with leopard
Note the specs for the HD came from apple - the HD did not
Help would be appreciated

Hi,
first of:
you are in the wrong Forum.
This is the Mac Mini Forum, whereas the iMac G5 Forum is here http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=134
Nonetheles, when you have booted the iMac from the OSX Leopard DVD and have choosen your language, you find the Disk Utility app in the Top Menu - Utilities.
Run Disk Utility from there, click on your new harddisk in the left pane and in the right pane click on the 'Partition' Tab.
Partition to your liking and make sure that to use the 'Option' button to set the partition map to be 'Apple Partition Map' (otherwise you can't boot from it).
Hope it helps
Stefan

17" MBP - First Impressions

I'm not really a review geek, but as I've been interested in the performance of this model (as are others) and since I already own a MBP 2G and a 20" iMac, I figured I'd just give you peeps a quick first impression.
I got my hands on a 17" MBP last night. I should have written this fresh last evening, but I was dead tired. Anyway, here's what I recall:
Config was 2G RAM, 120GB HD. I had an opportunity to do a few things with it. This was a social setting and an iPod swap, so I didn't really have an opportunity to run everything through it's paces.
As it wasn't my machine, I didn't have a copy of anything graphic/CPU intensive (like a nice nasty PPC photoshop session) to install and really give it a beating, however I put a copy of Handbrake on it and did a DVD conversion while also on Safari, with iTunes open and using iSquint to convert the video output of a recent surf session to H.264 for iPod.
I had it side-by-side with my old G4 17" (did not have my 2G MBP with me at the time, so this review is a bit slanted and it's not fair for me to try and "remember" last night's thoughts and compare now with my current MBP except in a few instances (and hey, I'd been drinking).
It connected via the home ethernet seemlessly, instantly and connection speeds were on par with every other machine running in the house.
I found the screen res and overall appearance to be much better than my G4 17."
Encoding FPS versus what I get for my 20" iMac were on par - with all apps running as outlined above.
I tested all the standard iLife apps, everything was snappy off the dock and worked well.
Speaker sound was superior to my G4.
No sticky keys. When prompted, paired with a wireless mouse with no issues.
Heat? What heat. My G4 was hotter just sitting there. I picked them both up a few times and did the lap test. The total time both were running (both idle and testing) was about 2 hours. Both machines were on a wooden kitchen table. Home temp was around 62 degrees give or take.
Battery life was not tested, as we were plugged in.
Whine? Silent as a Church mouse. Typical drive noise when inserting a DVD, but nothing abnormal. I honestly could not hear the fans or drives at all. My G4 is pretty silent and the MBP was no different.
Overall quality? It seems better constructed than my current MBP, but that comment might be skewed as I was just happy to play around with it. But I did open and close the screen, walked around with it a bit, and it seems more "solid" than my current MBP.
Not sure what else anyone wants to know.

—"I would like to know more about the heat - underneath? top? keyboard? You say that your G4 17" was hotter just sitting there - were the 17" G4s considered hot? Just trying to get a sense of it...."—
I've tested my latest 17" PB after this thread... the processor bottomside was 40 C when idle, and went up to 61.8 C after 10 mins at max processor load.
I guess that's OK if you ask me...

Time Capsule - First Impressions

Hope this can help someone...
TC First Impressions:
=====================
-> Relatively easy to set-up a wireless-n-only 5ghz network next to an existing wireless a/g network with TC as the router and Linksys a/g as a gateway plugged into the TC via ethernet.
-> Able to access Seagate 250 GB external drive plugged into the TC USB without problem.
-> Can see both the TC drive and Seagate drive from XP/Vista/Mac and add/remove files. This is also true from Vista running on the boot camp partition or as a virtual machine.
-> Time Machine set-up and backup was relatively simple.
-> TC wireless-n/a (5 ghz) is not visible by the Xbox 360. Linksys wireless-a network still worked with open NAT.
-> TC wireless-n/g (2.4 ghz) is accessible by the PS3, but without UPnP. Linksys wireless-g network still worked with UPnP.
-> Airport Utility restart of the TC has some issues. If wireless from the iMac, the wireless-n network signal would degrade and become unusable -- needed to unplug TC for restart and then everything was fine. If wired through the ethernet port via XP, the Airport Utility sometimes won't see the TC after a restart -- necessitating logging out and back into XP, then the TC was visible.
-> Internet performance on the wireless-n network is better than wireless a/g (about 30 feet away), but not significantly. Signal is 'very strong'.
-> Wireless-n access through Window Vista on the boot camp partition is much slower (really unusable) for unknown reasons. However, access through the boot camp partition as a virtual machine (VMWare) is much better -- but still a little slower that Mac OS X.
-> TC runs warm, but not hot. No smell or odor.
-> TC runs quiet to me.
My lessons learned:
===================
-> Plug the power cord into the TC before the outlet. The fit of the plug on the back of the TC is tight and needs a little extra force to set.
-> The initial wireless Time Machine backup does take a long time.
-> If the initial Time Machine backup is interrupted....when restarted TM performs an integrity check of the disk. This will look like the backup is hung at 21KB or something like that. Just need to let it run. The backup will be fine.
-> You can keep your existing router by making it a gateway and plugging it into the TC. No real impact on performance that I can see.
-> Plugging in a external drive formatted as FAT32 under Windows Vista and containing no files caused the TC to blink amber on startup. Once files were loaded, problem solved.
Message was edited by: Jeffrey Gardner1

