Club 17

[weckart]

I do have saved searches, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I just plain forgot to check the auction.

Use Gixen or an autosniper of your choice. Set it and forget it.

 

[Amethyst1]

@netsrot39 - Another 17" DLSD - get it before I do

www.ebay.de/itm/303722249021

(not my auction)

 

[remi75]

I was gifted a PowerBook G4 (A1107), the hard drive needed to be replaced. I bought a PATA HD and replaced the old one. Now I am stuck, I don't know how to install the MacOS Leopard on it using a USB. Or can I do it via Firewire?
I downloaded the software and created a USB but now what? I would love some help! Can't wait to boot and use it! 17''!
I also upgraded to 2GB RAM!

 

[AphoticD]

I was gifted a PowerBook G4 (A1107), the hard drive needed to be replaced. I bought a PATA HD and replaced the old one. Now I am stuck, I don't know how to install the MacOS Leopard on it using a USB. Or can I do it via Firewire?
I downloaded the software and created a USB but now what? I would love some help! Can't wait to boot and use it! 17''!
I also upgraded to 2GB RAM!

Some models will show USB boot drives when holding down the option key after powering on.

Otherwise, hold cmd-opt-O-F after powering on to drop into Open Firmware. Once at the OF prompt, you might be able to boot from USB with something like ‘boot ud’, ‘boot ud:3,\\:tbxi’ or ‘boot usb0/disk@1:3,\\:tbxi’ - there a few different techniques.

You’ll find I’ve posted quite a few times on the subject if you search for something like “boot from usb open firmware” in this forum.

 

[Amethyst1]

You’ll find I’ve posted quite a few times on the subject if you search for something like “boot from usb open firmware” in this forum.

I really think we should have a sticky thread on that matter as it keeps coming up.

 

[remi75]

Some models will show USB boot drives when holding down the option key after powering on.

Otherwise, hold cmd-opt-O-F after powering on to drop into Open Firmware. Once at the OF prompt, you might be able to boot from USB with something like ‘boot ud’, ‘boot ud:3,\\:tbxi’ or ‘boot usb0/disk@1:3,\\:tbxi’ - there a few different techniques.

You’ll find I’ve posted quite a few times on the subject if you search for something like “boot from usb open firmware” in this forum.

Thank you for your prompt response! Love this group.
I tried the prompts but i get a message:
boot ud:3,\\:tbxi
Warning: sector size mismatch! can't OPEN: hd:,\\:tbxi
Can't opne device or file

boot usb0/disk@1:3,\\:tbxi
couldn't locate PARTITION can't OPEN: usb0/disk@1:3,\\tbxi
Can't open device or file

I'm not too savvy in this department, terminal.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

 

[AphoticD]

Thank you for your prompt response! Love this group.
I tried the prompts but i get a message:
boot ud:3,\\:tbxi
Warning: sector size mismatch! can't OPEN: hd:,\\:tbxi
Can't opne device or file

boot usb0/disk@1:3,\\:tbxi
couldn't locate PARTITION can't OPEN: usb0/disk@1:3,\\tbxi
Can't open device or file

I'm not too savvy in this department, terminal.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

Try the commands again, substituting with ‘usb1’ - or physically move the drive to the other USB port and power on to try again.

You can list devices with ‘dev / ls’. Somewhere in the list you’ll see the references to usb@X with a disk@X branch. This is the usb bus with your USB drive. ‘devalias’ lists all the naming shortcuts.

I have had mixed results with different USB drives. It could be just me, but I have found older USB 2.0 thumb drives more reliable Than USB 3.x drives to boot PowerPC. If you have a few of these drives, try using an older one.

When copying the disk image / iso to the drive, use the Restore method in Disk Utility from another Mac.

 

[AphoticD]

Thank you for your prompt response! Love this group.
I tried the prompts but i get a message:
boot ud:3,\\:tbxi
Warning: sector size mismatch! can't OPEN: hd:,\\:tbxi
Can't opne device or file

boot usb0/disk@1:3,\\:tbxi
couldn't locate PARTITION can't OPEN: usb0/disk@1:3,\\tbxi
Can't open device or file

I'm not too savvy in this department, terminal.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!

