Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Post Your PowerPC Setup

Old times…

1.0Ghz on left, 1.67Ghz HD-DLSD on right.

The A1013 on the left saw three LB replacements before I decided it wasn't the same broom anymore, and sent it and parts off to a member here. The 1.67Ghz met an untimely death and is currently occupying shelf space.

IMG_0477_1.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire, Amethyst1, Slix and 1 other person
bunnspecial said:
Here's the work G5-at least through next week(and maybe longer depending on how Saturday night and Monday night turn out :) ).

The keyboard is a Unicomp Model M. I'll probably eventually replace it with a Spacesaver M, as I miss having the Mac-specific keys.

When I went to the Unicomp factory yesterday to get some parts for this one, the lady who handles orders told me that they still get requests all the time for this specific keyboard. I paid $5 for it at a flea market :)

Not only can I drive my co-workers crazy with the desktop background and keyboard appearance, but also with the wonderful clicky-clack sound of the Model M.

My boss is from Wisconsin, so he and I have been sparring all week about the upcoming UK-Wisconsin game on Saturday :)
Click to expand...
i'm browsing some of these old threads and i noticed the UK wallpaper, is that where you work(ed)? i actually live in KY and am currently working on my UK application, will hopefully be going there next year.
 
originaldotexe said:
i'm browsing some of these old threads and i noticed the UK wallpaper, is that where you work(ed)? i actually live in KY and am currently working on my UK application, will hopefully be going there next year.
Click to expand...

I was at U of L for 10 years, 5 as a graduate student and 5 as a full-time employee. I actually just left a few months ago, and no longer live in Kentucky.

I grew up in central KY, though, and was born and raised a UK fan. When I went to U of L, I took that with me(and continue to carry it with me despite a terrible season so far this year) and used it much the the aggravation of other folks there.

Welcome to my home state! Grab an Ale-8-1, pull up a chair, and watch the ball game(since "ball game" implies UK basketball) with some other folks. You'll have fun!
 
2009 TiBook. This is about two months before the LB failed for the first time (November 2009). I owned no other Macs than this one at this point.

IMAG0068.jpg


2010 (March). This is the first A1013 I bought (and my first eBay auction win). Christmas 2009 is when I got it. So, the LCD didn't last that long. Later, I'd get a new LVDS cable and cut myself on the rear LCD cover (I still have that cover in the garage). Eventually, I just replaced the entire screen.

IMAGE_080.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: AF_APPLETALK, VirtuallyInsane and RogerWilco6502
I tried a test fit of my cube last night as I was cleaning up my desk. It actually fitted and looked quite nice. I’ve had a nightmare getting my graphite DV SE iMac working with an SSD, just nothing worked the iMac it either Kernel Panicked, switched off within a few seconds or no hard disc mounted in the install screen.

I have heard you can have more luck getting SSD adapters to work with G4 hardware. I have a new startech adapter arriving which is meant to be more promising. The cube also works much better than my iMac G3 DV in communicating with my Firewire 400 Capture box, so that’s another big plus in its favour.

This is actually the first time ever I’ve had this machine on my desk. I was gifted it last year from a friend after doing his wedding photos as he’s moved away to Japan.

My plan for the iMac G3 is to put it in one of my wooden racks. I’ll use it through Apple Remote Desktop on my small network.

Now just need to track down either the USB speakers or some kind of USB sound input device

 
  • Like
Reactions: iBookmaster, AF_APPLETALK, VirtuallyInsane and 6 others
Here's my current setup. I'm currently running a 1.25 GHz G4 Mac Mini with 512 MB RAM and Mac OS 9.2.2. I have a 1 GB stick of RAM on the way as well as an mSATA to PATA Converter and a 128 GB mSATA SSD. While I've got her open upgrading everything I may try and overclock her to 1.5 GHz.

I've tried sharing the keyboard and mouse between my Minis but even a powered USB switch causes issues on the G4. I always get a low USB power warning. So now I just plug in a mouse and keyboard when I want to use it.

IMG_0797.JPG
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: iBookmaster, VirtuallyInsane, Strategia and 5 others
I love aesthetic computers, but also do need functionality, so my setup is now an iMac G4 800MHz and an iBook G3 Clamshell 466MHz (graphite).
Both run 10.4 Tiger and OS 9 for easy compatibility. The iMac can do the more heavy work (Fast web browsing, Youtube, Twitch, Sibelius for music notation), while the G3 can do everything else, but from the comfort of my bed (in the morning).