Max(IT) -> From what I know, the xbox 360 only uses 802.11a (wireless-a) which is a 5ghz spectrum, so I didn't try the 2.4ghz.
R. Berardi -> You can definitely plug your existing router into the TC being as a gateway, or vice-versa. Either way you'd have wireless-n, you just have to decide which router you want to be the gateway (or connect to the modem). Both can be given a range of IPs to assign as DHCP that don't overlap, and you should be able to reach router admin page and TC Airport Utility from either network (access is by IP). If you wanted to run ethernet upstairs, this would work as well - but the routers have to be connected via ethernet. I've set-up the TC as the gateway with a Linksys a+g router, and this is my experience/understanding.
Thanks.

First 'impression' of Safari 3.0 Beta in the first 5 minuites of use.

I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium and just downloaded Safari 3.0 for Windows Public Beta (Not included Quicktime)
The installation is processed smoothly.
I used it 5 minuites and my first impression is nothing but BUGs BUGs BUGs.
Alway Crash:
1. When click anything concerning Bookmarks, Safari crashes. (In other word, cannot use Bookmarks.)
2. When fill in any form, Safari crashes.
3. When access any pages with Javascript, Safari crashes.
Sometime Crash:
1. When access some pages, Safari randomly crashes. Ordinary pages such as this website itself. The symtom is both CPU core work reach 100% and needed to restart computer.
2. Randomly show message like "file not found, need reinstall." in any page, of course, even this page.
Bugs:
1. Cannot click on the button on the taskbar to minimize.
2. When minimize and restore, the Safari window going in restore down state.
3. Memory leak as I monitering RAM usage: increases more than 100MB when open Safari.
4. Font smoothing shows almost illegible.
Let down function:
1. Safari 3.0 for Windows Public Beta is the slowest web browser among all of browsers in my notebook. (IE7, Firefox, Opera, Cameleon Browser.)
STOP! saying "This is just a BETA!".
I love to test beta software and report bugs. I'm not a techical geeks so my testing method is to use them just as I always use in everyday life. No tweak or special use I squeesh to the program. I understand the BETA is not FINAL and of course, have more bugs than FINAL.
But this is not what I call bugs. I call "cannot be used."
How can you guy call this "PUBLIC" Beta? Have your programmer even see it in action in Windows before release to public?
This application is the second Apple application I experienced. (The first is iTunes.) It totally let me down because when compare with Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 I tested last year, Safari 3.0 Public Beta is not in my sight.
How can you apply guy convince me that Apple is better than Microsoft since I compare just an essential small program and found no pros, even both are in beta state?
Hope to see Beta 2 with no major crash in the first 5 minuites usage.
ASUS W7F Windows Vista Intel Centrino Duo 2.00GHz 1.5GB DDRII Ram

Downgrading via Archive and install is notoriously unreliable. It is much safer to simply retrieve your backup you made before you installed the update after an erase and install. Of course you make at least two backups. Selective file recovery may be in order, such as found in migrating from PowerPC to Intel Macs:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350&tstart=0

How can I find what apple ID I used to register my iMac when I first booted up? I am being told that by using this ID I will be able to go on to the App store and down load iPhoto at no cost. Is this true? My iMac does not have iPhoto resident on it now

How can I find what apple ID I used to register my iMac when I first booted up? I am being told that by using this ID I will be able to go on to the App store and down load iPhoto at no cost. Is this true? My iMac does not have iPhoto resident on it now and I only purchased my new iMac in December 2012
Thanks....

Launch Keychain Access and click on Login in the left hand pane and then on Passwords. Next do search for Apple in the search field at the top and click on Apple ID Authenicication in the list that comes up. That will give you the ID no. and password.
OT

ITunes 11.0 First Impressions

1. My first impression of the user interface is that it's "square" and "flat".
   Esthetically I don't see it as an improvement. To the contrary, I think
   the former interface is nicer.
2. After starting iTunes 11.0 it sat there for 1/2 an hour with the message
   "Sending Information to Apple", then a dialog box displayed with:
   We cannot complete your iTunes Store request
   An unknown error occurred (4002)
   Note that three subsequent attempts resulted in the same iTunes match error.
3. Could not find a way to change the BRIGHT WHITE background. I hate the white
   background for various reasons. I'm sure many other customers preferred the dark
    background as well.
4. Tried syncing my iPhone and had to cancel. It was copying 49 apps, I believe
   some of these were from my iPad. Had to then restart iTunes.
5. Movies in grid view have large gaps in between the rows of movies.
   It is UGLY! Is it just me, or do others have these huge gaps?
6. Looking at my music, I see no way to view the songs in a list view.
   Where are the convenient buttons which quickly allowed changing views?
   Now there is just unused space where they used to be. And all of
   the menu items under View -> Column Browser are disabled.
   Why???
7. Hey, at least they brought back color icons, which Apple deemed that
   no one liked! (That was sarcasm).
Overall I am extremely dissapointed with this update, and it has me wondering how the
most valuable company in the world could release something that looks more at home
on a Linux desktop.

