G4 Power Mac and Monitor Match

I am trying to resurrect my old G4 PowerMac (Sawtooth I believe) because it has SCSI connections and I want to use SCSI film scanners that I've had. Unfortunately the old CRT monitor I used with it is malfunctioning and I have not been able to get my Cinema Display to work with simple adapters that I have. I guess the problem is that the Cinema Display wants a digital signal and the simple DVI to VGA adapters don't do that. I think the G4 tower has an Apple Display Connection as well as VGA. Can anyone tell me if an ADC to DVI connector will allow me to use the Cinema Display with the G4 tower. I see some still for sale on eBay.
If this won't work, can I use any LCD monitor with a VGA connection with the G4 or are there some special requirements. I guess I'm wondering if the new LCD monitors with VGA all accept analog signals.
My final solution would be to find one of the RATOC firewire to SCSI adapters so I could hook the scanner up to my newer Macs. Anyone have a source for these or other adapters?
Thank you in advance for any help.

G'day and welcome to the forums.

All G4s came with ATA connections. The second last G3 was the final SCSI user, known as the all in one and released in April 1998.

By default the PM G4 didn't have SCSI, it could be added via a PCI SCSI card, typically an Adaptec.

An ADC to DVI adapter should run an Apple Studio Display. You may still pickup a Belkin one, they weren't expensive. DVI to ADC was the expensive option.

I haven't used FireWire to SCSI adapters for a long time, I would be very cautious expecting one to work in a modern Mac. If the SCSI scanner software is too outdated for your OS, VueScan should support it.

With DVI/ADC being worth well over $100, when available, it was an unwieldy option at best. After a few years use it got worse, slowing down boot and load times etc.

Thank you

Thanks for the replies. So apparently the Belkin ADC to DVI adapter would allow me to use my 20" cinema display with the G4 PMac.
Can anyone tell me about current LCD monitors with VGA connectors and the G4?

I have a read a substantial number of people trying to keep using their SCSI photo scanners and Vuescan can apparently be used in the current OS X but the adapters seem to be totally gone and if available, terribly expensive. Perhaps it is best to continue to use a slide duplicator and my DSLR to convert slides to digital and for really good slides probably get them commercially scanned.
My major problem is having things that worked very well and then having them become obsolete and unsustainable because of "progress". I know the market speaks but it seems terribly wasteful.
Thanks again.

No you got the wrong adapter there. You need the DVI/ADC connector, a cat of a completely different colour. The adapter plugs into mains power, to get power to the display, then connects up the USB to the computer USB port and then to the computer's ADC port. They are bulky and unwieldy. Here is one listed on eBay Australia. See the power and USB leads on it. When new purchased (2000) one here in Australia from Apple for AUD$199.00:-


Apple DVI to ADC Adapter | eBay

All is complex

I had not realized how complex this simple situation should be. It seems the easiest solution is to pick up a cheap lcd monitor but now I'm wondering if a simple vga connecting monitor will work with the powermac G4. Last question then is still what kind of lcd monitor do I need to pick up that will use the output of the G4 which is apparently analog.

What connectors are on the G4's graphic card? Hopefully ADC and DVI.. These look very similar. An LCD such as a BenQ is reasonably priced but you may well require DVI. Hate to tell you this but G4's are now like dinosaurs when it come to both hardware and software.

My G4 Mac has VGA and ADC connectors. I realize the G4 is a dinosaur but it works for the purpose I want, i.e. scanning film. So the question seems to me to boil down to what kind of signal the graphic card puts out, i.e. analog or digital and I don't know but presume this G4 sends an analog signal which is why a simple DVI to VGA adapter won't work. Maybe the question to ask boils down to whether or not current lcd displays with vga adapters can receive an analog signal and function. Is there a way of finding this out? Thanks.

This may help. Good luck with it:-

Power Mac G4: Display Compatibility

Checkout everymac.com for the precise model of your G4. A 450MHz Dual processor sends both analog and digital.

Well there you go, my typical luck, thanks for the links. So naturally I have the one model of G4 that will not interact with the 20" cinema display without updating the graphics card. Unbelievable. Thanks for all your help. I will either pick up a used lcd display with vga or maybe pick up a CRT monitor for basically free.
All is clear.

Before you toss it all up in the air, if the machine is an AGP or Gigabit Ethernet look at eBay and such for a 15" or 17" Apple Studio Display. They also connect via ADC and should be available from about $50.00. The Cinema Display may be just too new. Assuming you are in the States:-

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Apple-Studio-Display-Studio-17-LCD-Monitor-/108868638