G5 Quad Gluttony!

[tevion5]

So after 2/3 years of putting up with an unsightly '12' in my system profiler under memory, I finally got some cheap DDR2 DIMMs to bring me on up to 16GB.

For some reason when I first put them in it only detected 2 of 4. So swapping 4 x 1GB for 2 x 2GB was naturally not much of an upgrade. I reseated them a few times to no joy. But after not using the system for a few weeks I was pleasantly surprised to see the whole lot working all of a sudden. PRAM? Ghosts? Whatever, they're all working consistently now.

The magnum opus of the PPC lineup, now with 16GB Ram and an nVidia Quadro FX 4500. I reckon the only thing to add now is an SSD, but I'm content with an old 500GB HDD for now.

Having been away from it for a while, I ended up spending half the day doing actual work on it. I just love using this machine.

 

[Dronecatcher]

For some reason when I first put them in it only detected 2 of 4.

Careful...'reappearing' RAM can be cracked solder lines - if they disappear again, reseating might make situation worse.

 

[tevion5]

Careful...'reappearing' RAM can be cracked solder lines - if they disappear again, reseating might make situation worse.

On the main logic board I assume? I’ll keep an eye out if they drop off again.

 

[Dronecatcher]

On the main logic board I assume?

Yes, the DIMM connectors. My 2.3 DP used to have magic RAM that reappeared when it got warmed up

 

[LightBulbFun]

Yes, the DIMM connectors. My 2.3 DP used to have magic RAM that reappeared when it got warmed up

the issue you describe is not a problem with the the DIMM connectors themself, its an issue with the U3 Heavy memory controller on your Mac

the G5 Quads U4 CPC945 memory controller does not suffer from such issues

so I suspect @tevion5 RAM issues was just some dirty contacts that managed to clear itself


BTW if you want to go all out on a G5 Quad you could fill every PCIe slot with a Radeon X1900 Mac edition routing in some extra power for em from somewhere, and then plug in 8 30 inch cinema displays

 

[Dronecatcher]

the issue you describe is not a problem with the the DIMM connectors themself, its an issue with the U3 Heavy memory controller on your Mac
the G5 Quads U4 CPC945 memory controller does not suffer from such issues

I stand corrected - like the man in the orthopaedic shoes

 

[1042686]

8, 30 inchers. Now that’s a YT I’d watch.

 

[Amethyst1]

8, 30 inchers. Now that’s a YT I’d watch.

Make that eight 3840x2160 monitors for 66,335,200 pixels. Being stuck at 37Hz (DL-DVI limit) would be a little annoying though.

 

[eyoungren]

BTW if you want to go all out on a G5 Quad you could fill every PCIe slot with a Radeon X1900 Mac edition routing in some extra power for em from somewhere, and then plug in 8 30 inch cinema displays

Six smaller displays, using one X1900 and two NVIDIA GeForce 6600s is sufficient.

The 2.3DC has a Quadro FX and two 6600s too. I just don't have enough monitors.

 

[DearthnVader]

Always wanted a G5 Quad, it's the one of the pieces missing from my PPC collection, that and a 9600.

I really want to see how the G5 runs KVM, sadly SMP is broken with KVM on the G4, so my DP Quicksilver won't run it.

On a side note, does anyone know about IOMMU for PCI Passthrough on the G5?

I read that there is generic support for it, but no VFIO-PCI for PPC.

 

[Macbookprodude]

Always wanted a G5 Quad, it's the one of the pieces missing from my PPC collection, that and a 9600.

I really want to see how the G5 runs KVM, sadly SMP is broken with KVM on the G4, so my DP Quicksilver won't run it.

On a side note, does anyone know about IOMMU for PCI Passthrough on the G5?

I read that there is generic support for it, but no VFIO-PCI for PPC.

You want one ? I am entertaining offers for mine.

 

[DearthnVader]

You want one ? I am entertaining offers for mine.

A Quad or a 9600?

 

[Macbookprodude]

A Quad or a 9600?

A real Quad G5.

 

[dbdjre0143]

A real Quad G5.

Sent you a PM @Macbookprodude

 

[z970]

And so he swoops in to snatch the prize.

 

[dbdjre0143]

And so he swoops in to snatch the prize.

I like collecting old tech for the sake of playing with it, but the reality of limited space has made me realize that I should limit my collecting mostly to tech I'll actually put to somewhat regular use. That's why I have my DLSD PB as my daily driver, and a G5 Quad has been on my want-list basically since I stumbled onto this forum.

