What to do with a g3 beige tower

Power Mac as above, with extra RAM, 2 CD drives.
Running OS 9.6 or 9.7. *Question: what OS can it be upgraded to, or is it at the max?
Rarely used anymore, but has tons of floppies, CDs, all the manuals, and was working the last time it was booted.
There is no desk for it. Other than some great games, like Myst, there's many files that could be used in the future.
It's too old to donate. It can't be used to backup my iMac—the HD is too small.
Any ideas? Besides just storing it?
Thanks!

It would probably make a decent server of some sort. If you go here http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/release/ you can get a download for the latest Ubuntu release and install it on your G3. Just make sure to get the alternate install disk, and make sure you don't install a desktop manager. You could use it in text only mode and feel legit, or use it to learn bash, which is the same shell that the mac os x terminal app uses. You could use it to learn how to program, you can use it to play music? Maybe you can use it as a music server.
I think you can upgrade the os to Mac OS X 10.2, that might be cool. You could try overclocking it, but you would need to cool the cpu and motherboard and you would have to design that stuff yourself, i think. That is probably what i would do, if i had a spare g3 tower lying around and alot of free time. It sounds pretty fun though, and inexpensive. You might end up frying stuff though, so you need to be careful if you really want to keep it. It seems like it would be really fun to experiment with though
You could always gut it, and re use the case. It's always cool to see a retro case housing modern components.
You could also try selling it on craigslist or something. I'm sure there is someone who would like to fiddle around with it. don't expect more than $20 for it though!

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How to access old G5 Beige Tower that won't boot?

I own a couple of computers, a G5 Beige Tower and some early iMac I believe (come to think of it, now I can't picture what it looks like).
The G5 won't boot up—I haven't given it a try in years, but I refused to throw it away. I think it shows a flashing question mark inside of a macintosh icon.
I lugged that thing into an Apple store long ago and they managed to retrieve SOME files (they sure didn't try very hard, imo), so that tells me that I may still be able to access the hard drive, is this correct? Do I only need a boot drive somehow? I'm not sure if I even have one, floppy or CD.
The second computer was fried in an EMP. Lightning must've struck somewhere nearby (there was a huge storm at the time) and the craziest pulse of energy went through my body, I'll never forget it. It was like exploding in slow-motion, every particle in my body pushing outward, and when it was over, I was fine (shaken), but my computer was dead along with other electronic gizmos. Any opinions on if I should give up on this?
Would an Apple genius even know what to do if I took that computer in?
Both are old but may have some files from college that I'd love to recover.

Hi,
You mentioned a "G5 Beige Tower". The last beige Macintosh tower computer was a G3 model (http://support.apple.com/kb/sp406). Could it be this one instead?
If it is the G3 model in the technical specifications above, minimum Mac OS 8.0 would be needed for startup. This could be an appropriate/supported system CD. It could also be the Disk Tools PPC floppy that has been made available for download from Apple (you would then need a working older Mac with a built-in floppy drive and Disk Copy 6.3.3 in order to create a bootable floppy from the disk image):
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -North_American/Macintosh/System/Mac_OS_8.1_Update/Disk_Tools_PPC.img.bin
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_Copy/Disk_Copy_6.3.3.smi.bin
A bad logic board battery can sometimes cause startup problems. You may also want to try a PRAM reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Another possibility would be to remove the internal hard drive (the same could be tried with the iMac). An IDE/ATA drive can be connected to an external USB adapter (such as the example below) and then read on a more modern Mac (or even a PC with the correct software).
http://www.newertech.com/products/usb3_universaldriveadap.php
If necessary, disassembly guides can be found, for example, at ifixit.com.
Jan

Need a dial up modem for G3 Beige Tower

I have an ethernet card for my G3 Beige Tower but I need a dial up modem so I can hook it up for my mom. Anyone know where I can get one? Milwaukee

