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Blueberry iMac Mac Mini conversion?

DearthnVader

DearthnVader

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Original poster
Dec 17, 2015
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Red Springs, NC
Anyone ever put the guts of a Mac Mini into a Blueberry type iMac.

It looks like, from pictures, the CRT power may run though the iMac's logic board, that would present some trouble powering the CRT without the logic board.

Looking at you @LightBulbFun.

If I can't use the CRT, anyone ever put an LCD screen into one of the CRT iMac's?
 
DearthnVader said:
Anyone ever put the guts of a Mac Mini into a Blueberry type iMac.

It looks like, from pictures, the CRT power may run though the iMac's logic board, that would present some trouble powering the CRT without the logic board.

Looking at you @LightBulbFun.

If I can't use the CRT, anyone ever put an LCD screen into one of the CRT iMac's?
Click to expand...

showing up at the PowerPC forums asking something that involves gutting a PowerPC mac is a good way to get Lynched :D

as for how to run the CRT from an external video source, it depends which iMac you have, blueberry could mean Tray loader or slot loader (remember you have to be very specific when doing hacks like this as im sure your aware from your video card escapades), which require very diffrent setups as to getting an ext video source in.

but before you got the iMac maybe offer it up for sale on the mac rumors market place? it would be a great shame to gut and ruin a working iMac G3.
 
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LightBulbFun said:
showing up at the PowerPC forums asking something that involves gutting a PowerPC mac is a good way to get Lynched :D

as for how to run the CRT from an external video source, it depends which iMac you have, blueberry could mean Tray loader or slot loader (remember you have to be very specific when doing hacks like this as im sure your aware from your video card escapades), which require very diffrent setups as to getting an ext video source in.

but before you got the iMac maybe offer it up for sale on the mac rumors market place? it would be a great shame to gut and ruin a working iMac G3.
Click to expand...

Thanks, LBF, I'm going to pickup the iMac and a Quicksilver later today, scored them on craigslist for a $20 spot. I have no clue if they work or not, and it doesn't really matter, as I promised my youngest son we would do a Quicksiver to PC conversion this summer.

The Quicksilver is my favorite Mac, and I have one of the Dual 1Ghz, but I don't want to give that one up to a PC motherboard.

I love these old Macs as much as anyone, but they really can't do a lot of things on the modern web anymore, so rather than scrap them, it's best to convert them.

The iMac is just a bonus to the deal, so I figured I'd find a way to put the 2010 Mac Mini into it, as it's the oldest( see cheapest ) one that can still run the modern MacOS.

I did find where someone had put a 17" LCD in an eMac, so I think this project is doable, and worthwhile.

You know I love PowerPC as much as the next guy, but I hold no hate for x86.

P.S. Posted from my 12" Powerbook G4.
 
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DearthnVader said:
Thanks, LBF, I'm going to pickup the iMac and a Quicksilver later today, scored them on craigslist for a $20 spot. I have no clue if they work or not, and it doesn't really matter, as I promised my youngest son we would do a Quicksiver to PC conversion this summer.

The Quicksilver is my favorite Mac, and I have one of the Dual 1Ghz, but I don't want to give that one up to a PC motherboard.

I love these old Macs as much as anyone, but they really can't do a lot of things on the modern web anymore, so rather than scrap them, it's best to convert them.

The iMac is just a bonus to the deal, so I figured I'd find a way to put the 2010 Mac Mini into it, as it's the oldest( see cheapest ) one that can still run the modern MacOS.

I did find where someone had put a 17" LCD in an eMac, so I think this project is doable, and worthwhile.

You know I love PowerPC as much as the next guy, but I hold no hate for x86.

P.S. Posted from my 12" Powerbook G4.
Click to expand...

you still have not answered my question as to what iMac your getting...

also im sure most people here would much rather save them and keep them as they are rather then let them go to scrap or get gutted in some horrible hackintosh conversion or so. I know for one myself im looking for a Quicksilver and a iMac G3 tray-loader for some hardware and software development I want to do (and just for the collection as well :D) and I might be looking for a slot loading iMac G3 too if I cant repair my FlowerPower G4 iMac G3 that sadly went pop on me a few days ago :( (need to look into it, I suspect its an analog board issue)

i dont think many people here hate x86 but we do hate it when someone butchers a Vintage PowerPC mac just to stuff some modern PC hardware inside.

also LCD conversions inside of iMac G3s especially, look very crap because no LCD is going to match the curve of the CRT.

im getting bad ToroidalZeus vibes here...
 
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It's the Slot-load G3 400mhz Blueberry with firewire.

Just got it home, not sure what model the Quicksliver is yet.

Th Quicksilver fired right up, but the iMac was dead, pressing the power button did nothing, I opened it up, took the ram out, and plugged it back in( to the wall ).

It fired up, and gave me the no ram beep. I shut it down and put the ram in the other slot, it wouldn't power back on. So I pressed the Cuda reset switch three times, and it fired back up and boot chimed, then beeped three times( Bad Ram beeps? ).

