Ha ha - yes, it was a make or break tactic for me - it was a Macbook and it's battery had gone from a 3 hour lifetime to DOA - the live voltage exchange was required to resurrect it
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You'd have to undervolt it to make it run cooler and thus prevent it from hitting the temperature threshold at which throttling sets in. There's always a chance that a thorough clean-up and fresh/better thermal paste also contributes to lower temperatures, but it throttled even when new.
Last year I mentioned in this thread that I wanted an arcade style controller for MAME gaming and I finally took the plunge and opted for this one:
£40 GBP from China - with the shipping costs included in that price. I regard this as an eBay bargain because the general going rate on eBay for these devices is within the region of £50 to £60 GBP. The all-important question is, does it work on macOS and if so, which versions? I have Catalina, Mojave and Snow Leopard set up on my 2010 MBA so that will give a broad indication of the Intel macOS compatibility.
Supported in Catalina! What about Mojave?
Yup! So far, so good. Now for Snow Leopard...
A hat-trick!
Let's have some fun with MAME.
Oops, out of practice!
Unlike with other controllers, I didn't need to configure the stick nor assign the fire buttons within MAME - it assigned them automatically and even better, everything was assigned to the correct locations. Is it compatible with vintage macOS versions like our beloved Tiger you might ask? I investigated this with the help of my newly acquired iBook G4...
Historic support it would appear! Excellent.
Again, I was able to start playing immediately without needing to configure the controller within MAME - unlike my experiences through the years with various gamepads - even those which were natively supported by the OS. The entire unit uses microswitches - as would the controls of an actual arcade machine and this will guarantee a strong degree of long term durability. It's also nice to be able to play arcade games with the correct control arrangement, which is something I've always lacked.
Hopefully this information will be helpful to anyone who'd like to follow suit and would like a recommendation for compatible hardware that doesn't require USB Overdrive etc.
Time to update my long neglected PPC gaming thread now that I have a couple of new toys.
£40 GBP from China - with the shipping costs included in that price. I regard this as an eBay bargain because the general going rate on eBay for these devices is within the region of £50 to £60 GBP. The all-important question is, does it work on macOS and if so, which versions? I have Catalina, Mojave and Snow Leopard set up on my 2010 MBA so that will give a broad indication of the Intel macOS compatibility.
Supported in Catalina! What about Mojave?
Yup! So far, so good. Now for Snow Leopard...
A hat-trick!
Let's have some fun with MAME.
Oops, out of practice!
Unlike with other controllers, I didn't need to configure the stick nor assign the fire buttons within MAME - it assigned them automatically and even better, everything was assigned to the correct locations. Is it compatible with vintage macOS versions like our beloved Tiger you might ask? I investigated this with the help of my newly acquired iBook G4...
Historic support it would appear! Excellent.
Again, I was able to start playing immediately without needing to configure the controller within MAME - unlike my experiences through the years with various gamepads - even those which were natively supported by the OS. The entire unit uses microswitches - as would the controls of an actual arcade machine and this will guarantee a strong degree of long term durability. It's also nice to be able to play arcade games with the correct control arrangement, which is something I've always lacked.
Hopefully this information will be helpful to anyone who'd like to follow suit and would like a recommendation for compatible hardware that doesn't require USB Overdrive etc.
Time to update my long neglected PPC gaming thread now that I have a couple of new toys.
Last edited:
Last year I mentioned in this thread that I wanted an arcade style controller for MAME gaming and I finally took the plunge and opted for this one:
£40 GBP from China - with the shipping costs included in that price. I regard this as an eBay bargain because the general going rate on eBay for these devices is within the region of £50 to £60 GBP. The all-important question is, does it work on macOS and if so, which versions? I have Catalina, Mojave and Snow Leopard set up on my 2010 MBA so that will give a broad indication of the Intel macOS compatibility.
Supported in Catalina! What about Mojave?
Yup! So far, so good. Now for Snow Leopard...
A hat-trick!
Let's have some fun with MAME.
Oops, out of practice!
Unlike with other controllers, I didn't need to configure the stick nor assign the fire buttons within MAME - it assigned them automatically and even better, everything was assigned to the correct locations. Is it compatible with vintage macOS versions like our beloved Tiger you might ask? I investigated this with the help of my newly acquired iBook G4...
Historic support it would appear! Excellent.
Again, I was able to start playing immediately without needing to configure the controller within MAME - unlike my experiences through the years with various gamepads - even those which were natively supported by the OS. The entire unit uses microswitches - as would the controls of an actual arcade machine and this will guarantee a strong degree of long term durability. It's also nice to be able to play arcade games with the correct control arrangement, which is something I've always lacked.