The internal 56K Apple/GV modem card that was a Build-to-Order option for the beige G3s offers the convenience of no additional desktop clutter, no extra power supply to bother with, and nothing to turn ON/OFF. It plugs into the brown slot on the audio or A/V personality card. You can see one listed on this page, but the $99.77 price tag is absurd, in spite of its scarcity now. When I stopped buying them a few years ago, used ones could be purchased for about $35. The internal 56K modem card functioned identically as its external Global Village 56K counterpart. If you have the time to keep checking eBay, you may find an internal Apple/GV 56K card eventually show up for auction. Just be sure that it matches the photo shown on the page I linked. Some sellers (mistakenly or not) identify the software-based "Apple GeoPort" modem card as the 56K modem card - which it definitely isn't. For a reliable 56K external modem, the US Robotics 56K v.90/x2 (model 5689-03) was always my choice for the internet and downloads. The Global Village TelePort 56K v.90 external modems with attached modem cable are also a good choice for the beige G3s. These modems are discontinued, but you can find them showing up at eBay or thrift stores. The current US Robotics v.92 external modem (black color and marketed for PCs) can be used with your beige, but (as Jan wrote) you'll need to find a Mac modem cable (DB-25 to mini-DIN8) for it. Additionally, a custom INIT string must be used to disable a couple of unsupported v.92 features, in order for it to function properly. After much trial and error, I arrived at one that did the trick.

What is happening with FCP 7 now?

I've just been engaged to make a film in a remote isolated community. They want me to set up a 'film studio' for the community at the same time. Normally this would be a no-brainer for me. I'd arrive with an Apple Tower, several monitors, some decent speakers, and FCP Studio installed.
I'm wondering what is happening with FCP these days. All I've heard is negative rumours about FCP X being an amateur app (iMovie upgraded) and FCP7 being discontinued. I may not even be able to buy FCP Studio (with 7)?
I have a distinct disaffection for iMovie ... the underlying logic has always eluded me. I've been a faithful Final Cut user since the very first version, have cut scores of films with it.
I'd love to hear the 'latest' news about how Apple is handling this, or not.
I hate the idea of trying to set up a community studio with any of the alternatives.
All ears,
Ben

Hi Tom,
By 'current interface' do you mean FCP X? I haven't had time to try it yet. I've never liked iMovie. I love the simplicity and 'logic' of FCP - once one has worked out the most efficient pipeline.
I find I can show someone how to edit in FCP in about 30 minutes. It took my son about ten. And then the learner is on his/her way with great ease. (I think it's a matter of having myself figured out over the years a very efficient 1,2,3 ... eschewing the 10 other ways to do every operation; I suspect it's the 10 different ways to do each operation that most people find confusing).
Fogo Island Newfoundland out in the North Atlantic is a particularly enlightened place, quite fascinating. Very film savvy. I'd want to set them up with something professional - they might easily turn out some decent filmmakers. Meaning 'professionals'.
If Apple was planning to upgrade FCP X to a professional app in the near future (I'm just quoting what I've heard rumoured) then I could see going that way. I have to confess that I also don't want to have to spend a month getting up to speed on FCP X before heading out for Fogo. And then looking incompetent when I discover I can't do something on it (that I take for granted in FCP 7).
All the best Tom.,
Ben

What's Wrong With Nokia ?

HI :
I HOPE FOR EVERY ONE A Marry Chrismas and Happy New Year >>
I Noticed on Nokia, it is in some of its phones has developed a low tone for incoming calls and then rises from its own, despite the availability of a particular option for the tone upward, thus becoming the normal tone, progressive resemble each other ...
Nokia did not know there are people who suffer from a hearing problem and thus can not hear the normal tone of it as we have said previously that it is now upward!! Why Nokia has normal tone upward?? They forced the people to develop a progressive tone in both cases??
I think this stupidity from Nokia!! Hope that the company would fix this error soon!!
Thus become all the tones to the phone messages including low !!
It is a new Nokia also has repeated the error, but a different way, It has banned the people to know who contacted them recently (Before last connection) ... For example, Contact Johnny 4 times (the second at noon - the sixth night - and the ninth pm)
If you see on the screen last connection is the ninth in the evening and thus do not know that it may contact you many times!! "In the past, you can see the last 5 connections
>>Note that these experiments have been observed on the new devices that carry a Symbian 40 for Example (Nokia 3600 slide - Nokia X3)
I hope that my Messege reach for Every Body and sorry for the length ..

