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What have you done with a PowerPC today?

MacFoxG4 said:
Power Mac G5 has started having this weird issue where it shuts itself off during startup (always at the part where the Apple logo comes on screen). Have tried PRAM reset, NVRAM reset, PMU reset, swapping drives, swapping GPUs, blowing dust out of the case, vacuuming dust out of the case…nothing fixes it. PMU reset at least gets me to the desktop, but the Mac will inevitably shut itself off again. Debating whether to replace the power supply or just get a new G5…
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Maybe disable some CPUs?
I use the following command in Open Firmware for my Quad G5 to remove the last CPU:
setenv boot-args cpus=3
You may want to try cpus=1.

But the failure for my Quad G5 appears as a hang with the fans turning on full speed instead of a shutdown.
 
joevt said:
Maybe disable some CPUs?
I use the following command in Open Firmware for my Quad G5 to remove the last CPU:
setenv boot-args cpus=3
You may want to try cpus=1.

But the failure for my Quad G5 appears as a hang with the fans turning on full speed instead of a shutdown.
Click to expand...
Just tried disabling a CPU. That didn’t fix it either, unfortunately.
 
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I've had it for several years but never set up regularly until now - my 1.5GHz G4 Mini. I have this small TV at my desk for my Switch, and usually use the other HDMI port for either mini consoles or Raspi configuration changes - a DVI to HDMI converter makes hooking up the Mini easy. To my surprise it even paired fine with a modern Apple Keyboard and Magic Mouse.

The Mini had Leopard on it when I bought it, and had been serving as someone's media server until they passed away and their survivors sold it on eBay. The drive was pretty cluttered though, so I ended up wiping it back when I bought it and reinstalling Tiger, as I've never found Leopard to run all that well in 'low' RAM environments.

I'll probably try getting Classic set up on this for some older games, and I'll see how well titles like Fallout 1 & 2 run on it.
 
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barracuda156 said:
CoreSolo perhaps would not be much faster, aside of things which use GPU heavily.
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In Geekbench 2 the 1.5 GHz Core Solo Mac mini is about 1.6x faster than the 1.5 GHz G4 mini. That's about the same level of single core improvement as the jump from the high end 2018 3.2 GHz i7 mini to the M1.

The original Core Duo, realsed at the same time as the Core Solo, is 2.5x faster than the G4.
 
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Amethyst1 said:
Core Solo and Core Duo are the same CPU family, their only difference is the number of cores.
Click to expand...

However in CPU-intensive tasks G4 performs comparably or better than a single core of CoreDuo: https://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index/1990?cPage=5&all=False&sort=0&page=7

Geekbench difference is likely due to GPU and faster HDD.

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Given that here G4 1.5 is put against CoreSolo 2.0, G4 is apparently performing better (per clock).

CoreDuo should be compared to a dual G4, of course. (And G5 gonna smoke it.)
 
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barracuda156 said:
However in CPU-intensive tasks G4 performs comparably or better than a single core of CoreDuo:
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Using Tiger’s versions of iTunes and QuickTime though. Using newer (not identical; caveat emptor) versions of QT, a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo beats a dual 2.5 GHz G5.

barracuda156 said:
Geekbench difference is likely due to GPU and faster HDD.
Click to expand...
Geekbench 2 doesn’t touch the GPU or HDD unless the system is so RAM-constrained that the memory benchmark ends up hitting the HDD due to swapping.
 
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Today I found a 22" Apple Cinema Display with ADC at a thrift store! The lady I talked with at the store gave me a few dollars off because I asked about if it was tested and whatnot, so I got it for a good price too, $40. Got it home, tested it with my MDD, and it works great! It took a few minutes to warm up the display, but it looked pretty great after that, no spots or discoloration. This thing is massive. :p
 
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barracuda156 said:
Sonnet card?
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No, just overclocked.

davisdelo said:
It would be really cool to see some benchmarks on that to compare to a 1.5 Core Solo and 1.83 Core Duo minis.
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Well, I've made some tests back then. Left is overclocked vs. the stock on the right. If you have an Intel Mac mini, you can compare ;-)
 

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Tratkazir_the_1st said:
Why non-apple keyboard? :D
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I have a nice collection of different keyboards and for my primary machines regularly rotate them in and out. I have a general preference towards mechanical switches, so Apples extended2 (AEKII) is a nice classic. As far as modern Apple keyboards, my preference is the mid 2000s wired a1243 magic keyboard and the wireless a1314+a1339 or a1296.

Now, that one pictured is a click-y mechanical keyboard and is exceptionally comfortable for typing, gaming and all sorts of PowerPC mischief. :D I picked that one up for my son about 3 or so years back from a local retro computer event for $20 and is what my son has used since he was about 4y/o + all the neat colored keys are kid approved :) . I am in the process of upgrading him from his 17" imac a1173 to a 20" a1224 as he uses that for his summer reading club assignments and playing SMB, Sonic, Roblox with his cousins etc. Anyhow, I myself liked that kb, so since I had it in my office while getting his new iMac ready, I hooked it up to my favorite PowerPC Mac with my Logitech G5 Battlefield 2142 gaming mouse and had a few rounds of DM with it :)

I have quite a few of the Apple keyboard from the PowerPC era M2452 & later M7803 and have grown away from them over the years. I still have them for the aesthetic quality and "era correctness" but again for my primary boxes, I rotate out my fav Kbs that mostly are not Apple ones.
 
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