Uses for old PowerPC G4 Xserves

I've discovered one good use for old PowerPC Xserves is to turn them into a large external FW hard drive.
Are there any other good uses that you have discovered? I'd like to get as much use out of them as possible.

turn them into a large external FW hard drive
Large, indeed. I can't think of any other FW hard drive enclosure that's anywhere close to 19" and 30" deep.
one good use...
I contend this isn't a particularly good use... or at least not a very efficient one.
Your typical FW hard drive enclosure draws about 1A at 12VDC, or approximately 1/10th the power of an idle XServe G4. You're spending a lot of power spinning the fans, powering the DIMMs and driving all the other components that are irrelevant when just using it as a hard drive. You'd save space and money taking the drives out and putting them in a regular enclosure. That way you can even turn them off when not needed, without having to go through contortions when you power them back up.
Granted, it doesn't have the 'cool' factor any more, but it depends on what's important to you.
Are there any other good uses that you have discovered
Given their weight I could see them having use in a personal gym. Just got to work out how to affix them to the barbell.

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Is it easy to use for old people?

Is it hard to use for old people?

Thanks, Benny. We will try that.
It's going to take a while, but I think my friend will get the hang of it. It took us an hour, but I was finally able to get her to update her Facebook status! She doesn't quite get that when she touches the screen things happen, so she can't just grab the device like it's a cuttin board.
So far I have the following Accessibliity settings enabled:
VoiceOver: On
Zoom: On
Speak Selection: OnHighlight Words: On
Large Text: 56pt
Triple-click Home: Zoom
And a Bluetooth keyboard attached. We'll see how today's session goes!

Uses for old iMac (Rev. B)

I still have my very first Mac - a Rev. B Bondi Blue iMac. It was, until recently, running Mac OS X 10.1.5. Although, it had a disk problem which I managed to recover from by doing a clean install of Mac OS 9.1.1. My dad was using it until he purchased an eMac for himself.
At home I'm using my iBook on the Airport Extreme network - shared with my housemate and her G4 Powerbook. I know that I can connect the iMac directly to my AirPort base station and it can use use the Net and be part of the home network.
I think the iMac still has loads of life in it. I was wondering what other Mac users are maybe doing with their old machines. I'd like to hear of any recommendations.

I've installed OS 10.2 on an iMac I found in a dump. I am planning to take it to work so I can use it for personal e-mail.
Some enterprising members of the iMac community has found a wooden box is the best place for an iMac to retire. See http://www.glenbo.com/imac_box/details.php .
Generally, having more than one computer per person is kind of a pointless thing. It simply chews up electricity and does not accomplish very much. You have to store your files somewhere and ideally that location is centralized, not scattered over 2 or more computers. Invariably the extra computer becomes kind of useless because it doesn't have any of your stuff on it. It no longer feels like 'yours'.
I have many many G3's sitting here and I'm using my Mac Mini (and a G4 PCI as server) and couldn't think of a use for any of my other Macs. I spend about $30 a month on electrical power for all those computers. I personally can't think of a reason to justify it besides making NStar rich.
If you're wondering why I am hanging onto those G3's that I found -- because I can. Since I can't sell them for a decent price, they might as well sit here and take up space.
I wish I could make more use of those old computers, but it is very hard. Even if I linked all of them up to make a Beowulf cluster, it still wouldn't be as powerful as my Mac Mini alone.

New use for old imac

I'm considering an upgrade for my iMac G5 (1.6 GHz PPC) to a newer Core 2 Duo, and am wondering if there's some use for the old iMac besides door stop? Specifically, is there a way that I can use the old machine for backup? It has a newer hard drive. Thoughts appreciated.

You can use it as a monitor for your new mac using an app called ScreenRecycler, or take it apart, throw in a big HD and like the other poster said, use it as a type of home server, or you can sell it, or you can donate it to a company that will refurbish it and send it off to less-fortunate families, or you can make a big shrapnel bomb, or you can.... well you get the idea. I would suggest using it for the monitor though

Uses for old iPhone when it has been replaced with a new model

Wondering what, if anything, I can do with my first generation iPhone now that I've upgraded to the 3GS. Can I still use the old phone sort of like I would an iPod Touch? Can I synch my music and/or photos with both iPhones - with the same Mac computer? If so, do I need to (or should I) remove the SIM card in the older iPhone? If it is an issue, I have 3 Mac computers in the house, so I could synch the iPhones with different Macs... Any ideas?

