Powerbook G4 as HTPC to 4:3 CRT TV / app and box recommendation?

Hi--
My first post here. I've done quite a bit of research here and elsewhere, and I still can't figure out the best solution for my particular setup.
I'm getting a new MacBook Pro very soon, and my 1.5 Ghz Powerbook G4 is still alive and (sort of) kicking. I intend to use the PB for a HTPC/media server, with the media coming from a LaCie 7200 RPM FW drive.
The monitor is a late 90s, 4:3 Sony CRT TV that I like (I'm not ready for HDTV upgrade).
For sound I plan to use an old MBox 1 as my D/A converter out of the PB into my 70s Pioneer stereo amp/receiver; I'm not terribly interested in 5.1 etc at this point.
My questions are:
What app/software do you recommend for organizing/navigating the media? XBMC, Plex, etc?
How should I go about connecting my PB to my 4:3 TV so that wider-than-1.33 aspect ratios show up properly letterboxed on my TV? I should note that my TV only has composite and S-video inputs. I tried just hooking it straight up from the S-video output on the PB using the S-video- to - composite adapter (I didn't have an S-video cable handy to try that direct connection), and it looked awful no matter how I set the resolution.
If there's no way to connect the PB to the CRT directly with decent picture quality and correct fomatting, what box would you recommend to help make the conversion? Or is a box just a good idea in general? I do have a first-generation Roku, which does not have the USB jack. I'd also prefer a wired connection of some sort.
Is there anything else I should be looking at within the confines of my setup?
Sorry if this is a bit long-winded, just trying to give all pertinent info...
Thanks for any guidance, and I'm sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.

Have you tried a PRAM reset?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Shut down your Mac.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
After resetting NVRAM or PRAM, you may need to reconfigure your settings for speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, and time zone information.

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Hello and welcome to the support community
You only option is to buy a copy of Mac OS X, either the retail disk or system disks.
There are places you can by a copy of Mac OS X, like online vendors, Amazon or eBay.
System disk are gray and come with more than one disk. Retail disk are black with a 'X' on them and often come as one DVD disk.
Not sure what version your going to require as you haven't provided any specification and model details.
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If you could let us know the PowerBook you own, then I am sure we could advise you further.
Best of luck

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you need to install iTunes 10.
in order to install iTunes 10, you need to upgrade your Mac to OS X 10.5.
see system requirements here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1061

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For the past week or so, when I've been using my G4 mac, the 17" CRT would periodically make a soft snap followed by the display pulsing (image getting bigger, then smaller, then settling out). The other day, I booted up the computer, and the monitor had a very brief, white flash on screen along with a VERY loud SNAP. The sound was pretty much like a party popper that shots confetti when you pull a string. Anyway, the power light on the screen would be green, but the monitor was black. All subsequent reboot attempts led to the same SNAP followed by a very dim image that would fade to black. What is going on with my screen???

The snapping sound is caused by arcing, often at the flyback transformer. That is the component inside the CRT that generates about 50,000 Volts to run the electron beam in the color tube. Sometimes dust accumulates near it, and causes it to arc. Sometimes it is dead already and is will just take a while to fall down.
Opening the CRT enclosure requires special training. The 50,000 Volts can linger for months inside the tube, the Flyback transformer, and the Big Red Wire. If you connect that 50,000 across your heart (e.g., hand-to-hand) it can stop your heart.
A flat panel display would really look nice on your desk.

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Does anyone have any solution to this problem?
Thanks in advance for any responses.

reading the specs of your 15" monitor, I do read:
Technical Details: 1,024 x 768 maximum resolution
but iM is a socalled "one window" app, means, all features have to fit in a single screen... of some min. resolution...
no, no solution for that.. except, buying a monitor with a larger resolution... :-/