Try;
1. ‘dev usb0’
2. ‘ls’
3. If you see no “disk@X” device, then ‘dev usb1’ and ‘ls’ again to see the “disk@X” device on the 2nd usb bus.
4. ‘dir disk@1:3,\\’ to see a file listing at partition 3 (typically the boot partition) in the boot path - you should see the “BootX” file in this path.
5. If you see the BootX file; ‘boot disk@1:3,\\BootX’ or ‘boot disk@1:3,\\:tbxi’

If nothing is listed in the dir command, then the USB might not be bootable.

I’ll often use the Terminal command ‘diskutil list’ on another Mac with the USB drive attached to view the connected disk partition maps and get the correct boot partition number for the device.

(NB: if anyone wants to compile all of this information into a wiki post, please also see the https://library.morph.zone/Open_Firmware for comprehensive information)

 

[Ourkid]

New to this thread! Thought I post my various MacBook Pro 17”. @bobnugget recommended me here.

Used to own a few 17” PowerBooks but gave it away sadly.

I own a MacBook Pro 15” 2008. 2 MacBook Pro 17” 2008 2.5GHZ both with revised chips and a MacBook Pro 17” 2007/2008 hybrid prototype. All in almost pristine condition. Huge fan of 17”!!

 

[Amethyst1]

and a MacBook Pro 17” 2007/2008 hybrid prototype.

Could you elaborate on that machine?

Also, what's Big Sur like on the Early 2008? Seeing it on the classic MBP is a little strange at first glance.

 

[Ourkid]

Could you elaborate on that machine?

Also, what's Big Sur like on the Early 2008? Seeing it on the classic MBP is a little strange at first glance.

 

[Ourkid]

Hey yeah totally forgot to share.
Big Sur runs surprisingly fine but no graphics acceleration so the minor lag that’s kinda annoying. Still working on getting it right if that’s possible. Hahah

The prototype has 2 different serials which are unknown and not found on apple serial database.
Most parts are original except for the hdd, ram and battery.

Code name: #Lucky4
EVT: Engineering Validation Test Unit
DVT: Design Validation Test Unit
Unique Debug connector
Intel processor chip is ES (Engineering Sample)
Wifi card is marked as M35D LUCKY4 EVT sample
Bluetooth prototype board is green
Sleep indicator prototype board is green
Apple Superdrive DVD prototype is marked as SUPER CXX UJ-875
Logic board is 820-2262-#04

17” Glossy widescreen TFT LED backlit display”. Speakers are surprisingly louder than any normal macbooks.

Has 2 different unique serial numbers.

interestingly it has 2 different serial numbers and is not recognized by Apple warranty checker. Logic board has its own serial number and the bottom base cover has a different serial number.

Body EMC is marked EMC:XXXX and also marked as an A1229 model but has the same specifications as the A1261 red logic board.

 

[Amethyst1]

Big Sur runs surprisingly fine but no graphics acceleration

Hmm. That's usually a deal breaker on macOS isn't it?

 

[Ourkid]

Hmm. That's usually a deal breaker on macOS isn't it?

Yeah agreed

 

[Bruninho]

Is it a GeForce or an integrated Intel GPU?

 

[Ourkid]

Is it a GeForce or an integrated Intel GPU?

Geforce

 

[Amethyst1]

Is it a GeForce or an integrated Intel GPU?

Integrated GPUs on MBPs only became a thing in 2009 - after they had gone unibody.

 

[Bruninho]

Oh yeah, so no chance of Metal support for these, Big Sur requires that for acceleration to work.

Maybe try the eGPU route, although it wouldn't be a nice thing with a laptop (for mobility).

 

[Amethyst1]

Maybe try the eGPU route, although it wouldn't be a nice thing with a laptop (for mobility).

Mobility is overrated.

 

[Captain Trips]

For those who are interested, there is an eBay offering for a PowerMac G4 17" DLSD - the price is already up to about $53 and I expect it to keep increasing, but you never know. The seller in in the USA.

This auction ends this coming Sunday afternoon.

P.S. I have purchased a non-DLSD PowerMac 17 from eBay and it should arrive this weekend or early next week, and I already have a MacBook Pro 17" (2010). Once I get the PowerMac G4 17" I will post pictures of both.

 

[r34per]

For those who are interested, there is an eBay offering for a PowerMac G4 17" DLSD - the price is already up to about $53 and I expect it to keep increasing, but you never know. The seller in in the USA.

