Old iMac G4

Hello

Just joined up but been using apple products from more years than I remember. Anyway my Dad was using my old old iMac G4 at his house solely for internet but its been playing up so bad that it will barely start up.

An IT friend at work had a look at it for me and said it was running so slow it needs a memory upgrade - its currently got
700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor
256MB
40GB hard disk

He also installed 'umbuntu' on it to solve the problem of it not running anything.

From what I can find online it has the option to upgrade from the "one factory-installed 168-pin DIMM and one open
user-accessible SO-DIMM slot" Is the SO-Dimm slot 168-pin aswell as Ive read it might be 144-pin.

Sorry for the long winded question but could really do with some advice as to whether this will help and if so is it the right one to be buying.


Many thanks.

David.

You're going to have to be more specific about exactly which model iMac G4 you have before we can tell you which and what kind of memory it uses.

However, you might want to visit RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com and use their memory analyzer program which will tell you what you need. You can order direct from them.

Put a 512MB module in the upgradeable slot for an improvement, get a copy of Tiger OS X.4, black retail install disc and not a silver/grey model specific set, erase and format the drive and do a clean install.

Memory for Apple iMac G4 700MHz and 800MHz models

Buy memory from a Mac specialist and NOT from a PC shop!

David, I've got a couple of thoughts.

First off, check and see how full his hard drive is. Especially if he has ubuntu and associated apps installed, I'm guessing his HDD is pretty full. It may be full enough that it's impacting the performance of the drive. Getting your dad hooked up with an external hard drive might help get some files off the main internal drive and help with performance, too.

Secondly, max the machine out with RAM. As harryb said, 512 is the max for the accessible sodimm slott. Go to crucial.com or macsales.com and order that 512MB module. While he's running ubuntu, he's in essence running an OS within an OS. that's got to be eating up a ton of memory, and in turn probably relying quite a bit on virtual memory which will impact performance, too.

I like harryb's idea of starting with a fresh minimal Tiger (OS X.4) install, too; however, you'll have to gauge your dad's willingness to go to that length.

I hope you're able to get it running well for your dad! It's always good to help out the folks.

Well apart from the spec of being 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor, 256MB, 40GB hard disk, all I also know is that its the 15inch model. Dont know what else I can tell you.

Software wise there is nothing on it what so ever, no files, no musics - all completely clean.

This is why I thought it should have been able to run effectively enough for internet usage only, which is all he will ever use it for.

Really want to get this working for him though as hes mentioned just buying a laptop instead

bhphunter said:

Well apart from the spec of being 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor, 256MB, 40GB hard disk, all I also know is that its the 15inch model. Dont know what else I can tell you.

Software wise there is nothing on it what so ever, no files, no musics - all completely clean.

This is why I thought it should have been able to run effectively enough for internet usage only, which is all he will ever use it for.

Really want to get this working for him though as hes mentioned just buying a laptop instead

Click to expand...

Was the system sluggish even before he installed ubuntu?

Why would you NOT want him to buy a laptop?

Yea was very sluggish - thats why he thought umbuntu would help things.

Dad was talking about a dell or something bland like that - not a macbook!


David.

bhphunter said:

Yea was very sluggish - thats why he thought umbuntu would help things.

Click to expand...

By almost any account...a 700mhz G4 in 2011 is not going to be very fast. This could be as old as a 9 year-old computer...computers don't age very "gracefully".

It can be useful for some things...but you have to be realistic with what a 9 year-old computer can do.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

By almost any account...a 700mhz G4 in 2011 is not going to be very fast. This could be as old as a 9 year-old computer...computers don't age very "gracefully".

It can be useful for some things...but you have to be realistic with what a 9 year-old computer can do.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Oh yea I appreciate its ancient but is it usable for web browsing nowadays?


David.

bhphunter said:

Oh yea I appreciate its ancient but is it usable for web browsing nowadays?

Click to expand...

Sure...but you have to be careful which sites you visit. Sites heavy in video content will not load very quickly...or run smoothly. Basically...you just got to go to a person's favorite sites (say top 10-20)...and see how they run & load.

If they run ok...then yes...a 700mhz iMac G4 is useable for internet browsing. If no...then not so good.

- Nick