hi again :
no one of you stand what i'm saying ?? i'm n't talking about music in headphones ?? I'm talking about "incoming Call Alert" that's what I'm talking about sorry for repeat but i have to enplane : what i'm saying is nokia make tow choices in proflies :1. Ringing 2. Ascending
Why Nokia has made each of these two options, such as each ( Upward) This is what I meant
some if you told "you can change this with a high pitched tone such as a loud mp3" but it's Impossible becouse the tone begining is so low ,
Note :
I speak on behalf of people who suffer from hearing problems and who do not hear the tone on their phone, when the other is busy grilling or in the noise, it does not pay attention to the phone and this is what I mean. Thanks for the replies

I've just found that three movies I've bought from iTunes on on my iPad are not showing up on Apple TV or anywhere other than that iPad. What's up with that and will I lose these films if I reset this iPad?

I've just found that three movies I've bought from iTunes on on my iPad are not showing up on Apple TV or anywhere other than that iPad. What's up with that and will I lose these films if I reset this iPad?

Thanks. The reason this has become an issue is that I recently bought a new Macbook Air that the iPad is not synced to. The one is was synced to was stolen. If I want to sync this iPad to the new Air, won't it be wiped before I'm able to copy these films or am I wrong about that?

What's wrong with my browsers?

When i first got my macbook the internet was going really slow but then i changed the dns server to 4.2.2.2 and sometimes change it to 4.2.2.1 and the internet got better but now my browsers are acting funny.
One moment i'm surfing webpages with safari or firefox.... Chatting with AdiumX or MS Messenger... and suddenly it just stops... Msn is getting time-out's, Safari says I'm not connected.
But Airport sais it is still connected to my wireless network (with all the black bar's filled). It has valid IP adress etc, But everywhere I want to go on the internet it sais I'm not connected.
When I disconnect the airport en let it reconnect with my wireless network, the connection is fine.
how can i fix this?

Most users shouldn't be manually entering DNS addresses, and those DNS addresses you mention probably aren't intended for end users. Is Level3 your ISP?
That doesn't answer 'what's wrong with my browsers?', but a good start would be to configure your network according to your ISP's instructions. If you have DNS problems then, you might try using OpenDNS.

What's wrong with networking since Leopard?

Hi,
I'm with Mac since years. I was a PC User once and spent hours with all kinds of network troubles. What convinced me with Mac right in the beginning was easy networking: It just worked!
But since Leopard things got worse: I have several MBP's, iMacs, Airport Extreme's and Airport Express's at different places which I installed, and I face the same problems at EVERY place:
- I can't connect to AExtreme for several reasons: timeout, security incompatibility, ...
- Sometimes only two Macs are allowed to connect to one AExtreme
- Airport doesn't find Aiport or any other networks for minutes
- After connecting to the router, can't get an IP (self-assigned IP only) - other PCs get an IP.
- Aiport Extreme crashes (yellow blinking)
- connection loss (even when AExtreme is very close)
Now I know about networking, about configuration, I've done this for years. Whatever I do, problems disappear and appear again, at different times, at different places with different hardware.
What is wrong with Leopard? Such problems remind me of times with Windows98 and stuff like that.