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Hi-
Problem: I tried to reset my PMU, and now when my computer restarts it won't go past the blue screen with the "Mac OSX" logo in the box (and progress bar, that never fills up). I then also tried to reset PRAM, but it still won't boot properly.
Backstory--
I've had my 12-inch Powerbook G4 for about 3.5 years already, so things are starting to get a bit out of whack. I replaced my battery about 3 months ago, which has been great, but recently my power-cord has been wonky (having to unplug it and replug it in to make sure it actually charges the computer, the light flickers on and off, etc). Today it actually started producing SPARKS at the place where the thin white wire meets the white plastic power brick, so I decided it was time to get a new one. Brought it home, plugged it in, and since it seemed like the battery indication icon on the menu bar was all out of sync with the powercord colored-light, I tried restarting it a few times, but still the same. Then, I decided to reset the PMU, which may have been a huge mistake. And now it won't boot past the blue screen... Any advice? I'm going to try restarting it in "safe" mode, but I'd be so grateful for any recommendations. Hope I haven't done something irreversibly stupid with the PMU reset.
Thanks,
Samantha

Hello all,
Thanks for all of your great suggestions and info-- here are a few responses.
1) The disk I just borrowed from my friend appears to be the full retail version-- it looks just like the links that Ali B sent, and is in a large box saying "Mac OSX Tiger, version 10.4"... will this be the proper disk to do an Erase and Install? The only other disks I have came with my Powerbook when it was originally purchased, when it came Panther (I think, 10.3?). Would I use both sets of these disks to do erase and install? Or only the Tiger OSX disks?
2) I get the sense that Disk Warrior or Tech Tool might be necessary, but does it make sense to TRY to do erase-install before buying them? Also, are there any downloadable (for pay) versions of this, or would I need to track down the actual physical disks in Hong Kong or wait for them to be shipped?
3) I haven't yet tried the S.M.A.R.T. test, should I do that first? What is the procedure? Are there any results or ways to know if the drive is too far gone (so that I might instead replace the internal hard-drive) instead of pay 100 USD first to do the disk repair?
4) Cornelius said: "An alternative would be to completely reformat and erase the entire HDD, then re-install and restore your data from backup. If your backup is in the form of a bootable clone of the entire HDD, you can just clone it back." I use Super-Duper to back-up and the most recent one copied the whole thing-- what would be the later procedure of "cloning it back"?
5) As I'm able to use my computer pretty normally right now, but does it still mean that it might crash/die at any moment? Is there any way to tell?
Thanks so much!

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After watching a dvd, I turned the laptop off and closed the lid before the screen was completely dark. I also forgot to take the dvd out. The next day I get a start up chime and a black screen. Will not work with external monitor. Will not let me do pram reset as I couldn't see the picture anyway. Hard drive appears to be fine. I tried swapping the two ram modules. Took the lower one out and still no results. My main question is, before I just geek out and put a new logic board in, what are the possible loose connection (cables) causes?

This issue is not unfamiliar among PowerPC G4 users, in desktop or portable models.
The cause may vary and so when looking through incidents of a similar nature, try to
be patient and get past duplicate-sounding experiences as referenced by the sources.
There are more than a few in this search thread that sound like your situation:
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=powerbook+g4+black+screen+on+startup
Depending on the PowerBook model, some have clock battery/capacitor on logic board
that once it fails, there can be startup issues as a result... So that's one to check. And
then there are the connections that may have come loose on the logic board, over years
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DC-in Board may have chosen to fail, so power may be unable to get past a circuit.
Troubleshooting based on a few symptoms can be... troublesome, tedious; or costly.
The iFixit.com guides have sections where people asked questions, such as:
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/131619/PowerBook+g4+has+startup+chime+no+ima ge
The keyboard shortcuts to attempt to force a computer to start may be of no avail if
the hardware has defects, or if wires have come off their necessary junctions inside.
If you have time and some money, companies who specialize in repairing Apple
portable computers could restore its function & warranty their work. wegenermedia
is worth contacting if the computer is one you want to keep around while. They did
a repair for me on one of my Apple portables, and I'd probably go that route again.
So, anyway, if the unit uses a clock or PRAM battery, it may need replacement.
Or in another direction, issue could be a power related circuit failure; or worse.
There are graphic display components that fail at a point where an external &
internal display both won't light up. These are mapped out in iFixit guides or in
others online, depending on the model G4 PowerBook they show.
Good luck & happy computing!