Hopefully this information will be helpful to anyone who'd like to follow suit and would like a recommendation for compatible hardware that doesn't require USB Overdrive etc.
Time to update my long neglected PPC gaming thread now that I have a couple of new toys.
If only MacOS/OS X had a decent frontend for MAME, I'd use that in my cabinets instead of Windows.
Last week a listing caught my attention. Another 17" LCD panel for a very good price (LP171WU1-TLA2). I can't tell for sure if it will work in my 17" PowerBook but I don't see a reason why it wouldn't. The panel arrived yesterday and is cosmetically in great condition but I can only test it in a few days. For 25€ (including shipping) it was just too enticing and I intend to build another WUXGA PowerBook G4 very soon
You got my attention with your original post, this is on my "to do" list for my own PowerBook 17". And thank you for the write-up on the topic showing your progress, always good to know something works before buying random parts, cheers for that.Last week a listing caught my attention. Another 17" LCD panel for a very good price (LP171WU1-TLA2). I can't tell for sure if it will work in my 17" PowerBook but I don't see a reason why it wouldn't. The panel arrived yesterday and is cosmetically in great condition but I can only test it in a few days. For 25€ (including shipping) it was just too enticing and I intend to build another WUXGA PowerBook G4 very soon
My question is this: are you looking at used/second-hand units on eBay or are you finding them new for such a good price? I'm in the US and it seems our selection isn't quite so great when it comes to these panels in new condition, I see them going for at least $80, usually more.
All of the WUXGA panels I've bought were second-hand units. New panels can be had for around 100€ where I live so it seems to coincide with your observation. Honestly my purchases were just pure luck, I don't really have a search agent activated, I just look from time to time on different marketplaces if used (and undamaged) WUXGA panels are available for cheap but yeah they are not too common (for a good price). If you do find one, go for it and dare the mod
The difference is night and day, especially when you upgrade from a standard 1440x900 panel but it is also pretty noticeable when I compare my WUXGA PBG4 to a PBG4 DLSD panel (1680x1050).As of now I'm not sure if I should upgrade one of my other 2x 17" PowerBook G4s with the WUXGA panel (both already have 1680x1050 screens) or if I should build a fourth one from scratch (I have like 5 boxes full of spare parts, pretty much what you end up with when you accumulate 6x 17" PowerBooks in various states over time 😆) What can I say? PowerBooks are just cool, particularly when they are upgraded to the max
What I'd love to see is a 2003 17" WUXGA PowerBook G4 since that one could run OS9. Unfortunately I won't be able to build one since I lack a 2003 17" PowerBook G4 logic board (only spares I have are 2 good A1107s) but maybe someone else could give birth to that idea 
Last year a customer gave me a 2005 imac g5 1.6 ghz 17", damaged and not working - a few days ago having some free time I replaced all the capacitors that had exploded
With the occasion, I changed the thermal paste...tomorrow I will run the AHT and do the fan calibration. I think I will use it in the store to listen to music and radio
A quick update on the WUXGA panel I got for 25 euros on eBay. As it turned out, they were well worth it since the panel really is flawless despite being a used item. I tested it shortly with my spare 820-1524-A PowerBook G4 logic board which is a 2003 model I think:
This is panel that I purchased:
The seller included an inverter, a LVDS cable and a top bracket which was really hard to remove:
Needless to say that I won't be needing those parts anymore. Nevertheless I googled the part numbers since I was interested in what laptop that panel initially was in. After some searching I came to the conclusion that the WUXGA panel must have come from a Dell laptop (possibly Vostro or W660). The next step is to fit the panel into the display assembly of the PowerBook which won't be as easy as it was with the LP171WU1(TL)(A1) since the CCFL cable is like 1cm more to the right (i.e. I probably can't route the cable through the intended hole of the display assembly). I'll come up with a solution though and make another WUXGA PowerBook that Apple never intended to be
This is panel that I purchased:
The seller included an inverter, a LVDS cable and a top bracket which was really hard to remove:
Needless to say that I won't be needing those parts anymore. Nevertheless I googled the part numbers since I was interested in what laptop that panel initially was in. After some searching I came to the conclusion that the WUXGA panel must have come from a Dell laptop (possibly Vostro or W660). The next step is to fit the panel into the display assembly of the PowerBook which won't be as easy as it was with the LP171WU1(TL)(A1) since the CCFL cable is like 1cm more to the right (i.e. I probably can't route the cable through the intended hole of the display assembly). I'll come up with a solution though and make another WUXGA PowerBook that Apple never intended to be
A little video:
Those iMac igloo speakers ruled!
my latest eBay quest is a white iPhone SE good, battery 2 hours and ios14, $20.
