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Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
That's definitely a rage128! Looks like I didn't get credit for finding the cube haha! But anyhow, glad it arrived in one piece and with upgrades!

Sorry, :p. @MacCubed did inform me about this listing, so if it wasn't for him, I would still be cubeless. The upgrades should be very nice in Leopard. I know I have another 512MB stick somewhere, so I'll toss that in and have maxed out RAM at 1.5GB.
 

MacCubed

macrumors 68000
Apr 26, 2014
1,618
494
Florida
Sorry, :p. @MacCubed did inform me about this listing, so if it wasn't for him, I would still be cubeless. The upgrades should be very nice in Leopard. I know I have another 512MB stick somewhere, so I'll toss that in and have maxed out RAM at 1.5GB.
Haha "Cubeless" that's really funny! Sounds like clueless!
 
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Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
Did a serial number lookup, this cube was made in week 34 of 2000 (August), and it was the 815th cube made that week in Singapore.
 

0248294

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2016
713
869
That's just a beauty! A steal for that price. Still hope for luck to grace me one day, so I can find my own for an affordable price!
 

Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
That's just a beauty! A steal for that price. Still hope for luck to grace me one day, so I can find my own for an affordable price!

Thanks! Trust me, it will. Took me a year, but it happened! Just keep your eyes peeled across the Internet :D
 

havokalien

macrumors 6502a
Apr 27, 2006
649
52
Kelso, Wa
Ya more and more people keep putting non cube processor upgrades in them and fry the VRM's. Usually they are smart enough to add a fan since the bracket is already there and a plug in power port on the VRM already exists, if not they kill the processor card and motherboard also.
 

Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
Write up time!
So I got the PSU today along with the Cube speakers (thanks again to the kind user who sent them to me!). Everything arrived safe and sound, and cleaned up nicely. The PSU seems brand new and the speakers are looking pretty good as well. Sadly, the speakers are suffering from foam rot, but luckily the covers should help to stop stuff from making it worse. So I wired everything up in my new setup for the cube and I went to turn it on and nothing happened. I became panicked, but thanks to @LightBulbFun and @MacCubed, I was informed to check if the power button was plugged in. Sure enough, it wasn't. Thus I plugged it back in, put it all back together, and it turned on fine! As expected, it is a 450MHz model, with a DVD-ROM, 1.2GB of RAM, and a R128P GPU. It had an 80GB HDD with Tiger pre installed along with CS3 and Office 2008! Sadly, the install was corrupt and the HDD was dying, so I had to toss that drive out and replace it with a 40GB drive. I was able to backup and transfer CS3 and Office, though :). Also, the new 40GB drive is much quieter than the 80GB, so the machine really is virtually silent now. I tossed on a fresh install of Tiger, updated it, and now in my brief testing, it's been running very smooth. I tested leopard on it (it's what was on the 40GB prior to formatting it), but I felt it was just too graphically challenging for the Rage 128.

When I was looking for my 512MB stick to max out the ram, I came across an original Radeon 7200 GPU. @LightBulbFun tried to flash it, but however couldn't since the ROM was too large (only 64KB vs the regular 128KB EPROM), but he said he'd be willing to keep looking for a small ROM for it. So in conclusion for now, it's truly a one of a kind machine. I can tell it's going to be fun using it for whatever i decide to do with it (likely a music/Spotify server for my room). I have a base fan on the way courtesy of another forum member (who id also like to thank again).

Here are some pictures with more to come in the next few days:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456804668.590797.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456804679.544239.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456804704.706802.jpg

(The Radeon featuring an ear massacring loud and annoying fan)
 
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Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
So @LightBulbFun and his friend were able to shrink the ROM down to fit on the limited space on the card, so later today when I get home, we'll try again with flashing and hopefully it works! If it does, I'll need some replacement for that God-awful fan. Not a clue as to why it makes a horrible whining and grinding noise, but I'm willing to bet it's just simply age...
 
