Mac G5 Refurb?

Hi all,

I have just been given an iMac G5 from a friend of mine. I was hoping to clean it up and attempt to run the Logic 9 app on it for basic music making needs. Unfortunately the system doesn't have the tech requirements to run this so I am having to use a very early version of Garage Band for this in the mean time.

I have flicked across some YouTube videos to see how I can refurb it but still a little confused.

Is it possible for me to update OS and RAM so I can use the G5 smooth enough to run Logic or other music software? (I don't have the User admin password to make any changes if this would be required).

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

pikeman0904 said:

Is it possible for me to update OS and RAM so I can use the G5 smooth enough to run Logic or other music software?

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Provide us with the current specs of the iMac…and what the hardware requirements of the software you want to run…and we will certainly be able to offer suggestions/opinions.

And what do you mean you don't have the Admin password? What I mean is…why not?

- Nick

Here's the current Spec -

MAC OS X - 10.5.8
Processor - 1.8GHz Power PC G5
Memory - 1 GB

Logic 9 Spec -

Operating system - OS X (10.9 and later) - now aware I would need to update the OS
Size 1.05 GB - now aware I would need to update the OS and the memory

I know the G5 is mega old so I just want to clarify is it as easy as me just buying OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard and some more RAM?

With regards to the password. It was passed on from a friend who got it from her friend so that person has the person who we unfortunately cant make contact with at the moment.

Hope this helps?

Thanks again Pigoo3

10.5.8 was OSX Leopard and that is as far as any Power PC G5 Mac will go. Leopard was the last version of OSX that would run on a Power PC CPU so no matter what you do, that version of Logic will never work as it's probably an Intel Only Application also like all other recent applications.

hI dtravis7

Thanks for your reply. So to clarify there's nothing I could do with this iMac at all ind order to run Logic?

no you can run logic but you would have to run a older version of logic.

And here is what i would honestly do

go on amazon.com purchase a retail mac os x leopard disk

then purchase a older version of logic

then you can reinstall leopard and place your own password in and then you can install leopards version of logic

pikeman0904 said:

Thanks for your reply. So to clarify there's nothing I could do with this iMac at all ind order to run Logic?

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As Dennis mentioned. Max OS on this computer is 10.5.8. If Logic needs 10.9 or newer…not gonna happen.

- Nick

I am not sure how far Logic goes back, but only way would be find a used OLD version that for sure says it will run on a Power PC system!

Excellent idea Dennis.

Did some research…and it looks like the newest version that would run on a PowerPC computer is Logic Pro 9 (Universal Binary...PowerPC & Intel). But…performance on an iMac G5 may not be the best. So Logic Pro 7 or Logic Pro 8 would probably be better (assuming a copy can still be found/purchased). eBay probably if anywhere.

- Nick

There are some older discussions still accessible with a Google search and several getting Logic 9.x versions running on a G5 PPC and Leopard 10.5.x.

Have a read at some of the hits:
https://www.google.ca/search?client...-8&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=JF33VM6lLufs8we9pYF4

and Logic 9 on a PowerPC? - Logic Users Group etc.

Allow me to save you a lot of time and frustration. The iMac G5 was a wonderful machine 10 years ago when it was released. But it is an antique now, and very obsolete. It is completely unsafe to put on the Internet, and there's almost no software available now that will run on it.

It still makes a fine computer for small children to play with, as long as it's not connected to the Internet -- and if you can find contemporaneous suffer that run on it. Otherwise, it's more or less completely useless now. What you need, particularly if you want to run Logic, is a fairly recent machine, doesn't have to be brand-new but really should be recent 2012 or later,I'd say..

Gee chas_m, you're still on the same personal opinion harping sermon I see, for any Mac user not using what you consider to be a usable Mac. Oh well, I guess some things never change…

And others of us still harp on about the beauty of Snow Leopard.

Sorry, but the truth of the matter is that G5 anything (or anything earlier) is obsolete, unsafe to put on the Internet, there's no software available for it, and it's worthless to sell or buy. Some people's inability to accept reality (and their hypocrisy in having railed against Intel/SL/iOS devices/modern Apple things for years before now owning and using modern Macs and iOS devices on a routine basis) is not my problem.

Hmm…??? Sounds like we're standing on the edge of Echo Canyon…
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/318985-osx-yosemite-upgrade.html#post1645119

OP mentioned wanting to try to run Logic on this iMac G5. No reason an old computer like this (paired with age-appropriate software) can't be put back into service.

Agreed…being an old computer it certainly has it's limitations. Just got to be careful to manage expectations, money spent on it, and computing safety/security.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

OP mentioned wanting to try to run Logic on this iMac G5.

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The point was that he wanted to run the CURRENT Logic on a G5. NA GA HA PEN.

I'm not anti-old machines -- I usually use a three-year-old 2012 MacBook Pro, but today I happen to be on the iPad -- I'm just trying to give people the facts. In this case, the facts are that a G5 is no longer safe to use on the Internet, and it's too old to run the software the user wanted to use.