" Can I still use the old phone sort of like I would an iPod Touch?"
Asked and answered everyday, several times today. Yes. Leave the SIM in it.
The forum search bar is on the right side of this page.
You can sync as many devices as you like to one machine.

Any hope for old powerpc mini?

Hi,
Older than dirt mini running 10.5.8 with the following specs:
Model Name:
Mac mini
Model Identifier:
PowerMac10,2
Processor Name:
PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Processor Speed:
1.5 GHz
Number Of CPUs:
1
L2 Cache (per CPU):
512 KB
Memory:
512 MB
Bus Speed:
167 MHz
Boot ROM Version:
4.9.4f1
Gravy thick slow. Is there anything I can do to improve it? Thought about reinstalling but don't have the media after a move and carelessness. Mostly just want this to be dependable kid box, don't need anything fancy.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Hello, upping it to 1 GB of RAM will help...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/5300DDR2S1GB/
Keeping 30 GB of free space on the Hard Drive will help.
Keeping icons on the Desktop to a minimum will help.
And maybe cleaning up Caches & such...
I think you should get Applejack...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15667/applejack
After installing, reboot holding down CMD+s, (+s), then when the DOS like prompt shows, type in...
applejack AUTO
Then let it do all 6 of it's things.
At least it'll eliminate some questions if it doesn't fix it.
The 6 things it does are...
Correct any Disk problems.
Repair Permissions.
Clear out Cache Files.
Repair/check several plist files.
Dump the VM files for a fresh start.
Trash old Log files.
First reboot will be slower, sometimes 2 or 3 restarts will be required for full benefit... my guess is files relying upon other files relying upon other files! :-)
Disconnect the USB cable from any Uninterruptible Power Supply so the system doesn't shut down in the middle of the process.
Just sits there occupying very little space & never interfering, unless you need to invoke it in Single User Mode.

Found use for old 500MHz G3 iBook

After too many failures trying to get my iWeb created website uploaded to my iDisk I now host it at home with the help of no-ip.com.
And it works rather well, My setup is all wireless so the iBook is in the spare bedroom, actually under the bed. No problems uploading iWeb updates and it seems quite happy that it has found a use.
I have my Airport Extreme port mapping set-up to point to the iBook ip address and a non-standard port to apaches port. The website is mainly for the family, not one of the websites looking to be listed on google.
I was considering getting an old G4 mini for the job, no screen, keyboard or mouse to deal with after it was up and running but the iBook was just sitting there doing not much.
The mini seems ideal for a small office, cheap enough to purchase one for web, another for email and maybe another to for secure web-mail.

Yes, you could but you would have to network the two computers via ethernet because the original iMacs have no firewire port so you can't use Target Disk Mode. The iMac's drive is fairly small and the computer would need to be running in order to access the drive (using much more power than an external drive). You would be better off buying an inexpensive external firewire drive.
John

Uses for old G3 266MHz iMac?

Cleaning house yesterday found my wife's old Grape G3 266MHZ iMac with OS9.2.2 installed. Before I put it away several years ago, I erased the HD and reinstalled the system software. Checked it out and it is working fine with Appleworks 6 (the only application software installed on it; must have been included on the installation disk). Replaced it with newer iMac about 2006/7. It is in fantastic shape. HD is only 20GB and RAM 96MB.
Wondering if anyone has any ideas regarding what to do with it. Have read articles over the years about what could be done with it, but do not recall what the uses were. I have a MB Pro and newer iMac, so do not need it anymore.

Give it to someone who needs a computer and can't afford to buy one.
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/rev-c-imac-g3-266-mhz.html
Even with OS X on it, it will be very limited in what it can do on the Internet. But could be OK for e-mail.

Uses for old file server

Home esxi rig?

