Late 2005 PowerMac G5 - Remove Airport and place in another PowerMac G5

[Saarek]

I have two Late 2005 PowerMac G5's, a Quad and a 2.3Ghz DC.

The Quad has the original factory fitted AirPort + Bluetooth combined card which I want to place into the 2.3Ghz DC.

Apple seemingly decided that it would be a wonderful idea to fit this in with stupid plastic pins as opposed to letting the part be user serviceable as it was with the previous generation. Money grubbing SoB's that they are...

I'll have to drill through the pins. I've tried removing and keeping them but can't do it. The question is, does anyone know if I can simply screw it into the other PowerMac, I'm assuming that might cause a short to the board? Does anyone know of where I could source a compatible plastic pin instead?

 

[Saarek]

Update, I managed to prize apart the pins. They're all roughed up, but still seem to do the job. Airport Card placed into the 2.3Ghz DC and for some reason it does not recognise that there is now an Airport Card installed.

I've tried finding guides online, but all the old links seem to do dead. Am I missing something obvious that had to be moved over along with the actual Airport Card?

 

[haramia]

Have you checked if the Airport module got disconnected from the Runway board? Does it not appear in System Profiler at all?

 

[thewireless]

This might not be of much help to you, but for anyone else reading this: The plastic snap rivets are relatively easy to pull or pry out, provided you have long enough fingernails. Once the pins are removed, the board will slide right out. Before taking the board out completely, be sure to disconnect the antenna cables. In my case, I had to unscrew the Airport module from the runway board to do so. Be sure to check that everything is connected properly when plugging it back in. The Airport card should be recognized immediately by the Power Mac you've moved it into.

 

[Saarek]

In the end I bought another Airport Module off of eBay and now it works. I was very careful taking it apart, but I suppose these are 19 year old parts now.

Thank goodness the runway board was fine, those are seemingly impossible to find, which is why I bought the Quad.

 

[haramia]

I'm glad you were able to figure it out! I'm looking for the same card, no luck so far. Let me know if you end up not using yours in the future. Would be nice to create some kind of recreation PCB, because they are indeed rare.

 

[Saarek]

I'm glad you were able to figure it out! I'm looking for the same card, no luck so far. Let me know if you end up not using yours in the future. Would be nice to create some kind of recreation PCB, because they are indeed rare.

I did find a runway board on some random site. But they wanted £150 for it. I bought the Quad for £250, took out the ATI Radeon X1900 and the wifi parts and am now selling the quad back on with the 6600 that was in my 2.3Ghz DC.

Hated doing it, but I don't trust the water cooling after 19 years!

 

[haramia]

Sound like you made a good deal! Which site did was it? I wasn't able to find it in stock anywhere.

The water cooling is something that I'll have to check in the future. It works well now and I want to keep it that way.

 

[Saarek]

I'll have to see if I can find it. I'm not sure my internet history goes that far back. But, if you look on Gumtree, eBay, etc, and find one that has wifi the chances are you can take the wifi out and sell the machine on without much of a loss.

Appreciate it's a hassle.

 

[haramia]

I haven't thought about Gumtree, thanks for the tip. It is a hassle for sure, kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'm so close to having a fully specced out G5 but it's all worth it!

I have some faulty machines, so if you end up needing some parts in the future, I might have them, so feel free to reach out to me. Also one can never have enough PPC buddies.

 

[Saarek]

I haven't thought about Gumtree, thanks for the tip. It is a hassle for sure, kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'm so close to having a fully specced out G5 but it's all worth it!

I have some faulty machines, so if you end up needing some parts in the future, I might have them, so feel free to reach out to me. Also one can never have enough PPC buddies.

I know that feeling. The PowerPC period is very nostalgic for me. Much to the annoyance of my wife, I have a budding collection of Mac's from G3 to G5's and I'm working to max every single one out.

There's just a certain childish enjoyment of using a PowerMac G5 with 16GB of Ram, an SSD and a 30" Apple Cinema Display. 20 years ago that kind of setup would have been unaffordable for almost anyone (and the SSD would have been a dream really).

 

[haramia]

Exactly!

I like keeping my setups period-correct so even though part of me really wants to install an SSD, I just go with regular HDDs. Hearing the computer "thinking" when the HDD spins up is somehow very satisfying to me.

Congrats for the 30" Cinema Display! I almost bought one a few years ago but the LCD had some dim spots, I believe due to some damage to the inner layers. So for now I'm using my trusty LG monitor.

I absolutely agree with the childish enjoyment part, this is why I love this hobby. You mentioned you want to max out all your computers, do you have repair knowledge/experience as well? I have a first generation Bondi Blue iMac G3 that doesn't want to turn on anymore, and if you could fix it, I think you'd be a better owner for it.

I like the G3 era too, but not as much as the G4 and G5 era. I'd be very happy if I had a Snow White iMac G3 though, it would look great next to my eMac.

 

[Saarek]

I'm competent enough to change components, clean up and remove dust, etc, but that's where my skills end, sadly. Sometimes I can work out what the issue is via beeps and correct that way.