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700mhz G4 imac

mentaluproar

mentaluproar

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 25, 2010
1,774
224
Ohio, USA
I’m trying to find some use for my beloved G4 Luxo-style...decoration. It still works, but its slow, runs tiger, and isn’t really able to do anything anymore. Is there another OS I can use, like chromeOS or android? Something lightweight enough to make this useable for something?
 
mentaluproar said:
I’m trying to find some use for my beloved G4 Luxo-style...decoration. It still works, but its slow, runs tiger, and isn’t really able to do anything anymore. Is there another OS I can use, like chromeOS or android? Something lightweight enough to make this useable for something?
Click to expand...

could always install Mac OS 9 and fire up some late 90s 3D games like Quake or Quake 3 or Return to castle Wolfenstein and have a nice gaming sessions :)

but unfortunately I dont think theres any Modern OS that would be lighter then Mac OS X/OS 9 on your machine, and modern web browsing will be quite slow on that class of machine sadly.

if you just want to play with it, you can Hack Leopard on there and run Linux as well, just browse around this forum for a while im sure you will figure out something to do with the machine :)
 
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mentaluproar said:
I’m trying to find some use for my beloved G4 Luxo-style...decoration. It still works, but its slow, runs tiger, and isn’t really able to do anything anymore. Is there another OS I can use, like chromeOS or android? Something lightweight enough to make this useable for something?
Click to expand...

Only OS9 will run faster than Tiger. Why not use as an iTunes jukebox, same with Spotify or run retro game emulators? Saying it can't do anything anymore isn't true - it can do everything it was once designed to do apart from the internet, which will now be slower but not impossible with the right browsers and hacks.
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mentaluproar said:
Leopard on 700mhz? The hell you say!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't advise that - my 800Mhz iMac was creaking under Leopard when I aquired it - Tiger put it right.
 
I have a 450mhz G3 at home that is my server (OS X 10.4.11 Server). I have it sharing a 2TB RAID drive across the internet (wherever I am at) and my Time Machine backups for my laptops go there (over the internet if I am out).

I also have it running iTunes 4.0, which is the only version of iTunes that can stream an iTunes library over the internet.

Now that's a 450Mhz G3.

You have a 700Mhz G4. As a server you'd have better specs than I do.
 
Dronecatcher said:
can't do anything anymore isn't true - it can do everything it was once designed to do apart from the internet, which will now be slower but not impossible with the right browsers and hacks.
-
Click to expand...


TenFourFox is a great browser, and all things considered, can run fairly fast. I mean, it won't do you any justice on sites like Facebook, but for lightweight sites it works wonders. I've read MacRumors and Anandtech on my G4 with that browser.
 
mentaluproar said:
Leopard on 700mhz? The hell you say!
Click to expand...

hahaha :D (this was done on a G3 Beige), but yeah id say with a little fine tuning you could get Leopard running pretty well, esp since your GeForce2 MX supports Quartz extreme which will help push the GUI around.
upload_2018-2-6_15-41-28.png
 
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Another vote for 9.2.2. I have the 17” version of your machine and loaded OS9 to use for a general retro machine. I was surprised to realize how much of classic I had forgotten. I got to use my Sound Jam MP, Drag Thing, and Conflict Catcher installers. Browsing is pretty painful even with Classilla.
 
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I actually found a use for it today! A friend of mine got a first generation iPod Touch (god knows why) and it wouldn’t reset properly. Third party software could get it out of recovery mode, but DFU didn’t work, jailbreaking didn’t work, Windows, mac, Linux, it didn’t matter. The best I could do was use third party software to skip recovery until the next reboot.

Enter the lowly G4. It still threw very weird errors, but it didn’t outright give up like the newer machines did. I was able to fetch iOS 3.1.3 and push it through to the touch with iTunes 9. Boom, all better!
 
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mentaluproar said:
I actually found a use for it today! A friend of mine got a first generation iPod Touch (god knows why) and it wouldn’t reset properly. Third party software could get it out of recovery mode, but DFU didn’t work, jailbreaking didn’t work, Windows, mac, Linux, it didn’t matter. The best I could do was use third party software to skip recovery until the next reboot.

Enter the lowly G4. It still threw very weird errors, but it didn’t outright give up like the newer machines did. I was able to fetch iOS 3.1.3 and push it through to the touch with iTunes 9. Boom, all better!
Click to expand...
Yeah, you've "figured it out" ;)
 
mentaluproar said:
I’m trying to find some use for my beloved G4 Luxo-style...decoration. It still works, but its slow, runs tiger, and isn’t really able to do anything anymore. Is there another OS I can use, like chromeOS or android? Something lightweight enough to make this useable for something?
Click to expand...
What I have done with an iMac G4 700MHz like yours:
i) Open it up and give it a good spring cleaning. After a few years the amount of dust & debris that collects all over the logic board, the fan, and frequently blocks the air exhaust at the top, has to be seen to be believed. During re-assy, repaste the CPU and heatsink.
ii) Max out the memory to 1GB.
iii) Change out the hard drive if it's noisy or troublesome. (Note: these are 3.5" IDE).
iv) Perform a few performance tweaks: disable dashboard/spotlight etc. See link HERE.
v) Do a clean install of OS 10.4 Tiger, and bring it up to 10.4.11
vi) Download TenFourFox - you'll need the 7450 G4e version (this will be 7450-FPR5), and then perform the amazing performance enhancement tweaks detailed HERE. Imho the simplest would be to implement the SpeedyFox addon, but I prefer to use the user.js option. All is explained HERE.
Then if you wished to add a new flavour and icing onto the sunflower cake, just download the splendid Tiger Sierra Theme.
All the above would be a pleasant weekend task, which I'd gratuitously participate in if you were anywhere nearby. Such is my love for these wonderful, truly classic iMacs.
 
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CooperBox said:
What I have done with an iMac G4 700MHz like yours:
i) Open it up and give it a good spring cleaning. After a few years the amount of dust & debris that collects all over the logic board, the fan, and frequently blocks the air exhaust at the top, has to be seen to be believed. During re-assy, repaste the CPU and heatsink.
ii) Max out the memory to 1GB.
iii) Change out the hard drive if it's noisy or troublesome. (Note: these are 3.5" IDE).
iv) Perform a few performance tweaks: disable dashboard/spotlight etc. See link HERE.
v) Do a clean install of OS 10.4 Tiger, and bring it up to 10.4.11
vi) Download TenFourFox - you'll need the 7450 G4e version (this will be 7450-FPR5), and then perform the amazing performance enhancement tweaks detailed HERE. Imho the simplest would be to implement the SpeedyFox addon, but I prefer to use the user.js option. All is explained HERE.
Then if you wished to add a new flavour and icing onto the sunflower cake, just download the splendid Tiger Sierra Theme.
All the above would be a pleasant weekend task, which I'd gratuitously participate in if you were anywhere nearby. Such is my love for these wonderful, truly classic iMacs.
Click to expand...
Aside from speedy fox, I’ve done all those years ago.
 
I think using it as a cool looking NAS solution & music player & game emulator & old hardware resetter is a solid reason to keep it around.
 
Notice I did not say “the best”. I also think it would make a fun dart board - ZERO electricity drain in that role & no need for security.

BAM

Your welcome.
 
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