What's wrong with networking since Leopard?
on my network and many i have setup there have been no problems with leopard. However there are always teething problems with new operating systems. Thankfully with leopard only a tiny percentage of users experience technical difficulties.
can't connect to AExtreme for several reasons: timeout, security incompatibility,
is it set to use WPA/WPA2
Airport doesn't find Aiport or any other networks for minutes
sometimes my macbook pro takes a while to show up any networks if there are lots in the area this is because it is scanning them all.
After connecting to the router, can't get an IP (self-assigned IP only) - other PCs get an IP.
What kind of router are you using? What happens if you powercycle the router?
# Aiport Extreme crashes (yellow blinking)
# connection loss (even when AExtreme is very close)
Have you tried resetting your AE to default. reinstalling its firmware or checking for a firmware update?
Have you tried changing hte wireless channel your networ is broadcasting on?
What is wrong with Leopard? Such problems remind me of times with Windows98 and stuff like that.
Did you upgrade install your leopard installation or did you do clean (erase) installations?
Have you tried created new network locations?

What's Wrong with My Computer?

I have a G5 desktop computer, I believe it's referred to as a "Power Mac." My mom purchased it some years ago, I think in late 2005 shortly after this particular model was on the market.
Info is:
Version 10.5.8
Processor 4 x 2.5 GHz PowerPC G5
Memory 4.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive 240 GB (127 GB unused/available)
My mother wasn't using this computer for many years, and my 13" Macbook was giving me trouble, so she gave this one to me. It's all been great (she maxed out the memory and hard drive space when she bought it, even though it is outdated and insignificant compared to current models), except for one little thing... Browsing the internet is usually fine when it's only one window, but not always. However, it is almost a guarantee that while trying to operate multiple windows and trying to play a video, Safari will crash. And not just once in awhile. I'm talking about on a daily basis. During regular offline computer use, like Photoshop or iTunes, the computer will sometimes grey over (as if someone put a fairly thick grey film over the entire screen), and tell me I have to restart the computer. So what's wrong with it? I presume it is a physical issue (failing memory, mother board, etc.), but what?

Your computer is not remotely "maxed out" with RAM.
You're describing a G5 Quad like mine (though mine was built in June of 2006), and maxed out means having 16 GB of RAM installed, like mine has.
The Frolick wrote:
…the computer will sometimes grey over (as if someone put a fairly thick grey film over the entire screen), and tell me I have to restart the computer. So what's wrong with it?…
That's called a Kernel Panic, and, yes, it is most often caused by hardware problems, such as bad RAM or mismatched RAM. I can't imagine how you get to 4.5 GB of RAM without exponentially increasing the risk of mismatched RAM.
RAM has to be installed in matched pairs, starting from the center slots and spreading outward: 4*3*2*1*1*2*3*4
On the other hand, my own personal experience has led me to conclude that Safari is a piece of cr@p. It causes problems just being active in the background, causing other applications to fail.
Check your RAM carefully, starting with just one pair of matched RAM sticks in the two center slots, then adding one pair at a time. Check your hard disk with Apple's Disk Utility.
The kernel panics can be caused by a damaged directory too, so if you own Disk Warrior, run it. If you don't own DiskWarrior, at least Repair Permissions with Apple's Disk Utility and use Verify Disk/Repair Disk with it.
I'd also recommend downloading and installing Applejack and run it according to the instructions.
Good luck.
2.5 GHz Power Mac (PPC) G5-Quad; 16GB RAM; mutant, flashed 550MHz nVidia GeForce 7800GTX 1,700MHz 512MB VRAM; ATTO ExpressPCI UL5D LP SCSI card; Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11 and Leopard 10.5.8 boot drives; Spotblight, Dashboard and Time Machine permanently disabled; dual 22" CRT monitors; USB wireless 'n' available but connected to the Internet via wired Ethernet; FW flatbed scanner; 2 SCSI scanners (one tabloid-size transparency scanner and a film scanner); various internal & external HDs; FW Epson 2200 and Ethernet Samsung ML-2850ND printers; 2 X Back-UPS RS 1500 XS units.

What's wrong with my iPod's Cover Flow??

