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G4 Mini help

Fusionskies

Fusionskies

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 30, 2015
151
165
United Kingdom
Hi,

So I have an original PP G4 Mac mini that was given to me for free. Its old but very cool to look at, and has more collectors value to me rather than usability.

It runs tiger, but is password locked from the previous owner. I tried to install Leopard on it last night to wipe the password lock (since its the only disk I have), but every time I try to wipe and install, I get a 'need to shutdown' message, (seemingly) a kernel panic I think.

If this is a hardware issue, are there any common issues with this line of Macs that I could look into first? I don't mind prying it open to investigate as I have nothing to lose really.

If I can fix it, I'd love to put an SSD in there, replace the thermal paste, and max out the RAM. It would be humbling to get this machine up and running without issues, since its a modern classic.

P.S.
*I have opened the Mac up, and everything looks really clean.
No dust, no signs of corrosion/damage, and nothing missing.

Thanks, Kyle.
 
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Fusionskies said:
Hi,

So I have an original PP G4 Mac mini that was given to me for free. Its old but very cool to look at, and has more collectors value to me rather than usability.

It runs tiger, but is password locked from the previous owner. I tried to install Leopard on it last night to wipe the password lock (since its the only disk I have), but every time I try to wipe and install, I get a 'need to shutdown' message, (seemingly) a kernel panic I think.

If this is a hardware issue, are there any common issues with this line of Macs that I could look into first? I don't mind prying it open to investigate as I have nothing to lose really.

If I can fix it, I'd love to put an SSD in there, replace the thermal paste, and max out the RAM. It would be humbling to get this machine up and running without issues, since its a modern classic.

Thanks, Kyle.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a PRAM issue. Try resetting it.
 
Did you try resetting password or creating a fresh account (still possible if the Tiger install is intact.)

How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself

Let's say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they've got it locked down. There are numerous ways to reset a password with no OS X discs...
www.macyourself.com www.macyourself.com
 
Dronecatcher said:
Did you try resetting password or creating a fresh account (still possible if the Tiger install is intact.)

How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself

Let's say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they've got it locked down. There are numerous ways to reset a password with no OS X discs...
www.macyourself.com www.macyourself.com
Click to expand...

As I really would rather keep Tiger on there, I did try resetting the password initially (multiple times).
Every time I try to do this, I receive a kernel panic in the same way that attempting a reinstall of the system throws one up.

And also since the previous owner is still the admin, and I have no way of contacting her, I cannot make another account without her password.

Seems I'm pretty locked out, but will keep on trying.
 
Fusionskies said:
As I really would rather keep Tiger on there, I did try resetting the password initially (multiple times).
Every time I try to do this, I receive a kernel panic in the same way that attempting a reinstall of the system throws one up.

And also since the previous owner is still the admin, and I have no way of contacting her, I cannot make another account without her password.

Seems I'm pretty locked out, but will keep on trying.
Click to expand...

Try this below as it should work.

How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself

Let's say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they've got it locked down. There are numerous ways to reset a password with no OS X discs...
www.macyourself.com www.macyourself.com

If not, open up the Mini G4 and then remove one stick of RAM and leave it out for a few minutes. This will reset the firmware password that causes the kernel panic. Then do the admin password reset that I included above. Hope this helps.
 
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iluvmacs99 said:
Try this below as it should work.

How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself

Let's say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they've got it locked down. There are numerous ways to reset a password with no OS X discs...
www.macyourself.com www.macyourself.com

If not, open up the Mini G4 and then remove one stick of RAM and leave it out for a few minutes. This will reset the firmware password that causes the kernel panic. Then do the admin password reset that I included above. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will try doing this.

Do you think it could be a bad stick?
 
Fusionskies said:
Thanks, I will try doing this.

Do you think it could be a bad stick?
Click to expand...

It may be or could be. I've done a few of these rebuilds while working at the computer recycling centre and most of the time, you really need to do a thorough cleaning of the internals. Probably lots of dust and iffy contacts. When the stick is out; clean the contacts with iso alcohol and on the slots as well. Bad and or poor contacts can also cause kernel panic. I think your Radeon 9200 is probably on its way out as well. Just clean the internals really well while having the stick out and the re-assemble. Most of the time, you can resurrect it. If not, I wouldn't bother spending anymore money trying to fix it. Also be gentle while prying out the case and don't break the antenna or else you will have problems with your WIFI.
 
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Yeah, I suspect the GPU is on the way out as well.
I mentioned in an earlier thread about a video issue I was having, (apparently quite common with the G4's.)
Something to do with unsupported refresh rates or something? I'm using a different monitor and it seems to be ok for now.

