PowerMac G4 Upgrade

Hi,
I was just wondering, if I bought a mac pro motherboard could I change a G4 into a mac pro? It just that I love the stylying of the G4. I would happily cut up its insides to make it fit.
Thanks

Hello J.,
As they say in hot rod circles, if you have enough time and money you can put anything into anything - but I have to wonder if it's the most expeditious use of resources. Couldn't you just put the G4 on your desk and hide the Mac Pro somewhere else?
Additionally, even if you're determined, would you have anywhere near enough cooling? My G4 Quicksilver runs best in an air-conditioned room and with a slightly heavier duty CPU fan, and I think something with a much faster processor would tend to cook itself.
I do share your appreciation of the G4 design!
Jon

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PowerMac G5 upgrades

I was just at an auction this past evening, and stumbled upon a PowerMac G5 7,3 for $110, and I had to have it so I purchased it. It has a 1.8Ghz Dual G5, 1.25GBs RAM, 150GB SATA drive, and 64MB Nvidia with the new and old Apple DVI port. So my question is, what are the max upgrades i can put in this baby, in terms of max 'unofficial' RAM and a newer GPU with the dual monitor support. Is it possible to swap out the processors themselves to a more powerful CPU, or no? I know they have 2.7 dual G5s, but i'm not sure if i could put something like that in or not.

OK, you're basically stuck with the "base" CPU/logic board configuration.
Sounds like it has the GeForce 5200, the lowest of the low end video cards, which is not exactly a performance card, or, as japamac puts it, "A monkey with crayons is faster."
The machine will recognize up to 4 GByte of PC3200 RAM. (Four 1 GByte DIMMS will cost you $150 or less these days.) You have a PCI (not PCI-X) expansion capability.
First good upgrade is to get something larger than the tiny drive that is in it. You could go up to 2 TB without a problem, avoiding "green" drives for the boot volume.
As for video cards, there are a number of options for a dual-DVI video card, all used and running up into the $200+ range. Our resident AGP card guru japamac has a page on the best AGP cards at this link:
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/4B4B7BA2-7ABB-47F1-87AC-B03D379 42BEE.html
The GeForce Ultra 6800 Mac card that I am using is a very nice card, some of which have been going for under $200 on eBay, but expect to spend that much or more most of the time.

Powermac G4 upgrading Hard drive

Hi Here's a real Basic question...It's been way too long since I have attempted re-doing a hard drive set up--And I sorta forgot the basics-- I want to up grade PMQuick Silver G4 to 120 GB HD-- I upgraded Processor- tha was a snap- --Now to swap all the data from the 20 GB HD presently in the machine to the 120 GB HD-- as well as upgrade system from 10.4 to 10.5 --
I'm probably making more of it than I should but an ssist wold be appreciated!
thanks,
Anthony

You can install the new drive in the QS. No need for external housings.
Jump the drive to Slave and connect it to the middle connector (with the original drive on the end connector).
Boot and open Disk Utility to format the new drive to Mac OS Extended- journaled.
After that, the drive is ready to use.
Using a cloning utility to transfer the contents of the old drive to the new drive is a painless way to make the transition.
I recommend SuperDuper! (the free version is enough) to do the cloning.
There are fewer reports of mishaps, and SD! clones are always bootable.
After cloning, switch jumpers on the drives.
Make the new drive Master, place on the end connector, and make any other drive Slave, placed on the middle connector.

PowerMac G4 Upgrade Possibilities

My older G4 is a dual 450, can it be upgraded to 867 MHz? I wouldn't be doing it myself, would I, could I? Running OS X 10.3.9, want to upgrade OS, hopefully up to Leopard to be able to give some compatability to my G5.

What kind of graphics card is currently in your G4? Later Mac OSs seem to like a lot more video horsepower than graphics cards produced when your computer was new. So a better graphics card might show up in the list of "things to buy" in addition to the processor (quite expensive) and RAM (cheap).
My G4 MDD runs 10.4.11 and networks rather nicely with my MacBook Pro running Leo. Are there some functions you cannot accomplish with your G4's current OS level?