I have an iPod Touch 3rd Gen, 32Gb, and recently updated to IOS 5.
Since then, the iPod's cover flow feature is extremely slow, doesn't flow smoothly, and crashes after a few (15-20) seconds.
Today I noted something else: some album covers appear pixelated and blurry, even though HD. Those covers looked just fine until now.
As a side note, I have in use 30 of the 32 Gb (that's a lot of music, I know). Could this be related? I never had those problems before IOS 5, though.
What's wrong with my iPod?
Thanks for your help!

so as I see it people with this problem have 3 options
- Make all of your album art a maximum of 500X500 pixels
- Wait for an IOS update that fixes the problem
- Scrap ipods and buy another brand of music player
Using photoshop to do it with, it took me about an hour to resize, change, and resync all of my 1400 songs(86 albums)

What's wrong with my Final Cut Pro 7.03?

What's wrong with my Final Cut Pro 7.03?
I have just started up a new project.
Every time I try to ad a clip in top of each other a "general error" shows up. The sequence viewer turned red and it displays that I have to close and reopen the window to restore.
The only "new thing" I do - is the use/brand of camera.
Now I use the canon D5 mark 3 for my project (before D5 mark 2)
What's wrong??? Do I need to update my Final Cut Pro 7.0.3 And how do I do this???
Final Cut Pro 7, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Did you use Log & Import? Or did you at least convert the D5 files before importing? FCP doesn't work with those files natively.
-DH

What is wrong with this code? on(release) gotoAndPlay("2")'{'

Please could someone tell me what is wrong with this code - on(release)
gotoAndPlay("2")'{'
this is the error that comes up and i have tried changing it but it is not working
**Error** Scene=Scene 1, layer=Layer 2, frame=1:Line 2: '{' expected
     gotoAndPlay("2")'{'
Total ActionScript Errors: 1 Reported Errors: 1
Thanks

If you have a frame labelled "2" then it should be:
on (release) {
    this._parent.gotoAndPlay("2");
or other wise just the following to go to frame 2:
on (release) {
     this._parent.gotoAndPlay(2);
You just had a missing curly bracket...

I don't understand what's happening with my Music. All the songs that I purchased, that were previously on my phone, now show up a Cloud next to them, but I can't play them. If I touch the Cloud, it turns into a red square but never downloads.

I don't understand what's happening with my Music. All the songs that I purchased, that were previously on my phone, now show up with a Cloud next to them, but I can't play them. If I touch the Cloud, it turns into a red square, acts like it's downloading (which I can see happening in iTunes), but never downloads. The Cloud just stays there.
I've sync'd my phone, I've turned it to "show all music" in Settings, I've drag and dropped the songs/albums onto my phone again. I feel like I've tried everything I've seen recommended, but nothing works.
I've purchased a lot of music from iTunes. It should be there. What's going on?
P.S. Same thing happening with my purchased books. Ugh.

Once you successfully add you iTunes library to iTunes Match, you go to Settings>iTunes & App Store on your iOS device and turn on iTunes Match. Your iTunes Match library will then appear on your iOS device.

What's happening with my 2ndGen AEX at night? Pings sometimes go over 1000ms!