Recently I (personally) purchased our old file server. It served as a temporary unit after the "real" one took a dump. Once it was virtualized, the physical tower got put away for several years and was forgotten. While cleaning house, we had a boneyard PC sale, $5 takes, to get rid of our old XP boxes. This one was included.
It's got a Core i5 3570k, ASUS P8Z77-V LX, a HighPoint RocketRAID 1470 SATA II card which supports RAID 0,1,5,10, and half a dozen SATA hard drives amounting to 5TB.
What could I possibly do with this thing? I know there's a lot I could do, just need more ideas. I already have a gaming rig, so throwing that out.
This topic first appeared in the Spiceworks Community

Uses for old iPhone once we upgrade to the new 3G iPhone

I'm considering upgrading to the new 3G iPhone. What happens to the old iPhone? Can it be used as a simple music player with the phone feature turned off?
THANKS!

Yes, you actually have to buy the iPhone 3G to upgrade from your old iPhone. You will get the $199/$299 price. If you had bought it after May 27th, you could have exchanged it in-store with a $20 restocking fee, but this isn't the case, so you will get the subsidized price of $199/$299.

I have an old PowerPC and a Macbook Pro running 10.6.7 sitting side by side. Both are using AirPort to connect to the internet wirelessly to the same router, but the old Mac connects with full bars, but the MBP struggles with only 2. Pls help, thanks!

I have an old PowerPC running 10.4.11 and a Macbook Pro running 10.6.7 sitting side by side. Both are using AirPort to connect to the internet wirelessly to the same wireless router. The old Mac connects with full bars but the MBP struggles with only 2 bars. Pls help, thanks!

BDAqua,
Thanks for the response.
Apple has used the term "Digital Audio" to identify this machine. System Profiler has the following information:
Machine Name:          Power Mac G4
Machine Model:          PowerMac3,5
CPU Type:          PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs:          1
CPU Speed:          800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU):          256 KB
Memory:          768 MB
Bus Speed:          133 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          4.3.3f2
Serial Number:          XBxxxxxMK9
Sales Order Number:
Yes, I could connect them by ethernet if all I wanted to do was transfer files, but I would like to network them so I could use wireless internet. The machines are not always so close together, I did that to simplify the testing. With the very slow transfer speeds I am reluctant to move ahead with the internet step.
<Edited By Host>

New use for an old G5 iMac?

Does anyone have any suggestions on a use for an old G5 iMac?
We've since upgraded to a new Intel iMacs and MacBook, as well as iPads, etc. but I'm trying to figure out how to re-purpose this still working if less useful machine?

PowerPC will not live forever, but it still will live for a long time.
Lots of people use PowerPC's for office work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYkh70VaNfQ&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBO4y_w7P2I&feature=related
There are also many other suggestions and videos out there. You can use it as your main machine still.

I don't remember my old Apple ID and I closed my email account that I was using for my old Apple ID. Now, how can I change my icloud id on my Ipad. The old icloud id is still on my Ipad.

I don't remember my old Apple ID and I closed my email account that I was using for my old Apple ID. Now, how can I change my icloud id on my Ipad. The old icloud id is still on my Ipad.

ChrisJ4203,
Thank you for the help. Every app on my phone was downloaded using my old I-tunes ID. I just hope that they will re-download under my new ID because I still can't change it on my phone. In order to change to the new ID it says I have to sign out from the old ID and change to the new one. My problem is that I don't remember my password to be able to sign out from my old ID. Then the phone says it can change my password through e-mail and I agree but I never get an e-mail at my old address or the new one.
BHuyett

Ok I have reset my ID after signing out but when I go to Apps update it asks for a password using my old email address????

I have reset my I D but when I go to update apps it asks for password using my old email address???
How do I overcome this issue???

So how do I update apps that are tied to an old ID ?? I do not remember the old ID as the Apps were downloaded a long time ago

When I upgraded to ios 5, it asked me a for a new game center name. How do I use my old game center name, since it makes me start some games over without it?

When I upgraded to ios 5, it asked me a for a new game center name. How do I use my old game center name, since it makes me start some games over without it?

Carefully follow steps 1-9 outlined by wjosten in this post: https://discussions.apple.com/message/13356770#13356770. This will not, however, avoid wiping any non-purchased media from your phone (ripped CDs, etc.) as this is only synced one way: from your computer to your phone. You will have to either rebuild your iTunes library with this content and sync again to restore it to your phone, or purchase 3rd party software to copy it from your phone to iTunes prior to syncing (such as Touch Copy).

Uses for old PowerPC G4 Xserves

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