Upgrading RAM on Powermac G5

Hi
Ok i'm wanting to know if this would be OK to use in my Powermac to upgrade the RAM
On the website macupgrades my G5 is identified as a powermac & not dual core as i only have 1 ethernet port
The ram i'm interested in is on ebay see link
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=37 0159712627#ht2106wt909
I have asked them the same question but i also want to double check before i commit
Thank you

I would use Crucial Mac selector. That will walk you through and tell you what to look for and buy. Same with OWC / MacSales memory upgrade.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/
http://www.crucial.com/mac/index.asp

Classic won't start, can't upgrade, and other problems...

There's something not quite right with my Mac, and I can't quite pinpoint it. Because of this, I'm not even certain I'm posting this in the right forum! Here's the situation:
I have a PowerMac G4, upgraded with a an extra hard drive, an ATI Radeon Pro graphics card, a Sonnet Duet G4 Dual 1.8GHz processor, and (as of today, prior to this 10.4.7) am running OSX 10.4.8.
When I got the machine, it came with OS 9.1 installed. I later upgraded to 9.2.2, and then eventually to OSX. My Classic system folder stayed at 9.2.2
About 10 days ago I installed the Sonnet processor upgrade. In order to do so, I had to rejig my system a bit, as the installer for the upgrade only works in 9.2 and not Classic (yeah, bad call on Sonnet's part).
I partitioned my Back-Up drive, and installed 9.2 on it, installed the software for the processor, and then the processor itself. After checking everything worked, I then unpartitioned my Back-Up drive and removed OS9.2.
Although the processor works fine, and has doubled the speed of most tasks, ever since it was installed, I have been prone to crashes. Most often when working with large files in various applications such as Photoshop.
Also, Classic won't start now. I hardly ever use Classic these days, only for one or two tiny programs I could live without, but the fact that it refuses to start is niggling me. I reinstalled OS9.1 from my original disk, and now I can't upgrade to 9.2: all that happens is I get a message saying that I have 9.1 and that it is recommended I upgrade to 9.2! But Classic won't open, so I can't upgrade to 9.2.
The next thing that's started happening is that my broadband connection keeps dropping. This never happened before. This is happening so frequently it's really annoying; the only thing that cures it is a restart, but restarting 10 times a day isn't funny. I'm using an Alcatel Speedtouch ADSL modem. This has worked fine for over a year.
Yesterday I tried setting up a wireless connection with a Belkin router, replacing my USB modem, so my wife can use her Windows laptop to surf from the same broadband connection (my Mac doesn't need to be wireless enabled itself). But this hasn't worked, even though we followed the instruction manual exactly. I suspect that the reason this hasn't worked was because of the underlying problem on my Mac, whatever it is. I've gone back to using the Speedtouch modem to connect to the internet for now.
I've just today done a complete system reinstall of OSX 10.4, and downloaded the upgrade to 10.4.8, in an effort to solve this. Unfortunately, my Mac still seems to be in the same state and it hasn't solved anything. Classic still won't open, the connection still keeps dropping, and I'm almost at the point of kicking the **** thing through a window! Please, has anyone got any bright ideas? I don't know where to start....
G4 Digital Audio Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi, thanks for responding.
I've made a couple of changes, double-checked everything, and I have to say that now 10.4.8 has been on my machine for a few days, it's a lot more stable. No crashes. Maybe it just needed to "settle in", ha ha. I also got a router and went wireless, something I needed to do so my wife could use her laptop to get online. This seems to have solved the connection dropping.
So the only thing left is not being able to open Classic. I think maybe you're right, and the new processor doesn't like Classic. But, to tell the truth, I hardly ever use Classic anymore, and I can live without it. So I think I'll leave everything as it is for now, unless something major happens. I spent nearly £500 on the processor upgrade, and it has doubled the speed of my Mac: I really don't want to have to take it out:-)