So I took a stick of Ram out of my other QS, and put it in the first slot, it wouldn't power on, again with the Cuda reset three time, and it boot chimed and booted 9.2.

The screen seems pretty gaussed, colors are all off, rainbow effect.

Anyway to degauss it?

Seem to be running fine, but it think if I shut it off, I will have to pull it back apart and hit the Cuda button to get it to start back.

Anyone know what this issue could be?

I'm thinking flaky power supply, but I've never owned an iMac G3, or any other iMac for that matter.

It's in pretty good shape, a few scuffs, but nothing too bad, really dusty on the outside, maybe hasn't been used in 10 or 15 years.

If someone wants it PM me, I only really wanted the Quicksilver for our PC conversion project. Otherwise I'll stick an LCD in it with the guts of a 2010 Mini, as the blueberry was my favorite of these G3's and I'd enjoy to have in in my bedroom if I could watch Netflix on it.
 
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Each to their own I say. if someone wants to use their existing hardware and repurpose the case as a modern PC rig or Hackintosh then go for it. Personally I would keep a Cube as is, but still max out my (PowerPC) CPU and GPU options. At least this way it will still hold its value as a collector’s item.

However, it would be a genuinely interesting process to replace the CRT in an iMac G3 with a flat panel and drop in a modern Mac mini. If @DearthnVader wants to strip out a working G3 then I’m sure someone like @LightBulbFun or @dosdude1 could repurpose the G3 guts; logic board, CPU Card, etc for their experiments :apple:

I hope you can document the process @DearthnVader, I’m keen to see the outcome.

Live and let live people. We are not the PowerPC police!
 
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AphoticD said:
Each to their own I say. if someone wants to use their existing hardware and repurpose the case as a modern PC rig or Hackintosh then go for it. Personally I would keep a Cube as is, but still max out my (PowerPC) CPU and GPU options. At least this way it will still hold its value as a collector’s item.

However, it would be a genuinely interesting process to replace the CRT in an iMac G3 with a flat panel and drop in a modern Mac mini. If @DearthnVader wants to strip out a working G3 then I’m sure someone like @LightBulbFun or @dosdude1 could repurpose the G3 guts; logic board, CPU Card, etc for their experiments :apple:

I hope you can document the process @DearthnVader, I’m keen to see the outcome.

Live and let live people. We are not the PowerPC police!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I do the hacks I find useful to me.

@LightBulbFun @dosdude1 re doing some really interesting stuff with PPC rework. I'm hoping that they can offer a rework service and save a few PPC's from the bone yard.

Even tho I may gut these Mac's, that leaves parts for other people to fix their Macs that may no long be in a working state, so it's not a zero sum game. One Mac dies, so that another may live.

PC cases just are not the same quality as the jony ive easy open G4's, and I'm not planing on doing a hatchet job, my conversions will be top notch, I'm sourcing the best parts I can find for the QS for places like the laser hive in the UK.

I've saved quite a few PowerPC logic boards by doing PC case Macs and giving them to relatives that otherwise could not afford a Mac.

Just wish I had ordered some of more the high end G4 upgrade cards when we still had the chance.
 
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DearthnVader said:
One Mac dies, so that another may live.
Click to expand...

see I am the kind of stubborn person who makes it so that both macs live an none die :D

as for using the iMac G3 Slot loading CRT with an external VGA source

it is possible however it requires an Arduino or such, to emulate the Power on signals from the logic-board.

on top of that you have to interface to the custom connector and its a fixed horizontal frequency CRT (ie its not multiple scan) so regular PC VESA modes (like a BIOS screen) will just not be displayed.

however if you are interested in perusing keeping the stock display/CRT (which I do recommend :) as I have said its very hard to get a LCD to look good in a iMac G3 body I much rather see the CRT kept) theres a couple threads here on Mac Rumors (actually involving an eMac at first but also iMac G3s at a later date) where a couple guys got built in CRTs working with an ext VGA source and they detail how. I recommend you check out these links/posts: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-g3-mod-video-connector.1712095/ , https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...o-work-with-any-standard-motherboard.1754089/ and finally https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_modify_an_eMac_to_use_as_an_external_monitor
 
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AphoticD said:
However, it would be a genuinely interesting process to replace the CRT in an iMac G3 with a flat panel and drop in a modern Mac mini.
Click to expand...

It really isn't that interesting anymore, given how many people have done this. And it's always, always, ugly as sin.
 
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Daniël Oosterhuis said:
It really isn't that interesting anymore, given how many people have done this. And it's always, always, ugly as sin.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree, I'm mostly done with the Blueberry iMac conversion, using the LCD screen from a 14.1" iBook G4. I't looks really cool with the backlight of the LCD eliminating the blue plastic case.

The Quicksilver is 90% done and it really turned out well, and big thinks to The Laser Hive for the top notch conversion parts.
 
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