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Post Your PowerPC Setup
- Thread starter Goftrey
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Hello Amethyst1,
unfortunately you are right and I am not really
:From Wikipedia:
"The Pentium M is a family of 32-bit single-core x86 mobile microprocessors (using the modified Intel P6 microarchitecture ) that was introduced in March 2003 and was part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then-new Centrino brand. Depending on the model, the Pentium M processors had a maximum thermal power dissipation (TDP) of 5 to 27 W and were intended for use in laptops (hence the suffix "M" for "mobile"). They evolved from the core of the last Pentium III CPU and added the front-side bus (FSB) interface of the Pentium 4, an improved front-end for instruction decoding and output, improved branch prediction, SSE2 support and a much larger cache."
So there's a bit of Pentium 4 in there...
theMarble's Retro Setup - July 2024
As it turns out, it has been over a year since I last posted an image of my retro setup, and quite a lot has changed since then so I thought I'd post an update.
The biggest update is that I'm now running dual 20" Cinema Displays. The second one was a recent purchase (same price as the first one, $3), and it has been great so far. They are both the newer 2006 revision, which have a higher brightness level and contrast ratio. The new one (on the left) is ever so slightly brighter than the older one, however unless you have a bright white object such as a Finder window sitting between the two displays, you can't tell them apart. They are once again flanked by a pair of Technics bookshelf speakers.
The other major update is that my main retro machine is my PMG5 once again, and it has received two pretty decent upgrades recently. The first is maxing out the RAM to 8GB (8x1GB DDR400), and the second is the re-addition of the 480GB RAID0 SSD array. I took it out a long time ago as I needed one of the SSDs for another Mac, however with the other upgrades I've done, I thought that I might as well put it back in.
The third update is a more sad one however. Unfortunately, around a month or two ago the PSU on my maxed-out 20" iMac G4 died rather explosively (smoke, loud bang, a flame, the whole ordeal). I'm in the process of looking for either a working PSU from another 20", or possibly getting my dead one repaired. I've had a decent look at both the PSU and the logic board, and it seems that the logic board was unharmed, and that only one component on the PSU blew, so there is still some hope left for it.
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The first generation Apple TV is the slowest Intel Mac ever made with a single-core 1 GHz Pentium M and 256MB RAM! I have one with an SSD running 10.5.8 surprisingly well considering the terrible hardware, but it's essentially useless these days.
My Apple TV 1st Gen runs my KDX server but that's about all I've got for it.
Would the PSU from a 17” work? I have a dead 17” iMac G5 you can have if you live in the US. Just pay shipping. Some caps popped and killed the video output. I didn't feel like fixing it, so i robbed it of the ram and hard drive, but the rest is still there.
Unfortunately not. The 20" G4's PSU is not compatible with the PSU from any other iMac model (G4 or not). It has to be one from another 20" G4, which is by far the rarest one these days. Thanks for the offer though!
I haven't looked into it too much recently, but I'm heavily leaning towards getting my original dead PSU repaired rather than trying to find another 20".
I have two PPC Macs. I rescued an iMac G5 A1058 (AL) from Facebook Marketplace. Needed some TLC but it runs like brand new with a 128GB SSD and 2GB RAM upgrade. Originally had 512MB of RAM and no HDD (owner had it removed for obvious reasons). I primarily use this machine as an AFP share and a way to create install media where newer versions of MacOS (ie, my MBP M3) keeps failing to verify DMG images and whatnot, when they work perfectly fine.
I also have a Powerbook G4 15in A1095 (AL) 1.5Ghz, upgraded the aging 80GB IDE drive with a 44-pin to CF adapter. Installed Leopard + Sorbet Leopard on the CF card and I have a second 128GB CF card in a PC Card/PCMCIA slot. Upgraded RAM to 2GB and replaced the keyboard (this model also had a backlit keyboard with fiber for the lighting). Battery is completely dead and I can't be arsed to purchase another one, so this machine only works on AC adapter. PRAM battery is also dead but not many sellers creating PRAM batteries for the G4s. I'd have to take a CF2032 Li-Ion, melt the joints on the old Li-Poly PRAM battery and re-solder the new Li-Ion in place.
I also have a Powerbook G4 15in A1095 (AL) 1.5Ghz, upgraded the aging 80GB IDE drive with a 44-pin to CF adapter. Installed Leopard + Sorbet Leopard on the CF card and I have a second 128GB CF card in a PC Card/PCMCIA slot. Upgraded RAM to 2GB and replaced the keyboard (this model also had a backlit keyboard with fiber for the lighting). Battery is completely dead and I can't be arsed to purchase another one, so this machine only works on AC adapter. PRAM battery is also dead but not many sellers creating PRAM batteries for the G4s. I'd have to take a CF2032 Li-Ion, melt the joints on the old Li-Poly PRAM battery and re-solder the new Li-Ion in place.
This is my PowerMac G5 DP 2.3 GHz setup, tucked into a corner of my Retro-Computing.com lab.
You will see the PowerMac on the floor. It has the original 250 GB HDD that Apple provided with the machine plus a new 2 TB WD Blue HDD. It has the original 512 MB of RAM Apple provided with the machine plus an added 4 GB, for a total of 4.5 GB of RAM. Graphics is provided by an nVidia 6600 graphics card. There is no WiFi (hard wired internet connection) and so you will see an Asus USB external WiFi antenna.
Moving up onto the desk, you will see two GTech 250 GB external hard drives. Note that their cases are styled to be similar to the PowerMac itself. These were originally backup drives, which rotated on-site/off-site on a weekly basis. These days, they perform other duties, as needed. Not visible is another of these, but 500 GB, a GTech G-Drive Q, accessible via Firewire 400, Firewire 800, USB and eSATA.