It's terrible. There is no symmetry in the views anymore. It is so bad, that it will take a lot of testing for me to figure out what is wrong with it. The only view that allows different views is the playlist view. I can't get an "artist list" for all my music. I can only get it for the currently selected playlist. I suppose I could make a playlist with all music. Where did sort by album by artist/year go? That's the view I used the most. I found it in the songs view. But there I can't see the album covers. It's so unsymmetrical now. Where did the status bar go that told me how many songs I selected and what the total play time is? I don't know if all my songs are there. The albums view and the videos views are worthless if you have 15,000 songs and videos. They just rearranged things. There's nothing new. There are things missing. The thing that needed fixing was synchronization. All that should be removed from iTunes, but they didn't make any changes to that. Can I go back to iTunes 10?

How to replace internal Hard Drive on iMac G5 iSight 1.9GHz

Hello everyone,
The internal hard drive of my iMac has died (apparently), and is no longer detectable by Disk Utility. It occasionally makes a "click/tick" sound so I know it's still spinning inside. I currently am booted up from an external firewire drive with Tiger (10.4.11) installed.
I have been attempting to locate a service manual that shows how to open the case to my 17" iMac G5 iSight 1.9GHz model. I have found a service manual from the previous generation iMac G5 NON-iSight models, but the bottom access panel and screw locations differ from my iMac.
I have purchased an internal 500GB Seagate 7200.12 replacement drive.
Does anyone know where I can find a manual with pictures showing how to disassemble this particular iMac so I can install the new hard drive?

Ticking is a death rattle for drives and below are some helpful sites with pix.
http://www.kodawarisan.com/imacintel/imacintel01.html
http://xlr8yourmac.com/systems/imacisight_internals/imac_g5_isightinside.html
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=iVgL9u7ySUk
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=fI_QmBueWg4&feature=related
The reason Apple don't publish pix of the insides of the iSight is that they say that there are no user serviceable parts.

IMac G5 (iSight) DVD drive a DIY part?!?!

Hi, I'm horribly confused. Is my DVD drive a user-serviceable part or not?
Apple's documents only talk about "iMac G5 (Ambient Light Sensor)," but don't say anything about the optical drive in "iMac G5 (iSight)."
I believe that the iSight model has undergone a radical internal re-engineering, so what applies to earlier models may not apply to it. And after a certain point in surfing the support pages, they simply stop referring to the iSight model and quietly redirect to the older models.
I was going to open the Mac to access the disk that's stuck in it (it's a rental DVD, to make things even worse). But someone warned me on another forum that it would void my warranty in the case of this model.
I have this disk stuck in my drive, and it won't eject. It's a hardware problem. The drive tries to eject the disk (making noises), then gives up (believing that it was successful), and the disk mounts again. I've tried every software method (including Open Firmware), to no avail. I tried laying the iMac on its screen, turning it off to let it cool off, etc. Nothing helps.
Apple's online Troubleshooting Assistant has recommended that I replace the part. It has, again, offered a DIY replacement. But at a certain level into the online order form, it refused to list the optical drive as a replacement part.
Obviously, Apple needs to update some of its support pages. But the question remains: How can I remove the disk from the drive, and as the drive is probably faulty (if this could happen to it), how do I get it replaced?
I'm in Luxembourg, and haven't managed to find ANY information on whom to contact here.

You are correct about the iSight model being different from the earlier two G5 models. The back does not come off the iSight one; instead, the front bezel & LCD screen must be removed to access the interior. This is not designed to be done by users, requires handling some delicate parts, & will almost certainly void your warranty if you do it yourself.
To find contact information, check the paper documentation that came with your iMac for a document about AppleCare service & support. Mine is the 2005 edition, in English, but lists the following for Luxembourg:
(352) 800 24550 or www.apple.com/befr/support

My iMac G5 iSight has died. New iMac on order.

My 5+ year old 20" iMac G5 iSight has died after a recent 3 hour power outage. I have nothing. It has acted a little stubborn with some restarts recently and I waited a little too long to replace. I tore it down and replaced the PRAM battery but no luck, I am thinking it is a power supply issue. I have a new iMac on order which should arrive next week. I also should have a good Time Capsule backup.
I would like to remove the hard drive and put it an external firewire enclosure, reboot from that and restore my data and applications. Will be going from a PPC iMac to an Intel. Is this a valid option? My main concern is my Quicken data and program. I have been running Quicken 2006 and don't really want to upgrade from the reviews I have read. Don't have the install disk for Quicken 2006 anymore.
Thanks in advance!
Jim

Removing the drive is an excellent idea, you should be able to mount your firewire external and use it on your new machine.
I'm not sure if you will be able to reboot from the FireWire external, it depends on the damage done by the hard shutdown (get yourself a USP, I use APC models, they're very good and have saved me many a time, I live in the country and the power is always going off), but it's likely that you can.
Please post back with results,

IMac G5 (iSight) First Impressions

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