I purchased a fan for my Mac mini and might get a MT box for that mini for 13 buckaroos!
whew!
maybe a account deletion should be planned in the future for rme!
my latest eBay quest is a white iPhone SE good, battery 2 hours and ios14, $20.
I purchased a fan for my Mac mini and might get a MT box for that mini for 13 buckaroos!
whew!
maybe a account deletion should be planned in the future for rme!
I have an eSATA card in my Mac Pro 2,1 (this one) and it is amazing. It is actually faster than the USB3 card in my Mac Pro 2,1 but that could also be due to the drives and the card itself that I'm using. Anyways, I can highly recommend a quality eSATA card in the Mac Pro
With a little bit of patience and perseverance, I found the StarTech PEXESAT32 that you'd recommended and for the bargain price of £15 GBP - with shipping included in the cost!
The PCB is dusty and will need a clean with IPA but that's not a problem.
Very soon my cMP will be bare-bones no more.
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‘Old apple computer… £10, buy it now’.
After a long drive to meet a lovely man who ‘would have fixed it if only I knew how’, I’ve just popped in a 128GB SSD I had laying in a drawer, and some 1GB ram sticks that were gathering dust too.
A fresh install of leopard is in progress.
After a long drive to meet a lovely man who ‘would have fixed it if only I knew how’, I’ve just popped in a 128GB SSD I had laying in a drawer, and some 1GB ram sticks that were gathering dust too.
A fresh install of leopard is in progress.
That has to be THE bargain of the thread...
Looks very clean inside also.
Looks very clean inside also.
I am feeling quite smug! 😁 it was a case of ‘take it off my hands or it’s going to landfill’, I think.That has to be THE bargain of the thread...
Looks very clean inside also.
Much better than "It's going to landfill unless someone gives me a fortune for it".
Dang, and here I thought the Six Dollar eMac was the steal. Sweet iMac!
Just won this for next to nothing. Another goodwill auction. 2ghz 17" model with the 128mb radeon 9600 gfx. I think i will turn this in to another MorphOS machine when it arrives.
Well, the $12.50 Goodwill iMac G5 was delivered today. To my surprise it's loaded. 2ghz, 2gb ram, 128mb Radeon 9600, wifi/bt, and has a 1 Terabyte hdd installed. Also looks like it hasn't been used since 2015, which i assume is when the new drive was installed. Nothing extra installed on it either except for Quicken 2005, Marble Blast Gold and the intel version of chrome 22 (lol). No pictures, no documents, no music, nothing. My guess is that this machine was rarely used. Other than smelling like an old basement it's pristine.
I got myself this Sonnet Tempo SATA E4 card the other day for one of my 3 Late 2005 G5s. It seems to be one of the more obscure ones since it is an older version of the card (if you look on the Sonnet archival product website some components on the card are different). On the backside of the card it says that it is from 2005 which also explains why this card maxes out at SATA II speeds which is not a problem at all since the PCIe version 1 of the G5 caps the bandwith anyway. I have yet to test the card with an SSD but a really old hard drive (15 years old) showed transfer speeds of approximately 90mb/s write and read which is significantly more than I got with the generic 2-port ASM1061 eSATA card that I had previously installed. I'd say for 20,50 € (free shipping included) I did pretty good. IMO eSATA is the perfect addition to any G5 since it lacks USB3 compatibility for fast data transfers but you need to have the right equipment for it (power supply for 3.5" drives, SATA to eSATA cable, etc.). Since I do own a bunch of that stuff it is the perfect solution for me
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I got another Sonnet 4x eSATA PCIe card and a Sonnet 2x eSATA PCIe card the other day on eBay (auction). They cost me 45€ in total including shipping which isn't too bad since those are the latest 6 gb/s version cards (while the one I bought in December is the early 3 gb/s version. I'm probably gonna put them into my other 2x Late 2005 PowerMac G5s even though they both already have eSATA cards (generic ones with Silicon Image chipset). Those generic ones do work but need an additional driver. The benefit of having the Sonnet cards is that they are plug and play and also feature S.M.A.R.T readout. I think I can't use the newer revision cards with Tiger since the minimum system requirements on Sonnet's website state 10.5.8. No big deal since I only run Tiger on one of my G5s and I can simply put the 3 gb/s I acquired in December into that machine (which should even be compatible with Panther). The 6 gb/s link speed does not really matter when put into a G5 but whatever (PCIe bottleneck) 😅 At least on one machine I get additional eSATA ports. Also I'll get support for reading S.M.A.R.T data on both machines I intend to do the upgrade with which I was missing with the Silicon Image cards.