One user recommended baking the logic board for a bit as a last resort to see if it could repair any broken solder. Like I said in that post, its my last resort, and one that I'd have to think about doing.

I don't think I'd be willing to spend more than £20 on fixing it, just a shame to see it the way it is.
Apart from that, cosmetically its in good shape.
A bit of yellowing of the white plastic, I think I have reduced it with a magic eraser and some polish.
 
Fusionskies said:
Yeah, I suspect the GPU is on the way out as well.
I mentioned in an earlier thread about a video issue I was having, (apparently quite common with the G4's.)
Something to do with unsupported refresh rates or something? I'm using a different monitor and it seems to be ok for now.

One user recommended baking the logic board for a bit as a last resort to see if it could repair any broken solder. Like I said in that post, its my last resort, and one that I'd have to think about doing.

I don't think I'd be willing to spend more than £20 on fixing it, just a shame to see it the way it is.
Apart from that, cosmetically its in good shape.
A bit of yellowing of the white plastic, I think I have reduced it with a magic eraser and some polish.
Click to expand...

Baking is a temporary solution. It only buys you some time and not much else.
 
Do you have another ppc mac? Connect via Target disc mode, & clone the working image to the mini.
 
iluvmacs99 said:
Baking is a temporary solution. It only buys you some time and not much else.
Click to expand...

Not to mention incredibly toxic. The chemical fumes exhausted out of the solder lead, PCB fiberglass, and other circuitry materials is not only a weak solution for the board, but also dangerous to the human. And if you've had the misfortune of having done that in the kitchen oven (where dinner is made), forget about it!

I can't believe this method gained the ground it did in the enthusiast community. It comes at great cost.
 
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Dronecatcher said:
Read the link - you don't need to know her password - you force the Mac into restarting as if it's new and being set up for the first time.
Click to expand...

I put the first command line into the terminal on reboot, I let it do it’s thing since it was appearing to reset files etc. Before I could put in the second line, it rebooted to a blue screen with the cursor, (and I can move the mouse too) but it’s been stuck like this for about an hour. I’ll keep trying, but I’m going to let it sit for a bit since I’m in no rush.

I did manage to grab this photo of the terminal before it rebooted though, if it’s of any use. That last line regarding bonjour flags up, but I don’t know if it’s connected to be honest.

As for the baking that others mentioned, yeah I doubt I’ll be doing that as I was thinking about that fact last night. I don’t think it’s worth it, I think I’ll just call it if other options fail.
 

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Fusionskies said:
If I removed the current hard drive and swapped it with a blank drive that was Mac OS formatted, would that force recovery on boot?
Click to expand...

You did try to do a standard Leopard install right, did you wipe the disk from within the installer Disk Utility?
If it's crashing from an install disk it's some hardware problem.
 
Dronecatcher said:
You did try to do a standard Leopard install right, did you wipe the disk from within the installer Disk Utility?
If it's crashing from an install disk it's some hardware problem.
Click to expand...

I did try with leopard earlier on, and I tried to wipe at the time, but it panicked and gave me a gsod.

I tried again with the console commands under cmd+S, and upon reboot it welcomed me to Tiger, and proceeded to ask for my personal information.
So far its up and running, not with a clean system, but it added me as an admin, which I am pleased about. I’ll be deleting the original admins account asap.

I did manage to see a problem report that it gave me after I shut it down forcefully, lot of kernels mentioned. I have a screenshot if I need it later.

I plan on running a hardware test soon, and hopefully now I can think about swapping and upgrading once I know everything is clear.
 
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I’d pull the existing hdd in it & clone a clean install to a known good drive & install that in the instance there is an issue with the cdrom.
 
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Just felt like updating the post because this set up to me looks awesome.
Bought a lovely 20" Cinema Display, and will be making this my 'classic' setup.
It's staying on Tiger, and I'm looking to buy an apple pro mouse, and keyboard to go with it. I want to replace the god awful mouse I'm using for it currently.

I'm looking to also dual boot with Mac OS 9 if possible, but thats a story for another thread.

IMG_6018.jpg
 
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Amethyst1 said:
Congrats, that's lovely. Agree about keyboard & mouse.



Very possible using the macos9lives Installer as that allows restoring the OS to any partition.
Click to expand...

Will look into that. Is it pretty easy to do? currently running an 80gb HDD so may wait until I upgrade the drive.
 
I have exactly the same keyboard, not that bad, only issue is that this sucks a bit power and works better when is connected on mini's USB port, so leaves the other port free for a USB hub + the mouse.
 
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