I would kill to replace the iBook battery, so it could be truly portable, but I'm not comfortable with the soldering process required these days.

IMG_0206.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: iBookmaster, AF_APPLETALK, RogerWilco6502 and 5 others
mectojic said:
I love aesthetic computers, but also do need functionality, so my setup is now an iMac G4 800MHz and an iBook G3 Clamshell 466MHz (graphite).
Both run 10.4 Tiger and OS 9 for easy compatibility. The iMac can do the more heavy work (Fast web browsing, Youtube, Twitch, Sibelius for music notation), while the G3 can do everything else, but from the comfort of my bed (in the morning).

I would kill to replace the iBook battery, so it could be truly portable, but I'm not comfortable with the soldering process required these days.

View attachment 1710638
Click to expand...
Nice set-up. Damn, you use the iMac for day-to-day web browsing? I recently gave away a 2006 iMac (the first Intel one), which really struggled, and your G4 is even older!
 
Quackington said:
Nice set-up. Damn, you use the iMac for day-to-day web browsing? I recently gave away a 2006 iMac (the first Intel one), which really struggled, and your G4 is even older!
Click to expand...
As long as you have TenFourFox with the right FoxBoxes - AquaWeb and PPCMC – it can manage! I had a 2006 Intel iMac too, got rid of it though, I wish I'd known how to improve the speed – had Snow Leopard with ArcticFox with no mods, and it was too slow...

Basically, G3s and G4s are capable of modern internet browsing, it's just optimised software that they need.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VirtuallyInsane, Quackington, z970 and 2 others
mectojic said:
As long as you have TenFourFox with the right FoxBoxes - AquaWeb and PPCMC – it can manage! I had a 2006 Intel iMac too, got rid of it though, I wish I'd known how to improve the speed – had Snow Leopard with ArcticFox with no mods, and it was too slow...

Basically, G3s and G4s are capable of modern internet browsing, it's just optimised software that they need.
Click to expand...
I had no idea. My iMac was also on Snow Leopeard and extremely slow. HDD would make a lot of noise too. I gave it away to a friend whose child uses it for word processing :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mectojic
mectojic said:
As long as you have TenFourFox with the right FoxBoxes - AquaWeb and PPCMC – it can manage! I had a 2006 Intel iMac too, got rid of it though, I wish I'd known how to improve the speed – had Snow Leopard with ArcticFox with no mods, and it was too slow...

Basically, G3s and G4s are capable of modern internet browsing, it's just optimised software that they need.
Click to expand...
Could you help in providing links to the optimized software for G4 like I have the Powerbook G4 1.33ghz 17 inch lying someone and maybe it can be bought to use. Inhad ladt upgraded its hdd to sd drive and it has 2gb ram.
 
Dilli said:
Could you help in providing links to the optimized software for G4 like I have the Powerbook G4 1.33ghz 17 inch lying someone and maybe it can be bought to use. Inhad ladt upgraded its hdd to sd drive and it has 2gb ram.
Click to expand...
You should be able to find links quite easily to the things I listed (just google them and include 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard).
TenFourFox, Aquaweb, PPCMC are the main ones. TenFourFox needs to be the right version for your computer. Get Aquatrimcelerator too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: z970, Amethyst1 and Dilli
My first Mac I could call my own - the iMac G3 in lime. I ended up getting rid of my original one, so I bought this a couple years ago for sentimental value. Hunting down the original kb + mouse was quite the task! I hope to let my kids play on it one day - going to load it up with educational apps and fun games from the Macintosh Garden one of these days.

His big brother, iMac G4 20", is coming early next week.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4140.jpg
    IMG_4140.jpg
    173.9 KB · Views: 155
  • Like
Reactions: iBookmaster, VirtuallyInsane, Slix and 5 others
5460A538-ADF5-4BC4-BA73-0D2FF4F3B20C.jpeg
Snapshot of my Desk. I just acquired the G3 today for my collection and I’m currently installing 10.2 on it. ☺️
It was my first encounter with OS 9 and I was really surprised how snappy it feels! But still, I prefer the Aqua Design

EDIT:
For those of you that remember the Firmware update trouble back in the days when OS X came out: No I did not remember, no I did not update the firmware either and yes, i did successfully brick my iMac. But after hours of tinkering I managed to get things back on track and it’s running like a champ. Kind of proud 😄
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: iBookmaster, VirtuallyInsane, mectojic and 6 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back