P.S. I mean you do not see them that often when they are inside the machine but can we appreciate how "sexy" those Sonnet cards are? What gorgeous looking cards they are
Being here in Canada, I wouldn’t necessarily call this a bargain, but I managed to find a fully working, late 2011 A1278 MacBook Pro 13-inch i7/2.8 (with working MagSafe adapter, 2x4GB RAM, 250GB SSD, and OEM battery with some life left), in decent cosmetic shape (no worn keys, no palm-rest corrosion, etc.), for basically $15 or so “Freedom Dollars” (i.e., USD) more than just buying the cheapest, working logic board of exactly the same CPU specs.
Other units (the whole MBP, not the logic board) I’ve run across locally, many in lesser shape or being sold as parts/not working, continue to be offered and sold for up to 3x what I just paid. And finding a working logic board locally? Heck, the last time I saw one come up on my local CL or Kijiji, it was still the year 2018.
(I’d be boasting specifics were it not for that positively brutal exchange rate between our, y’know, real dollars and them yanqui fridum bucks. )
All of this is to replace the dying logic board in my old reliable — my daily-driver-since-new, my research and scholarship-writing rig, my DJing rig, my film-scanning/archiving rig, my day job work rig ’til 2017 — best known as my early 2011 i5/2.3 MBP, whose second SATA bus began last month to error out on writes to the second hard drive. This is especially troubling when that’s where your /Users lives!
What I’ll probably do once it gets here is to inspect, disassemble, clean out, and re-paste the i7/2.8 — to determine whether to just clean and use it with the SSD/HDD combo pulled from the i5/2.3, or to migrate that logic board over to the i5/2.3 chassis and use this second MBP as a long-term parts donor for the one I know best. (There’s virtually no difference in logic board connection locations between early and late 2011s.)
Despite its comically small display resolution (or it sporting @Amethyst1 ’s Achilles heel, that much-loathed HD Graphics 3000 iGPU), I still like its compactness and sturdiness for taking it about in ways I feel anxious doing with my 17-inch A1261 and A1139 laptops. (I haven’t budgeted for a 2011 17-inch A1297, as these are still crazy-expensive around here and even worse south of the border when including that exchange rate — despite their terminally-bad dGPU and being well beyond what I can swing; it remains to be seen whether a 17-inch unibody case feels sturdier to move around than its pre-unibody predecessors.)
And with my i5/2.3 having had a bad RAM slot since forever, it’ll be nice to get a small speed bump with this i7/2.8 and to also have a way to max out the RAM.
Other units (the whole MBP, not the logic board) I’ve run across locally, many in lesser shape or being sold as parts/not working, continue to be offered and sold for up to 3x what I just paid. And finding a working logic board locally? Heck, the last time I saw one come up on my local CL or Kijiji, it was still the year 2018.
(I’d be boasting specifics were it not for that positively brutal exchange rate between our, y’know, real dollars and them yanqui fridum bucks.
)All of this is to replace the dying logic board in my old reliable — my daily-driver-since-new, my research and scholarship-writing rig, my DJing rig, my film-scanning/archiving rig, my day job work rig ’til 2017 — best known as my early 2011 i5/2.3 MBP, whose second SATA bus began last month to error out on writes to the second hard drive. This is especially troubling when that’s where your /Users lives!
What I’ll probably do once it gets here is to inspect, disassemble, clean out, and re-paste the i7/2.8 — to determine whether to just clean and use it with the SSD/HDD combo pulled from the i5/2.3, or to migrate that logic board over to the i5/2.3 chassis and use this second MBP as a long-term parts donor for the one I know best. (There’s virtually no difference in logic board connection locations between early and late 2011s.)
Despite its comically small display resolution (or it sporting @Amethyst1 ’s Achilles heel, that much-loathed HD Graphics 3000 iGPU), I still like its compactness and sturdiness for taking it about in ways I feel anxious doing with my 17-inch A1261 and A1139 laptops. (I haven’t budgeted for a 2011 17-inch A1297, as these are still crazy-expensive around here and even worse south of the border when including that exchange rate — despite their terminally-bad dGPU and being well beyond what I can swing; it remains to be seen whether a 17-inch unibody case feels sturdier to move around than its pre-unibody predecessors.)
And with my i5/2.3 having had a bad RAM slot since forever, it’ll be nice to get a small speed bump with this i7/2.8 and to also have a way to max out the RAM.
picked up three more build machines for about $40 each. going to see if I can get distcc to work!
"Oh man, this is going to be great, all of the case handles are still intact!"
Another one bites the dust. RIP.
Another one bites the dust. RIP.