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If the previous owner left the iMac off the wall socket for any extended time, the internal PRAM battery may be dead and the computer has "forgotten" where to look for its start-up volume. Try booting while holding the key combo command + option + p + r. That forces the computer to look at its original factory setting for teh location of teh startup disk.
Understand that a lot of G3 imacs are starting to suffer heat-related failures of the power/analog/video--or PAV--board. If that;s hapend to yours, it;s probably not worth trying to fix.
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I just got the new 17" PowerBook and am looking to buy the best security lock cable for it. I have read some posts before indicating some locks damaged their PowerBooks. I would appreciate your comments on your experiences and your recommendations. Thanks.

George,
There are a variety of locks out there so you can pretty much pick any one. Important to note is whether you want a combo lock or one with a key. For me I use a combo lock since it's one less key I have to carry on an already crowded key chain. Most locks come with plastic washers of various thicknesses. Do not discard these. Basically they are included because even though all lock slots are standard kensington, case designs vary. Some are thicker than others. The washers take up the slack in the lock so it mounts flush to the case. For the PB it provides a dual purpose as it keeps the metal lock from scratching the side of the PB case. I forgot to use mine the first time and I have a small half-circle scratch where the lock rubbed against the side of the PB case..'sigh', causing yet another blemish on my otherwise pristine PB. Oddly enough the only other blemish was also caused by my lock. I accidentally dropped it while standing over my PB and now there is this little pinhead sized gouge to the right of the trackpad near the SuperDrive slot.
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Painfully S--l--o--w

I've been using Leopard for about a month now. It is just painfully slow. Typing in any Microsoft App -- Entourage, Excel, Word is like typing in mud -- Finder behavior is sluggish at best. Continual refreshes in Word. Will the new versions of MS apps fix this?
Old system backed up using Carbon Cloner to external drive. Clean install on a brand new internal 160 G 5400 RPM hard drive. Old drive was 80G 5400. G4 PowerBook 2G RAM, 160G drive, 1.33 Processor. Apps and data then migrated over with Migration assist.
Really want to like it, but I'm so frustrated with the response that I'm ready to go back to Tiger. Anybody else experiencing this on a mid-range previous generation setup? I simply can't afford to buy a new Intel-based laptop, and my old WinXP machine now runs faster than my Leopard Mac. I personally think Apple has shot themselves in the foot with this one. Hope MacWorld brings us some speed increase and less bloatware.

I was using the Office apps as an example of overall system sluggishness. Seems to me that following Apple's instructions for migrating to a new system, which includes using the Migration Assistant, ought to work, should it not? Why should the Apple user have to jump through hoops to get the system to work? Isn't that one of the chief advantages of the Apple OS over the competition? If I had to do a clean install every time a new system came out, or a new app, I guess I'd go back to scratching on the cave walls -- computers are not supposed to take days out of your life.
And I've spent many days past rebuilding systems, both Windows and Mac - life's too short to spend days or even hours on mainstream app and system reinstalls. By the time it gets to the retailer's shelves, the OS should have been tested and the bugs worked out, at least with Adobe and Microsoft apps. Come on!
To your defense of Office -- I'd agree for the most part. It works okay, it's just dog slow, where on Tiger it was fine. Keystroking is slowed way down for me, which is an odd problem that I haven't really seen since System 6 shipped for the first time (or was it 5?) -- So I'm not trying to place blame but find some answers, because I'm frankly just tired of reinstalling clean systems for incremental upgrades, and I've not got days to spend reinstalling everything. Some of us actually need to get work done -- that's what the Mac is supposed to be about -- transparency. And I'm not seeing that transparency, at least not in this version of the Mac OS.

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I would use a DVI to HDMI cable, and you'll have to use a separate audio cable also. A number of people on Amazon have recommended http://www.monoprice.com/products/department.asp?c_id=109 as a good cable source. If you look in your Samsung user guide, I think you'll find that S-video doesn't support as high a resolution as HDMI.