On top of the GTech drives, you will see a USB Iomega ZIP-100 drive, which is fabulous for exchanging files with other computers in the lab, both Macs and DOS/Windows machines.
Beside the GTech drives, you will see an Apple Firewire-based iSight webcam, and not visible in the picture is a USB-based Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks.
Next to the iSight is a Logitech S530 wireless keyboard and mouse set. The mouse in particular is just excellent, with some of the best hand feel and tactile feedback I have ever encountered. You can see the original Apple keyboard and mouse in behind them.
The monitor is none other than Apple's 30" Cinema HD display, one of the final models. It is just fabulous, and provides an onscreen resolution of 2560x1600.
All in all, it is an incredibly functional and useful environment, and I love working in it. I work on this machine whenever I can, using my "daily driver" Mac Studio for only demanding tasks that cannot be handled easily by by the G5.
In case you are curious, the machine next to all of this is a PC XT clone from THE (Thomas, Harriman, Edwards), an early PC clone maker. It's minuscule 12" monitor is dwarfed by the Cinema HD display.
For those of you with really good eyes, yes that is the last and final Jimmy Buffett CD, Equal Strain on All Parts, waiting to be ripped and added to the G5's iTunes collection.
That's it! That is my current PowerMac setup. I also have a G5 Quad, whose cooling system is slowly failing, a G4 Cube (fabulous, I love it!) and a PowerMac G4 tower which runs 10.3 Panther.
Ahh boy I love those 30" cinema displays. It is one of those items on my very short vintage Apple want list. Really at this point, just that and a Cube. Very fine set up
G-Drives are neat. These and LaCie are the best (if not the only) Apple-style ones. (Okay, maybe also Akitio/OWC.)
I happened to stick with LaCie 4big / 2big Quadras, because of that blue light LOL
Yes indeed, @barracuda156, I got an Akitio Thunderbolt bridge/dock for my 2011 27" iMac. While not an overriding factor in my purchase decision, I was REALLY pleased that the case was styled to look a lot like the contemporary Macs of the day... nice touch. I still use that bridge/dock to this day, now connected to my Mac Studio.
I have it! Using with my MacMini.
Sadly no FW800 docks to be used for PowerMacs, that would be handy.
I did find the below for sale on eBay... not worth it from my perspective (doesn't solve any really problems I have right now) but still, at least SOMETHING is still available.
I've got a number of those and this one, which repositions the blue light underneath the drive!
Neil Poulton is a master designer.
Thats’s a hub, not a dock. It only allows to connect FW devices (which is of little point, since FW devices can be daisy-chained).
Agreed, but it does provide more FW800 ports. Not all FW devices support daisy chaining. For example, iSight cameras don't seem too, unless my recollection is wrong. I have a FW CF card reader which similarly does not. So... there is value in a hub.
Like a Thunderbolt dock, just at FW800 speed (obviously). USB, eSATA, toslink, HDMI.
Genuine question: can you hook up PCI/PCIe devices via Firewire?
I reckon eSATA and Toslink are feasible since there are FW audio interfaces and FW SATA bridges.
Display output would be awesome — you could rig something up using ScreenRecycler which provides a second monitor via VNC: network a SBC to the Mac using FW and have it pipe that VNC session to a monitor.
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As much Pentium 4 as the Core 2 Duo Macs. Which also used the same FSB interface as the Pentium 4. (And many "Pentium 4 to Core 2 transition" era motherboards supporting swapping between the two. I had a motherboard that I went from a "Pentium Extreme Edition" (dual-core Pentium 4 running at highest bus speed and core speed) to a "Pentium Dual Core" (ultra-low-end Core 2 Duo,) which used less than half the power, but was faster.Hello Amethyst1,
unfortunately you are right and I am not really
From Wikipedia:
"The Pentium M is a family of 32-bit single-core x86 mobile microprocessors (using the modified Intel P6 microarchitecture ) that was introduced in March 2003 and was part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then-new Centrino brand. Depending on the model, the Pentium M processors had a maximum thermal power dissipation (TDP) of 5 to 27 W and were intended for use in laptops (hence the suffix "M" for "mobile"). They evolved from the core of the last Pentium III CPU and added the front-side bus (FSB) interface of the Pentium 4, an improved front-end for instruction decoding and output, improved branch prediction, SSE2 support and a much larger cache."
So there's a bit of Pentium 4 in there...
haha that's nice......Living room:
My desk (ignore the Intel):
My Clamshell sits on the floor, so I'm not posting one of him.
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Those G4 iMacs are beautiful, iconic machines... one of the few Macs still on my "to get" list some day. Enjoy!
I have a Powerbook G4 15in A1095 (AL) 1.5Ghz, upgraded the aging 80GB IDE drive with a 44-pin to CF adapter. Installed Leopard + Sorbet Leopard on the CF card and I have a second 128GB CF card in a PC Card/PCMCIA slot. Upgraded RAM to 2GB and replaced the keyboard (this model also had a backlit keyboard with fiber for the lighting). Battery is completely dead and I can't be arsed to purchase another one, so this machine only works on AC adapter. PRAM battery is also dead but not many sellers creating PRAM batteries for the G4s. I'd have to take a CF2032 Li-Ion, melt the joints on the old Li-Poly PRAM battery and re-solder the new Li-Ion in place.
One more thing I cannot find POS terminals for my retail stores at ebay can any one recommend some good quality ones, some i found on authorize & phozellpay.com but i need more suggestions.
One more thing I cannot find POS terminals for my retail stores at ebay can any one recommend some good quality ones, some i found on authorize & phozellpay.com but i need more suggestions.