iMac G3 revival

[Arkious]

Problem solved, got an i3 550 3.2Ghz for £40 and 4gb ddr3 1333 for £11

back on track ^.^

 

[Arkious]

Guys I've got a quick question regarding the CPU.

I'm under the impression that that iMac G3 has an 85W power supply and I'm going to cut it close with this motherboard an CPU.

My question is, could I reduce the core voltage to reduce the overall wattage? I understand I may have to underclock slightly but is this feasible?

Intel states the following for the i3 550

Max TDP 73 W
VID Voltage Range 0.6500V-1.4000V

That's quite a voltage difference! The TDP is the same as the CPUs actual wattage isn't it?

Thanks

 

[Arkious]

Hey all,

Well i am now running the new hardware and am making progress! so heres a little update oh how I'm going so far;

Heres all the new gear, the motherboard box is actually tiny!

i3 550

I removed the fan and seen that it had thermal paste pre installed, i was impressed that it was paste rather than a pad but it had to go as i <3 AS5

Paste removed, i was looking at lapping also but this is impossible because the copper is recessed

but looking closer i realised it was pretty flat to begin wish, so me being me i thought i would polish it for the crack ^.^

Unfortunately i totally forgot to take a photo of the AS5 applied but i must be honest, it was probably the best job I've done at applying paste lol so I'm pretty gutted i didn't get a pic!

But here is the board all built up pre and post setting up my test.

I love all the lights on this board! it has onboard HDD, Wi-Fi, Power and On/Off indicators!

I went ahead and installed Windows 1st to test its performance, here is its Windows Experience Index prior to installing the graphics drivers.

the graphics actually went to a 5.3 and 4.3 but again i forgot to get a pic before reformatting and going for OS X install.

Well to begin i got further than i did before, but then i got stuck at this point, I'm trying to get a hold of another Install DVD to prove its not the system. But I'm still new to this so if anyone can offer assistance, please share your knowledge! It basically got stuck trying to access the Essentials.pkg which is the main part of the installation so it fails and I've tried multiple times. i am installing Snow Leopard then updating to Lion

 

[Arkious]

heres some interesting information i just stumbled across, seems like this is the same issue as i am having, busy creating the USB stick now so i will let you know how it goes! wasn't aware you could install Snow Leopard from USB lol

 

[Arkious]

still can't get OS X to install, i am terrible at this! i am ready to throw in the towel and install Win 7 :-(

 

[estrides]

Noooo! Don't give up, this IS possible. Did you set up the BIOS before you started to install OSX? Also, what flags are you putting in before the CD boots?

 

[Nameci]

Do you have previous experience with a hackintosh? It is not for a faint of heart.

What bootloader are you using?

 

[Arkious]

Noooo! Don't give up, this IS possible. Did you set up the BIOS before you started to install OSX? Also, what flags are you putting in before the CD boots?

I've found out that I need a graphics card to install it. So that's my next step lending one off a friend hopefully!

Do you have previous experience with a hackintosh? It is not for a faint of heart.

What bootloader are you using?

None at all, just my previous failure lol. I am using UniBeast 1.3.0. And Lion 10.7.4

Hopefully after the graphics card, it will work

 

[Arkious]

Well they were right, a graphics card was what i required. Got straight through to lion installer screen without and issues or any boot codes required. So i have bought a Sapphire Radeon 5450 HD 1GB graphics card as according to tonymacx86 graphics list, its supported.

the strange thing was that the installer failed at about the same point as snow leopard, and i really think the hard drive is iffy. the reason for that is that as a blank installation windows went on the second attempt and 3 times when installing Safari it froze and on boot up the hard drive was not found. and it seems strange that when the installer is extracting from the USB/DVD it fails to extract, i think its failing to extract because it cant extract to hard drive not that the installer cant find what its extracting. so my next thing is to wait for the graphics card to turn up and to find another hard drive to test with.

