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The end of Mickeysoft's support for XP made me decide that it is time for a change, so I bought a Mac Power PC G4 on EBay. The previous owner swears up and down that it worked perfectly.
The first problem I ran into was that the bottom row of keys on the original keyboard did not work. I had a spare Logitech that was supposed to be Mac compatible, and I plugged that in.
The next problem was that the computer would freeze after some varying amount of time. I thought that the previous owner might not have 'cleaned it up' properly, so I bought a copy of OS-X Jaguar, and, after many freezes, was able to do a complete install.
The next problem was that it suffered from what I have been told were 'Kernel panics' after various periods of time, usually less than three minutes. I finally figured out how to erase and re-format the hard drive, so I did that and another full install, after many kernel panics. Finally, I removed the two original HDDs and replaced them with a known good drive. No difference.
So I tried the hardware angle. It had two video cards, so I removed the oldest. I removed and shifted memory around enough to find that didn't change anything.
I finally disconnected the Logitech keyboard, leaving the mouse connected, and it ran like a dream for 6-8 hours. Except that, with no keyboard, I couldn't do anything useful with it.
So I decided to bite the bullet and bought a new Macally keyboard for it.
I got the keyboard today, and plugged it in, but when I started the computer up I didn't have any video. I hadn't done anything to the video since taking out the second video adapter two or three months ago, and the last time I turned it on, and every time before, it worked fine.
So I figured maybe there was some incompatibility with the new keyboard, and disconnected it, basically going back to the configuration I could get 6-8 hours out of. Still no video. The monitor is known good because it is attached to the Mac and a Windows XP system through a switchbox, and I am using it now, from the XP system, to type this.
I have been told several times that it is too out of date to spend any money on, but I don't even have enough spare money to buy a Mac Mini on EBay.
I feel like the lone rider who 'rode off in all directions'. I would like to install some diagnostic software, but it won't stay running long enough with the keyboard attached. If I disconnect the keyboard, I have not found a way to navigate to the website where the software is.
I bought the computer because I wanted to learn about OS-X and see if I consider it a viable alternative to Windoze, but have been able to learn very little about the OS because of the problems.
Does anyone have any advice on options that don't involve buying another computer?
The first problem I ran into was that the bottom row of keys on the original keyboard did not work. I had a spare Logitech that was supposed to be Mac compatible, and I plugged that in.
The next problem was that the computer would freeze after some varying amount of time. I thought that the previous owner might not have 'cleaned it up' properly, so I bought a copy of OS-X Jaguar, and, after many freezes, was able to do a complete install.
The next problem was that it suffered from what I have been told were 'Kernel panics' after various periods of time, usually less than three minutes. I finally figured out how to erase and re-format the hard drive, so I did that and another full install, after many kernel panics. Finally, I removed the two original HDDs and replaced them with a known good drive. No difference.
So I tried the hardware angle. It had two video cards, so I removed the oldest. I removed and shifted memory around enough to find that didn't change anything.
I finally disconnected the Logitech keyboard, leaving the mouse connected, and it ran like a dream for 6-8 hours. Except that, with no keyboard, I couldn't do anything useful with it.
So I decided to bite the bullet and bought a new Macally keyboard for it.
I got the keyboard today, and plugged it in, but when I started the computer up I didn't have any video. I hadn't done anything to the video since taking out the second video adapter two or three months ago, and the last time I turned it on, and every time before, it worked fine.
So I figured maybe there was some incompatibility with the new keyboard, and disconnected it, basically going back to the configuration I could get 6-8 hours out of. Still no video. The monitor is known good because it is attached to the Mac and a Windows XP system through a switchbox, and I am using it now, from the XP system, to type this.
I have been told several times that it is too out of date to spend any money on, but I don't even have enough spare money to buy a Mac Mini on EBay.
I feel like the lone rider who 'rode off in all directions'. I would like to install some diagnostic software, but it won't stay running long enough with the keyboard attached. If I disconnect the keyboard, I have not found a way to navigate to the website where the software is.
I bought the computer because I wanted to learn about OS-X and see if I consider it a viable alternative to Windoze, but have been able to learn very little about the OS because of the problems.
Does anyone have any advice on options that don't involve buying another computer?