Powermac G5 with no Harddrive

[JHPhoto]

I bought a house, and the previous owners left a Powermac G5 in the garage. They left the start-up discs, but took the hard drives and removed the serial numbers.

I put a blank hard drive in, and started up the computer with the first install disc. When it asks where I want to install the OS to, there are no options. It doesn't see the drive, and doesn't see an external drive I plugged in, also.

One thing; I only tried the "B" hard drive port as I was not really able to make the cables reach for the "a" port (they also took the hard drive chassis).

Any thoughts?

 

[chscag]

You have a non functional Powermac G5 which is not worth spending money or time on unless you just want something to do. You can always find parts or even another non working Powermac G5 that you can cannibalize by checking on eBay. For a break down of the unit check with www.ifixit.com.

 

[pigoo3]

I put a blank hard drive in, and started up the computer with the first install disc. When it asks where I want to install the OS to, there are no options.

That hard drive you installed is probably not formatted to be used with a Macintosh computer. So the HD needs to be formatted for a Mac first.

And like chscag mentioned. Be very very careful how much you spend on this. Powermac G5's are:

- Between 9-12 years old.
- They have serious OS limitations.
- And they are not worth much.

As an example…there's a person on my local Craig's List selling them for $65 bucks each. And I've seen them sell on eBay (when someone is REALLY lucky) for as little as $21 bucks!

Words to the wise!

- Nick

 

[JHPhoto]

Thanks! I kinda knew it was a paper weight, but figured it couldn't hurt. I had the hard drive sitting around and so far have only spent about 15 minutes and $0. I will limit it to that.