emac G4 upgrade questions...

[comda]

Greetings MacRumors!

Just this week i got my hands on an old Emac. I cant wait to get this thing up and running as according to Mac Tracker and the specs behind the dvd drive door it was one of the last made. Specs are:

EMC 2006
1.42Ghz Power PC G4
17 inch CRT
80Gb Hard drive
256mb ram
Combo Drive
wireless b/g

Anyways. Here are my issues:

1. The combo drive is stuck/not working. When i boot it up i can here a DVD inside but it wont boot from it and i cant boot into the OS so i connected it to my macbook VIA firewire and my macbook told me it was un-readable. So its messed up. I want to upgrade it to a DVD Rw as i have an extra pioneer one available. I recently read that opening a computer with a CRT is a bit dangerous and wanted some pointers. I opened my Imac G3 before but found it was more shielded in the terms of the Computer part is more divided up from the CRT. So any tips are appreciated. Its currently sitting unplugged to drain the power out.

2. I do want to get leopard (10.5.8) running on this machine as i know its the latest version that will run on it. I know i should and will upgrade the RAM. I already have a gig (512mb DDr x2) for it. But i want to know before i start is there anything i can do to maximize performance on this machine. i've installed leopard on a few 1ghz emac g4 models and found it ran fine but can i do something to get it to run even faster?

3. I understand that i can't get this thing to dual boot into windows like my C2D macbook im using right now, but i found a ubuntu 10.04 distro. Will i be able to dual boot that with 10.5x?

4. I got this machine with just the computer and power cable. I would like to get the original pro keyboard and pro mouse in white. Ebay has a few, but shipping is too expensive. Anyone know a site that still sells this stuff?

5. Let me know any other tips you guys have as im really looking forward to another mac in my household. It may not be fast but its something. LOL. cant really use my imac g3 in todays world for even basic browsing. very hard. lol

Thanks

 

[xtempo]

If you have a torx screwdriver then open it up. You aren't bothering with the CRT part so stay on the side of the bottom and remove the cage. Its easy to replace the disc drive and memory and that little battery. It seems impossible to me to upgrade the HD because of its position and bothering with the CRT.

I have one of the earliest (800Mhz) and it can only max out in 1GB for memory and Tiger as OS X.
The only two thing missing is some sort of cover where the airport card is and the back circle. I probably need a new case but I think I will keep like this for awhile. It really gets dusty in there.

that is pretty much all I can say about that. I had to buy Tiger so I can do a clean install. Luckily I had my Liteon dvd burner since the orginial was bad.

I think there is some sort of firmware mod that can make a 2nd monitor not to be mirroring which is all it can do.

If you open it up make sure the wire is connected to the button otherwise it won't turn on. I found that out the hard way

 

[Intell]

Don't use a Torx screwdriver to open it, you'll strip the driver or the screws. Use a hex/Allen wrench, as the screws are hex shaped not stars.

 

[Mr Rabbit]

I recently read that opening a computer with a CRT is a bit dangerous and wanted some pointers. I opened my Imac G3 before but found it was more shielded in the terms of the Computer part is more divided up from the CRT. So any tips are appreciated. Its currently sitting unplugged to drain the power out.

The main things to remember when working around a CRT are:

• There is LOTS of voltage underneath the anode cap and potentially running through nearby components attached to the CRT. Always use extreme caution and discharge the CRT when working in this area.
• The yoke is not meant to be load bearing. If you decide to tear down your Mac completely, then move the CRT, do not pick it up by the yoke. I've personally never seen it but I've heard horror stories of the yoke breaking and causing the CRT to implode, like a small scale bomb.

As someone who sat through an electrical safety video in Genius training that showed a mannequin bursting into flames when introduced to several thousand volts, then being told that more voltage runs through an eMac CRT, I'm terrified of them.

With that said, I've repaired probably 100~ or so of them with no incidents. Most of those were before I went through Apple's training, and as such I rarely discharged them before replacing the hard drive/optical drive since they were in "relatively" safe areas. Now though, knowing the potential danger, I would discharge anytime I remove the rear housing.