A pc and powerbook sharing one 20' display

ok, this should be a piece of cake for somebody out there.
I have a pc laptop and a powerbook. i would like them to share my 20' cinema display.
how do i do it?
I think i need a dvi switch? if so, are there any particular brands i should be looking for?
thanks
allen

ok,
so, i am going to respond to my own question here as far as what i have done.
so, can i share a pc and a powerbook on one 20in aluminum lcd display?
yes.
there are issues though.
most switches are for older crt displays not dvi so it cuts out 95% of the switches out there. (other problems may arise if the pc is older and cannot support dvi or it does do dvi but at a low resolution - ugh!)
naturally, the remaining switches are not inexpensive compared to their crt brethren ($250 + and NOT including cables that is another $100).
another issue is that switches have a port where you plug in a extra keyboard and a mouse. an extra keyboard and mouse MUST be used. you cannot use just a switch and continue to use the keyboard / mouse combo of the powerbook and pc.
expenses now for the switch, cables, keyboard and mouse.
regarding the extra keyboard and mouse. when you get them you know have a new set of problems because of the layout differences between a pc keyboard and a apple keyboard and the switch defaults to the pc settings. it can be worked around but it is a hastle. ugh!
my solution...
I bought a 1gb stick of ram for my powerbook bringing it up to 1.5 (which it needed anyway) and virtual pc. the total was for less than the switch itself and I got a more powerful mac out of it!
so, conclusion. if you want to do what i was thinking about... Don't. Get VPC and some extra ram instead.
yes, not everybody will be able to do the VPC route but it sure was a lot better than the alternative.
peace

PowerBook G4 1Ghz (Nov 2002) - can i install a 160gb Hard Disk inside?

Hi
I have a PowerBook G4 1Ghz (Nov 2002). I want to upgrade the internal 4200rpm 60gb drive to a 5400rpm 160gb.
Can my PowerBook address the full 160gb? Or is it limited to only addessing 128GB of it.
This page seems to says any mac introduced after June 2002 will be fine with drives over 128GB, but it seems like it's just refering to desktop macs.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86178
Can anybody confirm that it will work?
Thanks!

I'm just wondering why the 667 won't recognise them?
The ATA controller used in those logic boards is not 48-bit LBA compliant. The first Powerbook LBs that had such a controller were the 867MHz and 1GHz boards used in the later DVI Tibooks. Other Macs introduced around the same time also had controllers that allowed the use of internal ATA drives larger than 128GB. So yes, the second part of your post is probably correct.
But be aware that after upgrading to a faster LB, you may no longer be able to boot to the discs that were shipped with your Powerbook or to those that were shipped with any other Powerbook, including a factory 867MHz or 1GHz Tibook. If that's the case, as it has been for some others who've reported here, it will leave you without any way of reinstalling a bootable OS 9.2.2, in case you ever want to. OS X 10.2.3 or higher can be installed from a retail installer disc set. But there's never been a retail OS 9.2.2 disc, and the DVI Tibooks won't boot to anything lower, so no retail OS 9 disc is usable with any of those models. This mattters less and less to most people as OS 9 recedes into the past, but it's something to be aware of.

Can I use my Samsung A740 Cell as a Broadband Modem on my Powerbook?

K...I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right area. Anyway, here it goes. I've got a 12" G4 Powerbook (unhappily 14 days before they released the new one with the built in iSight) and I've been toying with my Samsung A740 Cell Phone and a Data Cable...Well, i can download and upload everyting using BitPim and it seems to work pretty good. I got to thinking...since this only has WiFi and doesn't have a card slot for a broadband wireless card, I thought I'd try using the cell phone. The system seems to 'see' the phone...it adds Samsung CDMA to the Locations preferance and the phone screens say that it's synced to PC and shows the little icons. Well, that's as far as I can get...I can't find anything on neither the Samsung site, Time Warner, or the Sprint site on what I need to do. I have no idea what settings I need to change on the phone or what to set on the Powerbook. I think I'll have to call Sprint and try to figure something out. I thought it would be great to be able to quickly access email or the internet on the Powerbook while away from WiFi. Anyway, any tips or info would be great.
Thanks much...

Yes. I've got data services. No one from Sprint will tell me a single thing. Samsung actually replied to me telling me that it's not possible and that I shouldn't even be able to read anything form the phone. Hmmm...As usual, it will take some hacking to get it working, because I've downloaded BitPim and I'm able to retrieve everything from the phone. That's when the PowerBook automatically sets up the Samsung under the Locations settings as "Samsung CDMA". It says that it's set up but not connected. Oh well, I've got the JiWire widget WiFi finder and I seem to be able to find hot spots all over. Just thought I'd give this a try.

Powerbook G4 as HTPC to 4:3 CRT TV / app and box recommendation?

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