Can't get Leopard to install on a G4 powermac

My Machine is a G4 powermac DA upgraded to Dual 1.4GHz processor.
specs:-
Machine Name: Power Mac G4
Machine Model: PowerMac3,4
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (3.3)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.4 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 2 MB
Memory: 1.25 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.2.8f1
Serial Number: CK126** <Edited by Moderator>
I have all the requirements so in theory it should instal fine.
Firewire + DVD drive etc
so whats up?

Similar problem on my G4 iBook..
After the notice of "OS10.5 cannot be installed on this machine" close the window with "OK" button and go to the "Window" menu and select "Installer Log"..
After selecting all logs, I see the following:
Opening OSInstallation '/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg'
Installation checks failed.
Folder Manager is being asked to create a folder (asav) while running as uid 0
This seems to preclude using the incorrect DVD's..
And yes I'm using an installation DVD from another system.. The document indicates this is possible if not legal..
I'm testing 10.5.2 on an older G4 prior to shelling out cash for a DVD that may not work..

Bandwidth Issue on a Local LAN

OK,
I've been beating my head against the wall with this one. First I will begin with a list of the test equipment.
2 iSight Cameras, 1 Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz, 1 iMac G5 1.8Ghz and a PowerMacG5 Dual 2Ghz.
It all started when I went to connect from my PowerMac to my iMac. I kept getting the Insufficient bandwidth issue. So I thought the problem was the iSight Cameras, so I pulled out my laptop and presto the Powerbook connected both video and audio with no problem to my iMac. Next, I decided to test Powerbook to Powermac and I got the same error. So I thought to myself maybe it is a preference file. I moved my preference folder out of my Library on my Powermac, rebooted and attempted again, still got the same error. So I though again, maybe iChat is corrupted on my PowerMac, I deleted it and grabbed the copy from my Powerbook and placed it on my Powermac. Tried again, same error.
As you can tell by now I am ripping my hair out. All the machines have the same settings for iChat and Quicktime so that is not the problem.
So then there was one more thing, my iMac and Powerbook are both wireless and the Powermac is on my Gigabit LAN. Hmmmm.... so I placed my powerbook on the wire LAN just to make sure that wasn't the issue. Guess What?! The same ERROR!!!!
By now I have no hair left on my head. Can someone please advice what could be happening, what I did not try. I do not think I need to reinstall Tiger on my Powermac, that is a windows thing (when all else fails reformat and install). Both the powerbook and powermac are upgraded the iMac is a clean Tiger install. Please someone help!!!
Thank you,
JC

OK here is where I put my foot in my mouth. I have 2 gateways in my house one for dsl and one for cable. I have both in case one goes down in my house as I work from home. All the machines that were getting dynamic addressing were pointing out to the dsl router (iMAC, POWERBOOK) and the ones with physical address are pointing to the Cable (POWERMAC, PC, SERVER (workign comps)). THis is due to the fact that I didn't want my wife or daughter on using up the faster cable connection. THey are all still in the same network but pointing to different routers. Now I do not know how it affects the video/audio chat of iChat but it does. Even though all machines can see each other, work together, have a TEXT chat together but just see the internet via different routers as all before is local, it appears to cause a problem with the video and audio connections. So Ralph, thank you, you were correct, it had to do with the router. I would love to know how this affected anything since it was the video/audio connection I wanted was local.
JC

Burning cds for system 7

im using a emac with osx for my main computer but have also been given an older powermac 6100/66dos compatible. i have downloaded software on the emac for the the old powermac and need to trandsfer it form one to the other on a cd as the powermac is not internet ready
so far ive used the finder in osx and toast to burn it but the powermac cant read the CD
any ideas on what i should try? thanks