This manual (found online) should help you out.

 

[xtempo]

Don't use a Torx screwdriver to open it, you'll strip the driver or the screws. Use a hex/Allen wrench, as the screws are hex shaped not stars.

Sorry meant hex. I had the right tools but get confused as to which is which. Its easily tell philips from the flat head type. I'm bad with math and numbers so the special type of screws confuse me easily.

EDIT: I was right for my eMac. It has torx screws T10 is the number so either somebody put in new screws or it came that way from Apple. I think somebody just put new screws since I also had torx screws on my laptop PBG4. I didn't realize somebody put in new screws until I went to get some screws for the memory cover.

 

[comda]

I took the Emac apart. Holy crappers a ton of dust! Carefully tookoff the fan, cleaned it then got to the DVD drive. It was odd. The drives only problem was it wouldn't open. So i took it apart. It opened. Put it back together wouldnt open. I decided to grab a some ethanol and a swab and cleaned it put it all back together and voila! The drive opens! One problem remains. It reads the Tiger DVDs that i have but wont read the Leopard. I know These older macs wouldnt read dual layer DVDs and previously i used my macbooks dvd drive via firefire and thats how i installed leopard. But sadly my macbooks DVD drive is bad. So now what? i tried using an internal DVD drive connected to a IDE to usb connection but the emac wouldnt read it.

 

[Intell]

Every Mac with a DVD drive made after about 1999 will read dual layer discs. If yours isn't, then the laser is either failing or it can't focus properly.

 

[comda]

well. the previous emacs i did installs for where 1ghz models. They didnt want to read them either. they just spat out the DVD. mines doing the same. Once in the OS 10.5.8, i installed ilife from the DVD. so whats going on?

 

[Cox Orange]

Every Mac with a DVD drive made after about 1999 will read dual layer discs. If yours isn't, then the laser is either failing or it can't focus properly.

He might have a copy of Leopard, where most people use a DVD+DL medium. The apple drives until 2003 can only read DVD-DL.

Mods: Mind, I am not giving this advice, because of what I am selling. My +DL drive is incompatible with the eMac!

 

[Intell]

I have older 2000-2001 era Macs that can read a +DL disc without problems. If the OP is have trouble with his disc, then it is a pirated copy of it.

 

[comda]

well i got my macbooks dvd drive sorta working. wont pull DVDs in but i pushed it in and im installing leopard. 30 minutes went by its at an hour now..

 

[Cox Orange]

I have older 2000-2001 era Macs that can read a +DL disc without problems. If the OP is have trouble with his disc, then it is a pirated copy of it.

That was what I wanted to say with "copy". I thought Apple uses DVD-DL media and most people that burn them themselves use DVD+DL media.

Interesting though, that your 2000-2001 Macs can read it, though. I will have to try again with a movie disc on my iMac G3 DV. May it be, that what I had said only applies to PowerMac G4s? Because I heard that from someone who had asked the apple hotline (though, that means nothing, not every Apple hotline/technician guy is as capable as you).

 

[comda]

That does make sense. Back when leopard first was released i made the purchase of this DVD, and made 2 copies. I do that with all my OS disks. Sadly during my move the original was damaged and all i was left with was one copy as they where all in the same case. I made a image of the one that worked and created another copy from it which i;ve been using since. Its not pirated i paid for the DVD. Just its sadly not the original and since it had the same data i never bothered making another purchase. The emac seems to work. I did the combo update to 10.5.8 as the DVD is just 10.5. Then tried to launch itunes and it told me it needs quicktime player 7.5.5 and to visit the webpage. on the page apple tells me to check software update which it isnt there. all i get it a java update and remote desktop updater. will the quicktime update apear after i update this stuff?

 

[Intell]

It applies to every Mac. The G3 iMac has the same model DVD drive as the Cube, and it can read DVD+DL discs without much problem (at least mine could before it started to die).