Power Mac G4 [mirrored doors]hardware

[snakewoman]

My question is..hardware permitting..can that be used on a new blank hard drive? It may be that the one in the machine is no good. Also which optical drive would be best for this Mac? The one they left in it with no reject button probably no good- you remove the bezel for these-not the button-right?
I will keep on with this piece by piece as funds allow, so again thanks.

 

[harryb2448]

Yes. You would place the DVD in the tray, boot from it, format the drive and run the installer. Then update over the 'net to version OS X..4.11 I think was the final release.

 

[dtravis7]

Thanks Harry for helping the OP. I got busy and just got back to the forums.

What Harry said above will do it for you.

 

[snakewoman]

Seems my thread is becoming a new vs old battleground..all I want is hardware info. Thanks for answer to hard drive [format,etc] now what optical will be needed?

 

[chas_m]

Thanks for answer to hard drive [format,etc] now what optical will be needed?

According to the specs for machines of that vintage, the optical drive was a 24x EIDE (ATA-3) device. I would think that it would be easy to find such a part in any PC shop or even one of those old great electronics "junk houses" like Skycraft Surplus in my old stomping grounds of Winter Park, FL -- look them up online if you want to see what a tinkerer's paradise looks like, though I don't think they do mail order. Still, now that I've identified the type of drive you are looking for, you should be able to find one without too much difficulty.

 

[snakewoman]

Can't find a help section here..so how does one access the pm's sent to them?

 

[chas_m]

At the very, very top of the browser screen when you are on this site, you will see on the right hand side some small type that says "welcome (your name)" and "Notifications:" along with however many you have. Click on that.

 

[dtravis7]

Like was said, pretty much any IDE Optical drive should work. I have a Sony DVD in my Power Mac G4 DA and it works fine. I once used a Liteon burner in that Power Mac and it also worked and burned also. Just be sure the Optical is IDE (ATA).

One warning though just in case. I remember way back Non Apple Optical drives would not work in all apple apps. Ran into that way back in the old days. It might not matter anymore but am telling you just in case. For sure you can install the OS from it and read disks though.

I love messing with older computers and especially older Macs. At one time I owned most major G4 power macs.

 

[chas_m]

Mainly interested in finding out software for G4 that I was given so any help, especially not hugely expensive, as not 100% sure on G4's hardware condition yet, greatly needed.

Well, that's the problem in a nutshell -- you need contemporaneous applications to use the machine, and there's really nothing around other than some vintage-app collection sites. Here's the one resource for this that I trust: http://www.oldapps.com/mac/

However, this site (great as it is) can introduce a new problem -- you want versions that aren't too new, but you also don't want versions that are TOO old for the OS version you end up running. Tricky, but if you're going to find a copy of a given app that can run on that system, that's the best place I know to do that.

One "old app" that can definitely help, however is TenFourFox (if you end up running OS X 10.4 or later) ... it's an unofficial version of present-day Firefox modified to work on really old systems. That will at least get you a workable browser, though there will still be some web issues (Flash, for example, is just flat-out not supported for that far back).

 

[dtravis7]

I 2nd Chas's Recommandation of Ten Four Fox. Best browser out there for the really old Macs. Like Firefox except works on old versions of OS X.

 

[snakewoman]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Mac-O...8&pid=100005&rk=4&rkt=6&sd=221971082368&rt=nc

Seller says this is an install for oc x too & it's closer to what came with this Mac..yes?

 

[dtravis7]

It might be closer to what came originally but that is OSX Panther. If you install that forget going to any sites on the web without errors. TenFour Fox that Chas recommended will not run on that version either. I would go with a newer OSX if I were you and want to do anything worthwhile with that machine.

Since it will run 10.5.8 Maximum which is Leopard, that would be what I would try and purchase. I recently got to mess with a iBook G4 with Panther on it so I speak from experience.

 

[snakewoman]

This mac isn't going to be an internet machine..I have 2 pc's for that. It's to learn Macs..hardware & software as I never had one before..if all goes well I can update.

 

[dtravis7]

I would still try for at least Tiger like in your first URL. Panther is going to give you issues with running applications also as its just so old.

Before my health went south and I had to move in with family, I had more old Macs set up and running than many people have seen in one place! Grin

I have a lot of experience with older Macs and older OSX versions. 10.3 Panther really is one to avoid. Please try for at least 10.4 Tiger like you first showed us. 10.5 Leopard would be even better but it's going to cost you more as it's the very last version of OSX that runs on Power PC Hardware and in a large demand by people like you and I and Nick here that mess with older Macs.

 

[S.SubZero]

This mac isn't going to be an internet machine..I have 2 pc's for that. It's to learn Macs..hardware & software as I never had one before..if all goes well I can update.

I'm not sure you'll learn much that is relevant to modern Macs. Those old ones (I had the 1.42Ghz model) used a different hardware architecture, and the OS X of the day was a fairly different beast.

You would learn more about Macs spending 15 minutes in an Apple Store than you would with that old G4.

 

[chas_m]

^^^^^ this!!

 

[harryb2448]

Quite an amazing and inaccurate ad. Header talks of Panther OS X.3.2 and in the description it is all about Tiger OS X.4. Go with Tiger snakewoman.

 

[snakewoman]

O.K. got the point..problem is too many Tigers..no info [trustworthy anyway] on install vs upgrade & compatible with G4 processor. Everybody says disks are install & compatible.
I want to know if this psu is good & logic board,etc. since without that I have nothing. Will shop for Tiger tho.

 

[dtravis7]

Any BLACK DVD of Tiger will work on that machine. I can find you one if you want me to and give you some URL's.

On the hardware what have you tried? Have you tried powering it up yet? If so what all happened?

 

[snakewoman]

I don't think "any" will work as some/most offers out there are for specific machines, and some are upgrades too. As to starting it up..can't 'til I get the cages..and find out if the button missing on the optical means anything. Also have to find a usb keyboard. The last thing I want to do is fry something I can't replace.