 

[Ariii]

Well they were right, a graphics card was what i required. Got straight through to lion installer screen without and issues or any boot codes required. So i have bought a Sapphire Radeon 5450 HD 1GB graphics card as according to tonymacx86 graphics list, its supported.

the strange thing was that the installer failed at about the same point as snow leopard, and i really think the hard drive is iffy. the reason for that is that as a blank installation windows went on the second attempt and 3 times when installing Safari it froze and on boot up the hard drive was not found. and it seems strange that when the installer is extracting from the USB/DVD it fails to extract, i think its failing to extract because it cant extract to hard drive not that the installer cant find what its extracting. so my next thing is to wait for the graphics card to turn up and to find another hard drive to test with.

Have you tried using a Linux installer just to test if it works at all?

Also, I think I might want to revive an iMac G3 (Except using the same processor) myself to use as a server.

 

[Arkious]

Have you tried using a Linux installer just to test if it works at all?

Also, I think I might want to revive an iMac G3 (Except using the same processor) myself to use as a server.

i havent, but like i say it took two attempts to install windows and safari install froze it so i have to seek another hard drive. come to think of it i had issues on the old board too.

yeah i think this computer will end up as a server if anything lol

 

[estrides]

I wish you lived in the US. Id be glad to give you one of my HD's for this project.

 

[Arkious]

I wish you lived in the US. Id be glad to give you one of my HD's for this project.

Haha thanks that would have been very helpful! but i will find another, i have 4 days to find one and get it delivered, theres a few im watching on ebay but will have to see how it goes. I cant do much until i get the graphics card anyways. But ive been researching 'got copier error 22 extracting to path /volumes/os x/' and it seems to all be hard drive related, and it makes sense.

Mind this project it starting to rack up the ££ lol, but it will be worth it in the end!

I sold the old hardware for pritty much what i paid for them so im happy with that. the new hardware has cost;

Zotac H55ITX-A-E ---------- £88.50
Intel i3 550 3.2GHz --------- £40
Akasa K25 ------------------ £9
4GB DDR3 1333 ------------- £11
Seagate Barracuda 160GB --- £15

Also, because the power usage is now going to be over the rated power of the iMac G3's PSU, i have been looking at purchasing this;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320799672077?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

my issue will be hooking that up to the CRT, but again i will work that out in due course. My worry is that if i hook up the 200 and leave the old psu in there, it uses significantly more wattage. best case would be to remove the old PSU and hook up the CRT, but the CRTs connection to the original PSU has many connections. but surely they cant be power as they are extremely thin! On this picture supplied by iFixit (green cable)

 

[fhall1]

Arkious -what are the physical dimensions of that motherboard? I'm looking to build a PC inside an old G4 Cube case and weighing my options for super small motherboards.

 

[Arkious]

Arkious -what are the physical dimensions of that motherboard? I'm looking to build a PC inside an old G4 Cube case and weighing my options for super small motherboards.

i believe ITX is 17cm x 17cm and i know that the ITX fit inside the Cube case as i seen one before and was amazed!

See below for more info on this motherboard and below that is a link to the G4PC project which if u installed a motherboard like this it would be. but your going to hit the same problem as me, that is that u need a graphics card and you may not be able to fit one of those inside that.

http://www.zotac.com/index.php?page...5&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=100194&lang=en

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/g4pc/



Also i have managed to get a Western Digital 500GB Caviar SE16 Hard Drive for £25

 

[fhall1]

Thanks for the links.

iTX would be the max size I'd want in a cube - and like you said would have to use integrated graphics.

Other resources I'm looking into are the newer 3.5" form factor embedded industrial nano-iTX boards with tiny power supplies that can use mobile core i5 processors and laptop memory modules.

Also the Intel Next Unit of Computing (NUC) and Raspberry Pi boards look interesting.

 

[Arkious]

Thanks for the links.

iTX would be the max size I'd want in a cube - and like you said would have to use integrated graphics.

Other resources I'm looking into are the newer 3.5" form factor embedded industrial nano-iTX boards with tiny power supplies that can use mobile core i5 processors and laptop memory modules.