 

[z970]

I like collecting old tech for the sake of playing with it, but the reality of limited space has made me realize that I should limit my collecting mostly to tech I'll actually put to somewhat regular use. That's why I have my DLSD PB as my daily driver, and a G5 Quad has been on my want-list basically since I stumbled onto this forum.

For what it's worth, @DearthnVader has "always" wanted a Quad, and apparently you've only wanted one since late 2017.

I'm not trying to insert myself anywhere, but somebody here has waited longer to get their big meaty claws on one.

 

[Macbookprodude]

If I can just get Linux to work on the G5.. It keeps giving me a blank screen when I try to boot it. My graphics card is the NVIDIA 6600 256MB.

 

[z970]

If I can just get Linux to work on the G5.. It keeps giving me a blank screen when I try to boot it. My graphics card is the NVIDIA 6600 256MB.

We can work that out.

I'm really starting to think G5s are overly finicky and delicate when it comes to software. I'm finding myself wishing I bought an MDD instead. OS X is more optimized for the G4, Linux usually has a better time with them, they can take 4 HDs, two optical drives, and I'd imagine shipping one would be far less dangerous to their structural integrity. Besides that, they're almost by definition sexier machines.

Not to mention, they're usually cheaper too.

 

[Macbookprodude]

We can work that out.

I'm really starting to think G5s are overly finicky and delicate when it comes to software. I'm finding myself wishing I bought an MDD instead. OS X is more optimized for the G4, Linux usually has a better time with them, they can take 4 HDs, two optical drives, and I'd imagine shipping one would be far less dangerous to their structural integrity. Besides that, they're almost by definition sexier machines.

Not to mention, they're usually cheaper too.

Ok, I have the latest Ubuntu, but it seems to do this with any distro of Linux. I type "yaboot" and it boots up.. I do get the graphics and loading screens from the kernel.. then it goes blank and never returns to graphics at all. Is this a common problem on the G5s?

 

[z970]

Ok, I have the latest Ubuntu, but it seems to do this with any distro of Linux. I type "yaboot" and it boots up.. I do get the graphics and loading screens from the kernel.. then it goes blank and never returns to graphics at all. Is this a common problem on the G5s?

From my experience, Linux is especially fussy on the G5s, hence the musing in my last post.

Try everything suggested in this thread, but just replace "radeon" with "nouveau". (ignore the substance-less posts)

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/another-emac-g4-lubuntu-graphic-issue.2127163/

If you want still-supported applications and a consistently updating OS, I'd recommend Debian Sid (which is what I and a lot of other people are still currently wrangling with), which you can just refer back to at the recently posted Debian Ports PPC thread.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/powerpc-linux-support-to-continue-in-debian-ports.2128808/

Installation / Set-up will be harder, but from everything I've seen so far, I believe the trade off to be worth it. Especially when everything is finished and you can enjoy a functioning up-to-date PowerPC running Firefox 52.9 (which isn't nearly as slow as TenFourFox).

 

[bunnspecial]

OS X is more optimized for the G4,

Source for this statement?

 

[Dronecatcher]

OS X is more optimized for the G4

I sense this too - Leopard was developed with Intel in mind - hence the considerable PPC hardware requirement hike compared with previous releases.
And Apple had probably given up on getting the most out of the G5 when the inevitable leap to X86 was on the horizon.

 

[weckart]

Source for this statement?

There were quite a few articles at the time positing the x86/ppc split along the Tiger/Leopard faultline. This was one of many

http://lowendmac.com/2007/leopard-i...slower-on-powerpc-and-possible-below-867-mhz/

 

[bunnspecial]

There were quite a few articles at the time positing the x86/ppc split along the Tiger/Leopard faultline. This was one of many

http://lowendmac.com/2007/leopard-i...slower-on-powerpc-and-possible-below-867-mhz/

I don't see anything about Leo being "better" on a G4 than a G5, though, which was the statement I was disputing.

I've benchmarked a LOT of PPC systems, and although I know benchmarks don't tell the whole story it takes an awfully special G4 to even match a low end G5...

I know also that on plenty of occasions, I've done a certain task a lot on a high spec G4 and jumped even to something like a single 1.8ghz G5 and seen a dramatic spike in performance. Jumping to a dual 2.7 or Quad makes a huge difference.