What's happening with my 2ndGen AEX at night? Pings sometimes go over 1000ms!
My Airport Extreme is perfect all day but sometimes late at night my ping goes over 1000ms. Wired or Wifi is the same. There's no rhyme or reason as to when it happens either. Random times and random nights (sometimes several nights in a row, other times not for week or more). Resetting doesn't help, but If I go direct to the modem, pings are around 15-30ms... normal for me. It's been a problem for me for a while now, and I'm not sure if its the latest firmware update that did it. I first noticed it playing my Xbox 360 sometime last summer or fall. The ping times will suddenly (usually around midnight or 1am) be so high that I can't play any multiplayer games. I go to speedtest.net and my ping is anywhere from 500ms to 1118ms is the highest I've seen. If I reset the router, it is fine for a couple minutes and then right back to to the high pings. As I said, the modem is fine when I go direct, so something is causing the Airport Extreme to have trouble. It's not the XB360, cause it also happens with my XB1 and only at night. I play during the day, as well, and have no troubles.
I believe that there are certain programs that can cause this, like Vuze, but this only ever happens when everyone in the house is in bed, and both mine and my wife's laptops will be asleep. I do have a Mac Mini connected to another TV in the house, but the only thing it should be doing at that hour is its hourly Time Machine backup to a USB drive plugged directly into it. I do have a network drive attached to the AEX, but I only use that for manual backups for our laptops, neither of which is being done when this occurs. My wife and I also each have an iPad (the 2 and an Air) and an iPhone 5. Could they somehow be causing this? Maybe an automated iCloud backup occuring at night? Although, I use several devices on my network all day long without this kind of thing happening so I don't know why that would cause this kind of problem. Just to round out my collection, I have to older Airport Expresses as well to extend the network and are mostly used for the audio out.

Test after each of the following steps that you haven’t already tried:
Step 1
Take all the steps suggested in this support article. That's the starting point for any further effort to solve the problem. Skipping any of those steps may mean that the problem won't be solved.
Step 2
From the menu bar, select
System Preferences ▹ Accessibility ▹ Speakable Items: Off
Step 3
Reset the SMC.
Step 4
Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal. Don’t launch any applications at first. If sleep still doesn’t work properly, back up all data and reinstall the OS. After that, if you still have the issue, make a “Genius” appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.
If sleep now works as expected, go on to the next step.
Step 5
Still in safe mode, launch the usual set of applications that are running when you have the problem, including your login items, one at a time, testing after each one. Some applications may not work; skip them. You might be able to identify the cause of the problem this way.
Step 6
If sleep is still working after you’ve launched all the usual applications, reboot as usual (not in safe mode) and test again. If sleep still works, you’re done, at least for the moment.
If you still have the sleep issue after booting out of safe mode, post again.

My macbook pro freezes and then displays a blue screen with black stripes... do you know what's wrong with it?

My macbook pro freezes and then displays a blue screen with black stripes... do you know what's wrong with it?
I have a two and half year mac book pro... I've had some issues with the screen looking scrambled when I quit certain applications, but now it's turned into something worse. I'll be working on my computer and the thing will freeze. When I force restart, the first screen, the apple logo, will be a blue tint and won't boot up normally. Then I try safe mood and it will then boot just fine. But there are blue stripes on my screen. The screen alternates from a blue tint to normal and if the computer freezes again the screen will become completely blue with black stripes. I haven't tried reinstalling my software because I don't have the startup discs that came with my computer. If I was sure that would fix it I would purchase them, but if it's a hardware issue I'm afraid that I'm screwed. I've been able to successfully get the blue off my screen by putting it to sleep and then waking it up, but that's not working well anymore either.
Does anyone else have experience with this? Is it the firmware or what? I have a MacBook Pro from early 2011 and I'm running Mac OS X 10.6.8.
Please help... Thanks!

I just experienced this exact same issue with my early 2011 15" macbook pro. Since like a month after purchasing it I had issues with the screen randomly going dark on me. I sent it in for repair inder waranty they replaced the gpu and logic board but I continued to have the same issues with the screen randomly going black sometimes I would need to reboot it in order to get the screen to go back on but it happened so infrequently and I used the computer for school so disnt find the time to resend it in to apple. Just last night the screen started to display the blue screen with black verticle lines on it. I called apple and explained to them the issues that had been ongoing since I purchased the laptop but they said because I was now outside of warantee that any repairs at thia point wouldn't be covered. Fml so glad I spent 2200 on this future proof macbook pro what a joke my sister purchased a toshiba laptop for 300 4 years ago and it still running like a champ. I loved my macbook but at the price I paid I expect it to last longer than 2 years before leaving me high and dry. *** apple??

What to do with a g3 beige tower

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