Also the Intel Next Unit of Computing (NUC) and Raspberry Pi boards look interesting.

I was tempted on the pi but it won't run os x :-( not after the mac as my everyday. That's what my 27" is for nd just wanted it able to do every day computing again

 

[Arkious]

Well the graphics card has arived today but i missed it so collect it tomorrow, still waiting on the hard drive which should be here saturday/monday. But i have a query for anyone that reads this thread. Im in need of a Bondi-Blue mouse that has more than one button! I know they were available but if possible a one with optical too... its a big ask but if anyone knows of a name to look for please let me know!

also On a side note... I think this project should now be refered to as the 'iMac Gi3' :-D


Just found these whilst looking,

YES I WILL HAVE ONE OF THOSE PLEASE!

 

[Arkious]

Well just a bit of an update...

The graphics card turned up yesterday and straight away i wanted to test to make sure it worked, and yes it does but there is no chance what so ever of installing it into the iMac lol. So i will have to use it as an install aid only. here are some pics;

but obviously i was still waiting on the Hard drive which has turned up this morning but i will go on to that after.

I thought whilst i was waiting i would strip the iMac case ready for the itx, here it goes;

quick trial before i start modifying it

semi modified, will be doing the rest today hopefully!

I also got the ATAPI converter and it needs a little modification for it to fit correctly

Anyways the hard drive showed up and i went straight in to having a go. Needless to say i got no further, getting stuck at this point yet again!!!!!!!! i really dont know what else to do!!!!

 

[Arkious]

HOLY S***!!!

I finally managed to get this thing working!!! with Snow Leopard, not Lion.

I found that the graphics card would stop SL from working and Lion just wont work atm. The hard drive was what was causing the issues with SL before.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=22356

that is the thread i am following which make much much more sense!

 

[666sheep]

WBut i have a query for anyone that reads this thread. Im in need of a Bondi-Blue mouse that has more than one button! I know they were available but if possible a one with optical too... its a big ask but if anyone knows of a name to look for please let me know!

You're looking for Macally iMouse Pro:

or

Macally iMouse Jr.:

or Logitech WHEEL MOUSE FOR MAC USB:

 

[Arkious]

You're looking for Macally iMouse Pro:

Image

or

Macally iMouse Jr.:

Image

or Logitech WHEEL MOUSE FOR MAC USB:

Image

funny enough i found a MacAlly iOpti Jr which is optical and has scroll for £10. Thanks very much though, at least there are more options

 

[Arkious]

Okay so I'm now running 10.6.7 with the integrated Intel HD Graphics!

Basically I installed OS X 10.6 then downloaded the 10.6.7 combo update. From that I then used MultiBeast to install the required bits to get it to boot. Took me 3 attempts before I gave up due to it incorrectly booting. So I thought if I install a second os x snow leopard 10.6 I can use that to help me repair the 10.6.7 side. Doing that I deleted all intel hd Kexts then installed the Kexts I found here;

http://www.osx86.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=1482

This allowed me to boot into the 10.6.7 installation which now allows me to run the Install Mac OS X Lion App! But now I need to get the other partition up to 10.6.7 and running so that when it freezes due to the graphics I can fix it

The graphics isn't fully accelerated but it's enough for me to get it working over time. I'm not moaning as I've never been so far lol. Plus I don't need to have the iMac running all day to get it working so saves on the energy ££ lol. Also having sound working on the installation makes it so much better <3

 

[estrides]

Yes! Im so effing glad this is working...

 

[Arkious]

Yes! Im so effing glad this is working...

Haha that makes 2 of us!! :-D

Well I've ordered an Airport Extreme mini pci express to replace the one currently installed on the motherboard as it is completely incompatable. This means there is 1 less thing to worry about and theres the added benefit of not having network leads strung across the room whilst trying to get the thing working.

Also I have ordered a MacAlly iOpti Jr. Which is scroll, optical and bondi on the approximate size of the original... I have missed two parcels that I'm going to collect shortly so hopefully that is them 2