Leopool,
Some have found that using CD-RW disks makes them hard for older computers to read. I use CD-R disks for most transfers.
There is a great site with a wealth of information on the care, feeding, and upgrading of the 61XX series. Anyone with a 6100 needs this site bookmarked. It's here:
PowerMac 6100 Upgrade Guide
When I found the site, I discovered that the 6100 can hold and use more RAM than the "official" 72MB maximum. My 6100/60 now has 136MB RAM aboard, along with a 4.3GB hard drive.
Allan

Need help doing the CS Shuffle

Here's what I need to do: I have three computers - iMac, PowerMac and Mac Pro. I know that I can only install Creative Suite on two of them. I have CS3 running on the Mac Pro and the iMac and CS1 on the PowerMac. I recently bought CS4. I installed it on the Mac Pro. Now I want to install CS4 on the PowerMac. I need to know if that can be done by uninstalling CS3 from the iMac, installing it on the PowerMac, then upgrading the PowerMac to CS4. Or, can I skip installing CS3 on the PowerMac and go directly from CS1 to CS4?

Thanks Bob & Steve.
Wow. I miss the old days. I bought my first copy of Illustrator (Illustrator 88) on a floppy disk. I would get a new computer or add a computer and I would just install it and use it. I have been a loyal Adobe customer ever since. But now they are so paranoid with their licensing it has been a struggle (starting around the AI 10 - CS1 days?). I don't know what I can and can't do, what I can and can't use, what upgrades I qualify for, which ones I don't. I just want to use the software. I have jobs that need to get done.
Pardon my rant, but I just got through with a nightmare customer service problem with Adobe that took 8 weeks to resolve, now this. If anyone can tell me in plain, every day language the steps I need to take to get done what I need to get done, that would be so wonderful and I would be eternally grateful. I am not trying to do anything illegal.

Updating my iMac

I just bought an iMac G3 (350 MHz). it is for my girlfriend to learn on and decide if she likes macs. i have never worked on an iMac before so I have a few questions.
Can I update this to run OS X?
If so, where can I buy the software for this old of an iMac?
If not, where can I buy the old software and install disks?
I want to get her a few programs like itunes (will that run on this old of an iMac)?
Thanks for any help!

Just yesterday, I was preparing to get rid of my PowerMac G3 (upgraded to 500MHz) and I used Norton SystemWorks 3.0 as a startup disk to erase the hard drive on my G3. SystemsWorks launched )which I was surprised) with OS 10.2 (I think this is Jaguar) and all was working just like my current OS 10 versions on my replacement computer. I think if you have enough hard drive space you could install OS 10.2 or even OS10.3 (panther). I would suggest eBay for purchasing since these OS systems are older.
Good luck

How do I upgrade to iTunes 10.1 on a PowerMac G4?

My Daughter's iPod requires iTunes in 10.1 or higher, but my PowerMac G4 won't allow me to upgrade (I currently have v 9.2.1). when I downloaded the installation thing it says I needed OS 10.5.3 and I'm running 10.4.11.
I have a dual 1.6Ghz power PC G4 processor.
does anyone know if I can get around this?
(I think I'll post this in the PowerMac section too)
thanks!

This can only be gotten around by purchasing Mac OS X 10.5 on DVD from a site such as Amazon.
(64230)

Can I upgrade to Tiger on my iBook G4 with a PowerMac G4 Install Disk?