This auction ends this coming Sunday afternoon.

P.S. I have purchased a non-DLSD PowerMac 17 from eBay and it should arrive this weekend or early next week, and I already have a MacBook Pro 17" (2010). Once I get the PowerMac G4 17" I will post pictures of both.

man, if i didn't just get myself a 17" PB i'd try getting it. Is there a big performance increase in the 1.67ghz vs the 1.33ghz? That's what mine is and seems to run void linux well enough

 

[eyoungren]

man, if i didn't just get myself a 17" PB i'd try getting it. Is there a big performance increase in the 1.67ghz vs the 1.33ghz? That's what mine is and seems to run void linux well enough

I had the DLSD at one time (concurrently with my first 1Ghz). You can notice an appreciable speed difference and processing difference but it's not anything huge. Probably the difference between a normal walk and a fast walk.

 

[B S Magnet]

For those who are interested, there is an eBay offering for a PowerMac G4 17" DLSD - the price is already up to about $53 and I expect it to keep increasing, but you never know. The seller in in the USA.

This auction ends this coming Sunday afternoon.

P.S. I have purchased a non-DLSD PowerMac 17 from eBay and it should arrive this weekend or early next week, and I already have a MacBook Pro 17" (2010). Once I get the PowerMac G4 17" I will post pictures of both.

Interesting. This is one of the earliest 17-inch retail DLSDs I’ve seen come up for sale, manufactured around the first week of November (or last week of October) 2005 (week 44, per the serial).

 

[Captain Trips]

The PowerBook G4 17" (1.5 GHz, 2004) arrived yesterday and is working well so far. This post is made using my new PB G4.

I have 2 17" Mac laptops, so I will post pictures and a little info about both.

PowerBook G4 17" (2004)

• It has 512 MB of memory. My first upgrade will be to get 2 GB of memory (probably from Other World Computing, I have had good experiences buying from them).
• 150 GB HDD. I may replace this some variation of an SSD. Maybe a PATA SSD, or more likely an M.2 SSD in combination with an IDE to M.2 adapter.
• The battery is almost brand new, it only has 17 cycles and it looks like I can get about 3 hours after recharging it. This was an unexpected bonus.
• Keyboard and trackpad do not have any issues and the screen looks very good.
• I have only tested the left hand USB port. I will try out the others ports for which I have something I can plug in. I don't have any Firewire devices and I don't think I have any PC Cards any more.
• Overall the outside looks very clean.

I am using TenFourFox as my web browser with the TenFourFourPEP prefs.js file. The performance is quite good. It isn't as fast as a newer Mac, but at least with MacRumors and eBay I am seeing good performance. I will try other web sites as I use it more.

MacBook Pro Intel i5 17" (2010)

• I bought it off of eBay last September, to tide me over until I found an Apple Silicon (M1) MacBook that I wanted. I did by a MBP (8 GB, 256 GB), so it has done the job I purchased it for. At this point in time, any additional use I can get out of it is a bonus. Well, that and it is a 17" Mac laptop.
  
• It came with 8 GB of memory (maximum), so it was nice not to have to upgrade that.
• It came with a 500 GB HDD, I replaced it with a 500 GB SSD. It is working well, and for all 3 Macs I have replaced an HDD with an SDD I have seen noticeable performance improvements.
• I have installed a patched version (from DosDude's sight) of Catalina and that is working well so far. That gives me an up to date version of Citrix Workspace (so I can connect to my work VDI) and I can still connect to an external monitor (34" AOC Ultrawide).
• The battery was almost dead (the eBy seller was up front about this) and I ordered a new replacement battery, from eBay, that arrived yseterday. I instealled it this morning and it is indeed new (cycle count of 1).
• I am using smcFanControl, but the addition of the battery (I took the dead battery out about a month ago) seems to be making it run hotter. I need to play around some more and see if there are other things I can do beyond using smcFanControl.
• The screen, keyboard, and trackpad all work well.
• The ports that I have tried so far all work as expected.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my "wall of text."

 

[Amethyst1]

My first upgrade will be to get 2 GB of memory (probably from Other World Computing, I have had good experiences buying from them).

If you don't mind paying their inflated prices...

Maybe a PATA SSD

Don't. They suck.