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CooperBox

macrumors 68000
I enjoy stories such as these. Congratulations on getting the Cube up & running! These are truly a great addition to any vintage Apple collection.
One of mine with the aftermarket 1.2GHz CPU, also had the fan installed when I bought it. It emits a light blue glow, and is super-quiet.
Anyone who passes these aside with the notion that PPC powered machines are useless today, really need a wake-up call, and imho don't know the word 'fun'.
Enjoy!
 

Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
I now have the original Cube shipping Apple Pro Keyboard (with the clear cable and blue apple logo on the back) and Pro Mouse, as well as the rare and (usually) expensive SuperDrive upgrade. I made out pretty damn well with those three for $45.
 

Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
Got the SuperDrive in with slight difficulty in setting the IDE configuration, but now it's working perfectly! Now all I need is a better GPU, CPU upgrade, and the last 512MB stick
 

havokalien

macrumors 6502a
Apr 27, 2006
649
52
Kelso, Wa
I just put a Giga design 1.6 ghz in my cube and it was fun. Apple firmware update to 4.1.9, then giga firmware up to 4.99, the good to go. The take apart is fun, but Ive had it apart before so it was pretty quick. Make sure whatever processor you put in re apply thermal paste as the existing paste will be concrete.
 

claesjanwolff

macrumors newbie
Feb 18, 2017
20
1
Cube g4 with SSD
After several months of trying, I gave up on the replacing the original 3,5" 40 Gb HD with a 120 Gb SSD. I formatted the SSD from another mac with a SATA/IDE converter in USB to Mac OS Extended (journaled) and put the disk in my Cube, booted in target disk mode from a Mac OS 10.5.6 DVD iso, but the SSD is not recognized at all (both DVD and diskutility).
I have taken the disk out and using the same SATA/IDE converter plugged in the USB port in the other Mac (powerbook G4 running 10.5.8) and same thing happened - SSD not recognized at all.


Another issue...
I installed Mac OS 10.5.6 on my original HD and immediately start getting the USB over current notice...even though I use an external AC powered USB hub
Anyone getting these messages after updating to Leopard?
 

cosmichobo

macrumors 6502a
May 4, 2006
986
606
I'm cubeless... :( have wanted one since first seeing one in the flesh... One day... One day...

Picked up a Cube with 1.5Ghz Sonnet card about a year ago :) Sadly though it's languished in obscurity in my house due to the stock graphics card's ADC port not working. (Tested the VGA output to verify the Cube does actually work.) This week however a replacement card is arriving thanks to a friend over on AppleTalk, so things are looking up!

I had originally hoped to use the Cube as a HTPC, however tests showed that it just can't handle modern video files. As such, I'm instead going to set it up as a "living" photo frame (with my 17" Studio Display), and also once I fix up the Pro Speakers, as a sound system.
 
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CooperBox

macrumors 68000
Cube g4 with SSD
After several months of trying, I gave up on the replacing the original 3,5" 40 Gb HD with a 120 Gb SSD. I formatted the SSD from another mac with a SATA/IDE converter in USB to Mac OS Extended (journaled) and put the disk in my Cube, booted in target disk mode from a Mac OS 10.5.6 DVD iso, but the SSD is not recognized at all (both DVD and diskutility).
I have taken the disk out and using the same SATA/IDE converter plugged in the USB port in the other Mac (powerbook G4 running 10.5.8) and same thing happened - SSD not recognized at all.


Another issue...
I installed Mac OS 10.5.6 on my original HD and immediately start getting the USB over current notice...even though I use an external AC powered USB hub
Anyone getting these messages after updating to Leopard?

What are the specs of your Cube? If 450MHz or 500MHz do you really run Leopard on it? I've mostly used Tiger 10.4 (with max 1.5Gb Ram) but find its far more responsive with 10.3 Panther. My 1.2GHz Cube has had Leopard installed but prefers Tiger.
 
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