I am currently running Mac OSX 10.3.9 Panther on my iBook G4 and I want to upgrade to Tiger OSX 10.4. I could possibly upgrade to Leopard, but it may be too much for my system according to Apple's website.
My father purchased a used copy of Mac OS 10.4 Tiger from eBay and the person told him that it was an original base version of Tiger and would run on any Mac. But when the disk arrived it says that it is for a "PowerMac G4 Software Install and Restore Disk 1 of 1". So I am not sure if this is only designed for the PowerMac desktop computer, or if it can be used safely and 100% compatible on my iBook G4 laptop.
I took my laptop to the Apple Store and asked the Genius Bar techs who told me that the "firmware" is different on the PowerMac than on my iBook and the disk that I was sent was only for the PowerMac.
When I read the "read-me" file on the disk, it did not indicate that it was only for a PowerMac only or whether it would work fine on any Mac computer or laptop. So my main question is this: Will this disk work and be compatible with my iBook G4, or was it designed only for the PowerMac?
Has anyone had any problems with compatibility on an iBook if they used a different computer's OSX 10.4 Tiger install disk?
If there are problems, where can I find a generic in-the-box version of Tiger or an iBook specific version of Tiger?
If I install a "used" original version of Tiger am I still eligible for all of the software updates from Apple for OSX 10.4, just like I have been with my current OSX 10.3 Panther?
Thank you for your help!

Aaron:
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Computer specific install disks are optimized for the computer to which they are specific and even if you manage to install it without incident, you may end up having issues post installation.
To install Tiger your computer will need to meet the minimum system requirements for Tiger.
You will need to purchase the Full Retail version of Tiger.
Tiger can be purchased from the Apple Store or, on CDs, from AllMac or FastMac. You can also purchase Tiger on eBay if you know what you are looking for. Read all documentation carefully, ask questions of the seller to be sure that you are getting the Full Retail Version. Here are some current offerings on eBay.
Good luck.
cornelius

I have a powermac G5 running 10.5.8 I kept getting a screen that told me to upgrade, which I did, then was told it was not compatible and now I have nothing. How do I get Firefox I can use back?

I have a powermac G5 running 10.5.8 I kept getting a screen that told me to upgrade, which I did, then was told it was not compatible and now I have nothing.
How can I get back to my old system or download one that will work.'''bold text'''

Firefox 4+ versions don't support the old Power PC architecture.
For older Macs that aren't supported in Firefox 4+ versions, try TenFourFox for PowerPC's running Mac 10.4.11 & 10.5.8 . <br />
http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/<br />
http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/ <br />
https://code.google.com/p/tenfourfox/wiki/PluginsNoLongerSupported

Dual G5 Powermac - CPU chirp/whine after 10.4 upgrade

At home, I have a Dual G5 1.8 GHz Power Mac. At work, I use a Dual-G5 2.0 GHz power mac.
With both of these machines, after upgrading to 10.4, I can hear the machine making high-pitched noises. The Dual-1.8 GHz machine `chirps', while the Dual-2.0 Ghz machine emits a loud, steady, high-pitched `whine'.
Neither of these machines displayed this behavior when running Mac OS 10.3.x.
The only workaround I've found is to use the Processor Control Panel (Part of the CHUD developer tools) and do either of the following:
1) Turn off the second cpu via the processor control panel
2) Disable "allow nap" via the processor control panel
Both succeed in stopping the chirp/whine, but I've been using option (2). The only disadvantage is that "allow nap" is always re-enabled after a reboot. The setting doesn't stick.
The chirp/whine occurs if the Processor Control panel isn't installed.
Has anyone experienced something similar to this? Is there a better fix than the processor control panel?
Many thanks in Advance!
PowerMac G5 - Dual 1.8 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Hi, Steve. Welcome to the Discussions.
I have a PM G5 Dual 2.3 GHz and have no such issues after installing 10.4.7. While I've installed the Xcode tools, I elected not to install the CHUD tools.
Some ideas for you:
1. See "Power Mac G5: I hear buzzes, beeps, or humming" to see if the sound samples therein match what you're hearing.
2. Check the SMART diagnostics for the hard drives on both machines, esp. the 2x1.8 that "chirps" as some hard drives make such a noise to indicate they are failing.
3. Run the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that came with each machine. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ for comprehensive advice on using the AHT in troubleshooting.
4. Search or post on the appropriate PM G5 Discussions to see if other users have had similar experiences.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

PowerMac G4 Upgrade

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